Tagged: Jeans
Interstellar: Matthew McConaughey’s Heritage Workwear and Hamilton Watch
Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar (2014). Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon.
Vitals
Matthew McConaughey as Joseph “Coop” Cooper, resourceful NASA pilot-turned-farmer and widowed family man
Colorado, Spring 2067
Film: Interstellar
Release Date: November 5, 2014
Director: Christopher Nolan
Costume Designer: Mary Zophres
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Born 57 years ago today on November 4, 1969, Matthew McConaughey was in the midst of his celebrated “McConaissance” when he starred in Christopher Nolan’s 2014 sci-fi epic Interstellar, which opened in select theaters one day after the actor’s 45th birthday. The charismatic Texan had spent two decades building an eclectic career, from his stoner breakthrough in Dazed and Confused (1993) through a succession of dramatic leading roles and romantic comedies. Following a brief hiatus, McConaughey returned to the screen on the other side of 40 with a renewed focus on more challenging material, culminating in his Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club (2013) and his unforgettable turn as nihilistic detective Rust Cohle in the first season of HBO’s True Detective.
Interstellar marked McConaughey’s first—and, to date, only—collaboration with Nolan, who sets his ambitious spacefaring saga in a dystopian future where catastrophic blight and widespread famine threaten humanity with extinction. McConaughey stars as Joseph “Coop” Cooper, a widowed former NASA pilot now raising his teenage son Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and 10-year-old daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy) on a dusty corn farm in the Great Plains. When Coop and Murph follow a series of seemingly supernatural clues to a clandestine NASA facility, they encounter Professor John Brand (Michael Caine) and his daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway), who are preparing a desperate mission to identify habitable worlds beyond our solar system. Coop’s experience as a skilled aviator makes him an ideal candidate to pilot the expedition, though accepting the assignment means leaving his children behind for what could be years—or even a lifetime.
Coop: So if we find a home… then what?
Professor Brand: That’s the long shot.
Though Coop is motivated by the hope of securing a better future for his children, his decision to leave devastates Murph, who feels betrayed by the father she fears she’ll never see again. As a parting gift, Coop gives her a watch—specially designed for the film by Hamilton—to accompany the Hamilton timepiece he wears himself. Continue reading
Shaft in Africa: Richard Roundtree’s Workwear
Richard Roundtree as John Shaft in Shaft in Africa (1973)
Vitals
Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, tough private detective
Ethiopia to Paris, Winter 1972
Film: Shaft in Africa
Release Date: June 20, 1973
Director: John Guillermin
Wardrobe Credit: Frank Balchus
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Who’s the cat that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about? Shaft! (Right on.)
The groundbreaking role of private investigator John Shaft was originated across three films in the early 1970s by Richard Roundtree, who died three years ago today on October 24, 2023. After successful back-to-back installments set in Shaft’s native New York City, the character crossed the ocean for the bluntly titled 1973 sequel Shaft in Africa. Continue reading
Lanterns: Kyle Chandler’s Weathered Wardrobe as Hal Jordan
I’m pleased to again present a guest post contributed by my friend Ken Stauffer, who has written several pieces for BAMF Style previously and chronicles the style of the Ocean’s film series (and beyond!) on his excellent Instagram account, @oceansographer.
Kyle Chandler in Lanterns. Photo credit: John Johnson/HBO Max.
Vitals
Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, cocky former test pilot and Green Lantern of Sector 2814
Coast City, California, Summer 1975 and 1996, and
Rushville, Nebraska, Fall 2016 and 2026
Series: Lanterns
Air Dates: August 16-October 4, 2026
Created by: Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King
Costume Designer: Cynthia Ann Summers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
While most comic fans regard Hal Jordan as one of the medium’s most recognizable heroes, the pre-eminent Green Lantern of Earth, the character has really had a rough go in live action. Created by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane, Jordan debuted in DC Comics’ Showcase #22 in 1959, succeeding Alan Scott as the second human to use that superhero moniker. When finally brought to life on the big screen by Ryan Reynolds in 2011, the movie’s overwhelmingly negative reception made the character untouchable for mainstream audiences for years to come.
Fifteen years later, DC Studios was finally ready to give Hal another opportunity to prove his worth, this time on HBO. To distance this interpretation from the last in the audience’s mind, a decision was made to shift the focus of Lanterns from spectacle to story, from special effects to character. The show deliberately takes a more grounded (not to mention cheaper!) approach, setting its character-driven mystery primarily in Middle America, à la True Detective. So rather than sending its protagonists on a galaxy-hopping adventure battling a host of CGI extraterrestrials, we see our heroes confront aliens and cyborgs (convincingly disguised as humans) in very recognizable environments, even when they’re briefly on another planet.
But who could bring this fantastic character back down to Earth, making him seem equally at home downing shots of whiskey in a roadside bar as soaring through outer space? Who could possibly make him feel convincingly lived in with just the right combination of rakish charm and dogged grit?
Enter Kyle Chandler. Continue reading
The Departed: Leo’s Leather Belstaff Jacket as Billy Costigan
Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan in The Departed (2006)
Vitals
Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan, undercover Massachusetts State Police trooper
Boston, Fall 2006 to Spring 2007
Film: The Departed
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Departed was widely released 20 years ago today on October 6, 2006, days after its September 26th premiere at the Ziegfield Theater. William Monahan adapted the material from the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, also taking inspiration from real-life Boston crime figures like Winter Hill Gang leader Whitey Bulger and his crooked FBI handler, John Connolly. After six nominations, the prolific Martin Scorsese finally won his first Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed—which was also honored with Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay to Monahan, and Best Film Editing to Scorsese’s regular collaborator, Thelma Schoonmaker.
This was also Scorsese’s third consecutive collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, who stars as the working-class Massachusetts State Police (MSP) recruit Billy Costigan tapped by Captain Oliver Queenan (Martin Sheen) to infiltrate a ruthless Boston mob run by Francis “Frank” Costello (Jack Nicholson). Continue reading
The Four Seasons: Alan Alda’s Fall Soccer Sweatshirt and Wranglers
Alan Alda in The Four Seasons (1981)
Vitals
Alan Alda as Jack Burroughs, married lawyer
Connecticut, Fall 1980
Film: The Four Seasons
Release Date: May 22, 1981
Director: Alan Alda
Costume Designer: Jane Greenwood
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The start of each new season this year tends to send me back to The Four Seasons for content. Written and directed by Alan Alda, this 1981 comedy follows three couples on their seasonal group trips as they navigate their own complicated relationships.
Alda stars as Jack Burroughs, stably centered in a marriage with Kate (Carol Burnett), who typically plans each vacation. The fall trip follows the Burroughses and their four friends up to Connecticut for Parents’ Weekend with two of their daughters who are enrolled in the same college, resulting in a hyper-competitive soccer game which reveals a deeper conflict within the group, from Jack’s anger at the womanizing Nick (Len Cariou) to Kate’s resentment at having to plan each trip. Continue reading
When Harry Met Sally: Billy Crystal’s Field Jacket as Harry
Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Vitals
Billy Crystal as Harry Burns, sarcastic political consultant and recent divorcée
New York City, Fall 1988
Film: When Harry Met Sally…
Release Date: July 14, 1989
Director: Rob Reiner
Costume Designer: Gloria Gresham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Rob Reiner’s 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally is often (deservedly) included on lists compiling the greatest fall movies. As tomorrow will be the first day of autumn here, I return to my own frequent celebration of Billy Crystal’s fall wardrobe as Harry—specifically during his fateful visit to comfort Sally (Meg Ryan) at her apartment after she learns that her ex-boyfriend is getting married. Continue reading
Burt Reynolds in Double Denim as Gator McKlusky
Burt Reynolds in Gator (1976)
Vitals
Burt Reynolds as Bobby “Gator” McKlusky, paroled moonshine runner
Okefanokee Swamp, Summer 1975
Film: Gator
Release Date: August 25, 1976
Director: Burt Reynolds
Costume Designer: Norman Salling
Background
Burt Reynolds followed up his sweaty 1973 “hick flick” White Lightning with his self-directed sequel Gator, widely released 50 years ago today on August 25, 1976. The three-year gap had been kind to Reynolds, who had since grown his stardom… and that trademark mustache. (Unlike Sterling Archer, I prefer White Lightning over its lighter-hearted sequel.)
Reynolds reprises his role as moonshiner Bobby “Gator” McKlusky, recently released after serving 26 months in a Georgia state prison where he proudly learned how to make “quality license plates”. As in White Lightning, Gator is called back into government service, this time to help nab his one-time pal “Bama” McCall (Jerry Reed), now a ruthless crime boss in the fictional Dunston County. Of course, the government has to catch Gator first, kicking things off with a raucous speedboat chase through the Okefanokee Swamp. Continue reading
John Saxon’s Floral-collared Chambray Shirt in Moonshine County Express
John Saxon in Moonshine County Express (1977)
Vitals
John Saxon as J.B. Johnson, race car driver and occasional moonshine runner
Jackson County, Kentucky, Fall 1976
Film: Moonshine County Express
Release Date: June 1, 1977
Director: Gus Trikonis
Wardrobe Coordinator: Adrianne Levesque
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Moonshine County Express was produced by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in 1977 during the height of the cinematic “hick flick” trend that often posited guys like Burt Reynolds as rural heroes driving fast cars full of booze. Directed by Corman favorite Gus Trikonis, Moonshine County Express stars the late John Saxon in its central role—no doubt due to the actor’s own considerable talent and his resemblance to a pre-mustached Reynolds—as well as Susan Howard, William Conrad, a post-Brady Bunch Maureen McCormick as a Daisy Duke protoype, and “hick flick” regulars Jeff Corey and Dub Taylor; Seinfeld fans may also recognize Uncle Leo (aka Len Lesser) in a supporting role as a bargain barn owner. (Both Saxon and McCormick share their August 5th birthday, with McCormick celebrating her 70th today while Saxon would have turned 90 this year.)
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! Except it’s Betty, Sissy, and Dot.
It would be hard to recommend in good faith to all my readers, but Moonshine County Express is the kind of movie you throw on when you want that raw, Southern-fried tale of fast-driivng whiskey runners in the same authentic, dobro-twanging, semi-exploitative ilk as Moonrunners, the 1975 B-movie that directly inspired The Dukes of Hazzard, though Moonshine County Express also features many of the elements that would be familiar in Hazzard County: a corrupt and corpulent county boss, a white-suited antagonist, short-shorted Southern beauties, and a liquor-hauling hero speeding around in a Dodge muscle car. Continue reading
Sam Elliott’s Aloha Shirt in Lifeguard
Sam Elliott in Lifeguard (1976)
Vitals
Sam Elliott as Rick Carlson, charismatic 32-year-old beach lifeguard
Southern California, Summer 1975
Film: Lifeguard
Release Date: July 23, 1976
Director: Daniel Petrie
Wardrobe Credit: Margo Baxley
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Before his magnificent mustache and gravely voice made him a mainstay of Westerns, Sam Elliott’s breakthrough performance was in the romantic drama Lifeguard, released fifty years ago today on July 23, 1976.
In the half-century since its release, Lifeguard continues to polarize audiences as some praise it as a thoughtful character stufy of American masculinity in crisis while others disregard it as a vapid endorsement of statutory rape. While my own response falls somewhere in between, I do agree with even the film’s detractors that Sam Elliott’s undeniable charisma can’t help but to shine through even the more problematic elements of Ron Koslow’s screenplay. As the filmmakers cycled through potential leads like Beau Bridges and Adam Roarke, Elliott was considered after director Dan Petrie and his wife Dorothea noticed the actor’s masculine yet mustache-less performance opposite Roarke in the 1972 eco-horror film Frogs.
A former lifeguard himself, Elliott stars as a career lifeguard Rick Carlson working the beaches of Los Angeles County, where his easy-go-lucky barefoot life picking up chicks is washed into an identity crisis after he receives an invitation to his 15-year high school reunion while also countering his father (George D. Wallace) constantly criticizing his vocation: “You know what’s crazy? I still wonder what you’re gonna be when you grow up!” Although swayed by the promise of more “acceptable” success selling Porsches in the Valley, Rick ultimately decides to continue his sun-baked career as a professional lifeguard, having honed his abilities to the point where the only drowning allowed on his beach is drowning in tail. Continue reading
Paris, Texas: Harry Dean Stanton’s Red Road Trip Shirt and Ranchero
Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas (1984)
Vitals
Harry Dean Stanton as Travis Henderson, once-wandering drifter
Los Angeles to Houston, Fall 1983
Film: Paris, Texas
Release Date: September 19, 1984
Director: Wim Wenders
Costume Designer: Birgitta Bjerke
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my favorite actors, Harry Dean Stanton, was born 100 years ago today on July 14, 1926 in Kentucky. Following his U.S. Navy service during World War II, Stanton began an acting career that lasted more than six decades until his death from heart failure at age 91 in September 2017 after completing his penultimate film Lucky, which also afforded Stanton the rare starring role. He was a close, respected friend of many A-listers like Francis Ford Coppola, David Lynch, and Jack Nicholson, who included Stanton as best man in his 1962 wedding and habitually scrawled “H.D. Stanton” on the sets of his films.
Stanton typically made the most of supporting roles in films like Cool Hand Luke (1967), Dillinger (1973), The Godfather Part II (1974), Alien (1979), Escape from New York (1981), Christine (1983), Red Dawn (1984), Pretty in Pink (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Green Mile (1999), and The Avengers (2012)—a filmography so prolific that Roger Ebert once declared that, with the sole exception of Dream a Little Dream (1989), “no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.”
Despite his prolific supporting career, Stanton was cast in leading parts for back-to-back films released in 1984: Alex Cox’s dark sci-fi comedy Repo Man and Wim Wenders’ elegiac road drama Paris, Texas. The latter won the Palme d’Or when it premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival and, though overlooked by most American award bodies, has grown its cult reputation as one of the greatest movies ever made. With additional style provided by Ry Cooder’s original score and Robby Müller’s masterful cinematography, the script was written by L.M. Kit Carson and Sam Shepard, who offered Stanton the part after the two connected at a Santa Fe film festival. Continue reading
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