Tony Soprano’s Last Appearance

James Gandolfini on set in Bloomfield, NJ as Tony Soprano, filming "Made in America" (Episode 6.21), the series finale of The Sopranos. (Taken by Arnaldo Magnani for Getty Images, March 22, 2007.)

James Gandolfini on set in Bloomfield, NJ, as Tony Soprano, filming “Made in America” (Episode 6.21), the series finale of The Sopranos. (Taken by Arnaldo Magnani for Getty Images, March 22, 2007.)

Vitals

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss

Bloomfield, NJ, Late Fall 2007

Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Made in America” (Episode 6.21)
Air Date: June 10, 2007
Director: David Chase
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Nine years ago today, nearly 12 million viewers tuned into HBO to watch “Made in America”, the final installment in the epic and groundbreaking saga of The Sopranos. The episode’s controversial ending polarized some audiences who demanded more closure for the conflicted and complex mob boss and his biological and criminal families after 86 episodes. (For better or worse, the episode also revived Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” in the public consciousness.) Continue reading →

Bond’s Blue Hawaiian Shirt in Die Another Day

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another Day (2002)

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another Day (2002)

Vitals

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, suave semi-rogue British government agent and “ornithologist”

Havana, Fall 2002

Film: Die Another Day
Release Date: November 20, 2002
Director: Lee Tamahori
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

Background

For this 00-7th of June, BAMF Style is honoring a request from Troy Swezey to analyze how the world’s least secret secret agent dresses casually for a warm afternoon under the Cuban sun.

After his release from North Korean captivity and subsequent escape from British medical captivity, James Bond follows a lead to Havana to get some answers. While there, he meets fellow badass Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson (Halle Berry), an American NSA agent who is able to meets him toe-to-toe when it comes to trading liquor shots, gunshots, or innuendo-laced wit. Continue reading →

Casino – De Niro’s Yellow Linen Jacket

Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro as Ginger and Sam "Ace" Rothstein in Casino (1995).

Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro as Ginger and Sam “Ace” Rothstein in Casino (1995).

Vitals

Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Vegas casino executive and mob associate

Los Angeles, Summer 1974

Film: Casino
Release Date: November 22, 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Rita Ryack & John A. Dunn

Background

As the weather is warming up here in the Northern Hemisphere, folks are swapping out the heavy flannel in their closets for linen and planning their trips to sunny locales.

Sam “Ace” Rothstein and his new wife Ginger touched down in L.A. after their ill-advised wedding in Casino although it was technically more of a business trip than a vacation. This outfit, one of Ace’s loudest in the movie (and that’s saying something), is shocking in that it’s what he wears for banking… of course, when you show up with a few million dollars in cash and jewels to deposit, I would imagine no banker would judge. Continue reading →

The Tailor of Panama: Harry Pendel’s Cream Suit

Geoffrey Rush as Harry Pendel in The Tailor of Panama (2001).

Geoffrey Rush as Harry Pendel in The Tailor of Panama (2001).

Vitals

Geoffrey Rush as Harry Pendel, tailor to Panama’s finest and ex-con

Panama City, Fall 1999

Film: The Tailor of Panama
Release Date: March 30, 2001
Director: John Boorman
Costume Designer: Maeve Paterson

Background

I tend to get grumpy about sartorial “rules”, including the snobbish American insistence that white can only be worn between Memorial Day and Labor Day. While I wouldn’t see much of a need to wear white (or that of its ilk) on a chilly winter day in Pittsburgh, it’s still frustrating to be informed what I can and can’t wear. For all of his faults, Boss Hogg deserves some credit for refusing to yield to arbitrary rules of dress and proudly wearing his white busting-at-the-seams three-piece suit all year round.

Luckily for Harry Pendel, this rule doesn’t apply in the tropical locale of Panama where the British expat (and ex-con) has set up his tailor shop. Harry is one of the few characters from his novels that John le Carré felt he could relate to, stating that “I was exploring the relationship between myself and my own fabricator. Anybody in the creative business, as you might call it, has some sense of guilt about fooling around with fact, that you’re committing larceny, that all of life is material for your fabulations.”

Director John Boorman said he always imagined Geoffrey Rush for the role. “You never lose sympathy for Geoffrey on screen, even when he does dreadful things,” explained Boorman. “There’s something worn yet innocent about him.” Continue reading →

From Russia With Love – Bond’s Dark Navy Office Suit

Sean Connery as James Bond in From Russia With Love (1963).

Sean Connery as James Bond in From Russia With Love (1963).

Vitals

Sean Connery as James Bond, British government agent and legendary lothario

London, Spring 1963

Film: From Russia With Love
Release Date: October 10, 1963
Director: Terence Young
Costume Designer: Jocelyn Rickards
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair

Background

Bond: Suppose when she meets me in the flesh, I don’t come up to expectations?
M: Just see that you do.

Most office meetings don’t involve a boss slyly encouraging an employee to have sex at all costs (at least, nowhere that I’ve worked), but that’s the world of James Bond for you. Bond attends this somewhat salacious briefing while wearing an intersection of Ian Fleming’s vision for James Bond and the classic image established by Terence Young, Anthony Sinclair, and Sean Connery for the early films in the series. Continue reading →

Clyde Barrow’s Blue Hairline Windowpane Suit (2013 Version)

Emile Hirsch and Holliday Grainger wielding a BAR and a Tommy gun as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde (2013).

Emile Hirsch and Holliday Grainger wielding a BAR and a Tommy gun as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde (2013).

Vitals

Emile Hirsch as Clyde Barrow, bank robber with “second sight”

Northeast Texas, Spring 1932

Series Title: Bonnie and Clyde
Air Date: December 8, 2013
Director: Bruce Beresford
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance

Background

As an amateur criminal historian with a special interest in Depression-era desperadoes, I’d be remiss to let a year go by without commemorating the end of Bonnie and Clyde’s crime streak on May 23, 1934 when the now-famous duo was gunned down by a squad of expert lawmen on a rural road in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Continue reading →

It’s a Wonderful Life: Jimmy Stewart’s “Charleston” Suit

Donna Reed and James Stewart dance the Charleston as Mary Hatch and George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

Donna Reed and James Stewart dance the Charleston as Mary Hatch and George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).

Vitals

James Stewart as George Bailey, bank officer and “nice guy”

Bedford Falls, NY, May 1928

Film: It’s a Wonderful Life
Release Date: December 20, 1946
Director: Frank Capra
Costume Designer: Edward Stevenson

Background

Today would’ve been the 108th birthday of James Stewart, and BAMF Style is honoring this screen legend by looking at Stewart’s own favorite character from his filmography: George Bailey.

Rated #9 on AFI’s 100 Heroes list and #8 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time, Stewart’s portrayal of the Capra-esque “every man” still resonates with audiences 70 years later, especially around Christmas time (due to an NTA clerical error in 1974). In fact, the local Regent Square Theater near my house in Pittsburgh hosts a free screening of It’s a Wonderful Life every Christmastime, which I’ve been sure to never miss in the last four years.

One of my favorite scenes – not only in It’s a Wonderful Life but from movie history – is the Charleston contest where George and Mary reconnect and then find themselves drenched when a jealous rival for her affections (played by The Little Rascals‘ Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer) opens the dance floor to send the two flap-happy dancers into the school swimming pool. In fact, this scene was filmed at the Beverly Hills High School in Los Angeles which indeed had a gym floor that could be converted into a pool with the press of a button. Continue reading →

Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction

Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction (1994).

Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction (1994).

Vitals

Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolf, problem solver

Los Angeles, Summer 1992

Film: Pulp Fiction
Release Date: October 14, 1994
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann

Background

I’m Winston Wolf. I solve problems.

Last Friday, Harvey Keitel turned 77 years old, a birthday that was almost certainly celebrated by Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino has stated that “Harvey had been my favorite actor since I was 16 years old,” so he penned the character of criminal fixer Winston Wolf – and according to the screenplay, it is Wolf and not Wolfe – specifically for Keitel. Two years earlier, the actor’s involvement in Reservoir Dogs as the pragmatic career criminal “Mr. White” helped shoot Q.T. onto the map of filmmakers to watch. The Wolf may have also been a nod to Keitel’s role as Victor, the ruthlessly efficient “cleaner” in 1993’s Point of No Return. Continue reading →

Tyler Durden’s Rust Red Leather Jacket

Several requests for a breakdown of Tyler Durden’s style have thus led to this post which Tyler himself would certainly tell himself that he hates – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing!

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club (1999).

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club (1999).

Vitals

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, soapmaker, fight club leader, and urban terrorist

Wilmington, Delaware, Spring 1999

Film: Fight Club
Release Date: October 15, 1999
Director: David Fincher
Costume Designer: Michael Kaplan

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

“We are a nation of physical animals who have forgotten how much we enjoy being that. We are cushioned by this kind of make-believe, unreal world, and we have no idea what we can survive because we are never challenged or tested,” is how Chuck Palahniuk summed up his intent for writing Fight Club, the 1995 novel that inspired the David Fincher-directed cult film. Fincher’s darker-than-black comedic adaptation of the novel staggered audiences upon its first release, reviled for its graphic violence and messaging that was misinterpreted as criticisms against both feminism and hyper-masculinity. Continue reading →

Leo’s Red Silk Robe in Miller’s Crossing

Albert Finney as Leo O'Bannon in Miller's Crossing (1990).

Albert Finney as Leo O’Bannon in Miller’s Crossing (1990).

Vitals

Albert Finney as Liam “Leo” O’Bannon, Irish Mob-connected political boss

Upstate New York, Fall 1929

Film: Miller’s Crossing
Release Date: September 21, 1990
Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Costume Designer: Aude Bronson-Howard

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today is the 80th birthday of Albert Finney so BAMF Style is taking a look at his portrayal of Liam “Leo” O’Bannon, the “cheap political boss with more hair tonic than brains” in Miller’s Crossing, the Coen brothers’ 1990 nod to Dashiell Hammett.

Continue reading →