Tagged: White Shirt
David Niven’s Red Velvet Dinner Jacket in The Pink Panther
David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton in The Pink Panther (1963)
Vitals
David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton, urbane master jewel thief and titular “Pink Panther”
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Winter 1963
Film: The Pink Panther
Release Date: December 18, 1963
Director: Blake Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor: Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca
Background
No discussion of debonair actors would be complete without mention of David Niven, a gentleman in every sense of the word. Continue reading
Mad Men – Don’s Brown Sweater in “The Grown Ups”
Jon Hamm as Don Draper in “The Grown-Ups”, Episode 3.12 of Mad Men.
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Madison Avenue ad man with a crumbling personal life
Ossining, New York, November 1963
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “The Grown-Ups” (Episode 3.12)
Air Date: November 1, 2009
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
Best known for his sharp business suits at the office, Don Draper has a very clear weekend relaxation style that emerges during the series. In the cooler months of spring and fall, Don often pairs a white dress shirt with a dark sweater and trousers. This was first notably seen in the second season’s “Three Sundays” when he and the Sterling Cooper gang bustled around the office on a weekend to prepare the perfect pitch for American Airlines.
A year and a half later, the country is reeling from the recent tragedy of the JFK assassination. The sixties had yet to become the turbulent and violent decade it is now remembered as, and American life was still viewed as the idyllic Norman Rockwell painting or Father Knows Best episode. This all began to change in 1963 as the white picket fence of Leave It to Beaver gave way to presidential assassinations, city-wide riots, and unthinkable racial violence. Continue reading
Bourne’s Casual Leather Jacket in 1988
Richard Chamberlain as Jason Bourne in the 1988 TV mini-series, The Bourne Identity.
Vitals
Richard Chamberlain as Jason Bourne, amnesiac ex-CIA agent
Paris, Spring 1988
Film: The Bourne Identity
Release Date: May 8, 1988
Director: Roger Young
Costume Designer: Barbara Lane
Background
As fall turns into weather here in the northern hemisphere, many men are pulling their heavy wool overcoats and dark sweaters out of storage, emulating a look that certainly worked for Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum. Fourteen years prior to Damon taking on the Bourne role, Richard Chamberlain had played the spy in a two-part TV miniseries.
Also titled The Bourne Identity, this miniseries plays much closer to the original source material, Robert Ludlum’s 1975 novel, as the confused amnesiac Bourne follows bread crumbs to discover his past life as a decoy assassin trailing the international terrorist Carlos. Part of his investigation leads him to a Parisian boutique, where he poses as gregarious American buyer “Charlie Briggs”. Continue reading
Paul Newman as Harper – Brown Plaid Sport Coat
Paul Newman as Lew Harper in Harper (1966).
Vitals
Paul Newman as Lew Harper, wisecracking private eye
Los Angeles, Late Summer 1965
Film: Harper
Release Date: February 23, 1966
Director: Jack Smight
Background
By the mid 1960s, Paul Newman had proved himself to be one of the most talented – and yet still down-to-earth – actors in the industry. He had racked up impressive performances in dramas like The Long Hot Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Exodus, The Hustler, and Hud, but the world still had yet to see how well the charming blue-eyed actor could handle comedy.
Around this time, novelist and screenwriter William Goldman was desperately trying to get Ross MacDonald’s 1949 mystery novel The Moving Target turned into a film. The film rights were purchased, and Goldman completed his first ever solo screenplay, now titled Harper. Frank Sinatra was originally slated to play the protagonist, as he was looking for detective roles at the time, but the role eventually went to Newman. Continue reading
Skyfall – Bond’s Dark Blue Tuxedo in Macau
Excerpt from a promotional poster for Skyfall (2012), featuring Daniel Craig as James Bond against the familiar “gunbarrel” backdrop.
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, British government agent
Macau, Spring 2012
Film: Skyfall
Release Date: November 9, 2012
Director: Sam Mendes
Costume Designer: Jany Temime
Background
Nearly forty years after his last visit in The Man with the Golden Gun, James Bond returns to Macau after discovering a casino chip on an assassin in Shanghai. Now officially back in Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond packs up his dinner suit, cut-throat razor, and sunglasses and heads to the film’s version of Macau. Continue reading
J.J. Gittes’ Gray Pinstripe Double-Breasted Suit in Chinatown
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes in Chinatown (1974)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and all-around “nosy fella”
Los Angeles, September 1937
Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
Background
Many of the suits Jack Nicholson wears in Chinatown are intentionally loud and showy. As an easygoing yin to the cynical Philip Marlowe’s yang, Gittes happily shows off the fruits of his labors with extravagant and noticeable suits in various earth tones and shades of cream.
However, when it’s time to get down to business, Gittes knows the last thing he needs is to stand out during a stakeout. For this, he has an army of gray suits at his disposal. None of the suits are boring by any means, and they’re only conservative in relation to his other apparel. For client visits and “pubic relations”, Gittes is the flashy PI in brighty-colored suits and shirts.
When Gittes shows up as Evelyn Mulwray’s “knight in shining armor” after her husband’s corpse is found, he is appropriately suited in gray. We’d seen him in gray suits before during his initial investigations of Mulwray, and it’s our signifier that his day doesn’t end with a few quips in front of the hungry press (“Gittes – two t’s and an e!”) Indeed, after Mrs. Mulwray departs, Gittes immediately gets right back to work, investigating the dry river bed and the dams. Continue reading
Reservoir Dogs — Harvey Keitel as Mr. White
Harvey Keitel as Mr. White in Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Vitals
Harvey Keitel as Larry Dimmick, aka “Mr. White”, professional armed robber
Los Angeles, Summer 1992
Film: Reservoir Dogs
Release Date: October 9, 1992
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
If you’ve never heard of Reservoir Dogs, you’ve either:
a) Chosen to live under a rock
b) Never stepped into a college dorm room inhabited by at least one man (see also: The Boondock Saints)
Once again, I turn to the pros at Clothes on Film to help express the importance of this film’s costuming. Chris Laverty, who interviewed the film’s costumer Betsy Heimann, states:
Betsy Heimann’s costume design for Reservoir Dogs spawned a legacy in pop culture and fashion that is still being felt today. Heimann and director Quentin Tarantino determined a cinematic sub-genre by redefining the appearance of the petty gangster. From shambolic to symbolic; a man in a black suit, white shirt and black tie walking in slow motion is possibly the single most memorable costume image of the nineties.
Patrick Redfern’s White Dinner Jacket
Two years ago, I broke down the great off-white dinner jacket worn by Sean Connery in Goldfinger. For your end-of-summer fancy soiree (which I assume you’re hosting), the white or off-white dinner jacket should always be an option.
Nicholas Clay as Patrick Redfern in Evil Under the Sun (1982).
Vitals
Nicholas Clay as Patrick Redfern, philandering Latin teacher
Adriatic Sea, Summer 1939
Film: Evil Under the Sun
Release Date: March 5, 1982
Director: Guy Hamilton
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
1982’s Evil Under the Sun is a lavish adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1941 novel, jumping on the popularity of its successful predecessors Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile by stacking together a star-studded cast, dressing them up in expensive period costumes, and dropping them into a murder mystery in an exotic locale. Continue reading
The Sundance Kid’s Gray Wool Traveling Suit
Paul Newman, Katharine Ross, and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
Vitals
Robert Redford as Harry Longbaugh, aka “The Sundance Kid”, American outlaw and sharpshooter
Colorado to Bolivia (via New York City), Spring 1901
Film: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Release Date: October 24, 1969
Director: George Roy Hill
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
For Throwback Tuesday (that’s a thing, right?), BAMF Style is focusing on another BAMF hero – Robert Redford, who celebrated his 78th birthday yesterday – in the role that arguably shot his career into megastardom.
As Harry Longbaugh, alias “The Sundance Kid”, Redford played a level-headed – if pessimisitc – ying to the optimistic dreamer Butch Cassidy played by Paul Newman. Butch and the Kid were outlaws, killers, and thieves, but William Goldman’s script, George Roy Hill’s direction, and Newman and Redford’s bickering chemistry reinvented the two bandits’ image. Continue reading
J.J. Gittes’ Cream Suit in Chinatown
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes in Chinatown (1974)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and ex-policeman
Los Angeles, September 1937
Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
Background
Last Friday, I covered the charcoal business suit Robert Shaw wears in The Sting. While it’s a terrific suit for the era, it wouldn’t be very comfortable during warm summer months. For a great summer suit with a ’30s vibe, look no further than Jake Gittes in Chinatown. Continue reading
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