Tagged: Aloha Shirt
Tony Soprano’s Printed Birthday Shirts
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 6.13: “Soprano Home Movies”)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss
Putnam Valley, New York, August 2007*
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Soprano Home Movies” (Episode 6.13)
Air Date: April 8, 2007
Director: Tim Van Patten
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday to Tony Soprano… and David Chase! According to Tony’s driver’s license in “Another Toothpick” (Episode 3.05) and his hospital bracelet seen in “Mayham” (Episode 6.03), Anthony Soprano was born on August 22, 1959, exactly 14 years to the day after his creator, David Chase.
Blue Hawaii: Elvis’ Red Aloha Shirts
Elvis Presley in promotional art for Blue Hawaii (1961). His character Chad Gates never actually wore this actual shirt on screen, instead wearing a differently patterned red Aloha shirt.
Vitals
Elvis Presley as Chadwick “Chad” Gates, young tour guide and U.S. Army veteran
Honolulu, Hawaii, Summer 1961
Film: Blue Hawaii
Release Date: November 22, 1961
Director: Norman Taurog
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
Particularly on #AlohaFriday, Aloha shirts are an obvious necessity for life in the Hawaiian islands, though these tropical printed tops are enjoying a renaissance here in the continental United States this summer as well. But what makes the difference between an out-of-touch tourist and a stylish tropical traveler? To illustrate how to effectively pull off the decades-old Hawaiian shirt, we turn to prolific clotheshorse Elvis Presley. Continue reading
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Brad Pitt’s Aloha Shirt and Champion Tee
Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Vitals
Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, Hollywood stunt performer and war veteran
Los Angeles, February 1969
Film: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips
How to Get the Look
Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt’s stylish late-sixties outfits in Tarantino’s ninth film, released in American theaters today, will receive fuller BAMF Style coverage once the movie has been released to home media and streaming services, but I wanted to take an early look at Cliff Booth’s scrappy summer attire that has gotten plenty of exposure in the film’s promotional posters, photos, and trailers. Continue reading
The Last Tycoon: Monroe Stahr’s Green Printed Shirt
Matt Bomer as Monroe Stahr on The Last Tycoon (Episode 8: “An Enemy Among Us”)
Vitals
Matt Bomer as Monroe Stahr, charming studio wunderkind
Hollywood, February 1937
Series: The Last Tycoon
Episode: “An Enemy Among Us” (Episode 8)
Streaming Date: July 28, 2017
Director: Scott Hornbacher
Developed By: Billy Ray
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Do you celebrate Christmas in July? If so, do you struggle with finding just the right thing to wear for your holiday fun in the sun when celebrating with swimming pools and margaritas rather than snowmen and mulled wine?
On the much-too-short-lived Amazon original series The Last Tycoon, developed by Billy Ray from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished final novel, the young and dashing Hollywood hotshot Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer) is rarely seen in anything less than a beautifully tailored three-piece suit or white tie and tails, but he gives himself a sartorial break in the name of love and leisure for a warm February morning on the terrace with his new paramour, aspiring actress Kathleen Moore (Dominique McElligott).
Sidney Poitier’s Printed Shirt in Lilies of the Field
Sidney Poitier as Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field (1963)
Vitals
Sidney Poitier as Homer Smith, helpful handyman
Arizona, Summer 1963
Film: Lilies of the Field
Release Date: October 1, 1963
Director: Ralph Nelson
Wardrobe Credit: Wesley Sherrard
Background
Happy first day of summer! As the Northern Hemisphere officially enters its warmest season, menswear retailers have been dutifully swapping out their pea coats and sweaters in favor of tropical-printed short-sleeved shirts.
While some prints are wild and some just get weird, the most timeless styles of floral or natural patterns have remained the same in the more than eight decades since Ellery Chun first advertised his Aloha shirt in The Honolulu Advertiser in the summer of 1935.
Even the famously fashionable Sidney Poitier wore a classic Aloha shirt for his Academy Award-winning role in Lilies of the Field as Homer Smith, the traveling handyman whose brief stop outside of Tucson for water for his station wagon turns into an extended job as he eventually takes on the task of building a new chapel for a group of nuns. Continue reading
Tony Soprano’s Black Floral Assassination Shirt
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 1.13: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano”)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob chief
Jersey City, NJ, Fall 1998
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano” (Episode 1.13)
Air Date: April 4, 1999
Director: John Patterson
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This week marks the sixth anniversary of the June 19, 2013, death of James Gandolfini, the brilliant actor who made Tony Soprano one of the most compelling TV characters of all time. Today’s #MafiaMonday post celebrates one of Tony’s most iconic moments on The Sopranos… pulling a pistol out of a dead fish’s gaping mouth to shoot a rival mobster. Continue reading
Out of Time – Denzel Washington’s Aloha Shirt
Denzel Washington as Banyan Key police chief Matt Whitlock in Out of Time (2003)
Vitals
Denzel Washington as Mathias Lee “Matt” Whitlock, Banyan Key police chief
Banyan Key, Florida, summer 2002
Film: Out of Time
Release Date: October 3, 2003
Director: Carl Franklin
Costume Designer: Sharen Davis
Background
If you’re lucky enough to count a well-made Aloha shirt or two in your closet, summer is the time to bring them to the front of your rotation. After all, boldly printed shirts dominated at Milan Fashion Week this month, and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a few more Hawaiian shirts on gents of all generations this summer.
While Hawaiian shirts in movies and TV are often played for comedic purposes, the tropical neo-noir Out of Time unironically – and successfully – dresses its protagonist in a setting-appropriate printed Aloha shirt for the lion’s share of the film’s action.
Bond’s Blue Hawaiian Shirt in Die Another Day
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
Don Draper’s Hawaiian Vacation
Jon Hamm as Don Draper in “The Doorway”, Episode 6.01 of Mad Men.
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, vacationing Madison Avenue ad man
Hawaii, December 1967
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “The Doorway” (Episode 6.01)
Air Date: April 7, 2013
Director: Scott Hornbacher
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
As June progresses, I hope many of you are starting to think about summer vacations.
Season six of Mad Men premiered on April 7, 2013 with “The Doorway”, a two-hour episode (technically two episodes aired consecutively, but whatever) set just after Christmas 1967.
When we first catch up with Don Draper again after the ten-month interseason hiatus, he is in Hawaii on a business vacation, sticking his feet in the sand with his bikini-clad wife Megan. Continue reading
