Dustin Hoffman and Justin Henry in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Vitals

Dustin Hoffman as Ted Kramer, ad man and divorced dad

New York City, January 1979

Film: Kramer vs. Kramer
Release Date: December 19, 1979
Director: Robert Benton
Costume Designer: Ruth Morley

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

One of my more recent posts focused on a movie where Dustin Hoffman played a conniving con artist, so let’s allow him to redeem himself as a workaholic learning how to be a more present dad in Kramer vs. Kramer, Robert Benton’s 1979 divorce-centric drama that won Hoffman his first Academy Award for Best Actor—in addition to Oscars for his co-star Meryl Streep, Benton’s screenplay and directing, and the Best Picture trophy.

Hoffman and Streep play the titular Kramer couple, who split after eight years of marriage when an overwhelmed Joanna leaves Ted and their seven-year-old son Billy (Justin Henry) in the New York apartment they once shared. Ted initially struggles with the demands of parenting, but he grows from an aloof workaholic to an engaged dad over the year and a half that he raises Billy exclusively before Joanna re-enters their lives and requests custody.

What’d He Wear?

Field jackets were standardized as American military gear during World War II. After spending a generation in this domain, this ruggedly utilitarian outerwear was embraced by 1960s counterculture until it eventually became so mainstream by the late ’70s that it was no longer strictly associated with macho outdoorsmen nor militant protestors but everymen played by Woody Allen, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman.

For Hoffman, this applies specifically to the latter scenes in Kramer vs. Kramer when Hoffman’s Ted is ordered by the court to arrange reunions between Billy and Joanna. His M-65 field jacket diverts from Ted’s usual wardrobe of suits, sports coats, and the occasional hoodie. Indeed, it may be his subconscious choice to sport a military-associated garment to signal his readiness to fight when facing the enemy—in this case, his ex-wife.

The U.S. Army authorized the M-65 field jacket in 1965 to replace the Korean War-era M-1951, which itself was an evolution of the WWII-era M-43. Most widely associated for its service during the Vietnam War, the classic all-green M-65 began to be phased out in the early 1980s as the military shifted to standardized camouflage Battle Dress Uniforms (BDU) but the M-65 pattern coat remained in limited usage until at least 2005.

Also known as the “M-1965” (for obvious reasons) and designated the “Coat, Cold Weather, Man’s Field”, the M-65 maintained the windproof and water-resistant olive-green (OG-107) cotton shell of its predecessors as well as the overall hip-length cut and four flapped pockets—two bellows pockets over the chest and two set-in hip pockets. The M-65 also continued the M-51’s double fastening system of a straight-zip front covered by a snap-up storm flap, as well as the internal drawcord to cinch the waist.

Perhaps the most obvious visual differentiator between the M-65 and its predecessors is its rounded collar with a built-in protective hood enclosed by a zipper. The shoulders are detailed with epaulets that button closed at the neck, and the set-in sleeves are finished with velcro-adjustable cuffs.

Ted’s dark-brown woolen scarf tends to cover most of the space left open where the jacket is unzipped down to mid-chest, though he appears to wear a mauve button-up shirt with a brick-red overcheck when he debuts his M-65 during Billy’s Central Park reunion with Joanna.

He often pairs the field jacket with the tan needlecord trousers that he wears frequently through Kramer vs. Kramer. The tufted corduroy texture of these flat-front trousers harmonizes with the rugged jacket, as well as the military-informed pockets that echo OG-107 fatigue pants. These consist of patch front pockets with slanted entry and rectangular flaps over the inverted box-pleated back pockets. Rigged with belt loops in alternating widths around the waistband, these trousers have a straight cut down to plain-hemmed bottoms.

Aside from a few occasions that call for sneakers, Ted almost exclusively wears horsebit loafers with his daily wardrobe that ranges from suits and ties to sport jackets and jeans. This distinctive slip-on shoe was pioneered by Italian fashion house Gucci in 1953 when they began adorning vamps with metal straps shaped like a horse’s snaffle bit. More than 70 years later, the Gucci Horsebit 1953 Loafer remains a brand signature.

A field jacket and corduroys are informal enough to have worked with sneakers in this context, but Ted maintains some panache with his black leather moc-toe loafers and their gleaming gold bits, worn with plain black socks.

From the father’s field jacket and horsebit loafers to his young son’s duffle coat, the Kramer boys demonstrate that style may indeed be an inherited trait.

Ted wears a blackened chronograph which resembles contemporary Heuer and LeJour models, though some visual details have me convinced that the watch is most likely a LeJour. The 42mm steel case, pushers, crown, and three-piece link bracelet are PVD-coated for an all-black finish. The black dial features the requisite tachymeter scale around the outer edge, with luminous non-numeric hour indices and a white-wheeled date window at the 6 o’clock position.

The twin sub-registers at 3 and 9 o’clock are consistent with nearly identical Heuer and LeJour chronographs during the 1970s, both powered by the 17-jewel Valjoux 7734 movement that was developed in 1969 in the Vallée de Joux region of Switzerland.

Earlier in the movie, we get an eyeful of Ted’s chronograph as he attempts to make Billy’s French toast.

While awaiting the verdict, Ted and his neighbor Margaret (Jane Alexander)—a fellow single parent who has become more his friend than Joanna’s—walk through the snow, where she confides in him that the custody trial has had her considering rekindling her own relationship with her ex-husband.

The snowy weather understandably has Ted pulling on a heavier-duty mauve wool scarf and black ski gloves. His brown trousers are also corduroy, though he curiously wears the same black horsebit loafers—hardly a practical choice when navigating icy sidewalks!

Carl Bernstein and Judy Hoback seem to developed quite a friendship in the years following their respective roles in uncovering the Watergate scandal.

Hoffman’s screen-worn M-65 may have belonged to the actor in real life, as he was photographed wearing an identical field jacket for months following the film’s release.

How to Get the Look

Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Ted Kramer models how an average joe can wear a classic Army field jacket without looking like cosplaying G.I. Joe, pairing it with comfortable fall staples like a loose scarf, corduroy trousers, and perhaps unexpected—but not unwelcome—horsebit loafers.

• Olive-green (OD-107) cotton sateen M-1965 U.S. Army-issue field jacket with rounded collar (with integrated zip-in hood), zip/snap front closure, four flapped pockets (with covered snaps), epaulets/shoulder straps, back shoulder pleats, and drawstring-cinched waist
• Mauve (with brick-red overcheck) long-sleeved button-up shirt
• Dark-brown woolen scarf
• Tan needlecord flat-front trousers with wide belt loops, slanted-entry patch front pockets, flapped inverted box-pleated back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black leather moc-toe Gucci-style horsebit loafers
• Black socks
• Black PVD-coated steel chronograph watch with 42mm case and black dial (with two black sub-registers, luminous non-numeric hour indices, and 6:00 date window) on black three-piece link bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie. Criterion Channel subscribers can also stream it before it leaves the channel at the end of November!

The Quote

We’re gonna be okay.

The post Kramer vs. Kramer: Dustin Hoffman’s M-65 Field Jacket appeared first on BAMF Style.

Bill Murray as Frank Cross in Scrooged (1988)

Vitals

Bill Murray as Frank Cross, cynical TV executive

New York City, December 1988

Film: Scrooged
Release Date: November 23, 1988
Director: Richard Donner
Costume Designer: Wayne A. Finkelman

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy December! I’m already in the the midst of rewatching many of my favorite Christmas movies, which range in vibe from sentimental to cynical. Action director Richard Donner helmed two of the most cynical holiday-themed movies—Lethal Weapon and Scrooged—released back-to-back in 1987 and 1988, respectively.

A comic update of Charles Dickens’ classic novel A Christmas Carol, Scrooged stars Bill Murray as Frank Cross, president of the fictional IBC television network who gets the chance to prove whether Murray still ain’t afraid of no ghosts.

We meet Frank in the midst of reviewing IBC’s proposed slate of Christmas Eve programming, consisting of a machine-gunning Lee Majors saving Santa Claus, Bob Goulet’s Cajun Christmas, the innuendo-laden ’50s-style sitcom Father Loves Beaver, and a $40 million live production of “Scrooge” starring Buddy Hackett and Jamie Farr that ultimately prompts Frank to react:

Oh my gosh! Does that suck?

It becomes quickly evident that Frank will be our own Scrooge surrogate, as he demands his loyal assistant Grace (Alfre Woodard) work late rather than take her son to a much-needed medical appointment after taking a perverse delight in firing a nervous employee who had the nerve to speak out against Frank’s shock-and-awe TV promo.

What’d He Wear?

Frank Cross is introduced in a villainously dark corporate wardrobe, chaotically patterned with a navy pinstripe suit over a paisley-on-paisley shirt and tie combination. Despite the chaos, the clothing follows a relatively timeless cut that flatters Bill Murray while avoiding much of the bagginess that plagued menswear through the late 1980s.

The navy worsted wool suiting is patterned with a narrowly spaced white pinstripe. Frank’s tailor gives him the “power suit” silhouette with pagoda shoulders, which follow the concave part of the shoulder but curves out (rather than down), as defined by Matt Spaiser for Bond Suits‘ post that describes them as “the other natural shoulder”. This technique was popular at the time Scrooged was produced in the late 1980s, as also modeled on screen by Pierce Brosnan on Remington Steele and Timothy Dalton in his first James Bond film, The Living Daylights. Frank’s suit jacket has roped sleeve-heads that further emphasize the concave shape.

Frank’s double-breasted 4×1-button suit jacket has handsomely broad peak lapels with slightly slanted gorges. The 4×1-button configuration originated during the 1930s when Prince George, the Duke of Kent, only the bottom row of his 4×2-button double-breasted jackets. A more intentional 4×1-button style emerged at the time and was revived in the 1980s with the lower row of buttons often positioned below the waistline.

The ventless jacket has straight jetted hip pockets and a welted breast pocket that Frank dresses with a slate-blue silk pocket square. The sleeves are finished with three vestigial buttons on each cuff.

While Frank and his boss Preston Rhinelander (Robert Mitchum) differ with their shirts and ties, both men model conventional yet contemporary double-breasted pinstripe business suits.

The single-pleated trousers rise to Murray’s natural waist, rigged with both belt loops and buttons along the inside of the waistband to accommodate suspenders. They have side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs) that break over the tops of his black leather plain-toe, high-vamp loafers.

Belt or braces?

Frank wears both belt and braces, though this is likely a continuity error rather than sartorial redundancy. During the initial scenes in his office, he holds his trousers up with a narrow black scaled leather belt that closes through a gold-toned rectangular single-prong buckle. In a later scene, Frank removes his jacket to reveal no belt, instead now holding up his trousers with black cloth suspenders that have silver-toned adjusters and black leather hooks connecting to buttons along the inside of the waistband.

After decades of easier-to-wear belts having eclipsed suspenders in popularity, suspenders returned as a fashion statement during the ’80s as seen in movies like Wall Street, where businessmen sported them as a status symbol. Given this cultural context, our more incidental glimpse of Frank’s belt in the previous scene, and the fact that costume designer Wayne A. Finkelman prominently dressed Frank in suspenders during the scene where he actually removes his jacket, we can conclude that suspenders are the “canonical” choice for how Frank chose to hold up his trousers.

Rather than a conventional white, blue, or striped shirt, Frank initially wears an offbeat navy-blue shirt in a tonal all-over paisley print. The shirt has a semi-spread collar, breast pocket, button cuffs, and a fly front which covers the button-up placket.

By merely swapping out a traditional white or lighter blue shirt for his dark paisley shirt, Frank Cross subverts business dress conventions and looks every bit the brash, hotshot ’80s executive.

Frank’s colorful paisley tie is muted against the busy paisley print of his shirt. This slim silk neckwear features a large-scaled all-over green-and-burgundy paisley print against a mid-blue ground. Though he isn’t as seasonally festive in his apparel as his boss Preston Rhinelander (Robert Mitchum), the green and red tones in Frank’s tie could be a subtle nod to the upcoming Christmas holiday.

That evening, Frank changes into a black velvet dinner jacket and bow tie that he wears during his initial spectral visit from the ghost of his deceased mentor Lew Hayward (John Forsythe), followed by a navy cashmere double-breasted jacket that he wears with a white shirt and burgundy patterned tie for his experiences with the ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future.

Through it all, Frank always wears his Audemars Piguet Quantieme Perpetual Calendar watch, likely the 25657BA model. The 18-karat yellow-gold 36mm case encircles a round white dial with gold non-numeric hour indices and sub-registers indicating the day of the week, month, and date at 9, 12, and 3 o’clock, respectively, as well as a moon-phase complication above the 6 o’clock position. Powered by Audemars Piguet’s 2120/1 caliber automatic movement, the watch is secured to Frank’s left wrist on a black leather strap.

A later scene leaves no doubt regarding the watch model on Frank’s left wrist, though it curiously depicts the date as November 23rd for a scene set exactly one month later on December 23rd.

What to Imbibe

Frank Cross typically drinks Vodka & Cola, specifically mixed with Smirnoff “Red Label” 80-proof vodka and Tab cola. This unsophisticated highball suits the brash Frank who doesn’t care about the opinions of others. On a deeper level, this low-calorie combination is also as devoid of substance as the programming that Frank approves.

Frank’s assistant Grace pours him one of his usual Stoli-and-Tabs while they review his Christmas gifts for people like Colonel Tom Parker.

How to Get the Look

Bill Murray as Frank Cross in Scrooged (1988)

Frank Cross puts a characteristically brash spin on the ’80s “power suit” look, balancing his smart tailoring with a subtly sinister dark shirt—its busy paisley print competing with the paisley in his tie—and accessorizing with a tonal pocket square, suspenders, and a gold luxury watch.

• Navy pinstripe suit:
  • Double-breasted 4×1-button jacket with peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Single reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• Navy tonal paisley shirt with semi-spread collar, covered-fly front, breast pocket, and button cuffs
• Blue silk tie with green-and-burgundy paisley print
• Black suspenders with silver adjusters and black leather hooks
• Black leather plain-toe loafers
• Audemars Piguet Quantieme Perpetual Calendar 25657BA watch with 18-karat yellow-gold 36mm case, round white dial (with 3 sub-dials and moon-phase complication), and black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

We have spent $40 million on a live TV show—you guys have got an ad with America’s favorite old fart reading a book in front of a fireplace! Now… I have to kill all of you!

The post Scrooged: Bill Murray’s Navy Pinstripe Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner (1978)

Vitals

Christopher Plummer as Harry Reikle, sadistic armed robber

Toronto, Christmas 1977 through Summer 1978

Film: The Silent Partner
Release Date: September 7, 1978
Director: Daryl Duke
Wardrobe Credit: Debi Weldon

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today would have been the 95th birthday of Christopher Plummer, born December 13, 1929. To celebrate the Toronto-born actor’s birthday amidst the holiday season, today’s post centers around Daryl Duke’s Canadian Christmas-centric 1978 thriller, The Silent Partner.

Plummer appears as Harry Reikle, a ruthless criminal who begins terrorizing Miles Cullen (Elliott Gould), a mild-mannered teller who foiled Harry’s earlier attempt to rob a branch of the First Bank of Toronto within Eaton Centre, a then-new shopping mall filled with bustling holiday shoppers who may have expected long lines but certainly would not expect to see Santa Claus exchanging shots with a bank security guard.

The real Bad Santa.

What’d He Wear?

Sandwiched between his bank-robbing disguises as a mall Santa and a middle-aged woman, Reikle’s street attire is anchored by a fashion-forward evolution of the classic naval pea coat. The heavy dark-navy wool, double-breasted front, pocket arrangement, and hip-length cut are familiar elements, but the most dramatic difference is the high Prussian collar on Reikle’s jacket as opposed to the flat ulster collars conventionally found on pea coats.

Structured with a suppressed waist and front darts, Reikl’s coat has an 8×4-button double-breasted front that tapers toward the bottom, and he typically only wears the bottom two buttons fastened; the top row of buttons would close the revers over the chest while keeping the high structured collar in place. The shoulders are roped at the sleeveheads, with shoulder yokes that slant down from the neck toward each armhole. The set-in sleeves are finished with plain cuffs. Vertical-entry hand pockets are set-in above the large flapped patch pocket on each hip.

After Harry’s first aborted robbery at Eaton Centre, he takes off his red Santa suit and swaps out the jolly old elf’s jacket for his pea coat layered over a dark-gray pullover sweater with a plain-knitted shawl collar and textured-stitched body and sleeves. He wears the sweater over his black mesh sleeveless undershirt, one of several flamboyantly effete aspects of his appearance including his array of jewelry, eye makeup, and manicured fingernails.

Months later, a paroled Reikle storms back into Miles Cullen’s life—and his apartment—wearing a navy-blue velour quarter-zip pullover under his usual pea coat.

Harry always wears dark-navy trousers, possibly with a polyester construction that wouldn’t be out of place for the late ’70s. These flat-front trousers have a medium rise, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms. He holds them up with a black leather Gucci belt with the brand’s flashy gold-toned buckle of two interlocking “G”s. The belt leather coordinates to his black leather shoes, worn with black socks.

Reikle spends much of The Silent Partner directing his anger toward women, whether he’s whipping off his belt in response to his former partner Elaine (Celine Lomez) refusing to help him take Cullen’s money or kicking the lockers at his gym when going “too far” with a teenager after his first robbery attempt.

Reikle decorates himself with a trio of silver-toned chain-link jewelry, including a round necklace and a heavy round-linked bracelet on his right wrist.

In what might be a BAMF Style first, Harry also wears a small silver-toned chain-link ankle bracelet around the bottom of his right leg.

The Gun

Reikle carries a Walther P38, perhaps chosen to reinforce his villainous coding as the P38 had been designed prior to World War II specifically to replace the legendary Luger as the German service pistol. Though operationally different from the Luger, the double-action P38 retains some cosmetic aspects of its predecessor, specifically the exposed barrel.

After years of development, Walther began manufacturing the P38 in 1940. Like the Luger, it also fed from eight-round magazines of 9x19mm Parabellum ammunition, though the locked-breech P38 was much faster and less expensive to produce than its toggle-locked predecessor. Despite the P38 being easier to produce than the complex Luger, logistics issues delayed Nazi leadership’s ability to fully move production lines until later in the war.

Nearly 1.3 million P38 pistols were produced during World War II, with half manufactured by Walther while the remaining were split between the Mauser Werke and Spreewerk companies. After the Axis powers were defeated at the end of World War II, German weapons manufacturing was paused for more than a decade until West Germany founded the Bundeswehr to defend itself.

Walther was quick to resume production on the P38, which would serve as the Bundeswehr’s initial service pistol for six years from 1957 to 1963, when it was re-designated as the P1. Only their aluminum frames distinguished postwar Walther P38 and P1 pistols from those fielded during the war.

Though the P38 was primarily a German weapon, Reikle’s pistol may have made its way back to Canada as an Allied serviceman’s war souvenir.

Reikle blows any chance of keeping his less-than-convincing disguise working when Miles pulls a lateral and prompts him to draw his Walther during his final robbery attempt.

How to Get the Look

Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner (1978)

Amidst his silver chain-link jewelry that even includes an ankle bracelet, Harry Reikle maintains a villainous sartorial template of dark clothing anchored by his fashionable spin on the classic navy pea coat.

• Dark-navy wool pea coat with Prussian collar, 8×4-button front, vertical-entry hand pockets, flapped patch hip pockets, set-in sleeves with plain cuffs, and ventless back
• Dark-gray shawl-collar pullover sweater or navy velour quarter-zip pullover
• Black mesh sleeveless undershirt
• Dark-navy polyester flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Black leather Gucci belt with gold interlocking-G buckle
• Black leather shoes
• Silver chain-link necklace
• Silver heavy round chain-link bracelet
• Silver chain-link anklet

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

I’m just going to give you a little time… to try to be reasonable. If you decide you’re not going to be reasonable, then one night when you come home, you’ll find me inside, waiting for you. And that will be the night you’ll wish you’d never been born.

The post Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner appeared first on BAMF Style.

Rafe Spall in the Black Mirror Christmas Special (2014)

Vitals

Rafe Spall as Joe Potter

Set on Christmas… somewhere

Series: Black Mirror
Episode: “White Christmas” (Episode 7)
Air Date: December 16, 2014
Director: Carl Tibbetts
Creator: Charlie Brooker
Costume Designer: Sharon Gilham

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Black Mirror‘s Christmas special—considered one of the series’ best episodes—aired ten years ago today on December 16, 2014. Written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker, the episode takes a yuletide twist to Black Mirror‘s trademark tech-infused dystopia, centering on a new kind of “Christmas cookies” that you would not want at your holiday gathering!

We’re introduced to Joe Potter (Rafe Spall) as he wakes up on the morning of December 25th to the sounds of Christmas music and the sounds of cooking in the mysterious remote cabin here he’s evidently lived for five years. Stepping out into the kitchen, Joe discovers his apparent colleague and co-resident Matt Trent (Jon Hamm), a loquacious former social interaction engineer whose work included creating “cookies”—digital clones of people to serve as their own assistants.

“No one ends up here without things going to total shit for them back out there,” Matt observes when discussing their respective pasts with Joe.

Spall was nominated for an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Joe.

What’d He Wear?

Unlike the smart layered winter gear he wears in the flashbacks set “back out there”, Joe Potter dresses simply—and somewhat slovenly—for his pitiful Christmas with Matt. His outer layer is a lightweight mustard-yellow cotton flannel waist-length jacket with a shirt-style collar, straight front zip, and patch-style breast pocket. The plaid pattern consists of a balanced brick-red check framed by narrow black stripes and wider blue stripes—the vertical stripes comprising each check are more vividly intense than the horizontal stripes. He leaves the single-button squared cuffs undone.

Joe layers the jacket over an olive-green ribbed cotton long-sleeved henley shirt with five mixed plastic 4-hole buttons at the top placket. The green henley and red check in his jacket may be costume designer Sharon Gilham having some ironic fun with Joe’s wardrobe by infusing the festive holiday’s traditional colors for this decidedly non-festive observance.

Joe’s navy cotton chino-cloth trousers have a flat-front, side and back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms. His tan leather moc-toe derby-laced work boots fit the rugged setting of their remote cabin, even if he never actually goes outside during the scene.

Joe and Matt are both dressed in mustard tops and navy trousers, suggesting some uniformity between them. Consistent with their natures, Matt’s gold shirt is more solid, straightforward, and simple, while Joe’s plaid jacket suggests a greater complexity.

What to Imbibe

“No work today, so bottle’s on the table,” Matt greets Joe, indicating the tawny port on the table. Appropriate for the setting, I believe the screen-used bottle features a fictional label, though it features some resemblance to real-life port brands like Graham’s and Maynard’s.

Tawny port is a style of port wine that is aged in wooden barrels, resulting in a lighter amber color and a smooth and somewhat spicy nutty flavor profile with notes of dried fruit, caramel, and nuts. The bottle in “White Christmas” indicates that the port was “aged 25 years” in casks.

How to Get the Look

Rafe Spall in the Black Mirror Christmas Special (2014)

The festive red and green present in Joe’s clothing could make his simple ensemble a comfortably casual approach to Christmas dressing.

• Mustard-yellow (with brick-red and blue plaid) cotton flannel waist-length zip-up jacket with shirt-style collar, breast pocket, and single-button squared cuffs
• Olive-green ribbed cotton long-sleeved henley shirt with 5-button placket
• Navy cotton chino-cloth flat-front trousers with side pockets, back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Tan leather moc-toe derby-laced work boots

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series.

The Quote

It’s a job, not a jail.

The post Rafe Spall’s Colorful Plaid Jacket in the Black Mirror Christmas Special appeared first on BAMF Style.

Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers (2023)

Vitals

Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, cantankerous boarding school professor

Massachusetts, Christmas Eve 1970

Film: The Holdovers
Release Date: October 27, 2023
Director: Alexander Payne
Costume Designer: Wendy Chuck

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

The release of The Holdovers last year filled a long-needed gap in theatrically released holiday canon, offering a fresh yet timeless addition to the roster of rewatchable Christmas movies. Directed by Alexander Payne, the movie is set during Christmas 1970 at the fictional Barton Academy boarding school in New England, where a group of students not going home for the holidays are chaperoned by a skeleton crew of the school’s staff.

After all but one are given the opportunity to leave before Christmas, the remaining student—the bright but troubled Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa)—remains behind under the watchful lazy eye of resentful classics professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti). Paul’s few friends on staff include the cheerful administrator Lydia Crane (Carrie Preston) and the cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who is mourning her son’s recent death in Vietnam.

Lydia invites them to spend Christmas Eve at her home, but Paul’s reluctance frustrates both Angus and Mary, who confronts him:

Mr. Hunham, if you are too chickenshit to go to this party, then just say that. But don’t fuck it up for the little asshole! What’s wrong with you? It’s just a party… what are you afraid of?

His confidence boosted by a few extra sprays of Glade under his armpits to subdue his characteristic odor, Paul accompanies Angus and Mary to Lydia’s party, scored by Herb Alpert’s Christmas album—until Mary puts herself in charge of the music, and the Temptations and Artie Shaw take over the soundtrack.

While all three partygoers engage in flirtations with varying degrees of success, Mary’s question about his fear is answered as a promising conversation with his crush Lydia is cut short by the arrival of her “friend” Tom… though Paul may have been out of his emotional depth to begin with when his response to Lydia’s playful peck under the mistletoe was informing her that “Aeneas carried mistletoe with him when he descended into Hades in search of the father.” I guess you can take the teacher out of the ancient civilizations classroom, but you can’t take the ancient civilizations classroom out of the teacher.

What’d He Wear?

Rather than his usual knitwear-focused wardrobe, Paul dresses to impress as much as he can for the party hosted by his faculty crush Lydia, though he sticks to his tried-and-true template of corduroy suits and bow ties.

“I thought of him as professorial—tweed jackets, bow ties, sweater vests, and corduroy. While I didn’t want to go completely into that stereotypical look, how could I not a little? Besides, the yearbooks demonstrated that was exactly the right look for the period,” costume designer Wendy Chuck explained to Focus Features of her vision for Paul’s costumes. “Also, in prepping his costumes, we spent a lot of time making sure his three-piece suits felt like he’d lived in them for the last 10 years.”

Between interviews for Awards Daily and AnOther, Ms. Chuck confirmed that—while Paul’s “everyday” tan corduroy suit came from Brooks Brothers, this darker olive-brown corduroy suit was sourced from J. Press:

David Hemingson, the writer, had attended the schools so he had reference to a company in New York called J. Press where he knew that all his teachers had sourced their clothes. And they are still in existence – they still have the three-piece corduroy suits. So, we were able to go there and get in his head. That’s where Paul’s Christmas party suit comes from… J. Press is still very much a walk-in and walk-out, like with a professorial look kind of shop.

This olive three-piece suit is decidedly dressier than the two-piece suit, lacking the latter’s sportier touches like the patch pockets, elbow patches, and half-belted back on its jacket. Instead, the olive suit jacket is styled more like a traditional lounge suit with its set-in pockets and plain, single-vented back, albeit retaining the Ivy-style 3/2-roll button configuration and the swelled edges along the notch lapels. The breast pocket is welted, the straight hip pockets covered with flaps, and the sleeves are finished with three-button cuffs.

While he typically wears one of his sweater vests with the tan corduroy suit, Paul steps out in the olive corduroy suit’s matching waistcoat (vest), which has a single-breasted, five-button front that he correctly wears with the lowest button undone. The waistcoat has two welted pockets positioned low on the front and a dark satin-finished back with an adjustable strap.

The flat-front trousers have side pockets and two back pockets. Though Paul’s vest covers the waistband, we can discern that he likely holds the trousers up with a dark-brown leather belt as he does with all of his other trousers. The plain-hemmed bottoms break over the tops of his usual utilitarian dark-brown leather apron-toe derby shoes.

In another departure from his usual style that shows the attention he’s putting into making a good impression at the party, Paul leaves his rumpled button-down collar shirts in his closet and wears a light-yellow self-striped shirt that features a point collar, plain button-up front, and barrel cuffs that close through one of two buttons for an adjusted fit over each wrist.

Reaching for another of his trademark bow ties, he knots on a butterfly-shaped silk tie in “Malcolm” tartan plaid. This Christmassy pattern consists of double sets of red stripes and sets of yellow and blue stripes intersecting perpendicularly over a dark-green and navy-blue checked ground.

Between his combed mustache and Glade-refreshed armpits, Paul Hunham is ready to party!

Strapped to his left wrist on a black leather bracelet, Paul’s yellow-gold wristwatch has a round black dial marked with gold non-numeric hour indices.

“For Paul, there were two things that were important to get right—his hat and his jacket,” costume designer Wendy Chuck shared with Focus Features. Indeed, his checked tweed trilby and duffel coat perfectly complement the rest of his outfit. The short-brimmed tweed trilby features a gun club check pattern, with a rust-and-black houndstooth design set against a beige background.

Duffel coats, which are recognized for their integrated hoods and loop-and-toggle front closures (easily operated even with gloved hands), were named after the coarse wool fabric originally produced in the Belgian town of Duffel during the 15th century. Though their roots may trace back to earlier Polish military outerwear, the duffel coat gained popularity in the 1850s when British outfitter John Partridge designed a version that was later adopted by the British military, especially by the Royal Navy, though its famed wearer British Army Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery resulted in its enduring “Monty coat” nickname.

Like many military garments, the duffel coat transitioned into civilian fashion after the war, popularized by companies like Gloverall. It became a staple in northern colleges across both the UK and the U.S. Given that Paul was a lifelong Barton man, it’s likely he acquired his duffel coat sometime between his student years and his early years as a faculty member.

Paul’s dark-gray melton wool duffel coat stays true to the traditional design, featuring a black-lined integrated hood and four black leather toggle-fastened loops up the front. The thigh-length coat also includes a shoulder and back yoke, set-in sleeves with plain cuffs, flapped patch-style hip pockets, and a single vent.

What to Imbibe

Like any good host, Lydia anticipates Paul’s preferred spirit, confirming “Jim Beam for you, right?” as he walks in. This bourbon whiskey received its current name in 1943 after decades branded as “Old Tub”—which may have been a more fitting brand for the schlubby Paul.

Nearly ubiquitous in bars around the world, Jim Beam’s standard 80-proof “White Label” variety was deemed the world’s most popular bourbon in Brad Japhe’s reporting for Forbes, citing the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.

How to Get the Look

Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers (2023)

Paul Hunham dresses up his “uniform” of corduroy suits and bow ties to make an impression for a friend’s Christmas Eve gathering, sporting a three-piece lounge suit in a darker shade of corduroy and tying on a bow tie patterned in a festive yet classic tartan plaid.

• Olive-brown corduroy cotton three-piece suit:
  • Single-breasted 3/2-roll jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and single vent
  • Single-breasted 5-button waistcoat with two welted pockets
  • Flat-front trousers with side pockets, two back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Light-yellow tonal-striped shirt with point collar, plain button-up front, and button barrel cuffs
• Malcolm tartan plaid silk bow tie
• Dark-brown leather apron-toe derby shoes
• Beige gun club check tweed trilby
• Dark-gray melton wool duffel coat with integrated hood, four black leather loop-and-toggles, flapped patch hip pockets, and single vent
• Yellow-gold wristwatch with round black dial and black leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

The world doesn’t make sense anymore. It’s on fire. The rich don’t give a shit. Poor kids are cannon fodder. Integrity’s a punchline. Trust is just a name on a bank.

The post Christmas Eve in The Holdovers: Paul’s Corduroy Three-Piece Suit and Duffel Coat appeared first on BAMF Style.

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974)

Vitals

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, calculating Mafia boss

Washington, D.C., Winter 1959

Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Just over a week after its New York City premiere on December 12th, The Godfather Part II was widely released 50 years ago today on December 20, 1974. The follow-up to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 epic continued chronicling the ambitions of underworld boss Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) following his ascension to power after the death of his father and the orchestrated murders of his enemies.

By the latter half of Part II, the tension between Michael’s public persona and private life reach a boiling point as he’s faced with the consequences of his ruthlessness. Called to testify in front of a Senate subcommittee investigating organized crime, he maintains composure while defending his reputation—starkly contrasted by the emotionally charged confrontation with his wife Kay (Diane Keaton).

Kay’s revelations about the loss of what would have been their third child strains their already fragile marriage to a pivotal breaking point that underscores Michael’s increasing isolation and the personal cost of his choices.

What’d He Wear?

In contrast to the opulent costumes of some movie gangsters—think the neon-hued tailoring worn by Robert De Niro in Casino—Michael Corleone maintains a rotation of only four suits through The Godfather Part II, each serving its own purpose. Michael reserves his fashionable gray dupioni silk suit for public appearances like his son’s communion and a conference in Cuba. His subtly checked tan suit is ideal for the warmer climates during his visits to Havana and Florida. His solid black silk suit serves him at occasions where he needs to be taken seriously among his underworld confederates.

Finally, Michael wears a black pinstripe three-piece suit that he wears to project professional decorum while testifying to the Senate. Unlike the bold chalk-striped suits often associated with gangsters, this suit’s subdued white pinstripe is more akin to what a banker or businessman might wear, reinforcing Michael’s cultivated public image; indeed, it recalls the very suit that Senator Geary (G.D. Spradlin) wore for their first meeting during the aforementioned communion.

Though not a common choice in professional attire, black can be appropriate in business contexts when patterned with a restrained pinstripe like Michael’s suit.

The style is contemporary to tailoring of the 1950s, though the somewhat closer fit of Michael’s suit reflects a sleeker, more continental-inspired tailoring than the then-fashionably boxy Ivy-style suits worn by Geary and Michael’s own lawyer, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall).

Michael’s single-breasted suit jacket reflects the same 3/2-roll button configuration as the other men’s suits, with the notch lapels rolling over the top button. The jacket has straight flapped hip pockets and a welted breast pocket that remains unadorned. The padded shoulders are typical of the era’s tailoring and build up his silhouette but not to the extremes of his solid black silk suit jacket with its dramatically roped sleeveheads. Each sleeve is finished with two vestigial cuff-buttons, and the back likely has a single vent.

The matching waistcoat has four welted pockets and six buttons that fasten high on the chest. Michael wears all six buttons fastened without leaving the bottom one undone, subverting a common sartorial practice, though he’s quick to unbutton them all when relaxing on the couch in his suite at the Hotel Washington. Rigged with an adjustable strap across the bottom, the black satin-finished back lining contrasts against the white inner lining.

The suit’s pleated trousers have side pockets, back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs). Through the belt loops around the waist, Michael wears a black leather belt that closes through a gold-toned single-prong buckle. The belt leather appropriately coordinates to this black leather cap-toe oxfords, naturally worn with black socks that maintain a continuous line from his trousers into his shoes.

Michael wears his usual white cotton shirts, styled with a point collar, front placket, and button cuffs. Unlike Frankie Pentangeli’s Italian brother Vincenzo (Salvatore Po) who appears in court wearing Sicilian folk costume complete with the fuzzy red pom-pom neckwear resembling two cherries, Michael prefers a traditional four-in-hand necktie—patterned in a regal gold paisley jacquard woven against a black ground.

The gold watch shining from Michael’s left wrist has been speculatively identified as a 1950s-era Omega Constellation chronometer. A 14-karat yellow-gold 34mm or 35mm case encloses the white or light champagne-colored “pie pan” dial with its gold non-numeric hour indices, connected to a gold link bracelet.

Hoping to convey to the Senate that he’s a family man—but no, not that Family—Michael is sure to continue wearing his gold wedding band on the ring finger of his left hand.

How to Get the Look

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974)

• Black pinstripe three-piece suit:
  • Single-breasted 3/2-roll jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and single vent
  • Single-breasted 6-button waistcoat with four pockets and adjustable back strap
  • Pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
• White cotton shirt with point collar, front placket, and button cuffs
• Gold-on-black paisley tie
• Black leather belt with gold-toned single-prong buckle
• Black leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Black dress socks
• Omega Constellation gold wristwatch with round champagne “pie pan” dial on gold link bracelet
• Gold wedding band

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series, including the masterpiece sequel The Godfather Part II.

The Quote

Do you expect me to let you take my children from me? Don’t you know me? Don’t you know that that’s an impossibility—that that could never happen, that I would use all my power to keep something like that from happening? Don’t you know that?

The post The Godfather, Part II: Michael Corleone’s Black Pinstripe Suit appeared first on BAMF Style.

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in White Christmas (1954)

Vitals

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, Broadway entertainers and World War II veterans

Florida, December 1954

Film: White Christmas
Release Date: October 14, 1954
Director: Michael Curtiz
Costume Designer: Edith Head

Background

One of the most stylish classic Christmas movies, White Christmas was released 70 years ago this year in October 1954. The movie was intended to re-team Bing Crosby with Fred Astaire after their previous collaborations in Irving Berlin musicals Holiday Inn (1942) and Blue Skies (1946), but Astaire dropped out after reading the script and Danny Kaye was hired to co-star with Crosby.

Crosby and Kaye share a marvelous screen chemistry that showcases their respective talents while also allowing for a greater emphasis on humor, illustrated by their performance of “Sisters” that was devised on set after director Michael Curtiz was entertained watching Crosby and Kaye clown around performing the song.

The story follows Crosby and Kaye as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, two World War II veterans who met while entertaining their fellow troops in the U.S. Army’s fictitious 151st Division. After Phil saved Bob from a falling wall during an attack, Phil talked Bob into joining him for a double act that has catapulted them to musical stardom a decade later. Despite their boffo success, Phil worries that workaholic Bob isn’t allowing him the chance to enjoy a fulfilling personal life—though Phil doesn’t help his case by trying to set Bob up with showgirls like the alluring but airheaded Doris (Barrie Chase):

The subsequent scene of Bob and Phil arguing in their dressing room about Bob’s disinterest in building a family outside of work required a sharp amount of physical choreography and comic timing that remind us we’re seeing two of the 20th century’s greatest talents at the top of their game.

What’d They Wear?

Christmas is around the corner, but it’s hardly a holiday show as Bob and Phil are performing Irving Berlin’s 1926 standard “Blue Skies” to this Floridian audience. However, they’re dressed for some holiday festivity in their matching burgundy dinner jackets, bow ties, and velvet ribbons around the flat straw boaters that add a roaring ’20s panache to their wardrobe.

Handsomely tailored in accordance with 1950s menswear trends, these burgundy wool dinner jackets have appropriately self-faced shawl collars that roll to a single button positioned low over each man’s natural waist. These buttons and the three decorating each cuff are all burgundy plastic. The backs are ventless, and the shoulders are wide—each with significant roping at the sleeve-heads. In addition to the straight jetted hip pockets, the jackets have a welted breast pocket where each man wears a neatly folded white pocket square. Bob and Phil also each have a white carnations pinned to their respective left lapel.

The outfits are hardly traditional evening-wear, but Bob and Phil appropriately sport pleated-front evening shirts, uniquely detailed with white collars and cuffs that contrast from the shirts’ light slate-blue cotton bodies. The front plackets are closed with three mother-of-pearl studs, flanked on each side by a squared bib of narrow pleats. The double (French) cuffs are fastened with ruby cuff links that coordinate with their burgundy jackets and neckwear.

Both Bob and Phil wear burgundy bow ties, though Bob’s follows a traditional butterfly (thistle) shape, while Phil wears a straight-ended batwing shape that was fashionable for mid-century menswear.

Only Bob undresses during this scene to the degree that we see his underclothes, including a white woven cotton short-sleeved T-shirt with a wide crew-neck and banded cuffs.

Though made from identical powder-blue cloth, the trousers are the only other noticeable departure for each man—perhaps informed by each wearer’s personal preference. Danny Kaye wears long-rise trousers with a fitted waistband and two buttons across the back, presumably for suspenders (braces), while Bing Crosby’s lower-rising trousers are rigged with belt loops that remain unused through the scene. (Adding to the chaos, behind-the-scenes photography clearly shows Crosby wearing white suspenders with this outfit; perhaps he wore them for the actual performance but not the undressing scene?)

The men’s fashionably full-fitting trousers are otherwise stylistically similar, with double sets of reverse-facing pleats, on-seam side pockets (but no back pockets), and plain-hemmed bottoms.

Their stage performance attire extends to their shoes, which are plain-toe oxfords made from a powder-blue leather to match their trousers. Both men wear matching powder-blue socks in the dressing room scene, though Bob’s hosiery appears to be mustard-colored when he walks off stage after “Blue Skies”.

Bob and Phil’s revue may have a 1920s theme, as suggested by “Blue Skies” and their straw boaters. These semi-formal summer hats were popular through the early decades of the 20th century but had generally fallen out of fashion by the ’50s—at least for all but the Princeton University Band, who added them to their uniforms in 1952. Bob and Phil both wear boaters made of stiff sennit straw, detailed with wide burgundy velvet bands that harmonize with their burgundy jackets and ties.

Even some of Bob and Phil’s stagehands wear straw boaters, though most have plain black bands rather than the more festive burgundy velvet bands worn by the performers.

Of the two men, only Bob prominently wears a wristwatch. The gold watch strapped to a curving dark-brown tooled leather bracelet was likely Bing Crosby’s personal timepiece, and he wears it on the inside of his left wrist.

How to Get the Look

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in White Christmas (1954)

Wallace and Davis’ burgundy dinner jackets and bow ties—especially with straw boaters, contrasting shirt collars, and matching powder-blue trousers and oxfords—may be a little showy for your holiday festivities, but they’re perfect if you’re planning to take the stage and perform a 1920s-themed musical revue!

• Burgundy wool single-button dinner jacket with self-faced shawl collar, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • White carnation (in lapel)
  • White folded pocket square
• Light slate-blue cotton evening shirt with white point collar, narrow-pleated front bib (with mother-of-pearl studs), and double/French cuffs (with ruby links)
• Burgundy bow tie
• Powder-blue double reverse-pleated trousers with straight/on-seam side pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Powder-blue leather plain-toe oxford shoes
• Powder-blue socks
• Natural sennit straw boater with burgundy velvet band
• Gold wristwatch on tooled dark-brown leather curved strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, and have a very happy holiday!

The Quote

Phil: My dear partner, when what’s left of you gets around to what’s left to be gotten, what’s left to be gotten won’t be worth getting, whatever it is you’ve got left.
Bob: When I figure out what that means, I’ll come up with a crushing reply.

The post White Christmas: Burgundy Jackets and Boaters for “Blue Skies” appeared first on BAMF Style.

Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

Vitals

Chevy Chase as Clark W. Griswold Jr., food additive executive and “last true family man”

Chicago, Christmas Eve 1989

Film: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Release Date: December 1, 1989
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Costume Designer: Michael Kaplan

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Merry Christmas! Now a perennial holiday classic, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was released 35 years ago this month in December 1989 as the third installment to feature Chevy Chase as the hapless head of the Griswold family.

After zany misadventures on an American road trip and a European vacation, Clark clings to his idealistic hope for a “fun, old-fashioned family Christmas,” which somehow means inviting both his and his wife’s sets of parents to stay with them for more than a week leading up to the actual holiday. In the meantime, Clark is eager to surprise his family with the news that he placed a down payment on a swimming pool… a payment he’ll be able to cover as soon as he receives his company’s usual holiday bonus.

(For modern readers, a “holiday bonus” is a monetary payment that employers used to give to their employees at the end of each year. In the late 1980s when Christmas Vacation was made, this often amounted to several thousand dollars; for most employees today, this may take the form of a branded reusable water bottle, already-obsolete Bluetooth earbuds, or simply not being fired.)

Inspired by producer and co-writer John Hughes’ semi-autobiographical short story “Christmas ’59”, the festivities culminate on Christmas Eve as both sides of Clark and Ellen’s families gather at the over-illuminated Griswold home for an over-cooked turkey dinner, a surprise rodent guest, and the family’s first kidnapping. Happy holidays!

What’d He Wear?

Consistent with his dreams of hosting an old-fashioned family Christmas, Clark W. Griswold Jr. models himself after the Rockwellian image of an all-American patriarch, his Christmas tie pulled tight to the neck and swathed in a cozily oversized cardigan that suggests he’s more concerned with looking fatherly than fashionable. Indeed, his idea of the perfect father at Christmas may have been inspired from his own father, Clark Sr. (John Randolph), the only other man at the gathering to wear a necktie and who also festively festoons his natty sport jacket and cardigan with a plastic holly sprig pinned to his lapel.

Clark’s dark taupe-brown ribbed-knit cardigan sweater is made from an Irish Donegal wool, characterized by the colorful flecks woven into the cloth. The cardigan has a narrow shawl collar that tapers away above the five dark-brown woven leather buttons that Clark wears fully open throughout the night. The collar, cuffs, and hem are all slightly more widely ribbed than the body of the sweater, with the cuffs rolled back once over each wrist. Patch pockets are positioned just above the hem on each side of the front.

Clark’s light-blue high-twist cotton shirt looks like the shirts he wears to the office, conventionally styled with its semi-spread collar, front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs.

Perhaps heeding his daughter Audrey’s criticism of “those stupid ties with the Santa Clauses on it”, Clark opts for a more subdued neckwear that still showcases festive seasonal colors with its pattern of red squares (with five white lines pulsating out from a corner) against a green tonal geometric-patterned silk ground. At one point, Clark—distracted by the family’s disgusting dinner of dry turkey and cat food-laced jello—accidentally uses it instead of a napkin to wipe his mouth.

Clark doesn’t seem too appreciative to receive the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.

Clark wears dark-gray worsted wool flat-front slacks with a medium rise, held up by a dark-brown leather belt with a gold-toned single-prong buckle. Like his shirt, these flat-front trousers are typical of contemporary ready-to-wear men’s clothing, with belt loops and plain-hemmed bottoms. We can tell the trousers have slightly slanted “quarter top” side pockets, though the cardigan’s back hem covers the seat to the point where we can’t determine if there are back pockets. However, given their standard styling, it’s likely that these trousers are rigged with two jetted back pockets—at least one with a button-through closure.

While I would endorse loafers as a comfortable alternative with his cardigan and tie, Clark opts for the formality of cap-toe oxford shoes—albeit in a dark-brown leather that harmonizes with the homespun tones of the rest of his outfit. Tied through either a four- or five-eyelet closed-lacing system, the shoes are worn with dark taupe-brown socks that continue the leg line from his trousers… and are a shockingly subdued choice for a man who certainly must have at least one pair of garish Christmas socks.

Clark escorts the crass Uncle Louis (William Hickey) and senile Aunt Bethany (Mae Questel) inside at the beginning of the evening, wearing the same trench coat that he earlier wore to keep warm when it was “a bit nipply out” while flirting with a voluptuous saleswoman.

Made from a waterproof cotton/polyester blend in the traditional khaki shade, the garment follows the classic belted trench coat design with its double-breasted 10×5-button front and military-informed details like shoulder epaulets, storm flaps across the back and over the right shoulder, and side pockets with button-closed flaps to keep out rain. In addition to the full-belted waist with its leather-covered single-prong buckle, the raglan sleeves are secured at each wrist with belted cuffs that also each close with a leather-covered single-prong buckle.

Aside from a Walmart trip with cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), Clark typically wears the coat with a tan woolen felt collar attached. In addition to removable liners, outfitters like London Fog often produced trench coats with removable collars that add touches of both formality and functional warmth.

Louis’ unintentional—but unapologetic—act of setting Clark’s Christmas tree aflame with his cheap stogie sends Clark off the deep end. Chainsaw in hand, Clark secures a new tree from outside and then dresses like Santa Claus to decorate it. His St. Nick garb consists of a red felt coat with a shirt-style collar and white faux-fur trim around the cuffs and along the waist hem, continuing up the left side of the front so that it would be centered when buttoned.

Clark also wears Santa’s traditional red felt stocking cap, also detailed with white faux-fur trimming the wide cuff along the brim that matches the pom bobbing off the top. Three silver jingle bells are sewn to the right side of the hat.

As the insanity subsides—at least for the time being—Clark follows his father’s advice to calm down and read “A Visit from St. Nicholas” to his family, pulling on his large tortoiseshell-framed reading glasses to do so.

“When what to my wondering eyes should appear but a miniature sleigh and—and Eddie? With a man in his pajamas with a dog chain tied to his wrists and ankles…?”

Most clearly seen in the earlier scenes as he hangs Christmas lights, Clark wears a stainless steel dive watch with a black bezel, black dial with luminous non-numeric hour indices, and black center-ridged leather strap.

The squared bump at each integer of 10 around the bezel aligns with some contemporary Seiko divers—and indeed a Redditor suggested a specific 1988 quartz Seiko as the possible watch—though I haven’t seen any watches by Seiko, Citizen, or other suggested manufacturers that specifically align with the details of Clark’s screen-worn watch.

What to Imbibe

After discovering his company “rear-ended” him with a severely lacking Christmas bonus, Clark immediately turns to the family’s bowl of egg nog—presumably spiked—though this doesn’t really help him take the edge off as, the next time we see him, he’s wielding a chainsaw.

“‘s good, ‘s good!”

Brandy, rum, and whiskey are all among the most popular spirits for spiking egg nog. Without any suggestion about the Griswold family’s preferred spirit, we can only take some direction from Clark’s father admitting that he only survived their family’s holidays with “a lot of help from Jack Daniel’s!”

While you could just mix some Jack Daniel’s—or any other spirit—with pre-made egg nog, Philip Greene’s excellent calendrical cocktail guide Cheers! paraphrases “father of American mixology” Jerry Thomas’ 1862 recipe for classic 19th century “egg nogg” in its December 24th entry.

Greene cites inspiration from the eggnog riot (also known as the “grog mutiny”) at West Point that began on Christmas Eve 1826 when “cadets smuggled in three or four gallons of whiskey, and all hell broke loose” in response to an academy edict preventing alcohol on campus. In the resulting damage that led to the expulsion of 19 cadets, a number of stair banisters were smashed—which seems considerably appropriate given the Griswold family’s troublesome Newel post.

Thomas’ recipe combines all of the below ingredients have been well-shaken together, then poured into a tumbler with nutmeg grated on top:

• 4 ounces of whole milk
• 2-4 ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey (or, in tribute to Clark Sr., Tennessee whiskey—which is not the same)
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of water

Of course, you’ll also want the proper glassware. Though Clark pulls a conventional cut-glass mug during his nog-fueled meltdown, the family’s moose-shaped mugs (perhaps a nod to their love of Walley World and its mascot) have become iconic in the decades since its release.

How to Get the Look

Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

Aside from the obvious festivity of his Santa hat and coat, Clark builds upon an unexceptional blue shirt and gray slacks with a cozy cardigan and red-and-green tie that convert his humble casual-wear into holiday garb befitting “the last true family man”.

• Dark taupe-brown ribbed-knit Donegal wool shawl-collar cardigan with five-button front, set-in sleeves, and patch hip pockets
• Light-blue high-twist cotton shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs
• Green tonal geometric-printed silk tie with red square-and-white pulsating corner print
• Dark-gray wool flat-front trousers with belt loops, “quarter top” side pockets, back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Dark-brown leather belt with gold-toned single-prong buckle
• Dark-brown leather cap-toe oxford shoes
• Dark taupe-brown socks
• Red felt Santa hat
• Tortoiseshell reading glasses
• Stainless steel dive watch with black bezel, black dial, and black center-ridged leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, and have a very merry Christmas!

The Quote

Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas! No, no, we’re all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We’re gonna press on, and we’re gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye! And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he’s gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse.

The post Clark Griswold’s Christmas Eve Cardigan appeared first on BAMF Style.

Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II (1974)

Vitals

Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth, mobster and gambling kingpin

Havana, New Year’s Eve 1958

Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Released 50 years ago this month, The Godfather Part II expands the Corleone crime family chronicles to include Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), a respected gangster inspired by the real-life Meyer Lansky. Al Pacino had been one of Strasberg’s students at the Actors Studio and recommended his former acting coach for the role that would eventually garner Strasberg his sole Academy Award nomination.

Decades after his rumrunning partnership with the Corleones during Prohibition, the aging Roth is now based in Miami, where he’s visited by Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) to discuss a history-making collaboration. The two travel to Havana to work with representatives from American corporations and Fulgencio Batista’s corrupt Cuban government to take over a Reno casino—all while Roth is plotting to fatally double-cross Michael.

Of course, it’s the last week of December 1958, so the Batista government’s days are numbered as Fidel Castro’s rebels are getting closer to their New Year’s Eve victory. However, the primary celebration on Hyman Roth’s mind is his 67th birthday, which he celebrates on a Havana rooftop with Michael, Roth’s right-hand man Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), and other criminal cohorts.

“I hope my age is correct! I’m always accurate about my age,” Roth insists to his guests, then requests with even more Capricorn efficiency to “make sure that everybody sees the cake before we cut it.” The cake depicts an outline of Cuba, which is then symbolically cut up into pieces for Roth and his guests, though Roth—in deference to his health issues—requests a smaller piece for himself.

After how events unfolded in The Godfather, Roth was smart to not include oranges as part of his birthday spread.

“These are wonderful things we’ve achieved in Havana, and there’s no limit to where we can go from here. This kind of government knows how to help business, to encourage it,” Roth assures his guests of cooperation from the Batista administration. His short-sightedness isn’t shared by Michael, who has witnessed the motivated revolutionaries firsthand. Back in his suite, Roth—or, rather, co-screenwriters Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo—borrowed a line from the actual Meyer Lansky to reassure Michael:

We’re bigger than U.S. Steel.

What’d He Wear?

Hyman Roth dresses for his birthday party in a cream knit long-sleeved shirt, representative of knitwear’s popularity as casual sportswear through the 1950s and ’60s. The back and set-in sleeves are all a solid-colored ribbed knit, contrasting with the front panel detailed with a black-on-cream static pattern. The pattern resembles Morse code, grouped in columns of three, alternating between two columns of dots and a column of short horizontal lines.

The large collar and ribbed waist hem are both solid cream, patterned with double solid black lines along the edges. The false placket with its four large plastic buttons give the appearance of a polo shirt, though the the placket appears sewn down to the body on both sides without any actual buttonholes for the four vestigial buttons.

Nice shirt, Hyman. Be a real shame if someone lost it before the end of the scene…

Several sources cite that weather difficulties stretched out production of the two-minute scene to more than a week, during which time Lee Strasberg’s screen-worn shirt was misplaced. Unfortunately, the shirt’s distinctive pattern meant the production team had to quickly improvise in order to dress Strasberg for the scene’s completion. The end result is a commendable effort that likely would have bypassed most contemporary audiences and even casual viewers today, but the home video/streaming era has made the switch quite obvious, especially as the scenes with this second shirt featured more substantial close-ups of Strasberg.

According to IMDB, it was “the production designer” (Dean Tavoularis) who oversaw the attempted recreation, though costume designer Theadora Van Runkle surely would have been involved in this process. The new shirt was a plain cream-colored shirt in a softer cloth with narrower and less prominent ribbing that was consistent throughout the body and the sleeves. A black marker was then evidently used to recreate the “Morse code” pattern on the front, though it’s at a much larger scale with longer dashes than the original shirt and also falls short of the shoulder seam.

The replacement shirt is also a more conventional polo shirt, with a functioning placket that closes with three smaller cream-colored plastic buttons—a considerably more subdued presentation than the false placket and its four oversized buttons on the original shirt.

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Under his collar (regardless of which shirt it is), Roth wears a light-brown tonal paisley silk neckerchief.

Roth wears beige cotton flat-front trousers with a long rise to Strasberg’s natural waist, where they’re held up by a beige cotton self-belt with the gold-toned squared single-prong buckle pulled off to the left side à la Fred Astaire. These slacks also have side pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms.

Was the decision for Hyman Roth to be shirtless during the subsequent scene back in his suite made to ditch the troublesome shirt altogether? Or did Lee Strasberg just want to strut his 72-year-old stuff? Either way—respect.

Roth wears tan socks that continue the leg line of his trousers into his dark burgundy leather derby shoes, detailed with a straight cap-toe and open three-eyelet lacing system.

Like Michael and many of the more serious gangsters across The Godfather canon, Hyman Roth keeps his jewelry and accessories subdued and functional, wearing only a wristwatch and a gold wedding band on his left ring finger. The gold watch has a light-colored dial and is strapped to a brown leather strap.

How to Get the Look

Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II (1974)

Having trouble finding a shirt like Hyman Roth wore for his birthday? Never fear—just like The Godfather Part II‘s production team, you can always just take a black magic marker to any cream-colored knitted long-sleeved polo for that sadly screen-accurate look.

• Cream with black “Morse code” static-like front pattern knitted long-sleeved polo shirt with long point collar (with double black-striped edge), four-button false placket, ribbed-knit sleeves and back, and ribbed-knit waist hem (with double black-striped edge)
• Light-brown tonal paisley silk neckerchief
• Beige cotton flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Beige cotton belt with gold-toned squared single-prong buckle
• Dark burgundy leather cap-toe derby shoes
• Tan socks
• Gold wedding band
• Gold wristwatch with round light-colored dial on brown leather strap

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series, including the masterpiece sequel The Godfather Part II.

The Quote

When a man comes to this point in his life, he wants to turn over the things he’s been blessed with—turn them over to friends—as a reward for the friends he’s had and to make sure that everything goes well after he’s gone.

The post The Godfather, Part II: Hyman Roth’s Birthday Party Knit Shirt appeared first on BAMF Style.

Roger Moore as James Bond in A View to a Kill (1985). Photo by Keith Hamshere, sourced from Thunderballs archive.

Vitals

Roger Moore as James Bond, British government agent

Siberia, Winter 1985

Film: A View to a Kill
Release Date: May 22, 1985
Director: John Glen
Costume Designer: Emma Porteous

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

On this snowy 00-7th of January, let’s hit the slopes with Roger Moore—and his stunt doubles John Eaves and Martin Grace—in Sir Roger’s swan song as James Bond, A View to a Kill, celebrating its 40th anniversary this May.

Though the title originated from one of Ian Fleming’s short stories, the movie demonstrates how far the franchise had drifted from the source material, exemplified by this pre-credits sequence, which introduces a cringe-worthy “California Girls” needle drop as Moore’s stuntman skis through the mountains of Siberia—though actually filmed at Piz Palü in Switzerland and Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland.

After completing his mission to recover a microchip from the corpse of his colleague 003, Bond escapes a group of skiing gunmen and finds refuge in a waiting underwater submarine stocked with his three vices—vodka, caviar, and a stunning blonde half his age (Mary Stävin).

What’d He Wear?

James Bond’s “white hooded ski suit and back pack” described in Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson’s screenplay was provided by Willy Bogner Jr., the former alpine ski racer who inherited his father’s eponymous sportswear brand in 1977, the same year that Sir Roger first appeared in Bogner ski gear in The Spy Who Loved Me. This would become something of a tradition, with Moore’s Bond sporting Bogner every four years—again in For Your Eyes Only and finally in A View to a Kill. In all of these films—as well as George Lazenby’s sole 007 film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service—Bogner himself operated the camera to capture the thrilling ski sequences.

Moore’s stuntman John Eves with Willy Bogner Jr. on location in Switzerland filming A View to a Kill. Photo sourced from the thunderballs.org archive.

The nature of Bond’s secret mission in A View to a Kill likely influenced his decision to wear all-white ski apparel that would camouflage him against the snow, unlike the yellow and blue ski suits he wore when skiing recreationally in The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only, respectively.

Matt Spaiser’s comprehensive look at Bond’s white Bogner ski clothing for Bond Suits was a valuable source for the following analysis, as well as auction listings for Sir Roger’s screen-worn ski parkas from Christie’s (in 2001) and Prop Store (in 2014).

Bond’s hip-length Bogner ski parka is made from layers of water-resistant white nylon, insulated with down feathers. The parka is lined in a pink-and-gray-on-cream tartan plaid cotton flannel, most clearly seen as Bond unzips to get comfortable aboard MI6’s well-stocked arctic submarine.

A storm fly with four darkened metal snap buttons covers the straight-zip, which extends up to the standing collar and features Bogner’s silver-toned “B” logo on the zip pull. A narrow self-belted sash pulls through wide loops around the waist between the lowest two buttons, where Bond keeps it knotted. “Bi-swing” pleats behind the shoulders allow for a greater range of movement, which would be a particularly helpful asset for quick getaway on skis. The shoulders also have adjustable narrow epaulet straps.

A removable fur-trimmed hood attaches outside the standing collar, with a white drawstring adjusting the fit. The set-in sleeves are reinforced with elbow patches and feature Velcro-fastened belted cuffs which adjust the tightness over the wrists. The Bogner logo is embroidered in silver over the upper left sleeve. Of the four bellows pockets, the two chest pocket flaps are reinforced with buckled straps while the two hip pocket flaps close onto a Velcro patch in each corner.

What the hell kind of spy submarine is that? Looks more like an underwater motel room.

Bond’s Bogner ski pants are made from the same white nylon as the parka. They appear to have zip-fastened side pockets, and the bottoms are elasticized over the ankles with zip-up sides.

As he is skiing, Bond wears ski boots to fit the bindings of his black Olin Racing skis. The boots are all-white to match his outfit, including the white steps over the instep.

Bond protects his eyes against the blinding snow—and allows the franchise yet another opportunity for product placement—by sporting the unique Bogner 7003 9141 sunglasses. Developed in the early 1980s in collaboration with Austrian eyewear manufacturer Eschenbach, these sporty pilot-style glasses are built with white acetate frames, purple gradient lenses, and adjustable black metal temples and bridge. These innovative pieces could be tooled with a micro-screwdriver included by Bogner to adjust the fit to the wearer’s comfort; for example, the bridge could be adjusted to between 15 and 21 millimeters in width.

Naturally, Bond’s ski gloves are also made by Bogner, evident by the silver “B”-logo zip pull hanging from the short zippers over each wrist. The sheepskin leather shell is a slightly warmer shade of cream than the rest of his white outfit, with padding along the tops of the hands and wide Velcro straps tightening the top of each wrist.

Bond gets comfortable inside the submarine after removing his glasses and gloves and unzipping his parka to reveal his base layer, a white jersey-knit half-zip pullover shirt. This long-sleeved shirt has a widely spread collar and yet another silver “B” dangling from the zip pull that identifies this as more Bogner gear. (This is the 1980s equivalent of Bogner’s current “Harry” first layer made from a stretchy “performance” blend of polyamide/elastane technical fibers.)

A View to a Kill would be the final film to prominently feature the SEIKO watches that had dressed Roger Moore’s wrist as Bond since The Spy Who Loved Me. He cycles through a trio of SEIKOs in A View to a Kill, beginning with the SEIKO 7A38-7060 quartz chronograph shining from his left wrist as he settles in with Kimberley Jones (Mary Stävin).

According to James Bond Lifestyle, 007’s chronograph was long thought to be the cosmetically similar 7A28-7020 model until @rexworthywatches identified it as the 7A38-7060 by the small day-date windows within the 3 o’clock sub-register. The 15-jewel 7A28 was the world’s first mass-produced analog quartz chronograph when SEIKO introduced it in 1983, followed the next year by the 7A38 that introduced a day-date complication.

Moore’s screen-worn SEIKO chronograph features a stainless steel 36mm case on a three-piece steel bracelet. The relatively rare white dial nicely coordinates with the rest of his polar attire, boasting three sub-registers at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions.

A subtle watch-related continuity error appears earlier when Bond discovers 003’s corpse, dressed similarly to himself in a white Bogner parka. Removing his gloves for better dexterity when digging out 003 and searching his clothing for the microchip, a blackened watch with silver-toned pushers flashes from 007’s left wrist—likely the SEIKO H558-5000 that he canonically wears later in the film.

I suppose it’s possible—though not probable or practical—that Bond wore the H558-5000 diver for his mission and then quickly swapped it out for the 7A38-7060 chronograph that would look more dashing for romancing Kimberley on the submarine?

Known among collectors as the “Arnie diver” after Arnold Schwarzenegger also wore it the same year in Commando, the rugged H558-5000 may have been a better fit for the action-packed context of this sequence. Curiously, Bond would later canonically wear the H558-5000 with his tuxedo in Paris… a situation where the dressier 7A38-7060 chronograph would have been considerably more appropriate!

What to Imbibe

Bond confirms that his mission has been accomplished by revealing his haul: “best caviar… vodka, rather shaken… and one microchip.” The vodka in question is a bottle of Stolichnaya, specifically the standard 80-proof “Red Label” variety.

The vodka can trace its origins to 1901, when the Russian government opened Moscow State Wine Warehouse No. 1 to ensure consistently high quality of vodka production. However, the Stolichnaya brand itself didn’t emerge until sometime around World War II, between the 1938 trademark registration and V. G. Svirida’s 1944 label design.

The vodka received a gold medal upon its 1953 introduction at the Bern international trade show but would remain exclusively available within the Soviet Union for nearly twenty years, until the 1972 agreement that granted PepsiCo the rights to market and export Stoli in Western nations in exchange for Soviet importation of Pepsi—the first American consumer product to be produced, marketed, and sold within the USSR. From this period until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Stolichnaya intended for export was manufactured in Ukraine.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the current owner SPI Group has officially marketed the vodka by its nickname “Stoli” since March 2022.

How to Get the Look

Roger Moore with Mary Stävin and Carole Ashby during production of A View to a Kill (1985). Photo sourced from Thunderballs archive.

Secret agent or snow bunny? 007’s all-white ski outfit through the pre-credits sequence in A View to a Kill helps him blend in against the snow while dodging the Soviet gunmen on his trail, while also helping EON Productions make good on whatever product placement promises were made to Willy Bogner Jr.

• White nylon hip-length Bogner ski parka with fur-trimmed removable hood, straight-zip/four-snap front closure, full waist belt sash, two bellows chest pockets with buckle-strapped flaps, two bellows hip pockets with Velcro-fastened flaps, belted cuffs, and bi-swing shoulder pleats
• White nylon Bogner ski pants with zip-up side pockets and elasticized ankles with zip-up sides
• White jersey-knit Bogner long-sleeved “first layer” pullover shirt with spread collar and half-zip top
• White ski boots with white instep straps
• Bogner 7003 9141 sunglasses with white acetate frames, purple gradient lenses, and adjustable black metal bridge and temples
• Cream-white padded leather Bogner ski gloves with zip-back cuffs and wrist-straps
• SEIKO 7A38-7070 quartz chronograph watch with stainless steel 36mm case, round white dial (with 3 sub-registers, including day-date window at 3 o’clock), and stainless steel three-piece link bracelet

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie… perhaps following Matt Singer’s positive reassessment, published in 2012 for Indiewire.

The Quote

Call me James.

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