Don Draper’s Brown Hershey Pitch Suit

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, presenting a pitch to Hershey executives in "In Care Of" (Episode 6.13) on Mad Men.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, presenting a pitch to Hershey executives in “In Care Of” (Episode 6.13) on Mad Men.

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, suddenly honest Madison Avenue ad man

New York City, Fall 1968

Series: Mad Men
Episodes: “Favors” (Episode 6.11) & “In Care Of” (Episode 6.13)
Air Date: June 9, 2013 (Episode 6.11) & June 23, 2013 (Episode 6.13)
Directors: Jennifer Getzinger (Episode 6.11) & Matthew Weiner (Episode 6.13) 
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

After Winter Storm Jonas had most of us on the East Coast huddling in whatever warmth we could find this weekend, it’s time to head back to work. In the spirit of Jon Hamm’s recent Golden Globe win for the final season of Mad Men, let’s head back to the office appropriately suited up. Continue reading →

Tony Soprano’s Tabasco Sauce Polo

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 5.02: "Two Tonys")

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 5.02: “Two Tonys”)

Vitals

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss

New Jersey, March 2004

Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Rat Pack” (Episode 5.02)
Air Date: March 14, 2004
Director: Alan Taylor
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

Background

I’m not sure why, how, or who decided it, but today—January 22nd—is considered to be National Hot Sauce Day in America. Continue reading →

Rob Delaney’s Barbour Jacket on Catastrophe

Rob Delaney as Rob Norris on Catastrophe (2015-).

Rob Delaney as Rob Norris on Catastrophe (2015-).

Vitals

Rob Delaney as Rob Norris, large-chinned American advertising executive

London, Fall 2014

Series: Catastrophe
Episodes: Episodes 1-6
Air Dates: January 19, 2015 – February 23, 2015
Director: Ben Taylor
Created by: Rob Delaney & Sharon Horgan
Costume Designer: Rosa Dias

Background

2015 was the year I finally watched more TV streamed online than DVDs, and I finally cashed in on my Amazon Prime membership by checking out Catastrophe, the excellent series developed by Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney that perfectly and hilariously nails a realistic relationship. Sharon and Rob play a couple named Sharon and Rob—appropriately enough—who fall prey to the biological result of a week of unprotected sex. Rob, an American ad man (but sadly likened more to Harry Crane than Don Draper by another character on the show), immediately moves across the pond to live in London with Sharon and try to make it work.

Rob Delaney’s Twitter account was one of the reasons I stuck with Twitter, and—given that today is his birthday—BAMF Style is breaking down his cool casual style on Catastrophe. Continue reading →

Justified – Boyd Crowder’s Gray Corded Jacket

Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder on FX's Justified.

Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder on FX’s Justified.

Vitals

Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder, scrappy Harlan County criminal and ex-miner

Harlan County, Kentucky, Fall 2010

Series: Justified
Episodes:
– “The Hammer” (Episode 1.10, Director: John Dahl, Air Date: May 18, 2010)
– “Veterans” (Episode 1.11, Director: Tony Goldwyn, Air Date: May 25, 2010)
Costume Designer: Ane Crabtree

Background

Fresh out of prison, Harlan County’s wiliest and wittiest criminal mastermind Boyd Crowder finds himself in the backwoods of his old Kentucky home, teaching his particular brand of religion to a congregation of redneck drug slingers. Not satisfied with having shot him in the chest earlier that year, Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens shows up and rubs proverbial salt in Boyd’s wound by reminding the “congregation” that there is a standing $50,000 reward for anyone who can provide information sending their new leader back to prison. Continue reading →

Henry’s Ivory Silk Jacket in Goodfellas

Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in Goodfellas (1990).

Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in Goodfellas (1990).

Vitals

Ray Liotta as Henry Hill, ambitious New York mob associate

Brooklyn, New York, Summer 1963

Film: Goodfellas
Release Date: September 19, 1990
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Richard Bruno

Background

For Mafia Monday, I’m taking a look at what was always one of the more memorable movie outfits for me growing up.

Goodfellas introduces us to the adult Henry Hill, aged 20, while casually taking part in a heist at Idlewild Airport. Presumably that evening, he and his mobbed-up cronies take their beehive-haired comares to The Bamboo Lounge, a tiki-themed actual former hangout for the gang located in Canarsie. (The location used in the film was actually the Polynesian bar Hawaii Kai, previously located at 1638 Broadway in Manhattan before it was closed the year before Goodfellas was released.)

The scene shows us the potential glamour of mob life, with silk-suited mobsters with names like “Fat Andy” and “Jimmy Two Times” sipping on anisette while seated next to women who are far out of their league. The hardworking Henry is able to enjoy these aspects of the night while also working, shuffling in racks of stolen mink coats and planning his next heist at the Air France terminal. Continue reading →

Bond’s Dark Gray Flannel 3-Piece Suit in Thunderball

Sean Connery as James Bond in Thunderball (1965).

Sean Connery as James Bond in Thunderball (1965).

Vitals

Sean Connery as James Bond, British government agent

France, Winter 1965

Film: Thunderball
Release Date: December 29, 1965
Director: Terence Young
Wardrobe Designer: Anthony Mendleson
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair

Background

After an unseasonably warm Christmas, I’m one of the few Pittsburghers happy to report that the weather is finally chilling down to a winter-friendly 30°F and it’s time to roll out the flannel suits and overcoats.

At the outset of Thunderball, Sean Connery’s fourth outing as James Bond, we find the agent lurking in the background of a funeral in the French countryside. His warm suit and outerwear hints that we’re finding him in one of the chillier months, so it seemed like a more than appropriate scene to break down for this 00-7th of January. Continue reading →

Joe Kidd’s Tweed Suit

Clint Eastwood as Joe Kidd in Joe Kidd (1972).

Clint Eastwood as Joe Kidd in Joe Kidd (1972).

Vitals

Clint Eastwood as Joe Kidd, laconic hunter and former bounty hunter

New Mexico, Spring 1902

Film: Joe Kidd
Release Date: July 14, 1972
Director: John Sturges

Background

Penned by Elmore Leonard, Joe Kidd is a unique revisionist Western starring Clint Eastwood as the titular ex-bounty hunter who finds himself reluctantly hired to join a posse tracking down a group of Mexican revolutionaries fighting for land reform.

Although the Joe Kidd character could be interchanged with any of Eastwood’s usual taciturn and iron-willed Western heroes (not that he’s any less entertaining for it!), the movie benefits from its interesting and oft-ignored setting and context as well as the usual Elmore Leonard touch of an array of unique characters populating the film’s world.

At the outset, Joe is locked up in the small town of Sinola, New Mexico as he awaits his trial for poaching. When he is asked if he knew it was illegal to hunt on reservation land, Joe responds:

Well the deer didn’t know where he was, and I wasn’t sure either.

What’d He Wear?

Audiences had become well-acquainted with the sight of Clint Eastwood’s familiar “Man With No Name” guise in Westerns, so it must have caught many audiences off-guard when Joe Kidd is first introduced in a suit – albeit, a raggedly worn one after his night in the slammer. Continue reading →

Boardwalk Empire’s Gangster Black Tie for the New Year

Anatol Yusef, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Vincent Piazza as Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein, and "Lucky" Luciano, respectively, on Boardwalk Empire (Episode 3.01 - "Resolution").

Anatol Yusef, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Vincent Piazza as Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein, and “Lucky” Luciano, respectively, on Boardwalk Empire (Episode 3.01 – “Resolution”).

Vitals

Michael Stulhbarg as Arnold Rothstein, powerful New York gambler and racketeer
Vincent Piazza as Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, the Mafia’s smooth and ambitious future chief
Anatol Yusef as Meyer Lansky, Rothstein’s clever mob protégé
Bobby Cannavale as Gyp Rosetti, violent and hotheaded Italian-born gangster

Atlantic City, New Year’s Eve 1922

Series: Boardwalk Empire
Episode: “Resolution” (Episode 3.01)
Air Date: September 16, 2012
Director: Tim Van Patten
Creator: Terence Winter
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn
Tailor: Martin Greenfield

Background

Not every man is a Nucky Thompson. A group of New York gangsters choosing Nucky’s basement to talk business while a party oblivious heaves forward upstairs leads itself to a major conglomeration of styles – both in leadership and in attire – that illustrate just how much about a man can be determined by looking at the way he puts himself together. Continue reading →

Nucky Thompson’s Black Tie for the New Year

Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson in "Resolution", Episode 3.01 of Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014).

Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson in “Resolution”, Episode 3.01 of Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014).

Vitals

Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, crooked city politician and influential mob bootlegger

Atlantic City, New Year’s Eve 1922

Series: Boardwalk Empire
Episode: “Resolution” (Episode 3.01)
Air Date: September 16, 2012
Director: Tim Van Patten
Creator: Terence Winter
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn
Tailor: Martin Greenfield

Background

Tomorrow night is New Year’s Eve, an evening that sees many flocking to friends’ houses, bar parties, or an overcrowded section of New York without realizing that even the country’s most populous city can’t handle the lavatory needs of one million intoxicated visitors.

But I digress. For the lovable gang of murderous bootleggers on Boardwalk Empire, New Year’s Eve is an opportunity to party at the home of the town’s gregarious and graft-loving treasurer, Nucky Thompson. To ring in 1923, Nucky has a full evening planned with a literal treasure chest of gifts as well as live entertainment from Eddie Cantor and Billie Kent, his latest mistress an up-and-coming showgirl.

Guests include old favorites like Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Arnold Rothstein, but Nucky also welcomes a relative newcomer, the volatile Italian gangster Gyp Rosetti who doesn’t set a good example for America’s youth about treating a host with kindness.

What’d He Wear?

And then there’s you. Fucking breadstick in a bow tie. You pasty-faced, cocksucking-

Poor Nucky goes to all this work to look sharp for his New Year’s bash, and then he goes and gets insulted for his bow tie and complexion. Although I can’t guarantee that your party’s Gyp Rosetti won’t level a few unnecessary insults in your direction, I can endorse Nucky Thompson’s dinner suit as a fine way for a gentleman to stand out at any upcoming New Year celebrations. Continue reading →

Redford’s Fisherman Sweater in Spy Game

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001).

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001).

Vitals

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir, experienced CIA case officer

Berlin, Christmas 1976

Film: Spy Game
Release Date: November 21, 2001
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Redford’s Costumer: David Page

Background

After recruiting the talented Tom Bishop for an assassination in the closing days of the Vietnam War, CIA case officer Nathan Muir determines that Bishop would make a fine operative for the agency. Nathan pulls the strings to isolate Bishop for more than a year, secretly assigning the young Marine to a lonely post in Berlin.

Muir then shrewdly chooses Christmas – a vulnerable holiday for lonely folks – as his opportunity to swoop in with a “chance encounter” at a train station. Bishop joins Muir and one of his wives for a Christmas party that evening, and their decade-long career is born.

What’d He Wear?

Nathan Muir provides a comfortable and fashionable way to layer for a winter party. Continue reading →