Tagged: White Shirt
Don Draper’s Brown Striped Suit for Thanksgiving 1960
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious advertising creative director
New York City, Spring to Fall 1960
Series: Mad Men
Episodes:
– “Ladies Room” (Episode 1.02), dir. Alan Taylor, aired 7/26/2007
– “New Amsterdam” (Episode 1.04), dir. Tim Hunter, aired 8/9/2007
– “Shoot” (Episode 1.09), dir. Paul Feig, aired 9/13/2007
– “The Wheel” (Episode 1.13), dir. Matthew Weiner, aired 10/18/2007
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
This particular suit makes sporadic appearances across the masterful debut season of Mad Men, AMC’s much-acclaimed drama set in the world of American advertising in the 1960s.
Purple Noon: Alain Delon’s Blue Silk Suit
Vitals
Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, charming American con artist and sophisticated sociopath
Rome, Italy, August 1959
Film: Purple Noon
(French title: Plein soleil)
Release Date: March 10, 1960
Director: René Clément
Costume Designer: Bella Clément
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the 83rd birthday of French actor and worldwide style icon Alain Delon. Born November 8, 1935, in Sceaux, a commune south of Paris, Delon entered the film world during a trip to the Cannes Film Festival shortly after his dishonorable discharge from the French Navy. Attending Cannes with his friend, actress Brigitte Auber, Delon caught the eye of one of David O. Selznick’s talent scouts. A contract was offered, but Delon would later choose to cancel the contract in favor of remaining in France to begin his film career there.
After a few leading roles in France, it was Plein soleil in 1960 that boosted Delon to international stardom. Released as Purple Noon in the English-speaking world, this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 thriller novel The Talented Mr. Ripley starred Delon as the cunning sociopath Tom Ripley, a portrayal that Highsmith herself highly approved of. Continue reading
James Garner as Marlowe: Gray Tweed Jacket
Vitals
James Garner as Philip Marlowe, cynical private detective
Los Angeles, Spring 1969
Film: Marlowe
Release Date: October 22, 1969
Director: Paul Bogart
Costume Design: Florence Hackett & James Taylor
Background
Save for a single season of a loosely adapted ABC TV series, he character of Philip Marlowe had gone more than two decades without a cinematic portrayal at the time Marlowe was released in 1969. Directed by the appropriately named Paul Bogart (no relation), this adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s 1949 pulp novel The Little Sister updated the setting to contemporary Los Angeles.
James Garner took some criticism for his take on the famous private eye, but I think the likable actor’s vulnerable sincerity works for his interpretation of Chandler’s anti-hero. Continue reading
Notorious – Cary Grant in Gun Club Check
Vitals
Cary Grant as T.R. Devlin, American government agent
Rio de Janeiro, Spring 1946
Film: Notorious
Release Date: September 6, 1946
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Background
With a tight screenplay from Ben Hecht, a dream cast including Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains, and a finely developed cinematic maturity as the by-product of a quarter-century of directing, Notorious is considered a career high in the filmography of Alfred Hitchcock.
James Stewart in Rope
Vitals
James Stewart as Rupert Cadell, cerebral publisher and former prep school headmaster
New York City, Spring 1948
Film: Rope
Release Date: September 25, 1948
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Labor Day often signifies the changing of the seasons from the hot summer months into the cooler autumn, a time when the linen suits are shifted toward the back of the closet as flannels and tweeds return to the forefront. As we look ahead to the warmer clothes of the approaching season, I take inspiration from a real-life BAMF who had plenty of style both on and off the big screen, Jimmy Stewart.
Just over 70 years ago on August 26, 1948, Rope premiered in New York City, nearly a month before it was released to screens around the country. Continue reading
The Lady Eve: Henry Fonda’s White Dinner Jacket
Vitals
Henry Fonda as Charles “Hopsie” Pike, brewery heir and ophidiologist
SS Southern Queen, sailing north from South America,
August 1940
Film: The Lady Eve
Release Date: February 25, 1941
Director: Preston Sturges
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Men’s Wardrobe: Richard Bachler
Background
To celebrate the birthday today of my wonderful, patient, and charming girlfriend, I’d like to highlight the elegant evening wear worn by Henry Fonda in The Lady Eve, a classic screwball comedy that I first discovered with her family. Continue reading
Roger Sterling’s Gray Labor Day Suit
Vitals
John Slattery as Roger Sterling, advertising account service chief
New York City, September 1960
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “Long Weekend” (Episode 1.10)
Air Date: September 27, 2007
Director: Tim Hunter
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
It’s Labor Day weekend. Between now and Monday, we have to fall in love a dozen times.
Happy #MadMenMonday! Americans are celebrating their last week in the office before the long weekend over Labor Day, a holiday that provided Roger Sterling with one of his most quotable – and lecherous – of early Mad Men episodes.
The Godfather, Part II: Vito’s Brown Suit for Revenge
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone, née Andolini, Sicilian-born gangster
Corleone, Sicily, Summer 1922
Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today’s #MafiaMonday post explores a much requested outfit—indeed, I’ve received at least three separate asks for it in the last 12 months alone—from The Godfather, Part II, often considered one of the greatest films of all time. In a mostly Italian-speaking performance that won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Robert De Niro reprised the role of Vito Corleone that had been originated by Marlon Brando in The Godfather two years earlier.
Mad Men, 1970 Style – Don Draper’s Last Suit
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, ad man at the pinnacle of professional success… and personal disillusionment
New York City, Summer 1970
Series: Mad Men
Episodes:
– “The Forecast” (Episode 7.10), dir. Jennifer Getzinger, aired 4/19/2015
– “Time & Life” (Episode 7.11), dir. Jared Harris, aired 4/26/2015
– “Lost Horizon” (Episode 7.12), dir. Phil Abraham, aired 5/3/2015
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Considering its significance, the final business suit that Don Draper (Jon Hamm) wears on-screen in Mad Men makes a rather ignominious debut, though it does get a shining moment of glory as Don—the erstwhile Dick Whitman—gets a glimpse of what he really wants his life to be.
Mitchum as Marlowe: Striped Summer Suit in The Big Sleep
Vitals
Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, American private investigator
London, September 1977
Film: The Big Sleep
Release Date: March 13, 1978
Director: Michael Winner
Costume Designer: Ron Beck
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Raymond Chandler’s birthday was 130 years ago today (July 23, 1888), so I’m celebrating the hard-boiled author’s big day with a look at a cinematic portrayal of one of his most enduring creations, cynical private eye Philip Marlowe, as played by Robert Mitchum in this 1978 update of The Big Sleep.










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