Tagged: Los Angeles
True Detective – Ray Velcoro’s Denim Wrangler Jacket
Colin Farrell as Ray Velcoro on the second season of True Detective (Episode 2.04: “Down Will Come”)
Vitals
Colin Farrell as Ray Velcoro, troubled and crooked Vinci PD detective
Ventura County, California, fall 2014 to spring 2015
Series: True Detective
Season: 2
Air Dates: June 21, 2015 – August 9, 2015
Creator: Nic Pizzolatto
Costume Designer: Alix Friedberg
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
True Detective returns to HBO tonight with the premiere of its third season, which has been suggested to be a return to form after the poorly received second season, which aired three and a half years ago.
The second season was a well-intended—if not perfectly executed—departure from the first season, transporting us from the evocative Louisiana swamplands to the noir-esque metropolis of southern California, experienced through the shifting perspectives and murky morals of three cops and an ambitious gangster. While all four shared the spotlight throughout the series, Colin Farrell’s Ray Velcoro emerged as the show’s likeliest contender for central character.
Sammy Davis Jr.’s Gray Jacket in Ocean’s 11
Sammy Davis Jr. and his Ocean’s Eleven (1960) cast mates Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. (Photo by Sid Avery)
Vitals
Sammy Davis Jr. as Josh Howard, sanitation worker and World War II veteran
Beverly Hills, December 1959
Film: Ocean’s Eleven
Release Date: August 10, 1960
Director: Lewis Milestone
Costume Designer: Howard Shoup
Tailor: Sy Devore
Background
The days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve are an ideal week for reunions. In the Rat Pack’s arguably most famous film, Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra) organizes a reunion of eleven men from his 82nd Airborne unit for a heist to ring in the new year.
After deciding not to attempt the life of “a one-eyed third baseman in Mobile,” former paratrooper Josh Howard (Sammy Davis Jr.) took a job in sanitation. “Trash is where you find it,” Josh explains. “You gotta follow the fleet!” Continue reading
New Girl – Nick’s Holiday Party Tweed for “The 23rd”
Jake Johnson as Nick Miller on New Girl (Episode 1.09: “The 23rd”)
Vitals
Jake Johnson as Nick Miller, grumpy bartender
Los Angeles, December 23, 2010 (“Christmas Eve Eve“)
Series: New Girl
Episode: “The 23rd” (Episode 1.09)
Air Date: December 13, 2011
Director: Jason Winer
Creator: Elizabeth Meriwether
Costume Designer: Debra McGuire
Background
Nick: All dressed up. What, are you in The Temptations tonight?
Winston: That’s so cute, Nick, you’re intimidated by my style. But one of us is walking out of here with a job.
Nick Miller is easily the least fashion-conscious of the dwellers of the 4D loft. Between Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris) with his colorful printed “bird shirts” to the materialistic Schmidt (Max Greenfield), who is obsessive about his tailoring and whose heart could be won over by a pair of gray Calvin Klein slacks, Nick is the most content to roll out of bed in a stained henley shirt and unwashed sweatpants before heading straight to work at his bar. Continue reading
Frank Sinatra’s Navy Blazer for the Holidays
Frank Sinatra trims the tree during the opening of “Happy Holidays with Bing & Frank,” the 1957 Christmas special episode of The Frank Sinatra Show.
Vitals
Frank Sinatra, multi-talented entertainer
Hollywood, December 1957
Series: The Frank Sinatra Show
Episode: “Happy Holidays with Bing & Frank” (Episode 1.10)
Air Date: December 20, 1957
Director: Frank Sinatra
Wardrobe Credit: Morris Brown
Tailor: Sy Devore
Background
Happy birthday, Frank Sinatra! To celebrate the 103rd anniversary of Ol’ Blue Eyes entering the world in a Hoboken tenement, let’s look back at a time when Frankie was sittin’ on top of the world: the late 1950s.
After the low point of his life and the prospect of his career in ruins, Sinatra bounced back with an Academy Award-winning performance in From Here to Eternity (1953) and a seven-year recording contract with Capitol Records that yielded an impressive string of concept albums that remain among the best popular music ever recorded.
Sinatra was one of the biggest stars of the world in 1957 when ABC signed him to a $3 million contract for The Frank Sinatra Show, a variety and drama series for which Sinatra would have almost total artistic freedom.
As the Chairman of the Board was a lifelong Christmas fanatic, it was unquestioned that the series would feature a special holiday episode, which Sinatra himself stepped up to direct, though he knew the show would need a guest worthy of the season he loved. Continue reading
Lee Marvin’s Plaid Tweed Sport Jacket in Point Blank
Lee Marvin as Walker in Point Blank (1967)
Vitals
Lee Marvin as Walker, revenge-driven armed robber
Santa Monica, Summer 1967
Film: Point Blank
Release Date: August 30, 1967
Director: John Boorman
Costume Designer: Margo Weintz
Background
With the first day of autumn only a day away, we’re looking ahead to fall fashion from a tough guy. In John Boorman’s 1967 neo-noir Point Blank, Lee Marvin starred as Walker, the unsmiling thief out for revenge after he was left for dead on Alcatraz Island by his one-time partner Mal Reese (John Vernon).
Having patched up his wounds, Walker seeks out the help of his sister-in-law Chris (Angie Dickinson), who agrees to lend her own particular brand of charm to assist Walker in retrieving the $93,000 he believes he is rightfully owed. Continue reading
James Garner as Marlowe: Gray Tweed Jacket
James Garner as Philip Marlowe in Marlowe (1969)
Vitals
James Garner as Philip Marlowe, cynical private detective
Los Angeles, Spring 1969
Film: Marlowe
Release Date: October 22, 1969
Director: Paul Bogart
Costume Design: Florence Hackett & James Taylor
Background
Save for a single season of a loosely adapted ABC TV series, he character of Philip Marlowe had gone more than two decades without a cinematic portrayal at the time Marlowe was released in 1969. Directed by the appropriately named Paul Bogart (no relation), this adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s 1949 pulp novel The Little Sister updated the setting to contemporary Los Angeles.
James Garner took some criticism for his take on the famous private eye, but I think the likable actor’s vulnerable sincerity works for his interpretation of Chandler’s anti-hero. Continue reading
Bugsy’s Checked Jacket and Mint Green Shirt
Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel in Bugsy (1991)
Vitals
Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, “celebrity” gangster and casino builder
Los Angeles, Spring 1945
Film: Bugsy
Release Date: December 13, 1991
Director: Barry Levinson
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
BAMF Style goes green for the first #MafiaMonday after St. Patrick’s Day!
We catch up with Ben “don’t-call-him-Bugsy” Siegel in the middle of realizing his dream – the Flamingo Hotel and Casino and, by extension, Las Vegas. Continue reading
