Tagged: Sport Coat & Jeans

Bonnie and Clyde: Michael J. Pollard’s Herringbone Jacket and Jeans as C.W.

Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss in Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

Vitals

Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss, slow-witted mechanic-turned-bank robber

Iowa, Summer 1933

Film: Bonnie & Clyde
Release Date: August 13, 1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

W.D. “Deacon” Jones may not be as famous as Bonnie Parker or Clyde Barrow, but the Dallas teenager was once among their closest companions in the notorious Barrow gang.

At only 16 years old, Jones was running jobs and riding shotgun on robberies, a role later blended with the gang’s informant Henry Methvin to create the fictionalized composite character C.W. Moss in Arthur Penn’s landmark 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde. Jones lived long enough to see the movie and admitted in a Playboy interview that “Moss was a dumb kid who run errands and done what Clyde told him… that was me, all right.”

Having survived countless shootouts during nearly a year riding with the Barrow gang, Jones ultimately couldn’t escape the fate that had claimed his contemporaries. Fifty-one years ago today in Houston during the early morning hours of August 20, 1974, the 58-year-old Jones was shot three times with a 12-gauge shotgun during an altercation outside a friend’s house. Continue reading

The Departed: Jack Nicholson’s Seersucker Sport Jacket

Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello in The Departed (2006)

Vitals

Jack Nicholson as Francis “Frank” Costello, sadistic Irish-American mob boss

Boston, Spring 2007

Film: The Departed
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

With 12 Academy Award nominations (and three wins), today’s birthday boy Jack Nicholson remains the most-nominated male actor in Oscar history. Following a prolific career that began in the late 1950s, Nicholson delivered one final characteristically intense performance in The Departed (2006), his first—and, given his decades-long retirement from acting, only—collaboration with director Martin Scorsese. Continue reading

Justifed: Raylan’s Pilot Episode Charcoal Pinstripe Suit Jacket and Jeans

Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in the pilot episode (“Fire in the Hole”) of Justified.
(Photo by: Prashant Gupta, FX)

Vitals

Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, proudly old-fashioned Deputy U.S. Marshal

Miami to Kentucky, March 2010

Series: Justified
Episode: “Fire in the Hole” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: March 16, 2010
Director: Michael Dinner
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designer: Ane Crabtree

Background

Inspired by a selection of Elmore Leonard stories like “Fire in the Hole”, Justified premiered 15 years ago this week on March 16, 2010.

The series began with a literal bang as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) demonstrated his quick trigger finger by outdrawing a “gun thug” in his assigned territory of Miami. Though he frequently insists “it was justified,” Raylan is ordered by his superiors to leave Miami, reassigned to the Lexington field office in his home turf of eastern Kentucky where he used to dig coal with now-criminal Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins).

“We weren’t what you call buddies, but you work a deep mine with a man, you look out for each other,” Raylan reflects of his and Boyd’s initial acquaintanceship. Continue reading

Blue Velvet: Kyle MacLachlan’s Black Jacket

Kyle MacLachlan in Blue Velvet (1986)

Vitals

Kyle MacLachlan as Jeffrey Beaumont, inquisitive college student

Lumberton, North Carolina, Spring 1985

Film: Blue Velvet
Release Date: September 19, 1986
Director: David Lynch
Costumer: Ronald Leamon

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today marks the 66th birthday of Kyle MacLachlan, star of the late David Lynch’s neo-noir thriller Blue Velvet. Lynch and “Kale” had first collaborated two years earlier for the director’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, which was met with poor reception. Undeterred, Lynch shifted direction with Blue Velvet, a more personal project that delved into his now-familiar themes of surrealism and the dark, oft-criminal underbelly of Americana.

MacLachlan stars as Jeffrey Beaumont, a college student who returns to his hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina to help his family following his father’s heart attack. Taking a secluded shortcut to his parents’ home after a hospital visit, Jeffrey discovers a severed ear in a vacant field… launching him into a dangerous conspiracy involving a sultry lounge singer and a sadistic gangster. Continue reading

Bill Paxton in Twister

Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in Twister (1996)

Vitals

Bill Paxton as Bill Harding, experienced storm chaser-turned-weatherman

Oklahoma, Summer 1996

Film: Twister
Release Date: May 10, 1996
Director: Jan de Bont
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

With its standalone sequel Twisters starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell now arriving in theaters, let’s revisit the original Twister, Jan de Bont’s 1996 blockbuster centered around a group of storm-chasers pursuing and researching tornadoes across Oklahoma.

Our lead storm-chasers are the star-crossed Jo (Helen Hunt) and Bill Harding (Bill Paxton), in the midst of a divorce as Bill seeks to leave his dangerous storm-chasing days as “The Extreme” and settle into a more comfortable life as a TV weatherman with his new fiancée Dr. Melissa Reeves (Jami Gertz). “New job, new truck, new wife, it’s like a whole new you!” Jo observes as Bill arrives in his new Dodge Ram truck to request that she sign the papers to finalize their divorce.

In the meantime, Jo and her team are preparing to deploy their innovative tornado-measuring device—the realized execution of Bill’s original concept, nicknamed “Dorothy”—into the record-breaking storms wreaking havoc through Oklahoma. Continue reading

Road House: Patrick Swayze’s ’80s Suede Jacket and Jeans

Patrick Swayze as Dalton in Road House (1989)

Vitals

Patrick Swayze as James Dalton, professional bouncer

Jasper, Missouri, Spring 1988

Film: Road House
Release Date: May 19, 1989
Director: Rowdy Herrington
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

The recent announcement of a sequel green-lit for the 2024 remake of Road House came just in time to celebrate the anniversary of the original, released 35 years ago this week on May 19, 1989. Patrick Swayze famously starred as Dalton, a New York City cooler who has mastered a zen-like approach to his work to overcome being haunted by having ripped a guy’s throat out several years earlier. Continue reading

Mystery Train: Masatoshi Nagase’s Rockabilly Style as Jun

Masatoshi Nagase as Jun in Mystery Train (1989)

Vitals

Masatoshi Nagase as Jun, taciturn tourist and rockabilly fan

Memphis, Tennessee, Summer 1988

Film: Mystery Train
Release Date: November 17, 1989
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Costume Designer: Carol Wood

Background

Jim Jarmusch’s triptych anthology Mystery Train debuted 35 years ago this month during the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.

Taking its title from the Junior Parker song later covered by Elvis Presley, Mystery Train follows three narratives that overlap over a long night at a rundown Memphis motel overseen by a night clerk played by blues legend Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and all incorporate elements related to Elvis, whether it’s his music (specifically his early recording of “Blue Moon”), his name, or even his ghostly apparition to one of the Arcade Hotel’s guests.

The first segment, “Far from Yokohama”, centers around a young Japanese couple whose pilgrimage to the city includes a breakneck tour of Sun Studios and plans to visit Graceland. The charming Mitsuko (Youki Kudoh) is devoted to Elvis and even maintains a scrapbook chronicling her fandom for the singer she refers to as “still the King” while the more aloof Jun (Masatoshi Nagase) declares a broader appreciation for rockabilly—preferring Carl Perkins to Presley.

Masatoshi Nagase and Youki Kudoh in Mystery Train (1989)

“King…”

Continue reading

The Fugitive: Samuel Gerard’s Navy Blazer and Jeans

Tommy Lee Jones as Samuel Gerard in The Fugitive (1993)

Vitals

Tommy Lee Jones as Samuel Gerard, intrepid Deputy U.S. Marshal

Chicago, Spring 1993

Film: The Fugitive
Release Date: August 6, 1993
Director: Andrew Davis
Costume Designer: Aggie Guerard Rodgers

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today is the 30th anniversary since the release of The Fugitive, Andrew Davis’ 1993 update of the 1960s TV series that followed a doctor wrongly accused of his wife’s murder as he travels the country in the hopes of clearing his name by finding the one-armed man he believes to be guilty.

Pursuing the innocent Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) through the Midwest is Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones), the determined Deputy U.S. Marshal leading the hunt with his team of trusted pros. Though a snarky master of caustic wit, Gerard is serious about doing his job—and only his job—as established during the memorable scene when Kimble tries to dissuade his persuader by assuring him of his innocence.

Dr. Kimble: I didn’t kill my wife!
Gerard: I don’t care!

Continue reading

The Gambler: James Caan’s Camel Jacket and Mustang

James Caan as Axel Freed in The Gambler (1974)

Vitals

James Caan as Axel Freed, gambling-addicted English professor

New York City, Fall 1973

Film: The Gambler
Release Date: October 2, 1974
Director: Karel Reisz
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky

Background

Screen icon James Caan died one year ago today on July 6, 2022. Among a varied filmography from The Godfather (1972) and Thief (1981) to Misery (1990) and Elf (2003), the Bronx-born Caan specialized in roles that called for a “tough insouciance” as summarized in Ronald Bergan’s obituary for The Guardian.

The Gambler (1974) remains one of Caan’s most celebrated films, written by James Toback as a semi-autobiographical meditation on self-destruction, inspired by the gambling addiction that plagued him while he lectured at City College of New York. Fresh from his success as Sonny Corleone, Caan was drawn to the challenge of what would become one of his favorite of his own movies as “it’s not easy to make people care about a guy who steals from his mother to pay gambling debts.” Continue reading

The Holiday: Jude Law’s Brown Plaid Jacket and Tie

Jude Law in The Holiday (2006)

Vitals

Jude Law as Graham Simpkins, charming book editor and widowed father

Surrey, England, Christmas 2005

Film: The Holiday
Release Date: December 8, 2006
Director: Nancy Meyers
Costume Designer: Marlene Stewart

Background

Happy 50th birthday, Jude Law! The London-born actor has been frequently featured on BAMF Style before but today’s post offers a more practical look for those of us who aren’t regularly jaunting off the Italian coast or solving crimes in Victorian England.

In recognition of Law’s December 29th birthday landing directly between Christmas and New Year’s Day, it feels most appropriate on his milestone birthday to review his scarf-positive performance in Nancy Meyers’ yuletide romantic comedy The Holiday, which was incorrectly rumored this month to be receiving a sequel 17 years after its initial release. Continue reading