Tagged: Double-Breasted Dinner Jacket
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”).
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
George Clooney’s Tuxedo in Ocean’s Eleven
George Clooney as Danny Ocean in Ocean’s Eleven (2001).
Vitals
George Clooney as Danny Ocean, smooth-talking casino heister and con man
Las Vegas, Summer 2001
Film: Ocean’s Eleven
Release Date: December 7, 2001
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Costume Designer: Jeffrey Kurland
Background
Although he aimed to distance himself from the original Ocean’s Eleven as much as possible with this 2001 remake, Steven Soderbergh must have realized that you don’t have George Clooney in a movie about slick Vegas con men without placing him in a tuxedo. Danny Ocean’s tux was a very welcome throwback to a time when people didn’t wear graphic t-shirts, cutoff jorts, and fanny packs to casinos. (Although, since Frank Sinatra didn’t wear a tuxedo at all in the 1960 film, it could be argued that Clooney’s dinner suit is more of a throwback to characters like Cary Grant‘s gentleman thief in To Catch a Thief.) Continue reading
Sonny Corleone’s Groomsman Tuxedo
BAMF Style looks forward to Valentine’s Day this weekend with an abbreviated Week of Weddings.
James Caan as Santino “Sonny” Corleone in The Godfather (1972). This is a production photo; in the film itself, he pins a white carnation onto his left lapel.
Vitals
James Caan as Santino “Sonny” Corleone, hotheaded Mafia underboss
Long Island, NY, August 1945
Film: The Godfather
Release Date: March 15, 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
Background
Sonny is a natural choice as a groomsman for his sister’s wedding. Not only did he introduce her to her new husband, but he’s the underboss of New York’s powerful Corleone crime family and not the sort of guy who would appreciate being left out.
Sonny is a busy guy on the wedding day. He has to be all over the place, from the parking lot to his father’s office while keeping tabs on his war hero brother, his wife, and his mistress. Of course, when the Don summons him, he’s never far away. Continue reading
Patrick Redfern’s White Dinner Jacket
Two years ago, I broke down the great off-white dinner jacket worn by Sean Connery in Goldfinger. For your end-of-summer fancy soiree (which I assume you’re hosting), the white or off-white dinner jacket should always be an option.
Nicholas Clay as Patrick Redfern in Evil Under the Sun (1982).
Vitals
Nicholas Clay as Patrick Redfern, philandering Latin teacher
Adriatic Sea, Summer 1939
Film: Evil Under the Sun
Release Date: March 5, 1982
Director: Guy Hamilton
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
1982’s Evil Under the Sun is a lavish adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1941 novel, jumping on the popularity of its successful predecessors Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile by stacking together a star-studded cast, dressing them up in expensive period costumes, and dropping them into a murder mystery in an exotic locale. Continue reading
Black Tie in Scarface – 1932 Style
Paul Muni (center) aims a Thompson submachine gun as Tony Camonte in Scarface (1932).
Vitals
Paul Muni as Tony Camonte, ruthless Italian-born bootlegger and mob enforcer
Chicago, Summer 1929
Film: Scarface
Release Date: April 9, 1932
Director: Howard Hawks
Background
The 1983 Scarface film starring Al Pacino is one of the most popular crime flicks out there, popular enough to warrant the first of many entries on this blog last week. Many people know that it is a remake (although I prefer to think of it as an “update”) of a 1932 film. This earlier movie, also entitled Scarface but given the morality-enforced subtitle The Shame of a Nation, is one of my favorite films of all time. Continue reading
Nucky Thompson’s Eveningwear
Steve Buscemi in non-traditional white tie as Nucky Thompson in the second episode of Boardwalk Empire.
Vitals
Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, corrupt Atlantic City treasurer and “half a gangster”
Atlantic City, January 1920
Series: Boardwalk Empire
Episodes:
– “Boardwalk Empire” (Episode 1.01, aired September 19, 2010, dir. Martin Scorsese)
– “The Ivory Tower” (Episode 1.02, aired September 26, 2010, dir. Tim Van Patten)
Creator: Terence Winter
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn
Tailor: Martin Greenfield
Background
The real “Nucky” Thompson—actually named Enoch L. Johnson—was born in 1883 and, like his semi-fictional TV counterpart, was raised in Atlantic City with both he and his father serving as sheriff. By 1920, he was the county treasurer and made much money from illegal bootlegging during Prohibition. Continue reading
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