Tagged: French Cuff Shirt
American Gangster: Frank Lucas’ Striped Tan Suit
Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas in American Gangster (2007).
Vitals
Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas, heroin kingpin
Harlem, January 1973
Film: American Gangster
Release Date: November 2, 2007
Director: Ridley Scott
Costume Designer: Janty Yates
Tailor: Leonard Logsdail
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Frank Lucas takes pride in not looking too flashy like some of his contemporary gangster pals, but this suit is a considerable – though not unattractive – exception to his rule. However, it’s telling that this is one of the last outfits that Frank wears before his eventual arrest. Continue reading
Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris
Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris (2011).
Vitals
Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway, macho expatriate American novelist
Paris, 1920s
Film: Midnight in Paris
Release Date: May 20, 2011
Director: Woody Allen
Costume Designer: Sonia Grande
Background
Today is my 27th birthday, a day that I proudly share with brilliant artists like Ernest Hemingway, Robin Williams, Hart Crane, and even a few non-suicidal ones like Don Knotts, Cat Stevens, and Kay Starr.
Hemingway is arguably the most world-famous of my shared birthday buddies, and – at the time that he turned 27 – he was a war-haunted expatriate living the Parisian high life with a promising new novel just months shy of its publication. In fact, Hemingway had begun scribing The Sun Also Rises exactly a year earlier on his 26th birthday, July 21, 1925. Continue reading
Magic City: Ben the Butcher’s Baby Blue Shirt
Danny Huston as Ben Diamond in “Feeding Frenzy”, episode 1.02 of Magic City (2012-2013).
Vitals
Danny Huston as Ben “the Butcher” Diamond, sadistic and volatile Miami gangster
Miami Beach, spring 1959
Series: Magic City
Episodes:
– “Feeding Frenzy” (Episode 1.02, dir: Ed Bianchi, aired April 13, 2012)
– “Who’s the Horse and Who’s the Rider?” (Episode 1.07, dir: Nick Gomez, aired May 18, 2012)
– “Adapt or Die” (Episode 2.03, dir: Ed Bianchi, aired June 28, 2013)
Creator: Mitch Glazer
Costume Designer: Carol Ramsey Continue reading
David Niven’s Blazer in Death on the Nile
David Niven as Colonel Race in Death on the Nile (1978).
Vitals
David Niven as Colonel Johnny Race, dignified lawyer and war veteran
Egypt, September 1937
Film: Death on the Nile
Release Date: September 29, 1978
Director: John Guillermin
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As we in the Northern Hemisphere enjoy the first full day of summer, BAMF Style is focusing on a classic warm weather look from the quintessential gentleman, David Niven. Niven’s character, Colonel Johnny Race, was written as an MI5 agent in Christie’s novels but appears here to be more of a lawyer who is tasked with a murder investigation due to his long friendship with Poirot and his dignified upper class standing.
David Niven was one of many stars featured in the trio of lavish Agatha Christie murder mystery adaptations in the ’70s and ’80s that were often studded with a cavalcade of international acting talent. 1978’s Death on the Nile alone featured Niven, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, and Maggie Smith plus the decade’s Shakespearean newcomers Jon Finch and Olivia Hussey as well as Jack “that’s what I call fuckin'” Warden. Peter Ustinov took over the role of the eccentric, brilliant, and pompous Hercule Poirot – a role he would play five more times – in a perfect example of marketing a famously mustached character without overdoing it.
Although the “series” was sumptuously costumed with period attire for all, Anthony Powell’s costume design talent won him both the Academy Award and the BAFTA for Death on the Nile. (It’s worth mentioning that Tony Walton’s costume design for Murder on the Orient Express had been nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA, and Powell’s work on Evil Under the Sun has been thrice featured on BAMF Style already.)
What’d He Wear?
Colonel Race exudes British military elegance in his double-breasted navy blazer, white trousers and shoes, and regimental striped tie. Continue reading
Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction
Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction (1994).
Vitals
Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolf, problem solver
Los Angeles, Summer 1992
Film: Pulp Fiction
Release Date: October 14, 1994
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann
Background
I’m Winston Wolf. I solve problems.
Last Friday, Harvey Keitel turned 77 years old, a birthday that was almost certainly celebrated by Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino has stated that “Harvey had been my favorite actor since I was 16 years old,” so he penned the character of criminal fixer Winston Wolf – and according to the screenplay, it is Wolf and not Wolfe – specifically for Keitel. Two years earlier, the actor’s involvement in Reservoir Dogs as the pragmatic career criminal “Mr. White” helped shoot Q.T. onto the map of filmmakers to watch. The Wolf may have also been a nod to Keitel’s role as Victor, the ruthlessly efficient “cleaner” in 1993’s Point of No Return. Continue reading
Chinatown – J.J. Gittes’ Glen Plaid Suit
Jack Nicholson as private eye J.J. Gittes in Chinatown (1974)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and ex-policeman
Los Angeles, September 1937
Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Chinatown begins in the spirit of the best of film noir, with a private eye getting a case promised to be filled with sex and violence and fueled with countless cigarettes and potent whiskey. Gittes, resplendent in a creamy white three-piece suit, accepts the case from Mrs. Mulwray to follow her husband Hollis to determine if he is having an affair.
Hollis Mulwray is the head of L.A.’s Department of Water and Power, so Gittes first tracks him down to a public hearing where Mulwray is at the center of the controversial construction of a dam that would supposedly bring more water to L.A. Gittes is able to learn next to nothing about the man’s sexual proclivities from the meeting, but he does seem surprised that his subject is a mousy, conservative public servant and not a swaggering lothario. Continue reading
Gordon Gekko’s Charcoal Double-Breasted Suit
Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987).
Vitals
Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, unscrupulously 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
BAMF Style is back to business on this Monday morning, taking a suggestion from readers Jose, Andrey, and Ryan to heed the style—if not the business ethos—of Gordon Gekko, the corporate business raider of Wall Street who managed the task of making Charlie Sheen look like not such a bad guy.
“Greed…is good,” is how Wall Street is often best remembered, paraphrasing the famous speech given by Gekko while also summarizing his drive. Although frequently included in lists of “The 100 Greatest Movie Lines” (#57 by AFI and #70 by Premiere), it’s perhaps even more unnerving to know that it was inspired by the real words of stock trader Ivan Boesky. In 1986, the year before Wall Street was made, Boesky told the graduating class at the University of California:
Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.
Of course, Boesky became infamous for paying $100 million that year to the SEC to settle insider trading charges, but the damage was done and the dangerous “greed is good” mentality led to a generation redefining capitalism with unrestrained avarice. Two decades later, everyone from Australian PM Kevin Rudd to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone cited the “greed is good” ideology as a direct cause of the 2007 financial crisis. “It is perhaps time now to admit that we did not learn the full lessons of the greed-is-good ideology,” realized Rudd in a 2008 speech. “We are still cleaning up the mess of the 21st-century children of Gordon Gekko.” Continue reading
Carlito Brigante’s Dressed-Up Black Leather Coat
Al Pacino as Carlito Brigante in Carlito’s Way (1993).
Vitals
Al Pacino as Carlito “Charlie” Brigante, paroled nightclub owner and former heroin dealer
New York City, September 1975
Film: Carlito’s Way
Release Date: November 3, 1993
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Aude Bronson-Howard
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Ten years after the wild success of Scarface, Al Pacino strapped on a gat and stepped in front of Brian De Palma’s camera as Carlito Brigante, the character developed in Judge Edwin Torres’ 1970s crime novels Carlito’s Way and After Hours. Despite its title, Carlito’s Way is primarily based on the latter novel, depicting Carlito’s desperate attempts to “go straight” after yet another release from prison. Continue reading
The Sopranos: Tony’s Pale Blue Sportcoat in “Two Tonys”
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in “Two Tonys”, episode 5.01 of The Sopranos.
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, Jersey mob boss and conflicted family man
New Jersey, March 2004
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Two Tonys” (Episode 5.01)
Air Date: March 7, 2004
Director: Tim Van Patten
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
Background
Easter is right around the corner, so BAMF Style is taking this Mafia Monday to look at a brightly-dressed family man.
Recently inspired by The Prince of Tides (by all things), Tony decided the time was right to escalate his therapy by actually dating his therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi. Following up on his gift of flowers—accompanied by a gallon of Tide detergent—he is persistent in his desire to see her socially, despite her outright refusal. When finally pushed to her limits by him, Dr. Melfi lists off the things about him as a person that don’t appeal to her—including, you know, being a criminal—and he doesn’t take it well. Continue reading
Don Draper’s Black Tie in 1960
Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 1.05: “5G”).
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious and award-winning Madison Avenue ad man
Ossining, New York, Spring 1960
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “5G” (Episode 1.05)
Air Date: August 16, 2007
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
Happy birthday to Jon Hamm, born today in 1971!
While Jon is celebrating his birthday, Don Draper also had a reason to celebrate in “5G” after winning the Newkie(?) award. Although Don is dubious about his own achievements, Betty (January Jones) is very proud of him. Don had reason for concern, though, as his photo in Advertising Age gets him some unwanted attention. Continue reading
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