Tagged: Single-Breasted Suit
Walter Matthau’s Gray Striped Suit as Charley Varrick
Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick (1973)
Vitals
Walter Matthau as Charley Varrick, clever crop-dusting pilot and bank robber
Albuquerque to Reno, Summer 1973
Film: Charley Varrick
Release Date: October 19, 1973
Director: Don Siegel
Costume Designer: Helen Colvig
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Although International Crop Duster’s Day is observed on May 27th, August 3rd was established as Airplane Crop Duster Day to commemorate U.S. Army pilot Lt. John A. Macready’s first-ever aerial crop-dusting flight on this day in 1921. More than a half century later, Walter Matthau broke from his usual comedic roles to portray the the titular crop-duster who broke bad in Charley Varrick, Don Siegel’s 1973 adaptation of John H. Reese’s crime novel The Looters.
Down on his luck as “the last of the independents” as he bills himself, Charley had organized a bank robbery in Tres Cruces, New Mexico, that tragically resulted in the death of his wife Nadine (Jacqueline Scott) and another accomplice. Charley and his remaining accomplice, hotheaded Harman (Andy Robinson), spirit away with the $765,118 haul—a surprisingly hefty take which tips Charley off to the fact that they must have robbed a Mafia drop bank.
Without waiting for confirmation beyond TV news only reporting that less than $2,000 was taken, Charley swiftly begins securing plans to make his final escape. Continue reading
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me — Chris Isaak’s Black FBI Suit as Chet Desmond
Chris Isaak as FBI Agent Chester “Chet” Diamond in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Vitals
Chris Isaak as Chester “Chet” Desmond, FBI agent
Deer Meadow, Washington, February 1988
Film: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Release Date: August 28, 1992
Director: David Lynch
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
GET ME SPECIAL AGENT CHESTER DESMOND OUT IN FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA!
Kyle MacLachlan had been intended to more prominently reprise his role as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, David Lynch’s 1992 cinematic prequel to the then-recently canceled series. But the actor’s reluctance to be typecast prompted Lynch to reimagine the first act’s federal investigator as the more laconic Chester “Chet” Desmond—which became the first major acting role for singer Chris Isaak, born 70 years ago today on June 26, 1956. Isaak’s music career had already received a boost after his breakthrough song “Wicked Game” was featured in Lynch’s previous film, Wild at Heart. Continue reading
The Omen: Gregory Peck’s Charcoal Pinstripe Suit
Gregory Peck in The Omen (1976)
Vitals
Gregory Peck as Robert Thorn, American diplomat
Rome, June 6, 1970 and London, June 1975
Film: The Omen
Release Date: June 6, 1976
Director: Richard Donner
Wardrobe Supervisor: Tiny Nicholls
Tailor: H. Huntsman & Sons, London
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Omen was released fifty years ago today on June 6, 1976—a date intentionally selected to mirror the film’s opening on June 6th at 6 a.m., when American ambassador Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) rushes through Rome to reach his wife Katherine (Lee Remick). Robert arrives to learn that the child Katherine has just delivered died moments after birth, but hospital chaplain Father Spiletto (Martin Benson) convinces him to secretly adopt a newborn orphan and raise the boy as their own without Katherine’s knowledge.
Unfortunately for Robert, Katherine, and the world at large, that boy is Damien—the Antichrist—but I suppose you’ll have that when someone’s birth is the infamous 6-6-6: the “Number of the Beast” described in the Book of Revelation.
A Face in the Crowd: Andy Griffith’s Silky Shirt, String Tie, and Sport Suit
Andy Griffith as Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
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Andy Griffith as Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, folksy yet power-hungry media personality
Memphis to New York City, Spring 1956
Film: A Face in the Crowd
Release Date: May 28, 1957
Director: Elia Kazan
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Andy Griffith, born June 1, 1926. Already somewhat known as a comedian for routines like his breakthrough 1953 monologue “What It Was, Was Football”, Griffith made his explosive screen debut in Elia Kazan’s excellent 1957 drama A Face in the Crowd, a devastatingly prescient depiction of how susceptible American culture is to populism and celebrity cycloning into demagoguery. Budd Schulberg adapted his own short story “Your Arkansas Traveler” into the screenplay centered around Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, a charismatic drifter-turned-demagogue plucked from obscurity by radio producer Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) who ascends out of control into an influential public figure. Continue reading
Insomnia: Al Pacino’s Leather Jacket in the Alaskan Midnight Sun
Al Pacino as Will Dormer in Insomnia (2002)
Vitals
Al Pacino as Will Dormer, shrewd but increasingly sleepy LAPD detective
Northern Alaska, June 2002
Film: Insomnia
Release Date: May 22, 2002
Director: Christopher Nolan
Costume Designer: Tish Monaghan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
By this time in mid-May, towns like Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) in the northern tip of Alaska are experiencing the midnight sun, typically lasting 83 days from May 10th or 11th through the beginning of August. The mid-June setting of Insomnia—to date, the only film Christopher Nolan directed without an official writing credit—is set during this phenomenon, to the initial puzzlement of legendary LAPD homicide detective Will Dormer (Al Pacino), visiting on request to help solve the murder of young high school student. Continue reading
Gregory Peck’s Herringbone Tweed Huntsman-Tailored Suit in Arabesque
Gregory Peck with Sophia Loren on the set of Arabesque (1966)
Vitals
Gregory Peck as David Pollock, American hieroglyphics professor
London, June 1965
Film: Arabesque
Release Date: May 5, 1966
Director: Stanley Donen
Tailor: H. Huntsman & Sons, London
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The stylish espionage-themed romantic comedy thriller Arabesque was released sixty years ago tomorrow on May 5, 1966. Producer and director Stanley Donen had hoped to replicate Charade‘s success with Cary Grant in the lead, but the now-retired Grant wasn’t thrilled enough with the script to make this his return to the silver screen. Donen himself wasn’t impressed with the script either, adapted from Gordon Cotler’s 1961 novel The Cipher (published under his pseudonym Alex Gordon.)
With Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren contracted as the leads, the script was constantly being rewritten, but cinematographer recalled that “the more the script was rewritten, the worse it got,” and that Donen told him their “only hope was to make it so visually exciting the audience will never have time to work out what the hell is going on.” Continue reading
Ryan O’Neal’s Seersucker Suit in What’s Up, Doc?
Ryan O’Neal in What’s Up, Doc? (1972)
Vitals
Ryan O’Neal as Dr. Howard Bannister, awkward musicologist
San Francisco, Summer 1972
Film: What’s Up, Doc?
Release Date: March 9, 1972
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Costume Designer: Polly Platt (uncredited)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The late Ryan O’Neal was born 85 years ago today on April 20, 1941. Though perhaps best known for his roles in Love Story (1970), Paper Moon (1973), Barry Lyndon (1975), or The Driver (1978), the first O’Neal performance that I ever watched was Peter Bogdanovich’s 1972 comedy What’s Up, Doc?, which Maureen Lee Lenker posited for Entertainment Weekly after his death as the actor’s strongest performance. Continue reading
The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton’s Casual Tan Suit as 007
Timothy Dalton as James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987)
Vitals
Timothy Dalton as James Bond, British government agent
Tangier, Morocco, Fall 1986
Film: The Living Daylights
Release Date: June 27, 1987
Director: John Glen
Costume Designer: Emma Porteous
Costume Supervisor: Tiny Nicholls
Tailor: Benjamin Simon
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 80th birthday to Timothy Dalton! Born March 21, 1946 in Wales, Dalton became the fourth actor to portray James Bond when he starred in The Living Daylights in 1987. He had actually been approached several times for the role over the previous decades but initially felt too young—and too intimidated—to replace Sean Connery. Still, the part may have been in his blood: his father, Peter Dalton Leggett, served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the real-life British World War II unit that inspired Ian Fleming to write several of Bond’s literary adventures.
Though he only officially starred as 007 twice on screen, Dalton’s portrayal has enjoyed renewed appreciation for its fidelity to the harder-edged tone of Fleming’s source material and how this may have inspired Daniel Craig’s later characterization.
One of my favorite suits and scenes from The Living Daylights takes Bond to Tangier, where the agent confronts KGB director Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies)—using the general’s girlfriend (Virginia Hey) as a decoy when a bodyguard storms in the hotel room. Commanding the situation with his silenced Walther PPK, Bond settles the tension with the Soviet general as they mutually agree to stage a public assassination.
Scripted by stalwart Bond screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson, the scene plays like a lost Fleming chapter—firmly rooted in late Cold War-era espionage while also showcasing a sharp suit that feels like perfect inspiration for spring style and warmer days ahead. Continue reading
Wake Up Dead Man: Daniel Craig’s Tweed Suits as Benoit Blanc
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man (2025). Photo by John Wilson.
Vitals
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, Southern private detective and “proud heretic”
Upstate New York, Spring 2025
Film: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 58th birthday to Daniel Craig! Born March 2, 1968, the actor followed his five-film tenure as James Bond with the recurring role of Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc in three Knives Out movies to date including his latest release, Wake Up Dead Man, which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival two months before its limited release in American theaters the week of Thanksgiving 2025. Continue reading
Twin Peaks: FBI Agent Dale Cooper’s Black Suit
Kyle MacLachlan as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks, in a promotional image for “The Man Behind the Glass” (Episode 2.03).
Vitals
Kyle MacLachlan as Dale Cooper, unusually perceptive FBI agent
Twin Peaks, Washington, February and March 1989
Series: Twin Peaks (Seasons 1-2)
Air Dates: April 8, 1990 to June 10, 1991
Created by: Mark Frost & David Lynch
Costume Design: Sara Markowitz (seasons 1-2) & Patricia Norris (pilot episode only)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Diane… 11:30 a.m., February 24th, entering the town of Twin Peaks. It’s five miles south of the Canadian border, twelve miles west of the state line.
Twin Peaks canon brought FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into this small upstate Washington town exactly 37 years ago today in 1989, narrating the first of many unreturned missives into a tape recorder after the corpse of popular local teenager Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) was discovered washed ashore near the town’s lumber mill. Continue reading
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