Tagged: Sport Coat & Slacks
Dean Martin’s Blue Striped Sport Coat in Ocean’s Eleven
Dean Martin as Sam Harmon in Ocean’s Eleven (1960).
Vitals
Dean Martin as Sam Harmon, lounge singer and part-time casino heister
Las Vegas, January 1960
Film: Ocean’s Eleven
Release Date: August 10, 1960
Director: Lewis Milestone
Costume Designer: Howard Shoup
Tailor: Sy Devore
Background
Tomorrow would’ve been the 97th birthday of a true icon from a past era… Dean Martin.
In the film that helped cement the Rat Pack’s place in history, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin play two old army pals who team up with nine fellow ex-commandos to take down five Las Vegas casinos on New Year’s Eve. Ocean’s Eleven is mostly an excuse for these actors to get together to drink, smoke, chase dames, and sing, but that’s all we really want to see them do anyway. Continue reading
The Sopranos: Christopher’s Black-on-Black in “D-Girl”
Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisani in “D-Girl”, Episode 2.07 of The Sopranos (2000).
Vitals
Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti, New Jersey Mafia associate and aspiring screenwriter
New York City, Fall 2000
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “D-Girl” (Episode 2.07)
Air Date: February 27, 2000
Director: Allen Coulter
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
Background
“D-Girl” is a turning point episode for Christopher Moltisanti. We had seen previous mentions of his screenwriting aspirations, including a poorly-written script on his Mac in “The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti”, but “D-Girl” provides his Bugsy moment. Continue reading
Bonnie and Clyde (1967): Meeting Clyde Barrow in a Brown Double-Breasted Jacket
Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
Vitals
Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow, Depression-era ex-con and armed robber
West Texas, Spring 1932
Film: Bonnie & Clyde
Release Date: August 13, 1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
Background
The opening sequence of Bonnie and Clyde nicely compacts two years of heartbreak and jailbreak into a five minute sequence as abundantly charming Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) chats up Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) and quickly smooth-talks her into a life of fast-paced larceny across the country. Continue reading
L.A. Confidential – Jack Vincennes’ on-the-job “Atomic fleck”
Kevin Spacey takes a drag from a Chesterfield as Jack Vincennes in L.A. Confidential (1997).
Vitals
Kevin Spacey as Sgt. Jack Vincennes, swaggering LAPD “celebrity” narcotics detective
Los Angeles, January 1953
Film: L.A. Confidential
Release Date: September 19, 1997
Director: Curtis Hanson
Costume Designer: Ruth Myers
Background
Back at work today? It’s okay, none of us want to be, especially after losing an hour of sleep last night. However, you could disguise your Monday blues by emulating Sgt. Jack Vincennes’ on-the-job style. Continue reading
Butch Cassidy in Bolivia
Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
Vitals
Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy, exiled American outlaw in Bolivia
Bolivia, November 1908
Film: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Release Date: October 24, 1969
Director: George Roy Hill
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
105 years ago today, a group of scared and confused law officers surrounded a small boarding house in San Vincente, Bolivia. Inside the house were two tired American men, believed responsible for a score of robberies throughout South America over the past three years. Outside the house stood the police chief, the mayor, city officials, and three soldiers – one of whom was dead.
At 2:00 a.m., the officials heard a man screaming from inside the house. A single shot ended the screaming, soon followed by one final gunshot. These were the last shots fired in a daylong gun battle that had raged for nearly 12 hours. Under the light of the morning, the officials cautiously entered the house and found the two men dead, one of a bullet wound in the forehead and the other with a bullet wound in his temple.
There remains some doubt as to who the two men really were, but they were believed to be the thieves of a mining payroll stolen five days earlier. These thieves were better known to history, and film, as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Continue reading
Donnie Brasco’s Brown Leather Jacket
Johnny Depp as Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, with his clothing undergoing Al Pacino’s scrutiny in Donnie Brasco.
Vitals
Johnny Depp as Joe Pistone, aka “Donnie Brasco”, undercover FBI agent infiltrating the Mafia
New York City, November 1978
Film: Donnie Brasco
Release Date: February 28, 1997
Director: Mike Newell
Costume Designer: Aude Bronson-Howard & David C. Robinson
Background
I try to respond to all requests, though unfortunately not in as timely a fashion as I would prefer. However, last December, BAMF Style had a request from Max to cover the leather from Donnie Brasco. Anyone who has seen the film knows that this is a wise suggestion as Donnie Brasco, and Depp’s titular character in particular, showcases a great array of ’70s leather in the great era before everyone was wearing ugly neon windbreakers, as I assume everyone in the ’80s did.
Depp wears three leather jackets during the film, the first being this everyday brown car coat. He follows it with another brown leather jacket, styled like a sports coat. By the end of the film, and in time for his transformation over to the “dark side”, he is wearing an all-black leather jacket.
What’d He Wear?
Through the beginning of the film, as Donnie quickly rises with Lefty and Sonny Black’s crew, the main staple of his wardrobe is a very ‘70s and very cool brown textured leather car coat. The color is a reddish brown, closer to saddle brown than russet. Continue reading
Casino – De Niro Wears Pink for a Car Bombing
Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein in Casino (1995).
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Vegas casino manager and mob associate
Las Vegas, October 1982
Film: Casino
Release Date: November 22, 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Rita Ryack & John A. Dunn
Background
Anyone standing outside Tony Roma’s restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip 31 years ago today would be in for years of ringing ears. On the morning of October 4, 1982, ousted casino manager, fringe mob associate, and gambler extraordinaire Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal left the restaurant and headed for his car, a silver 1981 Cadillac Eldorado coupe with the distinctive V8-6-4 engine, the failed experiment that only last one year. In this case, the failed experiment saved Rosenthal’s life as an extra metal sheet placed under the driver’s seat to offset the weight of this engine protected him from the initial blast of a devastating car bomb placed on his Cadillac. Continue reading
Breaking Bad: Gus Fring’s Mexican Vendetta in “Salud”
Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring on Breaking Bad, Episode 4.10, “Salud”. This is not a shot from the finished episode; I grabbed screenshots as the camera panned up from his shoes to his torso, then compiled them together. I’m not a photo editor by any means, but I’m still pretty impressed by the result.
This week saw the return of Breaking Bad on AMC, one of the greatest shows on television today (and ever). Since not everyone has caught up (hurry up, people!), I must warn that there are some spoilers in this post.
Vitals
Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo “Gus” Fring, Chilean-born meth distributor and fried chicken entreprenuer
Michoacán, Mexico, July 2010
Background
As an astute commenter on this blog once noted, Giancarlo Esposito’s character of Gus Fring was a “man of refined style” and was worthy of inclusion here. (Thanks, Roman!) After finishing Gus’s arc, I couldn’t agree more!
Though not one of the lead characters, two-season antagonist Gustavo “Gus” Fring made an impression on viewers as an affable and charming villain with a sharp sense of style (unless wearing his Los Pollos Hermanos uniform). As the all-knowing yin to Walter White’s yang, Fring was always two steps ahead with, at least until the end, no apparent Achilles heel.
Fring’s shining moment of glory is in “Salud”, the tenth episode of the fourth season. In the episode, Fring travels with apprentice-turned-master-chemist Jesse Pinkman and loyal henchman Mike to Mexico to meet with the cartel about a meth deal. Jesse is oblivious, but Mike and Gus have a dangerous plan hatched. Continue reading
Bugsy Siegel’s Las Vegas Discovery
Warren Beatty as “Bugsy” Siegel in Bugsy (1991)
Vitals
Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, violent and visionary “celebrity” gangster
Las Vegas, March 1945
Film: Bugsy
Release Date: December 13, 1991
Director: Barry Levinson
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky
Background
23 years after turning vicious Depression-era outlaw Clyde Barrow into a lovable if impotent protagonist, Warren Beatty was back at it, portraying sadistic rapist-turned-gangster “Bugsy” Siegel as an ambitious womanizer whose major flaw was being a stickler for good grammar.
While Siegel’s story was kept relatively similar—he was a dreamer amongst gangsters who fell in love with Hollywood and femme fatale Virginia Hill—Beatty plays him much differently than the cinematic mobster we’re used to seeing. Continue reading
Live and Let Die: James Bond’s Beige Jacket in New Orleans
Roger Moore as James Bond (sans Rolex) in Live and Let Die (1973)
Vitals
Roger Moore as James Bond, cheeky British secret agent
New Orleans, Spring 1973
Film: Live and Let Die
Release Date: June 27, 1973
Director: Guy Hamilton
Costume Designer: Julie Harris
Background
Ah, Roger Moore’s divisive first outing as James Bond. After getting heat for basing Lazenby almost entirely on Connery’s characterization, the producers (and Moore himself) decided to go a new direction with the Bond character in Live and Let Die. Moore’s “Bond for the ’70s” replaced cigarettes, martinis, and the sleek Walther PPK with cigars, bourbon, and a Dirty Harry-style .44 Magnum. (OK, so he still carried the PPK at the beginning, but you know what I mean.) Continue reading
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