Tagged: What to Wear at the Shooting Range

Skyfall: James Bond’s SIS Training Gear

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall (2012). Adapted from an image sourced at thunderballs.org.

Vitals

Daniel Craig as James Bond, “resurrected” British secret agent

London, Spring 2012

Film: Skyfall
Release Date: November 9, 2012
Director: Sam Mendes
Costume Designer: Jany Temime

Background

Having been assumed dead after taking friendly fire in the field, James Bond returns from self-imposed exile. However, before he can go from “resurrection” to active duty, the British Secret Service needs to make sure their most famous secret agent can still shoot straight.

Following the attack on their Vauxhall Cross headquarters, SIS has set up temporary shop in the concrete bowels of the Old Vic tunnels under London, and it’s here that Bond runs through a variety of exercises from treadmills to crash drills. The service’s ever-affable chief of staff, Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear), attempts to save time by bringing 007 up to speed on his new assignment, but months on a Greek beach fueled by Heineken and vintage Macallan haven’t made it easy for Mr. Bond to catch his breath.

Tanner: We can always do this later.
Bond: You know what? Let’s.

Although Daniel Craig’s 007 was often referred to by his Royal Navy rank, Commander Bond never actually appeared in uniform on film during Craig’s era. In fact, the closest we saw to Craig’s James Bond in any sort of uniform—aside from when the actor himself received his honorary commission in 2021—was when he was put to these tests in Skyfall, resurrected and ready to be retrained by his superiors… and dressed the part in an SIS-marked track jacket and training shirt.

SIS Training Gear recognized the opportunity for Bond fans to borrow from our favorite secret agent’s style, not with a tailored suit or trim navy polo but through an increasingly growing selection of activewear that started with just a pair of T-shirts and joggers, designed to resemble Craig’s screen-worn apparel. Since then, the collection has grown to a wide and exciting lineup of a range of casual styles that reference Bond films across the franchise’s 60 years. Continue reading

Death Wish: Charles Bronson’s Herringbone Sport Jacket

Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey in Death Wish (1974)

Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey in Death Wish (1974)

Vitals

Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, architect and soon-to-be vigilante

Tucson, Arizona, and New York City, Winter 1974

Film: Death Wish
Release Date: July 24, 1974
Director: Michael Winner
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

After a wave of films celebrating outlaws during the counterculture era of the late ’60s (i.e. Bonnie and Clyde and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), an opposing wave crashed through American cinema at the start of the following decade, centered around a philosophy of vigilantism. The trend arguably kicked into high gear with Clint Eastwood’s renegade detective in Dirty Harry who despised the proverbial red tape preventing him from bringing deadly criminals to justice with his famed .44 Magnum. Within five years, Martin Scorsese had already evolved the focus from an endorsement of vigilantism into a cautionary tale with the release of Taxi Driver. Before the troubled Travis Bickle took it upon himself to “wash all this scum off the streets” of New York City, there was Paul Kersey.

Continue reading

Dirty Harry’s Navy Windbreaker in Magnum Force

Clint Eastwood as Inspector "Dirty Harry" Callahan in Magnum Force (1973)

Clint Eastwood as Inspector “Dirty Harry” Callahan in Magnum Force (1973)

Vitals

Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan, tough San Francisco Police Department inspector

San Francisco, August 1972

Film: Magnum Force
Release Date: December 25, 1973
Director: Ted Post
Costume Supervisor: Glenn Wright

Background

When the first Dirty Harry sequel was being conceptualized in the early 1970s, Clint Eastwood recalled a plot line introduced by Terrence Malick in an unused first draft for Dirty Harry that was fleshed out by John Milius to center around a group of young rogue officers in the San Francisco Police Department who formed a secret vigilante “death squad” to rid the city of its worst criminals. This neatly responded to criticism of Harry Callahan’s methods from the first film, illustrating that while Harry may be an antihero comfortable with skirting red tape to get the job done, he doesn’t extend down into the villainous domain that truly takes the law into their own hands, illustrated by the movie’s repeated motif that “a man’s got to know his limitations.” Continue reading

John Wayne’s Navy Windbreaker as McQ

John Wayne as Lon McHugh in McQ (1974)

John Wayne as Lon McHugh in McQ (1974)

Vitals

John Wayne as Lon “McQ” McHugh, taciturn Seattle PD lieutenant

Seattle, Fall 1973

Film: McQ
Release Date: February 6, 1974
Director: John Sturges
Wardrobe Credit: Luster Bayless

Background

Today marks the birthday of John Wayne, the American icon who reinvented his half-century image as a stalwart of Westerns and war movies by taking on a duo of contemporary cop roles, beginning with McQ in 1974 and followed up with Brannigan the following year.

Born May 26, 1907, Duke was over 60 as he watched younger stars like Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood steal the action movie thunder with urban-set police thrillers. While McQueen’s impressive wheelmanship would be incorporated into McQ, it was the “shoot first, ask later” style of Eastwood’s Dirty Harry that particularly resonated with the old-school star as the opening sequence of McQ finds Duke’s rugged Seattle detective foiling a dockside hitman with his own six-shooter. Continue reading

McQ’s Navy Blazer and 1973 Trans Am

John Wayne as Det. Lon "McQ" McHugh in McQ (1973), armed in front of his 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.

John Wayne as Det. Lon “McQ” McHugh in McQ (1973), armed in front of his 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.

Vitals

John Wayne as Lon “McQ” McHugh, taciturn Seattle PD lieutenant

Seattle, Fall 1973

Film: McQ
Release Date: February 6, 1974
Director: John Sturges
Wardrobe Credit: Luster Bayless

Background

It’s no Hollywood secret that McQ was originally developed as a vehicle for Steve McQueen. Five years after McQueen sat behind the wheel of a hunter green Mustang GT390 careening through the streets of San Francisco in Bullitt, the role of gruff Seattle police lieutenant Lon McHugh was retooled for screen legend John Wayne, who took on his first detective role at the age of 66.

Wayne, whose entire left lung had been surgically removed after a bout with cancer a decade earlier, could only walk short distances without needing oxygen – much to the chagrin of director John Sturges – but still turned in a surprisingly energetic performance as a cop who combines Dirty Harry’s stubborn grit with Bullitt’s propensity toward speeding around the city in a sporty dark green American muscle car. Continue reading

Californication – Hank at the Gun Range

David Duchovny as Hank Moody in "The Ride-Along", Episode 5.05 of Californication, with a Desert Eagle-wielding RZA.

David Duchovny as Hank Moody in “The Ride-Along”, Episode 5.05 of Californication, with a Desert Eagle-wielding RZA.

Vitals

David Duchovny as Hank Moody, womanizing novelist and screenwriter

Santa Monica, Spring 2012

Series: Californication
Episode: “The Ride-Along” (Episode 5.05)
Air Date: February 5, 2012
Director: Millicent Shelton
Costume Designer: Peggy A. Schnitzer

Background

Two years before Ice Cube and Kevin Hart took their seats in a police car, Hank Moody joined unstable rapper Samurai Apocalypse (RZA) for an Santa Monica PD ride-along to prep for Sam’s new movie, Santa Monica Cop.

Writing a movie called Santa Monica Cop (no, it’s not supposed to be a very original concept) is an unexpected scenario for Californication‘s cynical, hard-drinking protagonist, but even more unexpected is the setting for the episode’s cold open: an L.A. gun range. Continue reading