Tagged: Warm Climate
OSS 117’s Black Polo Shirt and Blue Trousers
Jean Dujardin as Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)
Vitals
Jean Dujardin as Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, suave French agent OSS 117
Cairo, Spring 1955
Film: OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
(French title: OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d’espions)
Release Date: April 19, 2006
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Costume Designer: Charlotte David
Tailor: Joseph Kergoat
Background
Our debonair protagonist spends most of OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies in one tailored suit or the other, but he briefly dressed down for an adventure in the desert, sporting a black long-sleeve polo shirt reminiscent of Sean Connery’s preferred covert casual wear in James Bond films like Goldfinger and Thunderball. Continue reading
Cary Grant’s Gray Plaid Summer Suit in An Affair to Remember
Cary Grant as Nickie Ferrante in An Affair to Remember (1957)
Vitals
Cary Grant as Nicolò “Nickie” Ferrante, socialite playboy
Onboard the SS Constitution in the Mediterranean, December 1956
Film: An Affair to Remember
Release Date: July 2, 1957
Director: Leo McCarey
Executive Wardrobe Designer: Charles Le Maire
Background
In honor of my parents’ 35th wedding anniversary today, I’m delving into Cary Grant’s well-tailored wardrobe from the romantic classic An Affair to Remember. Continue reading
Quantum of Solace – Felix Leiter’s Striped Shirt
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter in Quantum of Solace (2008)
Vitals
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, cynical CIA agent
Bolivia, Summer 2008
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
The brilliant Jeffrey Wright was the first actor to reprise the mercurial role of Felix Leiter in consecutive Bond outings, appearing as the reliable if cynical CIA agent in Quantum of Solace two years after his introduction in Casino Royale. (David Hedison is the only actor to have played Felix twice: first with Roger Moore’s Bond in Live and Let Die in 1973, then reprising his role with Timothy Dalton’s Bond in 1989’s Licence to Kill.)
Ian Fleming wrote Felix Leiter to be the closest thing to a friend that James Bond would have, first described as a lanky Texan in the first literary Bond adventure Casino Royale. Leiter reappeared in the next novel, Live and Let Die, where he lost his leg in an incident that fans of the 007 cinematic universe would recollect from the events of Licence to Kill. Continue reading
Commander Bond’s Battle Dress in The Spy Who Loved Me
Roger Moore as Commander James Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Vitals
Roger Moore as James Bond, sophisticated British MI6 agent
Sardinia, Italy, Summer 1977
Film: The Spy Who Loved Me
Release Date: July 7, 1977
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Wardrobe Supervisor: Rosemary Burrows
Background
Have you heard of Black Tot Day?
On July 31, 1970, the British Royal Navy ended its centuries-old tradition of providing its sailors with a daily rum ration. The day became known as Black Tot Day, as I first learned in a Facebook post from my favorite Pittsburgh bar, Hidden Harbor, when they announced their acquisition of a Black Tot “Last Consignment” bottle, bottled from the last remaining stocks of Royal Naval rum.
To commemorate this tragic day in the history of the British Royal Navy, I’m revisiting The Spy Who Loved Me for the second time this month with a look at the naval battle dress worn by Commander James Bond, RNR, during the climactic battle aboard the Liparus, the massive supertanker owned by the film’s Goldfinger-esque villain, Karl Stomberg (Curd Jürgens). Continue reading
Magic City: Ben the Butcher’s Yellow Shirt
Danny Huston as Ben “the Butcher” Diamond in “Sitting on Top of the World”, episode 2.06 of Magic City (2012-2013)
Vitals
Danny Huston as Ben “the Butcher” Diamond, sadistic and volatile Miami gangster
Miami Beach, Summer 1959
Series: Magic City
Episodes:
– “Crossroads” (Episode 2.04, dir: Ed Bianchi, aired July 12, 2013)
– “Sitting on Top of the World” (Episode 2.06, dir: David Petarca, aired July 26, 2013)
Creator: Mitch Glazer
Costume Designer: Carol Ramsey
Background
Easing into the end of July, I’m taking a look at the sunny summer style of Ben “the Butcher” Diamond, the ruthless gangster played to brutal perfection by Danny Huston on Starz’s Magic City. Continue reading
David Niven’s Taupe Suit in Death on the Nile
David Niven as Colonel Race in Death on the Nile (1978)
Vitals
David Niven as Colonel Johnny Race, lawyer and war veteran
Egypt, September 1937
Film: Death on the Nile
Release Date: September 29, 1978
Director: John Guillermin
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Following the grand success of 1974’s Murder on the Orient Express, one of the few adaptations of her work actually endorsed by Agatha Christie herself, producers rushed to find the next of her books to be adapted into a lavish, star-studded affair.
Death on the Nile was published in 1937, three years but ten books after Murder on the Orient Express, and included all of the necessary ingredients for success: the return of eccentric detective Hercule Poirot, an exotic location, and a glamorous victim among an international cast of characters… all of whom had the motive and means to commit the crime.
Poirot’s “boy Friday” to help him solve the case came in the form of Colonel Race, a steadfast Brit who first appeared in Christie’s earlier novel The Man in the Brown Suit. David Niven affably portrays the capable colonel with dignified charm and deadpan wit, often serving as the straightforward foil to Peter Ustinov’s more bombastic Poirot. Continue reading
Tony Rome’s Yellow Turtleneck and Ford Galaxie
Frank Sinatra slides behind the wheel of a 1961 Ford Galaxie Sunliner with Jill St. John in Tony Rome (1967)
Vitals
Frank Sinatra as Tony Rome, private investigator and compulsive gambler
Miami Beach, Spring 1967
Film: Tony Rome
Release Date: November 10, 1967
Director: Gordon Douglas
Costume Designer: Moss Mabry
Background
BAMF Style’s biannual Car Week is back! For the first post of this summer’s installment of Car Week, let’s check in with Frank Sinatra in the sunny setting of late 1960s Miami Beach, where he plays the beer-swilling, boat-dwelling private eye Tony Rome. Continue reading
