I never grew up with Bob Dylan. He just never came up for me. My dad was the main one who drove me around and his car was either Kroq (LA’s alternative rock station that played Foo Fighters and Weezer) or talk radio (mostly car repair); my mom listened to hip hop and my grandparents never played music in the house. All of this combined with a very insular Christian upbringing left me to my own devices, which ultimately led me, as you know, to orchestral film music. 

The first time I really became conscious of him was at one of the Gooch Collectives back in 2018 or so, where a trio of musicians spontaneously played “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”. I was enamored and added the song to my burgeoning folk playlist (which in true hipster fashion was mainly Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers). The song was simple yet so good; the strength really was in the lyrics. 

I encountered Dylan more fully during a solo SF trip. Chris Pizarro recommended that I catch a movie at the Castro Theater and I ended up buying a random ticket to see Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese. It was a two and a half hour pseudo documentary about Bob Dylan’s tour that I later learned was made up of a mix of historical and fictional footage; as someone who barely knew anything about Bob Dylan, it certainly felt like it was a real documentary. But while a few of the narratives and references may have been fake, the songs were very real indeed. I liked this Bob Dylan guy and added a few more songs to the playlist. 

Fast forward to today, where I now own Freewheelin’ and Highway 61 Revisited on vinyl and a majority of my folk music playlist are all songs by or covers of Bob Dylan; he even makes up a good chunk of my 70s playlist. All because I watched A Complete Unknown, James Mangold’s flick about Bob Dylan going electric. 

The movie wasn’t at all groundbreaking and certainly doesn’t reveal anything crazily new about Bob Dylan, but I fuckin’ love this movie.  It’s a basic story but it’s executed quite well, with each of the characters and pacing carefully done to get you invested and empathetic with the genius and asshole fuck boy that is Bob Dylan.  

At its core, A Complete Unknown is simply about an artist’s rise to fame, the effect his music had on people, and what it means to fully send the person you are meant to be, your fans and even your friends be damned. Of course the magic is drama and stories contained within, like the dramatized elements of his relationships with Sylvie (based on real life girlfriend Suze Rottolo), Joan Baez, and Pete Seeger as well as the serendipitous experience of making music/writing lyrics. I couldn’t help but leave the theater with a smile on my face; I am not sure if it was pride for the electrified Bob Dylan closing out the film, the bonafide bangers that make up the soundtrack, or simply the Inspirational sentiment of wanting to be Bob Dylan…or at least some kind of folk singer who wears sunglasses and smokes cigs. 

The acting is really what seals this as a film, with each character’s appearance keeping you entertained and looking forward to seeing what they do and say next. Everyone has a charisma and unique sense of swagger in each of their scenes. This is felt in Mangold’s other film Ford v. Ferrari which is another favorite of mine. Yes it’s an exciting racing film with cool cars but I won’t lie and say I don’t watch the film to see Carrol Shelby, Ford Jr., and Ken Miles talk about cars. For A Complete Unknown, I’m here for my MCU of singers; Dylan, Baez, Seeger, and Cash. Hell, even the smaller parts like Mike Bloomfield, Al Cooper, and Bobby Newirth get me excited. Maybe I just miss playing in a band (my church dissolved the praise band I played in and so I haven’t really done anything musical in months). 

Of course what really helps sell how enjoyable the performances are is how good the costuming is. And boy did Arianne Philips do a great job. Her expert crafting of the film’s attire is one of the best parts of the film, being a mix of stand out pieces from the main characters to the myriad of 60s looks worn by the thousands of extras in the backgrounds of bars, recording studios, and various concerts. 

The clothing of A Complete Unknown is incredibly immersive and expressive.  Period detailing is one thing but exuding a particular aesthetic or character is another and Philips does both. The fits are accurate to the setting, making you feel like you’re right in the Village during the height of folk music listening to Dylan and Baez in Folk City. In that way, the vibe I get from seeing all the fits was quite similar to how I felt about the costuming in The Bikeriders. 

Everyone’s clothing communicates something about them, showing their position in the world (or rather, Bob Dylan’s world) as well as their motivations and references. You can even trace their narrative journey by looking at what they wear! For supporting characters, this is best seen in Albert Grossman, Bob Dylan’s manager, who wears ivy-trad at the beginning of the film (set in 1961-ish), donning 3PC suits and slim ties. He later goes to a mid-60s look with a heavy plaid jacket and an ascot when Bob takes off, showing that he too can get a little bold and fun just like his biggest client.

Johnny Cash, played by Boyd Holbrook, is a fun character that serves to both embolden and foreshadow the rebellious side of Bob; it’s implied through the film that he is the one who brings it out of him (“track some mud on the carpet”). Cash is obviously seen in his trademarked sleek black outfits, puffy shirts (mainly at the end of the film) as well as sharp sunnies. He’s a fun one to track as he’s the only main musician in the film that exudes an aggro rock and roll personality. You can contrast him against Joan Baez who has a simple and decidedly unflashy look throughout most of the film that makes sense with her folk status. Though to be clear, I love her and her style both as a character and the real life person. 

On that note, it’s quite interesting to look at the folk crowd and how they compare to Dylan.  Pete Seeger, the soul of folk music and played wonderfully by Ed Norton, is dressed in simple Americana donning chunky sweaters, chambrays, and mackinaws as he attempts to push Dylan to take up the torch; he does get a fun late 50s jacket and bold tie in one scene. Alan Lomax who heads the Folk Festival and the Archive of American Folk is equally simple in his inoffensive ivy-attire, wearing a harrington and an OCBD/sport shirt. Both Seeger and Lomax dress in the same way showing that they are firmly planted in what they want folk music to be. 

But of course, the best example of personality and narrative based dressing comes with the character of Bob Dylan himself.

When you read each of the various articles and interviews with Arianne Philips and her costuming team, you’ll see that their prerogative was to ensure that Dylan’s clothes exude his character, his influences, and most importantly the evolution of him as a musician. After seeing the film three times, I can say that they definitely succeeded, making for a character that is period and subject accurate as well as feeling quite natural and not costume-y. 

It probably helped that the real life Bob Dylan was extensively photographed and documented, which means that many of the outfits in the movie are direct lifts of real life photos, concert attire, and album covers. The film does contain a fair bit of fictional parts, but Philips does say that Bob’s attire in those scenes were meant to be an extension of his existing style. So while there isn’t a photo of Dylan wearing that exact fit, you could imagine him wearing it. In that way, watching Timothy play Bob Dylan in the flick is an immersive experience with more than a few details that make vintage and menswear enthusiasts mutter “damn, that’s good” in the theater. 

In the beginning to middle of the film (1961-1964), Dylan dresses like a typical folk singer, especially one who idolized Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and other 1930s-1950s musicians. He has a decidedly Americana vibe done through a 60s lens: wearing straight leg jeans (or slim compared to previous eras) jeans, cowboy boots, and suede jackets; his shirts include solid and striped tees, sport shirts, and chambrays, showing a bit of a workwear feel. He even wears a newsboy cap, though like in real life, the snap on the front is undone, making the cap’s crown puff out. Even in his relatively safe style era, Bob Dylan had to do something to stand out! 

Even though the Americana stuff is what my [casual] style is closest to, I really like the styles when we flash forward to 1965. It’s a subtle shift but extras are already wearing more of a beatnik look with messier hair, vibrant turtlenecks, and plaid jackets. Dylan immediately stands out in this era, trading his Americana look for something a bit more mod and continental (“these are The Kinks, man”). His jeans are exceedingly slim and his boots are now side zips and chelseas with a sharp toe and a Cuban heel. Shirts are now 60s tab collars, worn with the tabs fastened but without a tie, another real life Dylan quirk.  On that note, his “tousled hair” is now a wild mane full of personality offset by the dark, unfeeling cat eye sunglasses that he insists on wearing at all times. This is a Dylan that is ready to go electric in an orange shirt and leather sportcoat and say “fuck you” to the folk establishment. 

Again, much of this stuff can be seen on real life photos of Bob Dylan but there’s just something special about seeing it on the big screen. Unlike Elvis, Dylan’s outfits never feel like a costume or a tick mark on a list of iconic outfits.  It simultaneously feels like you’re watching Bob Dylan and “Bob Dylan” in the best way possible. The character and the man he’s based on each have great style that is sure to inspire.

The film certainly had an effect on my style the past few weeks. While sleek outfits aren’t anything new for me, A Complete Unknown certainly adds an absurd layer of cosplay to my attitude. It’s not that I don’t enjoy “cool” pieces on their own, but that when I wear them, I know I’m trying to exude a bit of that Timmy Chalomet-doing-Bob Dylan charisma, just through what I already own. I also think that my cig intake went up considerably after the fiolm. 

In that way, I feel that this movie was released at peak “Cool Ethan”, by which I mean that I’ve worked to canonized another side of me that specifically comes through Going Out, wearing tonal looks, and leaning into being  sleek and a bit edgy, at least compared to my trad and Americana attire. It almost feels like this A Complete Unknown was the final “permission” I needed to lean into that edgy look. It’s no surprise that my sunglasses of choice have been my cat eye frames instead of “safe” P3s. The idea is that if I’m going to shield my eyes from the sun, it might as well be something that is inherently cool.  The Bob Dylan effect is real! This is even seen within the film. Bobby Neuwirth, Dylan’s friend and road manager, goes from wearing corduroy sport coats to funky sunglasses, striped pants, and sleek heeled boots. 

To be clear, I’m never giving up the trad side of myself, but it’s just nice to honor this new facet, to know that I can be multifaceted while still being “Ethan”. So while I definitely have been dressing “cooler” before this film came out, I think it’s safe to say that this really emboldened me to keep it going. It’s good to always remind yourself that you can dress however the fuck you want. 

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All of the fits, along with copious amounts of cigarettes, makes Timmy’s Bob Dylan an incredibly well dressed and enticing character to watch.  Again, I’m a relatively new even a huge Dylan-head and I found myself mesmerized by the film. Pairing the film with extensive amounts of  old footage and photographs of the real life Dylan only fuels my fascination and desire to “be him”. It also proved that the filmmakers did a commendable job in capturing the real Dylan’s essence during the early years of his career. They really showed what a talented fuckboy he was! 

And speaking of sunglasses, cigs and charisma, it’s interesting to compare my experience with A Complete Unknown to my viewing of Maestro. Bradley Cooper’s take on Lenny was an okay performance, but the overall film felt quite lackluster which results in the character not reaching quite as much charisma as Bob Dylan. This is a contrast to the real life Bernstein who you can certainly feel his presence even in a recorded lecture on music. Perhaps music itself is the issue. Maestro focused on the domestic drama and only informed us of the genius of Lenny, bar a few mid conducting scenes. A Complete Unknown shows us exactly how Dylan’s music and difficult personality affects people, both good in bad. It doesn’t get into how the music came to be, but that’s Bob Dylan for you. What matters is the music itself and how it makes you feel. 

I wouldn’t say that I’ve gone all in on Bob Dylan, but he’s certainly on my radar now. I only had a few songs of his from the 70s (mainly the ones from the Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story movie) but now I have quite a bit of his 60s folk stuff on my playlists. I guess this movie came at the right time, as I’ve been trying to expand my taste in music to include actual songs and lyrics. In that way, it really ended up being a similar story to me and Maestro, where Cooper’s performance coincided with my full induction into classical music (which is still quite important to me today). I guess I’m still trying to be more than the guy in suits who likes film music. Well, just a little bit more. 

I guess you could say that I’ve found some kindred spirit in Dylan and his rebelliousness. No one wants to be put in a box, even if you become the darling child of a subculture. I’m nowhere near famous (or as musical), but I always found it frustrating to find where I belonged in my own worlds. In the past I was too modern for vintage and too vintage for modern. Even today, I can sometimes feel like I don’t fit in neatly with the menswear world.. If anything, I’ve simply learned to lean into it and be myself, whether that involves a natural evolution or digging deep and entrenching myself in what I’ve enjoyed for years. I’m sure all of this is just social anxiety combined with the feeling of getting older, but being confident in who you are and what you want to express can be a struggle, especially if you are aware of what might be better, socially speaking. 

A good pair of sunglasses and a bit of cigs is enough to help me power through these feelings. I’m him forreal! 

I think it’s more than obvious that Bob Dylan (specifically the movie version) is my current personality, at least when I’m not wearing a suit and tie. You know that whole “Ryan Gosling is literally me” meme? This is my version of that. 

It goes without saying that I consider this movie to be one of my all time favorites. Like I said, it’s not a groundbreaking film but it’s a fun enough take on the musician biopic to make for a fun and captivating watch experience. I had such a great experience that first time that now, if a friend says they want to see it, I’ll go with them! I’ve currently seen it four times and I’m not tired of it. 

And so A Complete Unknown is the subject of our latest bonus episode. MJ, Spencer, and I discuss our own history with Bob Dylan (Spencer was definitely a  BD-Head before us), how we felt about the costuming (it’s good), and how it may or may not play into our style moving forward.

You can listen to a clip of the bonus pod (subscribe on Patreon for the full episode) and scroll through some great photos of the film and real guy below! I think you’ll agree that the costumers not only captured the menswear of the 60s but the essence of a nascent Bob Dylan. It’s also just cool as hell, which is exactly what we could have asked for. 

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!

Ethan M. Wong (follow me on IG)| StyleandDirection

The Podcast is produced by MJ.