Tagged: Bowtie
Pal Joey: Sinatra’s Red Fleck Mess Jacket
Frank Sinatra as Joey Evans in Pal Joey (1957)
Vitals
Frank Sinatra as Joey Evans, womanizing nightclub singer
San Francisco, Spring 1957
Film: Pal Joey
Release Date: October 25, 1957
Director: George Sidney
Costume Designer: Jean Louis
Background
Joey Evans’s first night with the band finds him already complicating his romantic life, balancing his attraction to the demure singer Linda English (Kim Novak) with the vivacious ex-stripper Vera Prentice-Simpson (Rita Hayworth) when the band is hired to play a gig at Vera’s place as a fundraise for the local children’s hospital.
Cary Grant’s Tuxedo in Indiscreet
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Indiscreet (1958)
Vitals
Cary Grant as Philip Adams, sophisticated playboy economist
London, Fall 1957 to Spring 1958
Film: Indiscreet
Release Date: June 26, 1958
Director: Stanley Donen
Tailor: Quintino
Background
Happy birthday to the great Cary Grant, born 115 years ago today on January 18, 1904, in Bristol, England. Born Archibald Leach before he assumed his catchier stage name, Grant’s signature screen presence blended his self-deprecating sense of humor with peerless suavity in both attitude and style. Grant’s popularity during the mid-20th century and the height of the dinner suit’s ubiquity meant the debonair actor would don a tuxedo almost as frequently as James Bond… and it’s not surprising to hear that Grant was an early contender for the role of 007, at least in the mind of the character’s creator Ian Fleming.
Between 1955 and 1962, Grant starred in seven contemporary-set films that didn’t require him to be in military uniform; of these, he sported a tuxedo in all but one (the lone exception, North by Northwest, featured the actor wearing arguably the most famous suit in movie history so there was little need for black tie.) In the middle of this impressive and stylish run of movies is Indiscreet, a Stanley Donen-directed romantic comedy that earned Grant his first of five Golden Globe nominations. Continue reading
Indiana Jones’ Tweed Jacket for Dinner
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Vitals
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, adventurer and archaeology professor
India, Summer 1935
Film: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Release Date: May 23, 1984
Director: Steven Spielberg
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell
Background
A memorable scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom finds the titular archaeologist and his two newly introduced companions, Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) and Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), invited to a banquet at Pankot Palace hosted by the young Majarajah Zalim Singh (Raj Singh). The trio doesn’t take warmly to the feast, which includes such delicacies as “snake surprise” and chilled monkey brains.
One of my favorite aspects of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the alternative costumes that Indy sports when not in his signature leather jacket and fedora. In addition to a Casablanca-inspired (but ’80s-executed) white dinner jacket at the film’s outset, Indy uses this dinner as an opportunity to dress up his usual bush shirt and “pinks” trousers by donning a tweed sport jacket and bow tie.
The Good Place: Michael’s Gray Plaid Suit
Ted Danson as Michael on The Good Place. (Episode 1.08: “Most Improved Player”)
Fellow fans of The Good Place can rejoice… the third season of this forking great comedy returns tonight with an hour-long premiere episode on NBC!
Vitals
Ted Danson as Michael, afterlife “architect”
The Good Place, present day
Series: The Good Place
Episodes:
– “Most Improved Player” (Episode 1.08), dir. Tristram Shapeero, aired 10/27/2016
– “…Someone Like Me as a Member” (Episode 1.09), dir. Dean Holland, aired 11/3/2016
Creator: Michael Schur
Costume Designer: Kirston Mann
WARNING! Possible spoilers ahead…
Background
Following a major revelation from Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) at the end of The Good Place‘s seventh episode, she is summoned to Michael’s office like a trip to the principal’s office. Continue reading
The Lady Eve: Henry Fonda’s White Dinner Jacket
Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1941)
Vitals
Henry Fonda as Charles “Hopsie” Pike, brewery heir and ophidiologist
SS Southern Queen, sailing north from South America,
August 1940
Film: The Lady Eve
Release Date: February 25, 1941
Director: Preston Sturges
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Men’s Wardrobe: Richard Bachler
Background
To celebrate the birthday today of my wonderful, patient, and charming girlfriend, I’d like to highlight the elegant evening wear worn by Henry Fonda in The Lady Eve, a classic screwball comedy that I first discovered with her family. Continue reading
Bond’s White Dinner Jacket in Diamonds are Forever
Sean Connery and Lana Wood in the seventh James Bond film, Diamonds are Forever (1971), filmed and set in Las Vegas.
Vitals
Sean Connery as James Bond, British government agent
Las Vegas, Spring 1971
Film: Diamonds are Forever
Release Date: December 17, 1971
Director: Guy Hamilton
Wardrobe Master: Ray Beck
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair
Background
It’s Friday the 13th! Considered an unlucky day by some, this summer occurrence feels like just the right time to follow James Bond as he tests his own luck in a Las Vegas casino in Diamonds are Forever, the 1971 film that convinced Sean Connery to portray the British secret agent one more time.
Luck appears to be initially on 007’s side as he wins $50,000 at craps and makes the acquaintance of the voluptuous Plenty O’Toole (Lana Wood).
The Good Place: Michael’s Navy Piped Blazer
Ted Danson as Michael on The Good Place. (Episode 1.02: “Flying”)
Vitals
Ted Danson as Michael, afterlife “architect”
The Good Place, present day
Series: The Good Place
Episode: “Flying” (Episode 1.02)
Air Date: September 19, 2016
Director: Michael McDonald
Creator: Michael Schur
Costume Designer: Kirston Mann
Background
This weekend, my focus returns to NBC’s The Good Place, where Ted Danson’s architect Michael struts some of the snappiest style this side of the afterlife.
I recently researched and wrote about the classic boldly striped boating blazer for an exploration of Alain Delon’s style in Purple Noon (Plein soleil), but that’s only one type of boating blazer. Another variation is a solid-colored blazer with wide piping along the edges.
Though not quite as distinctive as a true rowing blazer, the piped blazer that Michael wears for a conversation about exploding turkey carcasses and coffee cups at the end of The Good Place‘s second episode finds itself worthy of discussion for today’s #NiceDay post.
Continue reading
Reilly, Ace of Spies: A Notch-Lapel Dinner Jacket
Sam Neill as Sidney Reilly in Reilly: Ace of Spies (Episode 6: “Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses”)
Vitals
Sam Neill as Sidney Reilly, shrewd British agent and anti-Bolshevik
St. Petersburg, Russia, October 1910, and
London, November 1918
Series: Reilly: Ace of Spies
Episodes:
– “Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses” (Episode 6), dir. Jim Goddard, aired 10/5/1983
– “After Moscow”(Episode 9), dir. Martin Campbell, aired 10/26/1983
Costume Designer: Elizabeth Waller
Background
Reilly: Ace of Spies fictionalizes the exploits of Russian-born spy Sidney Reilly, often cited as a real-life basis for Ian Fleming’s James Bond. While the showrunners must have been cognizant of the need to place their suave British secret agent in a tuxedo, the series’ narrative also coincided with the rise of the dinner jacket over the first quarter of the 20th century.
The Good Place: Michael’s “Jaunty” Plaid Suit
Ted Danson as Michael on The Good Place. (Episode 1.13: “Michael’s Gambit”)
Vitals
Ted Danson as Michael, afterlife “architect”
The Good Place, present day
Series: The Good Place
Episodes:
– “Jason Mendoza” (Episode 1.04), dir. Payman Benz, aired 9/29/2016
– “What’s My Motivation” (Episode 1.11), dir. Lynn Shelton, aired 1/12/2017
– “Mindy St. Claire” (Episode 1.12), dir. Dean Holland, aired 1/19/2017
– “Michael’s Gambit” (Episode 1.13), dir. Michael Schur, aired 1/19/2017
Creator: Michael Schur
Costume Designer: Kirston Mann
WARNING! Possible spoilers ahead…
Background
NBC’s The Good Place is one of my favorite recent network TV shows, blending an infectiously funny ensemble cast with razor-sharp writing that makes moral philosophy not only interesting but accessible and entertaining.
Clifton Webb’s Tuxedo in Titanic (1953)
Clifton Webb as Richard Ward Sturges in Titanic (1953)
Vitals
Clifton Webb as Richard Ward Sturges, millionaire and estranged family man
RMS Titanic, April 1912
Film: Titanic
Release Date: April 16, 1953
Director: Jean Negulesco
Costume Designer: Dorothy Jeakins
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Before there was Kate and Leo, there was Barbara and Clifton.
To know me is to know my obsession with the Titanic and other maritime disasters of the early 20th century. SS Valencia, Empress of Ireland, Lusitania, Princess Sophia, Titanic‘s hospital sister ship Britannic… chances are that if it sank in the first few decades of last century, I know a thing or two about it.
It was today in 1912 that the RMS Titanic actually struck the iceberg that sank her. The collision happened around 11:40 p.m., North Atlantic time, on the night of Sunday, April 14. Compared to most of the other disasters in the previous paragraph, it took considerable time to sink, finally settling under the waves at 2:20 a.m. on the morning of Monday, April 15, 1912, ending more than 1,500 lives of the roughly 2,200 that had been aboard.
