Tagged: Single-Breasted Dinner Jacket
David Niven’s Red Velvet Dinner Jacket in The Pink Panther
Vitals
David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton, urbane master jewel thief and titular “Pink Panther”
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Winter 1963
Film: The Pink Panther
Release Date: December 18, 1963
Director: Blake Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor: Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca
Background
No discussion of debonair actors would be complete without mention of David Niven, a gentleman in every sense of the word. Continue reading
Skyfall – Bond’s Dark Blue Tuxedo in Macau

Excerpt from a promotional poster for Skyfall (2012), featuring Daniel Craig as James Bond against the familiar “gunbarrel” backdrop.
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, British government agent
Macau, Spring 2012
Film: Skyfall
Release Date: November 9, 2012
Director: Sam Mendes
Costume Designer: Jany Temime
Background
Nearly forty years after his last visit in The Man with the Golden Gun, James Bond returns to Macau after discovering a casino chip on an assassin in Shanghai. Now officially back in Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond packs up his dinner suit, cut-throat razor, and sunglasses and heads to the film’s version of Macau. Continue reading
Black Tie in Scarface – 1932 Style
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Paul Muni as Tony Camonte, ruthless Italian-born bootlegger and mob enforcer
Chicago, Summer 1929
Film: Scarface
Release Date: April 9, 1932
Director: Howard Hawks
Background
The 1983 Scarface film starring Al Pacino is one of the most popular crime flicks out there, popular enough to warrant the first of many entries on this blog last week. Many people know that it is a remake (although I prefer to think of it as an “update”) of a 1932 film. This earlier movie, also entitled Scarface but given the morality-enforced subtitle The Shame of a Nation, is one of my favorite films of all time. Continue reading
Paul Newman’s Black Tie in The Sting
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Paul Newman as Henry Gondorff, Chicago con artist posing as a betting parlor operator
Chicago, September 1936
Film: The Sting
Release Date: December 25, 1973
Director: George Roy Hill
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
It’s been almost a year since I’ve covered the classy Henry Gondorff, played by Paul Newman in 1973’s The Sting, so what would be more appropriate for New Year’s Eve than to break down Gondorff in black tie. Continue reading
John F. Kennedy’s Ivy League Style
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John F. Kennedy, U.S. President
Early 1960s, Washington, D.C.
Background
Not every commemoration on BAMF Style is a happy one. To honor JFK on the 50th anniversary of his assassination, I’ll be examining the style of a man often described as our country’s most stylish president.
Whether he was in his office, at a cocktail party, or sailing off of Narragansett Bay, the Kennedys’ style captured the attention of the nation, with men taking hints from Jack’s fashion-forward sartorial sense and women envying Jackie’s elegance.
Everyone has their own conspiracy theory about who truly ended his life in Dallas fifty years ago today, but this isn’t the place to discuss that. Instead, I’ll be delving into the look and style of a man who became an American icon. Continue reading
Bond Style – Black Tie in Thunderball
This weekend, James Bond himself – Sean Connery – turns 83. Celebrate in style with black tie and either a vodka martini or, to honor his heritage, a tumbler of single malt Scotch.
Vitals
Sean Connery as James Bond, British government agent and legendary super spy
Nassau, May 1965
Film: Thunderball
Release Date: December 29, 1965
Director: Terence Young
Wardrobe Designer: Anthony Mendleson
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair
Background
For the first time in three years, James Bond spends the majority of the film in beach attire, from swimming trunks to casual shirts and linen slacks. Reasonably so, too, as the warm climate of the Bahamas doesn’t really demand a three-piece flannel suit and tie.
However, we are still given a glimpse of the Bond we all know and love when he rolls into the Nassau casino suited up in a snazzy midnight blue tuxedo. Continue reading
The Casino Royale Dinner Jacket
I’m not sure if any of you knew this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you did – today is National Martini Day, celebrating the favorite drink of many from presidents and industrialists to entertainers and fictional secret agents.
BAMF Style’s choice for today was an obvious one.
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, rookie British secret agent
Montenegro, Summer 2006
Film: Casino Royale
Release Date: November 14, 2006
Director: Martin Campbell
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming
Background
After years of audiences used to Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan*, some Bond fans were unsure what to expect with the new tough and gritty Bond played by Daniel Craig. While most hardcore fans – especially those of Fleming’s novels – were pleased by the return to form in 2006’s Casino Royale, some worried that the “Bourne-era” Bond would be too tough for the Bond dinner jacket.
Luckily, Casino Royale not only puts Bond in a sharp tailored dinner jacket for the second act of the film, but his formalwear actually is commented on in the film’s dialogue as Vesper tells him:
There are dinner jackets and dinner jackets. This is the latter.
The Godfather: Don Corleone’s Tuxedo for his Daughter’s Wedding
For the final entry of BAMF Style’s Week of Weddings, we’re examining one of the cinema’s most iconic characters.
Vitals
Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, powerful Mafia boss and father of four
Long Island, NY, August 1945
Film: The Godfather
Release Date: March 15, 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
Background
You’ve come across the scene a million times, whether actually watching it, seeing photos, or hearing your friends quote it. And indeed it is one of the most quotable sequences in film history.
I’m gonna make him an offer he won’t refuse.
Dino’s New Year’s Eve Tuxedo in Ocean’s 11
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Dean Martin as Sam Harmon, lounge singer and part-time casino heister
Las Vegas, New Year’s Eve 1959
Film: Ocean’s Eleven
Release Date: August 10, 1960
Director: Lewis Milestone
Costume Designer: Howard Shoup
Tailor: Sy Devore
Background
Much as Dean Martin was seen as Frank Sinatra’s second-in-command in the Rat Pack, Martin’s character Sam Harmon was the right-hand man to Sinatra’s Danny Ocean in the original Ocean’s Eleven. When the film was remade forty years later, Dean Martin’s Sam Harmon became Brad Pitt’s Rusty Ryan, who matched Martin’s sharp-dressed style with classy suits and sport jackets.
However, Pitt knew to stay away from the territory Dean Martin was known for: his tuxedos. Continue reading
Don Draper’s White Dinner Jacket
Don Draper’s approach to a white dinner jacket, typically reserved for summer, defines the attitude of a lighthearted and classy celebration. Take heed for any New Year’s Eve celebrations this week.
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Madison Avenue ad man with a dark past
New York City, July 1962
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “The Gold Violin” (Episode 2.07)
Air Date: September 7, 2008
Director: Andrew Bernstein
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
We’ve seen Don Draper at work and at play. But when he’s invited to a soiree at the Stork Club one warm Monday night, Draper channels James Bond and pulls out his summer dinner jacket.
By “The Gold Violin”, the seventh episode of the second season, Draper has engaged in a full affair with the wife of entertainer Jimmy Barrett. His professional life is on the rise and, as evidenced by his Cadillac, he’s “arrived”.
However, the party at the Stork Club proves to be a bad decision and marks the beginning of the end for Don and trophy wife Betty. Continue reading









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