Tagged: Levi’s Trucker Jacket
Blow: Johnny Depp’s Layered Denim on the Run
Johnny Depp as George Jung in Blow (2001)
Vitals
Johnny Depp as George Jung, fugitive pot dealer
Weymouth, Massachusetts, Fall 1973
Film: Blow
Release Date: April 6, 2001
Director: Ted Demme
Costume Designer: Mark Bridges
Background
Blow chronicles the chaotic career of real-life drug dealer George Jung, who evolved his marijuana-dealing enterprise into a dangerously successful cocaine-smuggling operation with the Medellín cartel until it all came crashing down around him. Continue reading
Warren Beatty’s Blue Levi’s Jacket in The Parallax View
Warren Beatty as Joe Frady in The Parallax View (1974)
Vitals
Warren Beatty as Joe Frady, maverick political reporter
Rural Washington state, Spring 1974
Film: The Parallax View
Release Date: June 14, 1974
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Costume Designer: Frank L. Thompson
Background
Happy birthday to Warren Beatty, born 84 years ago today on March 30, 1937. A rising star through the ’60s, Beatty established himself as a forced to be reckoned with when he spearheaded production of Bonnie & Clyde in 1967, not only starring in but producing the acclaimed gangster film. Following his innovative success with Bonnie & Clyde, Beatty slowed down his career to only occasional movies, frequently going several years without acting while putting much of his energy into political activism and—more notoriously—dating his way through many of Hollywood’s hottest before marrying Annette Bening after the two co-starred in Bugsy.
One of Beatty’s most notable post-Bonnie & Clyde films was The Parallax View, the second in a trio of Alan J. Pakula’s paranoid political thrillers of the ’70s. Continue reading
The Yakuza: Ken Takakura in Blue Denim
Ken Takakura as Ken Tanaka in The Yakuza (1974)
Vitals
Ken Takakura as Ken Tanaka, disciplined ex-Yakuza
Kyoto, Japan, Spring 1974
Film: The Yakuza
Release Date: December 28, 1974
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Dorothy Jeakins
Background
Today would have been the 90th birthday of Ken Takakura, the Nakama-born actor with a record four Japan Academy Prizes for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. His presence in yakuza films through the 1960s brought him to the attention of screenwriting brothers Leonard and Paul Schrader, who wrote their action drama The Yakuza with Takakura in mind. Continue reading
The Rum Diary: Kemp’s Off-White Corduroy Trucker Jacket
Johnny Depp in costume as Paul Kemp on the set of The Rum Diary (2009)
Vitals
Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp, expatriate American journalist
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Summer 1960
Film: The Rum Diary
Release Date: October 28, 2011
Director: Bruce Robinson
Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood
Background
The end of this week means the start of summer, arguably the strangest summer I’ll have experienced in my thirty years. The global coronavirus pandemic has seen the cancellation of sunny getaways, a halt in peanut or crackerjack sales at old ballgames, and consumers foregoing bathing suit deals in favor of fashionable face masks (like these Magnum, P.I.-inspired masks made by my friends at Aloha Funwear!)
In the spirit of what promises to be a surreal summer, I’m exploring a functional look extracted from the chaos of The Rum Diary, adapted from Hunter S. Thompson’s semi-roman à clef inspired by his brief career with the Puerto Rican sporting magazine El Sportivo. More than a decade after he portrayed HST surrogate Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Johnny Depp returned to star in this somewhat less successful adaptation of a chapter from his late friend’s life.
Martin Sheen in Badlands
Martin Sheen as Kit Carruthers in Badlands (1973)
Vitals
Martin Sheen as Kit Carruthers, garbage collector-turned-spree killer
South Dakota through the Montana Badlands, Spring 1959
Film: Badlands
Release Date: October 15, 1973
Director: Terrence Malick
Costume Designer: Rosanna Norton (uncredited)
Wardrobe Credit: Dona Baldwin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Terrence Malick made his impressive cinematic debut writing, producing, and directing Badlands, the romanticized re-interpretation of the infamously violent crime spree of Charles Starkweather and his teenage girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, that left ten dead across the Great Plains during eight brutal and bloody days in January 1958. Continue reading
Mad Men, 1970 Style – Don’s Denim Trucker Jacket
Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 7.14: “Person to Person”)
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, former ad man in search of himself
Bonneville Speedway, Utah, to California, Fall 1970
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “Person to Person” (Episode 7.14)
Air Date: May 17, 2015
Director: Matthew Weiner
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Moving forward has been the theme of Don Draper’s life, a trajectory made plainly simple at the start of the final episode of Mad Men as a denim-clad Dick Whitman barrels toward the viewers through the desert at more than 130 miles per hour.
Back in New York, Don’s naïve secretary Meredith (Stephanie Drake) shares her concern with Roger Sterling that her former boss may have died, ultimately suggesting that “I hope he’s in a better place.” Geographically, maybe. Mentally, absolutely.
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Ryan Gosling in Drive (2011).
Vitals
Ryan Gosling as an unnamed getaway driver and part-time stunt double
Los Angeles, Fall 2010
Film: Drive
Release Date: September 16, 2011
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Costume Designer: Erin Benach
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Drive is an excellent neo-noir throwback to the days of Point Blank, Bullitt, Taxi Driver, and The Driver, delivering a moody and stylish character study of a taciturn anti-hero navigating the violent L.A. underworld and his own emotions with existential angst. Continue reading
Justified – Raylan’s Double Denim and Red Plaid Shirt
Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on Justified (Episode 2.11: “Full Commitment”, 2011).
Vitals
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, old-fashioned and stoic Deputy U.S. Marshal
Harlan County, Kentucky, Spring 2010
Series: Justified
Episodes: “Fixer” (Episode 1.03), “The Collection” (Episode 1.06), and “Full Commitment” (Episode 2.11)
Air Dates: March 30, 2010 (1.03), April 20, 2010 (1.06), and April 20, 2011 (2.11)
Directors: Fred Keller (1.03), Rob Holcomb (1.06), and Peter Werner (2.11)
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designers: Ane Crabtree (Season 1) & Patia Prouty (Season 2)
Background
When America needed an American hero, Elmore Leonard gave us Raylan Givens. An independent-minded, old-fashioned, and gun-handy lawman, Raylan sees himself more as John Wayne than John McClane. The series began by establishing him as a no-nonsense U.S. Marshal who backs up his word when he gives a “gun thug” 24 hours to leave town. Once he’s transferred back to his birthplace among the blue-collar hillfolk of eastern Kentucky, he’s far more at home in his cowboy hat, riding boots, and jeans than he was in Miami. Continue reading
Luke Duke
Tom Wopat as Luke Duke in “High Octane”, Episode 1.05 of The Dukes of Hazzard.
Vitals
Tom Wopat as Luke Duke, ex-Marine & moonshiner
Hazzard County, Georgia*, Fall 1978
* best represented by Newton County, 35 miles east of Atlanta
Series: The Dukes of Hazzard
Creators: Gy Waldron & Jerry Rushing
Men’s Costume Supervisors: Bob Christenson & Joseph Roveto
Background
I know I said I wouldn’t do it, but the pull of the General Lee was too strong, and I finally decided enough car week posts had been written before I could officially sell out and write about my dream car, the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, and the show that immortalized it… The Dukes of Hazzard. Continue reading