The jackets worn by our favorite movie characters reveal more about them. Than any other on-screen article of apparel. Whether they’re falling off the shoulders of a broken madman. Or warming the back of a suave rescuer of the day.
We’ve compiled a list of the most memorable and, of course, fashionable pieces of outerwear in film history. Because we’ve all secretly wished to channel a little Bond (or Travis Bickle) into our everyday attire with karate kid cobra kai jackets.
Fargo
Fargo is a black comedy by the Coen Brothers. It was full of great ’90s clothing. It is an overlooked picture in terms of style. But Steve Buscemi’s over-the-top suede shearling coat. Moreover, it wonderfully complemented his character’s loud and slightly ludicrous demeanor. It is undoubtedly the pièce de résistance.
Rebel Without A Cause
James Dean’s impact on pop culture and fashion is enormous. Especially when it comes to that red jacket! Despite the fact that he only starred in three films and died at the age of 24.
According to legend, Dean was so in love with the jacket he flaunted in Rebel Without a Cause. That he refused to return it and made it his personal go-to when he wasn’t in front of the camera.
If you want to channel a failed ’50s icon’s style, Manchester heritage company Baracuta makes the best rendition.
Taxi Driver
Robert De Niro embodied one of the great unhinged loners in the part of insane Vietnam soldier turned cab driver Travis Bickle, a character who has influenced numerous anti-heroes since.
But it was De Niro’s army surplus field jacket, a wonderful sartorial homage to Bickle’s ‘Nam background, that was most memorable, aside from his fierce and disturbing performance. You can get a good one from Alpha Industries. The company that founded the original flight jacket. It is officially known as an M-65.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indy’s headgear may receive all the praise and attention. But his stylishly beaten-up brown leather jacket from Raiders of the Lost Ark is the true show-stopper in his outfit.
This jacket was produced in England by a tiny company named Weston Leather Co., which is a little-known detail about it. You may even get an exact copy that comes with a certificate and everything if you’re a true fan.
Spectre
You can make a separate list of all the amazing outerwear that has appeared in the Bond world. Here Esquire’s favorite is Daniel Craig’s magnificent double-breasted bridge coat from his most recent outing in Spectre.
A bridge coat has the shape and length of a fantastic overcoat. However, it has the lapel and button structure of a peacoat. And honestly, we don’t see enough of them around. This piece is by Tom Ford, so it’s no surprise it’s gorgeous.
Casablanca
While the trench coat may now be associated with a jaded P.I.! Waiting for a contact on a dimly lit street corner in the dead of night. As the rain pours down from the black sky above. And a dog’s bark echoes through the deserted streets…sorry – it’s Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. Who really is the original maestro of the trench coat.
Bogart’s lovestruck protagonist in Casablanca was a modest cafe owner. But his immaculate Burberry trench, a piece of design history which we’d all love to acquire. It was anything from humble.
The Breakfast Club
Judd Nelson’s John Bender was the coolest character in John Hughes’ still-definitive high school comedy, and it wasn’t because of his nasty attitude or even his bag of drugs. It was because of his denim jacket. Nelson showed off the transitional classic’s layering possibilities as well as the insouciance necessary to pull it off by wearing it scruffily over a checkered flannel shirt and a simple white tee. Really, it’s a game for young men.
The Levis trucker jacket remains a go-to classic for this style. While Bender’s preferred addition – fingerless gloves – is, of course, an alternative.
Drive
The satin souvenir jacket, with all its shine, finery, and embellishments, may possibly be one of the main trends of the last few years. But it was a style breakthrough back in 2011, making Ryan Gosling’s white scorpion mark one of the most unforgettable in movie history.
Gosling’s dark hero ebbed between sympathetic vigilante and skull-crushing psychopath beneath a synth-heavy soundtrack, all the while appearing equally strange and weird in his pre-Gucci style.
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia was the picture that characterized the postwar rebellious style of the Mods and Rockers subculture, with Lambrettas, finely cut suits, and beach tribal conflicts, and it was also the vehicle for one of the greatcoats in British movie: Jimmy’s fishtail parka.
Phil Daniel’s character’s parka, worn stylishly large to preserve his slick red mohair suit, has never really left the fashion scene, with Fairly Green making a pretty nice replica if you’re wanting to join in on the bandwagon.
The Wild Ones
No actor, celebrity, rockstar, or normal guy (it hurts us too) has come close to achieving Brando’s seamless mastery of the black leather biker jacket. One of the most difficult items in men’s clothing to not look like a fool in, in the more than 60 years since his debut as motorbike gang leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild Ones.
Trainspotting
Trainspotting’s Mark Renton demonstrated a golden law of style during his pulsing, famous ‘choose life’ tirade that began the defining British film of the 1990s: that every guy, even heroin addicts, can look fantastic in a bomber jacket.
Renton’s shabby brown jacket was an epitome of the 90s grunge look, along with trousers and flannel wrapped around his waist – something which, 20 years later, is being resurrected throughout fashion houses and street style combined.
Butterfield 8
Gloria Wondrous, played by Elizabeth Taylor, is a model (who is actually a call girl) who has an affair with Weston Liggett, a wealthy married CEO. She takes a mink coat from his wife after an altercation with her paramour; this is the story element that drives the second half of the film. The white cashmere piece with a larger-than-life fur trim speaks about luxury. She wears it at the start of melodrama and is the topper that makes our list. It exudes over-the-top glitz and glam, much like Wondrous (and Taylor).
Fight Club
“That’s me in all the ways you want you could be. I look the way you want to look, I’m clever, capable, and most importantly, I’m free in every way you’re not.”
Tyler Durden may or may not have been talking to his red cowhide leather jacket with peak lapels in this famous remark from Fight Club. It was the final piece of the jigsaw in the creation of one of cinema’s all-time greatest mavericks, a statement piece that the rest of us would be despairing to pull off. It was found in an upmarket antique boutique in Hollywood. There are many other films that followed the charismatic route, for instance, cobra kai jacket.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a must-see film for every movie buff’s style collection. Thanks to the Audrey Hepburn-starring film, the LBD, kitten heels, and a single strand of pearls has virtually become wardrobe essentials. The orange Hubert de Givenchy–designed coat featured by Hepburn’s character, Holly Golightly, while gallivanting about New York City with her neighbor and love interest, Fred, is an underappreciated piece. To look at it another way, this is currently on our list of closet necessities.
Three Days of the Condor
Three Days of Condor is an exception to the rule of political thrillers creating fashion trends. Joe Turner, played by Robert Redford, is a preppy CIA analyst. He is forced into murder coverups by the government. He’s supposed to be a regular man, a regular joe (ha! ), and his peacoat is designed to represent that. It is a style that originated in the US Navy and became popular in the 1970s. The hat became a symbol of sophistication—not just for men—because it was worn by a hunk like Redford.
Belle de Jour
Yves Saint Laurent developed Belle du Jour, a virtual runway of prim, buttoned-up coats for a film about bondage and sadomasochism. Catherine Deneuve, the designer’s long standing muse, plays Séverine Serizy. She is a young housewife who fulfills her sexual fantasies as a high-class prostitute on a midweek afternoon. The modest, girlish forms of her clothes contrast sharply with her sexual urges. They are, in fact, an excellent disguise for her deepest desires.
Mahogany
Diana Ross has always radiated elegance in her limited list of films. From Lady Sings the Blues (1972) through Double Platinum (1999). Her most spectacular part, however, was in Mahogany. In which she portrays Tracy Chambers, an ambitious fashion designer who gradually discovers that the business is full of unsavory individuals. Chambers, on the other hand, thoroughly immerses herself in the glitz and splendor before reaching that revelation. The white trench she wears while wandering the streets of Paris. Along with a buzzy photographer is a perfect example.