Tagged: Costume design by Ellen Mirojnick

Cocktail: Tom Cruise’s Violet Four-Petaled Tropical Shirt

Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue in Cocktail (1988)

Vitals

Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan, ambitious tropical bartender

Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Spring 1988

Film: Cocktail
Release Date: July 29, 1988
Director: Roger Donaldson
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

Background

As I’ve already stated in a few recent posts, I’m spending this week enjoying my honeymoon in Jamaica, the setting for a handful of James Bond movies as well as the critical flop but mega box-office hit Cocktail, released 35 years ago this summer.

Adapted from Heywood Gould’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, Cocktail stars Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan, an ambitious and arrogant Army veteran with Wall Street dreams… and a TGI Fridays reality, as he begins working as a bartender to make money while attending business school.

Brian finds he has a knack for bartendering, specifically the flashy brand of flairtending taught to him by more experienced barman Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown), with whom he partners at a trendy club and leaves his business ambitions behind. As with all friendships where both parties end up sleeping with Gina Gershon, the tension between Brian and Doug culminates in a very public blowout that results in Brian’s self-imposed exile to a beachside tourist bar in Jamaica. Continue reading

Fatal Attraction: Michael Douglas’ Plaid Sport Jacket

Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher in Fatal Attraction (1987)

Vitals

Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher, lawyer

New York City, Fall 1986

Film: Fatal Attraction
Release Date: September 18, 1987
Director: Adrian Lyne
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

Background

Inspired by costume designer Ellen Mirojnick’s recent podcast appearance on From Tailors With Love that clarified a few misconceptions held around Michael Douglas’ tailored costumes in some of his most prominent movies, let’s finally cover the 35-year-old noir-ish thriller that spawned a cinematic sub-genre centered around Douglas’ sex life getting him in deep trouble. Continue reading

Wall Street: Meeting Gordon Gekko in Shirt Sleeves and Suspenders

Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987)

Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987)

Vitals

Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, smug and successful corporate raider

New York City, Spring 1985

Film: Wall Street
Release Date: December 11, 1987
Director: Oliver Stone
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
Tailor: Martin Greenfield

Background

Happy birthday to Michael Douglas, the actor, producer, and activist born September 25, 1944, who may be most famous for his iconic Academy Award-winning performance as ruthless financier Gordon Gekko in Wall Street.

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Cocktail: Tom Cruise’s Spattered Pink Tropical Shirt

Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan in Cocktail (1988)

Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan in Cocktail (1988)

Vitals

Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan, ambitious tropical bartender

Ocho RIos, Jamaica, Spring 1988

Film: Cocktail
Release Date: July 29, 1988
Director: Roger Donaldson
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

Background

I will admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Cocktail, but I’ve been in a tropical mood lately so this colorful, super-’80s yarn of bartending and bonking felt like a perfect summertime post in advance of Tom Cruise’s birthday tomorrow.

By all accounts, this winner of two Razzies should have been better, and author Heywood Gould has voiced considerable disappointment that his more serious source novel underwent such commercialization that the end product was primarily a vapid celebration of Tom Cruise using the daiquiri recipe he learned at TGI Friday’s to try to get laid as much as he could.

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Black Rain: Michael Douglas’ Leather Jacket in Japan

Michael Douglas as Nick Conklin in Black Rain (1988)

Michael Douglas as Nick Conklin in Black Rain (1988)

Vitals

Michael Douglas as Nick Conklin, loose cannon NYPD detective

Osaka, Japan, Winter 1988

Film: Black Rain
Release Date: September 22, 1989
Director: Ridley Scott
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy birthday, Michael Douglas! To commemorate the 76th birthday of this acclaimed actor and producer, I’m addressing a request I received from BAMF Style reader Ryan to take a look at Douglas’ wardrobe in Black Rain as loose cannon cop Nick Conklin.

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Michael Douglas’s Light Brown Suit in Basic Instinct

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran in Basic Instinct (1992)

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran in Basic Instinct (1992)

Vitals

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran, suspended homicide detective

San Francisco, April 1991

Film: Basic Instinct
Release Date: March 20, 1992
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

Background

The scene itself needs no introduction. Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) sits in a shadowy interrogation room full of detectives (including Newman!) with Hitchcockian ice-cold blonde Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone) facing them. Continue reading

Basic Instinct: Black Bomber Jacket and Jeans

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran in Basic Instinct (1992)

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran in Basic Instinct (1992)

Vitals

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran, suspended homicide detective

San Francisco, April 1991

Film: Basic Instinct
Release Date: March 20, 1992
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

Background

The nylon bomber jacket has made a comeback in recent years with few knowing the story of its all-too appropriate name, developed as the “MA-1” in the 1950s for U.S. bomber pilots to replace the B-15 flight jacket and older leather variations.

Two decades later, the bomber jacket hit the civilian market with manufacturers like Alpha Industries introducing it to new audiences in colors other than the standard military olive drab. It was further popularized in TV and movies, including the almost ubiquitous appearance of an Alpha Industries MA-1 worn by Steve McQueen in The Hunter (1980) and Kevin Costner in Bull Durham (1988).

Though the MA-1 bomber jacket was being phased out of active military use by the early ’90s, it still remained a staple of men’s casual wear and was a fitting choice as the go-to off-duty jacket worn by Michael Douglas’ fashionably tailored homicide detective Nick Curran in Basic Instinct. Continue reading

Gordon Gekko’s Dark Gray Peak-Lapel Suit in Wall Street

Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987)

Vitals

Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, smug and successful Wall Street businessman

New York City, Spring 1985

Film: Wall Street
Release Date: December 11, 1987
Director: Oliver Stone
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
Tailor: Martin Greenfield

Background

Returning to the office on Monday is no excuse to slack off on your wardrobe, especially on Wall Street. Continue reading

Michael Douglas’s Suede Sportcoat in Basic Instinct

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran in Basic Instinct (1992)

Vitals

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran, suspended homicide detective

San Francisco, April 1991

Film: Basic Instinct
Release Date: March 20, 1992
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

Background

Nick Curran’s investigation gets increasingly personal the deeper he looks, taking him all over hte Bay Area from Cloverdale and Berkeley to Salinas and back to San Francisco as he researches details about the elusive “Lisa Hoberman”‘s history with seductive murder suspect Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone).

Due to his suspension, Curran is working off-the-clock, dressing down from his professional daywear to provide a perfect example of a stylish cop’s attire for Casual Friday. Continue reading

Michael Douglas’s Taupe Suit in Basic Instinct

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran in Basic Instinct (1992).

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran in Basic Instinct (1992).

Vitals

Michael Douglas as Nick Curran, homicide detective with a troubled past

San Francisco, April 1991

Film: Basic Instinct
Release Date: March 20, 1992
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

Background

There have been a few persistent requests to analyze Michael Douglas’ tailored suits and sport jackets in the controversial thriller Basic Instinct, best known for what Sharon Stone wasn’t wearing on screen as opposed to what Michael Douglas was wearing.

Described in his book The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood as an exercise to create the lowest common denominator screenplay possible, writer Joe Eszterhas completed his script within two weeks all while reportedly listening to The Rolling Stones non-stop. Eszterhas sold the script three days later for the astronomical sum of $3 million, cynically reattaining his mantle as the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood.

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