Tagged: Shirt & Slacks
Romeo + Juliet: Leo’s Blue Aloha Shirts
Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Vitals
Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo Montague, moody romantic mob heir
Verona Beach, Summer 1996
Film: Romeo + Juliet
Release Date: November 1, 1996
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Costume Designer: Kym Barrett
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Baz Luhrmann’s brash update of Romeo + Juliet remains the highest-grossing live-action William Shakespeare adaptation nearly thirty years after its release. While his tendency toward spectacle isn’t my preferred cinematic style, I appreciate Luhrmann embracing the challenge of retaining the Bard’s original dialogue in a contemporary American setting that includes custom handguns, flashy Hawaiian shirts, and “Lovefool”. Continue reading
Night Moves: Gene Hackman’s Blue Lacoste Shirt
Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby in Night Moves (1975)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby, private detective and former professional football player
Florida Keys, Fall 1973
Film: Night Moves
Release Date: June 11, 1975
Director: Arthur Penn
Costumer: Arnie Lipin
Costume Supervisor: Rita Riggs
Background
I love sweaty ’70s movies during the summer, especially when our star is rocking a superb soup-strainer.
Released 50 years ago in June 1975, the dolorous detective thriller Night Moves features the marvelous mustached private eye Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) dressed in array of casual attire, from super-trendy safari shirts and suede shirt-jacs to more timeless attire like a smart tweed sports coat and a classic Lacoste tennis shirt to beat the heat when his work takes him to the Florida Keys. Continue reading
Cape Fear (1991): Robert De Niro’s Red Aloha Shirt as Max Cady
Robert De Niro as Max Cady in Cape Fear (1991)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Max Cady, psychopathic parolee
New Essex, North Carolina, Summer 1991
Film: Cape Fear
Release Date: November 15, 1991
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Rita Ryack
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
In the spirit of Aloha Friday as we get closer to summer, let’s revisit Robert De Niro’s unhinged turn as Max Cady in Martin Scorsese’s 1991 reimagining of Cape Fear. Continue reading
Public Enemies: Christian Bale’s Hunting Gear as Melvin Purvis
Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis in Public Enemies (2009)
Vitals
Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, ambitious FBI agent
Columbiana County, Ohio, October 1934
Film: Public Enemies
Release Date: July 1, 2009
Director: Michael Mann
Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Ninety years ago today, a law enforcement team combined of local police and federal agents led by Melvin Purvis cornered and killed the Depression-era desperado Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd on a farm outside of Clarkson in western Ohio. Purvis had risen to national prominence for his role in the death of bank robber John Dillinger three months earlier in Chicago, an incident that propelled the Oklahoma-born outlaw Floyd to the top of J. Edgar Hoover’s list of “Public Enemies”.
Based on Bryan Burrough’s nonfiction volume of the same name, Michael Mann’s 2009 film Public Enemies centered primarily around Purvis’ hunt for Dillinger, following Mann’s formula from films like Manhunter, Heat, and Collateral that reflects the unique mirror between two professionals on opposing sides of the law—in this case represented by the charismatic criminal Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and more laconic lawman Purvis (Christian Bale).
As a result, lip service is paid to Floyd’s notoriety but the circumstances of his October 1934 death are actually positioned a year earlier so that Bale’s Purvis leads the hunt and fires the fatal shot into “Pretty Boy” Floyd (Channing Tatum) before he’s even recruited into the Dillinger manhunt. Continue reading
Breathless: Richard Gere’s Rockabilly Shirt and Plaid Trousers
Richard Gere in Breathless (1983)
Vitals
Richard Gere as Jesse Lujack, swaggering drifter
Los Angeles, Summer 1982
Film: Breathless
Release Date: May 13, 1983
Director: Jim McBride
Costume Designer: J. Allen Highfill
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 75th birthday to Richard Gere! To celebrate this prolific actor’s August 31, 1949, today’s post looks at one of my unexpectedly favorite performances from the prolific actor.
Jim McBride’s 1983 remake of Breathless flips the nationalities of the French crook and his American girlfriend in the 1960 French New Wave classic, starring Gere as the cocky ne’er-do-well Jesse Lujack who shacks up with Monica Poiccard (Valérie Kaprisky), a French UCLA student he had met once during a weekend trip to Las Vegas. Continue reading
And Then There Were None (2015): Anthony Marston’s Pink Terry Shirt
Douglas Booth as Anthony Marston in And Then There Were None (2015)
Vitals
Douglas Booth as Anthony Marston, irresponsible socialite
Devon, England, August 1939
Series Title: And Then There Were None
Air Date: December 26-28, 2015
Director: Craig Viveiros
Costume Designer: Lindsay Pugh
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
A recent rewatch of the 2015 BBC One series And Then There Were None brought to mind the exquisite parade of interesting menswear designed by Lindsay Pugh for the half-dozen gents summoned to the mysterious Soldier Island off the coast of Devon. The series is set during a late summer weekend in August 1939 on the brink of World War II, a specter that hauntingly looms over the darkly faithful series which is the first English-language adaptation to restore Agatha Christie’s original ending.
The story centers around ten strangers—eight guests and a married couple to serve as their staff—invited to the island by the enigmatic U.N. Owen, whom it is quickly established none of the ten have ever met… nor will they meet him, as their unknown host only makes his presence known by a recording accusing each of the ten of murder. All but two of the attendees respond with horrified denials, with the roguish adventurer Philip Lombard (Aidan Turner) and brash socialite Anthony Marston (Douglas Booth) being the only two to instantly own up to their past crimes. Continue reading
Diamonds are Forever: Sean Connery’s Bond Returns… in a Terrycloth Shirt
Sean Connery and Denise Perrier in Diamonds are Forever (1971)
Vitals
Sean Connery as James Bond, British government agent
French Riviera, Spring 1971
Film: Diamonds are Forever
Release Date: December 17, 1971
Director: Guy Hamilton
Wardrobe Master: Ray Beck
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair
Background
Born 94 years ago today on August 25, 1930, Sir Sean Connery rose to stardom as the first actor to play James Bond in the official EON Productions series, from Dr. No (1962) through Diamonds are Forever (1971).
Connery first retired from the role after You Only Live Twice (1967), resulting in Australian actor George Lazenby’s sole shot in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). After Lazenby too hung up 007’s shoulder holster, Connery was persuaded back for one last official performance as Ian Fleming’s iconic secret agent, commanding a record-setting $1.25 million salary to return as Commander Bond… which he then donated in its entirety to the Scottish International Education Trust.
Despite the somber ending of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service that set Bond out for revenge, Diamonds are Forever began a lighter era for the series as the stories diverged from Fleming’s source material with an increased emphasis on comedic elements and spectacle.
After a few faceless vignettes in exotic locales like Cai-Cai-Cairo, Connery’s Bond makes his long-anticipated on-screen reappearance during the pre-credits sequence of Diamonds are Forever, striding down onto the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc’s stunning beach in Cap d’Antibes, where he makes his iconic introduction (“Bond, James Bond”) to Marie, an even more stunning bikini-clad brunette portrayed by Denise Perrier, the French-born Miss World 1953.
Marie: Is there something I can do for you?
Bond: Yes, as a matter of fact, there is… there is something I’d like you to get off your chest.
Cape Fear (1991): Robert De Niro’s White Terrycloth Shirt as Max Cady
Robert De Niro as Max Cady in Cape Fear (1991)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Max Cady, psychopathic parolee
New Essex, North Carolina, Summer 1991
Film: Cape Fear
Release Date: November 15, 1991
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Rita Ryack
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday to Robert De Niro, born August 17, 1943. One of the prolific actor’s less-discussed but still acclaimed performances is his Academy Award-nominated characterization of the dangerously psychotic Max Cady in Cape Fear, Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake of the 1962 thriller and the 7th of ten collaborations to date between De Niro and Scorsese. Continue reading
Succession: Connor’s Sailboat Shirt in Tuscany
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy on Succession (Episode 3.09: “All the Bells Say”)
Vitals
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy, delusional millionaire and long-shot presidential hopeful
Val d’Orcia, Tuscany, Italy, Summer 2020
Series: Succession
Episode: “All the Bells Say” (Episode 3.09)
Air Date: December 12, 2021
Director: Mark Mylod
Creator: Jesse Armstrong
Costume Designer: Michelle Matland
Background
When I think about which Succession character most shares my sense of style (as one does), I’m realizing that the answer—for better or worse—is probably the doomed presidential hopeful Connor Roy (Alan Ruck).
It makes sense, as each of us are positioned relatively far from the corporate world and thus can afford to dress more for ourselves than any greater ambition… at least until Connor, who was interested in politics at a young age, starts pinning that American flag to his lapel as he hits the campaign trail.
This thought reoccurred to me as I was packing for my weeklong vacation to the beach this week, and I realized that the only Roy who may canonically share my affinity for printed summer shirts is the [actual] eldest son, who briefly sports a sailboat-printed shirt while the family debriefs in Tuscany over a game of Monopoly at the start of Succession’s third season finale, “All the Bells Say”. Continue reading
Goodbye, Columbus: Neil’s Light-Blue Polo
Richard Benjamin with Ali MacGraw in Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
Vitals
Richard Benjamin as Neil Klugman, listless library employee and Army veteran
Westchester County, New York, Summer 1968
Film: Goodbye, Columbus
Release Date: April 3, 1969
Director: Larry Peerce
Costume Designer: Gene Coffin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This springtime casual Friday feels like an appropriate time to address another request to cover Richard Benjamin’s style from Goodbye, Columbus, released 55 years ago this week on April 3, 1969, just two days after Benjamin’s co-star Ali MacGraw celebrated her 30th birthday. Continue reading
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