Tagged: Single-Breasted Peak-Lapel Jacket
The Good Place: Michael’s “Jaunty” Plaid Suit
Vitals
Ted Danson as Michael, afterlife “architect”
The Good Place, present day
Series: The Good Place
Episodes:
– “Jason Mendoza” (Episode 1.04), dir. Payman Benz, aired 9/29/2016
– “What’s My Motivation” (Episode 1.11), dir. Lynn Shelton, aired 1/12/2017
– “Mindy St. Claire” (Episode 1.12), dir. Dean Holland, aired 1/19/2017
– “Michael’s Gambit” (Episode 1.13), dir. Michael Schur, aired 1/19/2017
Creator: Michael Schur
Costume Designer: Kirston Mann
WARNING! Possible spoilers ahead…
Background
NBC’s The Good Place is one of my favorite recent network TV shows, blending an infectiously funny ensemble cast with razor-sharp writing that makes moral philosophy not only interesting but accessible and entertaining.
Justified, Season 6 – Raylan Givens in All Blue

Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on Justified (Episode 6.02: “Cash Game”, 2015)
Vitals
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, old-fashioned Deputy U.S. Marshal
Harlan County, Kentucky, Fall 2014
Series: Justified
Episode: “Cash Game” (Episode 6.02)
Air Date: January 27, 2015
Director: Dean Parisot
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designer: Patia Prouty
Background
The second episode of Justified‘s sixth and final season introduced a few new characters that would be help drive the series toward its action-packed endgame, including a shockingly mustache-less Sam Elliott as ruthless yet refined gangster Avery Markham.
Clifton Webb’s Tuxedo in Titanic (1953)
Vitals
Clifton Webb as Richard Ward Sturges, millionaire and estranged family man
RMS Titanic, April 1912
Film: Titanic
Release Date: April 16, 1953
Director: Jean Negulesco
Costume Designer: Dorothy Jeakins
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Before there was Kate and Leo, there was Barbara and Clifton.
To know me is to know my obsession with the Titanic and other maritime disasters of the early 20th century. SS Valencia, Empress of Ireland, Lusitania, Princess Sophia, Titanic‘s hospital sister ship Britannic… chances are that if it sank in the first few decades of last century, I know a thing or two about it.
It was today in 1912 that the RMS Titanic actually struck the iceberg that sank her. The collision happened around 11:40 p.m., North Atlantic time, on the night of Sunday, April 14. Compared to most of the other disasters in the previous paragraph, it took considerable time to sink, finally settling under the waves at 2:20 a.m. on the morning of Monday, April 15, 1912, ending more than 1,500 lives of the roughly 2,200 that had been aboard.
Cottonmouth’s Gray Wool-Silk Suit on Luke Cage
Vitals
Mahershala Ali as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, mob boss and nightclub owner
Harlem, November 2015
Series: Luke Cage
Episodes: “Code of the Streets” (Episode 1.02) & “Just to Get a Rep” (Episode 1.05)
Streaming Date: September 30, 2016
Directors: Paul McGuigan (Episode 1.02) & Marc Jobst (Episode 1.05)
Costume Designer: Stephanie Maslansky
Key Tailor: Cherie Cunningham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday, Mahershala Ali! Following a multi-season stint as Remy Danton on Netflix’s House of Cards and a breakout 2016 that included his Oscar-winning role in Moonlight, Ali returned to Netflix to play the charismatic, powerful, and dangerous crime boss Cornell Stokes in Marvel’s Luke Cage. Continue reading
Saturday Night Fever: Travolta’s White Disco Suit

John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney in an iconic promotional image for Saturday Night Fever (1977).
In the film itself, Gorney wore a white dress rather than the red of the poster. “We shot me in every color dress under the sun… Red sells. I think that’s why it was used for the poster,” she explained in a 2011 interview with Media Mikes.
Vitals
John Travolta as Tony Manero, aimless paint store clerk and disco god
Brooklyn, Spring 1977
Film: Saturday Night Fever
Release Date: December 14, 1977
Director: John Badham
Costume Designer: Patrizia Von Brandenstein
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This week marks the 40th anniversary of the premiere of Saturday Night Fever, the definitive film of the disco era. Often remembered for its soundtrack and street style, a closer look reveals an uncompromising film that wasn’t afraid to explore the dark themes that lurked beneath the era’s glittery polyester veneer, all propelled by an equally uncompromising star turn from a 23-year-old John Travolta. Continue reading
Clyde Barrow’s Brown Peak-Lapel Suit (2013 Version)
Vitals
Emile Hirsch as Clyde Barrow, amateur armed robber
Texas, Spring 1932
Series Title: Bonnie and Clyde
Air Date: December 8, 2013
Director: Bruce Beresford
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance
Background
Earlier this week, I posted about the (possibly brown) single-breasted, peak-lapel suit worn by Derrick De Marney in Hitchcock’s 1930s thriller Young and Innocent. Today’s post expands on that theme, exploring a similar suit worn by another desperate young man on the run during the 1930s.
Young and Innocent: A 1930s Suit and Sweater Vest
Vitals
Derrick De Marney as Robert Tisdall, wrongly accused man
Keenthorne, England, Fall 1937
Film: Young and Innocent
(American title: The Girl Was Young)
Release Date: November 1937
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Wardrobe Credit: Marianne
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Alfred Hitchcock explored one of his favorite sub-genres, the innocent “man on the run” thriller, throughout his career. The trope was prominent in many of his early works, including The Lodger (1927), The 39 Steps (1935), and Young and Innocent (1937, released in the United States as The Girl Was Young.) Continue reading
Brad Pitt’s Pale Blue Pinhead Suit in Allied
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Brad Pitt as Max Vatan, Royal Canadian Air Force intelligence officer
Casablanca, Morocco, Fall 1942
Film: Allied
Release Date: November 23, 2016
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Costume Designer: Joanna Johnston
Background
On a pleasant Sunday in Casablanca, Parisian couple Maurice and Christine Berne walk arm-in-arm into the town square for an afternoon coffee. Of course, it’s smack in the middle of World War II so not everything is as it appears. “Maurice and Christine” are actually spies Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) and Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard) and, to further complicate things, Max has been recognized by a German officer who swiftly marches to the nearest phone booth. Max covertly follows the officer, armed only with a chunk of bread…
Some sartorial sticklers will tell you it’s inappropriate to wear white after Labor Day. Given that today is Labor Day and we’ve still got some hot weather ahead of us, you’d be well-served to keep a “not-quite-white” suit – like Max’s pale blue three-piece suit – in your closet for your natty warm-weather needs this time of year. Continue reading
Tony Montana’s Sky Blue Suit in Scarface
Vitals
Al Pacino as Tony Montana, impulsive and hotheaded cocaine dealer
Miami, Fall 1981
Film: Scarface
Release Date: December 9, 1983
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
Tailor: Tommy Velasco
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Miami, Florida, was incorporated as a city 121 years ago today – July 28, 1896. Today’s post focuses on one of the city’s most infamous fictional residents.
And, of course, that would be Tony Montana, the Cuban-born drug dealer portrayed by Al Pacino as he works his way to the top of the Miami drug world in the 1983 remake of Howard Hawks’ Prohibition-era pre-Code crime classic, Scarface. Continue reading
Gordon Gekko’s Dark Gray Peak-Lapel Suit in Wall Street
Vitals
Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, smug and successful Wall Street businessman
New York City, Spring 1985
Film: Wall Street
Release Date: December 11, 1987
Director: Oliver Stone
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
Tailor: Martin Greenfield
Background
Returning to the office on Monday is no excuse to slack off on your wardrobe, especially on Wall Street. Continue reading








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