Tagged: Jeans
Bonnie and Clyde: Michael J. Pollard’s Herringbone Jacket and Jeans as C.W.
Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss in Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
Vitals
Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss, slow-witted mechanic-turned-bank robber
Iowa, Summer 1933
Film: Bonnie & Clyde
Release Date: August 13, 1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
W.D. “Deacon” Jones may not be as famous as Bonnie Parker or Clyde Barrow, but the Dallas teenager was once among their closest companions in the notorious Barrow gang.
At only 16 years old, Jones was running jobs and riding shotgun on robberies, a role later blended with the gang’s informant Henry Methvin to create the fictionalized composite character C.W. Moss in Arthur Penn’s landmark 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde. Jones lived long enough to see the movie and admitted in a Playboy interview that “Moss was a dumb kid who run errands and done what Clyde told him… that was me, all right.”
Having survived countless shootouts during nearly a year riding with the Barrow gang, Jones ultimately couldn’t escape the fate that had claimed his contemporaries. Fifty-one years ago today in Houston during the early morning hours of August 20, 1974, the 58-year-old Jones was shot three times with a 12-gauge shotgun during an altercation outside a friend’s house. Continue reading
Point Break: Keanu Reeves’ Purple Skydiving Shirt and Jeans
Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah in Point Break (1991)
Vitals
Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah, ambitious FBI agent
Los Angeles, Summer 1991
Film: Point Break
Release Date: July 12, 1991
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Costume Supervisors: Colby P. Bart & Louis Infante
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Not only was Point Break widely released 34 years ago today on July 12, 1991, but the second Saturday in July is also World Skydiving Day, so of course we’ll be following OSU quarterback-turned-FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) as this one radical son-of-a-bitch jumps from a plane with the gang of bank-robbing surfers led by the enigmatic Bodhi (Patrick Swayze)… twice! Continue reading
Duster: Josh Holloway’s Black Zip Polo and 1970 Plymouth
Josh Holloway as Jim Ellis in the pilot episode of Duster. Photo credit: James Van Evers.
Vitals
Josh Holloway as Jim Ellis, getaway driver and Army veteran
American Southwest, Summer 1972
Series: Duster
Episode: “Baltimore Changes Everything” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: May 15, 2025
Director: Steph Green
Created by: J.J. Abrams & LaToya Morgan
Costume Designer: Dayna Pink
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of the most fun new shows of 2025 is Duster, a breezy-yet-badass crime thriller that screeched onto HBO Max this spring and just wrapped its first season last week. Despite my current enthusiasm for the series, its initial announcement prompted what can only be described as deeply conflicted car-guy feelings—equal parts excited (a ’70s-set crime series starring my dream car? yes, please) and irrationally anxious (what if this makes Dusters too popular for me to afford one?)
Once I decided that this was a ridiculous basis for resentment, I locked into Duster—and I’m glad I did! Duster delivers plenty of stylish retro fun, complete with a swaggering soundtrack, Dayna Pink’s period-perfect costume design, and a rubber-burning parade of car stunts performed by both veteran stuntman Corey Eubanks and series star Josh Holloway.
Set against the dusty backdrop of the American southwest in 1972, Duster stars Holloway as a talented getaway driver who gets recruited by the FBI’s first Black woman agent Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson) to turn against his employer, Phoenix crime boss Ezra “Sax” Saxton (Keith David)—described by one of Nina’s new colleagues as “the Southwest Al Capone.” (The FBI didn’t actually hire its first Black woman agent until four years later, when 27-year-old Sylvia Mathis graduated from the FBI Academy in June 1976.)
As one of the few who had never seen Lost, I was unfamiliar with Holloway before the series, but he’s terrific as the ruggedly charming Jim Ellis, sharing an easy chemistry with the excellent Rachel Hilson as the two work against a characteristically cool-as-hell Keith David. And of course, we’re treated to plenty of Mopar muscle action, scratching my Vanishing Point-sized itch.
Following the first-season finale last week, let’s wrap up this summer’s Car Week with our introduction to Jim as he tears through Arizona’s desert highways with his precocious niece Luna (Adriana Aluna Martinez) in that sharp red-and-black V8-powered ’70 Duster. Continue reading
Back to the Future: Marty McFly’s Denim and DeLorean from 1985 to 1955
Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in Back to the Future (1985)
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Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, time-traveling high schooler and guitarist
Hill Valley, California, Fall 1985—then 1955
Film: Back to the Future
Release Date: July 3, 1985
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Costume Designer: Deborah Lynn Scott
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
If my calculations are correct… anyone with a functioning DeLorean time machine who punches in July 3, 1985 and floors it to 88 mph would indeed see some serious shit—the release of Back to the Future, which premiered 40 years ago today.
One of the most celebrated movies of all time (and featuring the now-iconic DeLorean very appropriate for Car Week), Back to the Future became an instant cultural phenomenon upon release. It earned an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing, grossed over $380 million worldwide to become the top-earning movie of 1985, and propelled the careers of director and co-writer Robert Zemeckis (then riding high off Romancing the Stone) and star Michael J. Fox (best known at the time for playing Reaganite teen Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties), who replaced Eric Stoltz in the now-iconic role of Marty McFly. Continue reading
Jaws: Roy Scheider’s Layers at Sea as Chief Brody
Roy Scheider as Martin Brody in Jaws (1975)
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Roy Scheider as Martin Brody, pragmatic island police chief
Off the coast of Amity Island, July 1974
Film: Jaws
Release Date: June 20, 1975
Director: Steven Spielberg
Costume Design: Louise Clark, Robert Ellsworth, and Irwin Rose
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the 50th anniversary since Jaws first swam into theaters on June 20, 1975, redefining the summer blockbuster and establishing Steven Spielberg as a major director. In addition to breaking box office records and winning three Academy Awards (including one for John Williams’ iconic score), Jaws continues to succeed as a thriller, still terrifying generations with its portrayal of danger lurking beneath the waves.
Adapted from Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel of the same name, the story is relatively simple: after a string of deadly shark attacks off the coast of the fictional Amity Island (filmed on Martha’s Vineyard), three men—grizzled shark-hunter Quint (Robert Shaw), passionate oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and Amity’s aquaphobic new police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider)—set out aboard Quint’s boat to hunt the creature terrorizing the island’s residents and tourists. Continue reading
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan: Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown
Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown (2024). Photo by Macall Polay.
Vitals
Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, folk singer-songwriter
New York City and Monterey, California, Spring to Summer 1963
Film: A Complete Unknown
Release Date: December 25, 2024
Director: James Mangold
Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips
Jacket Maker: Jimmy McBride
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 84th birthday, Bob Dylan! Born as Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, the iconoclastic musician’s early career was recently depicted in James Mangold’s biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet. Chalamet’s extensive work to achieve Dylan’s distinctive voice, mannerisms, and playing style resulted in a characteristically dedicated performance that earned the actor his second Academy Award nomination—one of eight total for the film, including Best Picture.
A Complete Unknown begins in early 1961 when the young Minnesota-born troubadour arrives in New York City, seeking out his ailing idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). As Dylan’s star power evolves among the Greenwich Village folk scene, so do his tumultuous relationships and friendships with contemporaries like Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook)—who had previously been the subject of the Mangold-directed 2005 biopic Walk the Line starring Joaquin Phoenix.
Adapted from Elijah Wald’s nonfiction volume Dylan Goes Electric!, the film spans these four crucial years of Dylan’s early career leading up to his controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, fifty years ago this summer.
Dylan’s primary motivation through A Complete Unknown is presented as total musical freedom, often at the cost of public popularity or traditional friendships. Baez and other characters bemoan their struggle to know Dylan on a deeper level; indeed, some reviewers even cited this as a flaw of the film—however, I see it as part of its overall thesis: even after a career of 60+ years and hundreds of compositions and recordings, Dylan remains the titular “complete unknown”, to borrow a lyrics from his 1965 hit “Like a Rolling Stone”. The only human connection that never frustrates the cinematic Dylan is his bond with Woody Guthrie, centered purely around music—and no doubt helped by the fact that Woody’s medical condition has rendered him all but mute, never asking Dylan anything about himself that he doesn’t want to answer.
After his self-titled first album is comprised primarily of cover songs, Dylan embraces the opportunity to make a stronger musical signature by recording more original tracks on his follow-up record, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. A Complete Unknown very briefly depicts CBS staff photographer Don Hunstein’s cover photo shoot on the streets of Greenwich Village in February 1963, with a casually dressed Dylan and his then-girlfriend, Suze Rotolo—renamed at Dylan’s own request to “Sylvie Russo” (Elle Fanning) for the screen, citing that the late Ms. Rotolo was one of the few people in his life who never sought fame.
“It is one of those cultural markers that influenced the look of album covers precisely because of its casual down-home spontaneity and sensibility,” Rotolo wrote in her memoir, A Freewheelin’ Time. “Most albums were carefully staged and controlled, to terrific effect on the Blue Note jazz album covers… and to not-so-great effect on the perfectly posed and clean-cut pop and folks albums. Whoever was responsible for choosing that particular photograph for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan really had an eye for a new look.”
Under the Silver Lake: Andrew Garfield’s Wood Badge T-Shirt
Andrew Garfield in Under the Silver Lake (2018)
Vitals
Andrew Garfield as Sam, sensitive stoner and conspiracy theorist
Los Angeles, Late Summer 2011
Film: Under the Silver Lake
Release Date: April 19, 2019
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Costume Designer: Caroline Eselin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
David Robert Mitchell’s surrealist neo-noir Under the Silver Lake premiered seven years ago today during the 71st Cannes Film Festival, nearly a year before it was finally released theatrically by A24 in April 2019.
Andrew Garfield stars as Sam, a stoner in his early 30s whose interests of comics, classic movies, and conspiracy theories combine when he begins investigating the disappearance of his attractive neighbor Sarah (Riley Keough), the day after they met at the pool in his apartment complex. The two spend the evening getting high and watching How to Marry a Millionaire, only to be interrupted when her roommates return to the apartment. Sam returns the next morning to find that Sam and her roommates have swiftly moved out with no indication regarding what happened—aside from a mysterious symbol pointed on the wall. Continue reading
Moonrunners: Kiel Martin’s Fringed Buckskin Jacket and Blue Jeans
Kiel Martin in Moonrunners (1975)
Vitals
Kiel Martin as Bobby Lee Hagg, daredevil moonshine driver and part-time guitar picker
Georgia, Fall 1973
Film: Moonrunners
Release Date: May 14, 1975
Director: Gy Waldron
Costume Designer: Patty Shaw
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Two rambunctious and fast-driving cousins speed through a fictional county in the deep south, running moonshine for their uncle Jesse while evading local sheriff Roscoe Coltrane and his connections to a corrupt local crime boss who drives a white Cadillac—all set to the music and homespun voiceover of outlaw country legend Waylon Jennings. And no, I’m not talking about The Dukes of Hazzard.
Four years before the Dukes debuted on CBS, Gy Waldron’s B-movie Moonrunners premiered in drive-in theaters across the South fifty years ago tomorrow on May 14, 1975.
Moonrunners could have been lost in the traffic jam of cheap ’70s hick flicks about moonshine and muscle cars until it was plucked from potential obscurity by Warner Brothers’ perplexing—but indeed prophetic—suggestion that it could form the basis for a successful TV show. Now best known as the rawer progenitor to The Dukes of Hazzard, Moonrunners has essentially all the same elements and characters but distilled into a dirtier, hornier jar of shine—seasoned with the visceral authenticity that comes from filming on location in rural Georgia and not a WB backlot. Continue reading
The Panic in Needle Park: Al Pacino’s Deck Jacket and Layers
Al Pacino and Kitty Winn in The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Vitals
Al Pacino as Bobby, desperate drug addict
New York City, Fall 1970
Film: The Panic in Needle Park
Release Date: July 13, 1971
Director: Jerry Schatzberg
Costume Designer: Jo Ynocencio
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On Al Pacino’s 85th birthday, let’s look back at the Manhattan-born actor’s first leading screen role that launched his prolific career.
Born April 25, 1940, Pacino studied acting through the ’60s at the HB Studio and Actors Studio, which led to a handful of acclaimed stage roles. His manager, Martin Bregman, then helped him land what would become his breakout film performance as hustler and heroin addict Bobby in The Panic in Needle Park, directed by Bregman’s fellow client Jerry Schatzberg, a photographer who had just completed his directorial debut Puzzle of a Downfall Child.
“I had made my theater bones playing these types of street characters, so I was grateful to have that choice for a first film,” Pacino later recalled in his 2024 memoir Sonny Boy. “The Panic in Needle Park turned out to be a showcase for me. It’s still lauded today, and Jerry Schatzberg did such a magnificent job.”
Written by John Didion and John Gregory Dunne, The Panic in Needle Park centers around Bobby and his girlfriend Helen (Kitty Winn), navigating their worsening heroin addictions among a network of fellow junkies whose presence in a section of New York’s Upper West Side resulted in the titular “Needle Park” nickname. Continue reading
The Departed: Jack Nicholson’s Seersucker Sport Jacket
Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello in The Departed (2006)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as Francis “Frank” Costello, sadistic Irish-American mob boss
Boston, Spring 2007
Film: The Departed
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
With 12 Academy Award nominations (and three wins), today’s birthday boy Jack Nicholson remains the most-nominated male actor in Oscar history. Following a prolific career that began in the late 1950s, Nicholson delivered one final characteristically intense performance in The Departed (2006), his first—and, given his decades-long retirement from acting, only—collaboration with director Martin Scorsese. Continue reading
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