It’s easy to think that I’m a stick-in-the-mud when it comes to evaluating period movie wear. And that’s honestly true for the most part. I believe that Gangster Squad was eh, Gatsby was disappointing, and that Live By Night was flat out disgusting (mainly for Ben Affleck). To be clear, good costuming isn’t just about being super-accurate but also about making character-based choices in styling and having all the attire be cohesive enough to feel natural and immersive in the story.  It’s a tough task and I get that I can be a stinker about it. 

The good thing is that a lot of movies that we’ve watched have been great! This goes for new releases like Barbenheimer or A Haunting in Venice to watching films from the past like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Everything has been delightful because of how natural and intentional the costuming is. But what about when someone tries to get fun by exaggerating vintage attire?  Will we automatically hate it?

In the case of Dick Tracy, it was the quite the opposite. We love it.

I saw Warren Beatty’s take on Dick Tracy for the first time during the early pandemic. It was a different time– I was unemployed and using my newfound free time to do (or rather watch) some things I hadn’t gone around to. A lot of time was spent on Discord, which was where Spencer and I (and sometimes) MJ would watch movies and TV shows together, all doing live commentary on the outfits to nobody; that’s how we got the idea to provide bonus episodes for our budding Patreon (it never felt right just to have one without giving something back [even if its as dumb as riffing about a movie for an hour]). And when we watched Dick Tracy, we had such a great time.

Dick Tracy is an awesome and delightfully quirky odd movie. It’s literally like a comic book come to life but instead of it being stylized animation like Into the Spider-Verse or The Mitchells vs. The Machines, it’s all done in live action. With vibrant colors found across the sets and matte paintings, it certainly accomplishes its goal in being an exaggerated version of the 1930s-1940s. The movie plays into that theme further with tons of period slang (and accents), gratuitous violence (but no blood), and gorgeous music (both diegetic and in the score). They even make the bad guys as wonderfully deformed as their nicknames.  I can’t imagine this movie being made today! 

What I love most is that this exaggeration is found in the costuming. Suits are excessively color blocked in greens, yellows, purples, and reds. Many of the outfits are color coordinated with the same hues placed across not only in their jackets and trousers but in their hats, shirts, and ties. This is mainly applied to the bad guys, who are all as extravagant as their names. In fact, most of them are dressed in body prosthetics, which means that the clothing had to be custom. Their crazy bodies are then emphasized by their boldly proportioned suits that emphasize the broad shouldered drape cut. Such items would probably be considered a form of zoot suit if their bodies didn’t fit them well; the tailoring is just that good.

The non-exaggerated characters have great outfits too. They are a bit less wild than the gangsters, but they still contain great expression and interesting details!  You’ll even see random characters get Hollywood waist pants, cool spearpoints, and giant patch pockets on their overcoats. I can’t remember the last time a movie paid this much attention to clothing their extras and side characters (outside of a Wes Anderson film of course). In fact, Dick Tracy is the most boringly dressed person in the film, though that is probably the point since he’s just a goody-two shoes cop. 

This attention to detail is what makes this such a good fashion movie. The costumers have shown that they know the importance of expressive details that make the era and leverage them in a way that is faithful to the period while putting it through the POV of the filmmakers. It’s proof that you can have fun and intention with vintage style. There’s a lot to learn and take inspiration from. 

I’d say it even makes me wish I could find the film’s pieces (or similar ones) at an [affordable] vintage store. I immediately think of 88Keys’s belted windowpane overcoat, which I would definitely wear today. I’m sure there is more you all would like to wear as well, provided you don’t just put them on all at once…unless of course you want to actually dress like a Dick Tracy character (or a Pitti Peacock). 

We discuss the menswear of Dick Tracy on the latest bonus pod of Style & Direction! I also discuss what it was like to take my friend suit shopping at Suit Supply ;)You can listen to the first 15 minutes of the bonus pod below, but you’ll have to subscribe on Patreon to get the RSS feed of the full episode (as well as access to our Discord).

Don’t forget to support us on Patreon to get some extra content and access to our exclusive Discord. Oh and don’t forget, we do a podcast every two weeks!

Buh-bye!

EthanMWong | StyleandDirection

The Podcast is produced by MJ.

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