This is a recap-ish of the latest podcast episode. You can listen to the episode below before or after you read. That’s because I tend to expand on topics from the pod as well as straight-up write about things that we did not discuss. The choice is yours in how you want to proceed!
- Moulin Rouge – 9:51
- Season transition – 24:46
- John Wick – 42:52
Moulin Rouge
Musicals may very well be the next source of menswear inspo, though I’m sure the few theatre-kid readers of this blog were already on it (I’m looking at you, Gianni).
I guess Hadestown really amped me up (how could it not), because a few weeks after watching Orpheus give into doubt and turn around, I found myself back at the Pantages to see another musical. I would be transported to the early 1900s again, specifically to the Belle Époque in Paris, for Moulin Rouge.
I had never seen the movie before, and, as was the case with Hadestown, I deigned not to listen to the soundtrack (for the movie and musical), knowing that I would likely see it someday. The only exposure I had was “Crazy Rolling”, which popped up on my “Discover Weekly” sometime ago. I was enamored with it ever since, as “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley was one of my favorite songs back in middle school; hearing it done up in a dramatic, musical theatre treatment made it even better (no, I’ve never seen Glee). I knew that I needed to see the damn thing – specifically the musical – at some point. So when tickets went on sale (right around Hadestown), I copped it immediately. A few friends were also quite interested, as they were intrigued by seeing a sexy 1900s romance done with a modern soundtrack. And so we saw it— on opening night, no less!
I’m not sure what I expected, but I had the best time. It really felt like a Baz Lurhmann movie come to life, and I mean that in the best way possible. Loud beats, sexy costumes, and elaborate choreography made for a never-ending party (certainly on theme), keeping energy up throughout the 2.5-hour runtime. What was crazy was that the Playbill didn’t have the song list, which it normally does for other productions. In other words, I had no idea what songs were going to play.
I knew that “Lady Marmalade” would open the film and that “Crazy Rolling” would pop up at some point sad (just based on the lyrics), but what I didn’t expect was hearing Lorde’s “Royals” mashed up with “We Are Young” by fun, or that “Shut Up And Dance with Me” would be sung when, well, Satine invites Christian to, shut up and dance with her. Each song was incredibly on the nose and cheesy as hell (Satine uses Katy Perry’s Firework as her “I want song” ), but I loved every minute of it. I was on the edge of my seat, anticipating what 2010s song would come up next! It probably helped that, like “Crazy”, all of the songs were from my Youth, just musical-ifed. I just knew that if I saw it back in 2018 (when I was on Tumblr), I would have been way more annoying than I already am.
As you probably expected, I did find myself taken with the costuming. I found that they certainly strived to be a bit more period-accurate than, say, Hadestown, which had a general vintage vibe. Of course, a few liberties were taken to make it more Luhrmann-esque, being a shiny, sexy, and dramatic version of late 1890s/early 1910s attire. This is most reflected in how nearly none of the men outside of Zidler, the owner of the Moulin Rouge, wear a proper button-up shirt. They all wear Henleys instead, which are all unbuttoned quite severely. They combine that sexy shirt with a U-closure waistcoat, high-waisted, slim pants, and some form of coat. The result is menswear that looks like a BookTok illustration or Tumblr original character, which, while cheesy, fits the vibe perfectly.
Despite this templatized approach to most of the male characters, I liked that each of them contains some nuance, through subtle details or the color palette. Christian, our idealistic and lovelorn composer, is mainly seen sans coat, with his vest and tight Henley sleeves, hammering in his status as our romantic lead. The faded indigos and burgundies provide drama and softness to his character. Lautrec has a colorful Henley and waistcoat under his black coat, pointing toward his artistic nature; he even wears a cream linen chore coat and a big straw hat while he paints. I noticed that there were also nods to African descent (as he’s normally played by a black performer) through the use of a Kufi hat as well as lines of dialogue (“No one will own me again”). Santiago also has a traditional dress in his gold-embroidered mariachi-esque suit, which is worn over a red tunic and cummerbund.
Of course, the menswear stars would have to be Zidler and the Duke. Zidler, in full 1910s club emcee fashion, has the boldest look, wearing a red tailcoat over a gold waistcoat, and black striped trousers along with a black silk top hat, white gloves, and a rakish cane. He’s also the only one who gets a proper collar shirt and bowtie. The Duke, on the other hand, is completely devoid of color, being dressed entirely in black. His attire matches Christian’s, though he amps up the edge with sheer sleeves and tall riding boots. It’s clear from his clothing that the duke is not only the bad guy, but that he’s sexy and alluring (which apparently he is not in the movie version). In just makes sense that he sings a male version of “Only Girl (In the World)” when trying to win over Satine. Maybe I need to dress up like him for my next Karaoke outing!
Seeing all of these sultry male costumes actually made me feel like I didn’t dress up enough for seeing this musical. Like Hadestown, there were more than a few audience members who dressed up like the characters (mainly Christian) or at least went decked out for the Moulin Rouge, all on a Wednesday evening no less! I should have done a red-and-gold take on evening wear (I usually save black tie for the symphony) or something a bit more romance-protagonisty. That’s what I get for not looking up costuming beforehand.
My attire was rather safe as it was quite ivy-trad: a navy suit, OCBD, repp striped tie, and a sweater vest with the accompanying white socks and penny loafers. I was a bit inspired by our viewing of All That Heaven Allows, where Rock Hudson’s “Ron” wears the same thing to a country club party. Inspiration (or rather, “see it, do it”) just had to strike me! I did have a nod to the colors of the musical, as there was red in my block-stripe tie and my OCBD was yellow. Some of my friends did the same, as Claire wore a red dress, Isabella had a red blouse under a black suit, and Youmna, in a great move, paired a yellow turtleneck with a red double rider. Even if we weren’t in sexy, cabaret get-ups, we were still on theme!
I guess all that’s left now is to watch the original movie, which only Spencer had seen. He mentions on the pod that it’s more period accurate in its attire, with most characters wearing actual tailcoats and stiff, detachable collars. Of course, the movie also has more Nirvana and less Walk The Moon, which Spencer certainly enjoys (he hates “Shut Up and Dance With Me”).
Perhaps we’ll cover the 2001 movie sometime on a bonus episode!
Joseph’s John Wick Laser Tag Bday Party
I love laser tag. For many years, it was my birthday activity of choice. I always took it seriously, embracing the absurdist faux-military, sci-fi sim with glee. Numerous photos exist of MJ and me wearing sensor-studded vests, with two hands on the gun (as it needs two hands to be fired), awaiting our next moment in the arena. As you know, we later moved on to Nerf and Airsoft, but I always had a soft spot for laser tag. Unless you’re Barney Stinson, it isn’t exactly an activity undertaken by 30-year-olds…unless, of course, you’re us. After nearly a decade-long break, I made my return to laser tag, all for my friend Joseph’s birthday. But that was only half of it— it was also John Wick themed.
Yes, Joseph asked all of the attendees to dress up like the Baba Yaga himself or one of the many friends and adversaries that he encounters on his franchise. I loved the theme. It’s quite easy to default to athletic clothes when playing laser tag (or Nerf or airsoft, for that matter), but that’s such a cop out. Laser tag or any kind of “gun game” is exponentially better when you’re dressed up: not only does it provide an opportunity to express personal style, but it also injects a sense of narrative. And as a practitioner of Cinematic Dressing, I was locked in.
To be clear, I’m not the biggest fan of the menswear in the John Wick franchise. I find the titular character’s styling of slim-fit 3PC suits to be a bit “much” and not in the way that I enjoy. It doesn’t help that most of the assassins in the series also dress in the same way. Of course, there are a handful of other characters in the franchise who are not all black that I think actually have some interesting ideas.
There’s Winston, manager of the New York Continental (a haven for professional assassins and criminals), who is always seen in an ascot and dark suit (usually a 3PC). Charon, Winston’s concierge, also wears a dark suit, but I do notice that he wears patterned ties (including a foulard). Koji, the manager of the Tokyo Continental, rocks an ocean-print haori over a Winston-esque combo (ascot and waistcoat). In one scene, the Bowery King takes a break from big coats and watch caps (needed for the NYC underground) and instead dons a rather beautiful navy geometric print dressing gown over a rollneck. Wick meets a tailor in Rome interestingly looks a bit English with this Winchester collar, striped tie, and pinstripe 3PC. The Chancellor, the antagonist in Ballerina, wears a waxed cotton, Barbour-esque jacket: a bit of a sporty/utilitarian look that we don’t see much of (outside of tactical uniforms). We get a fedora and a big trenchcoat (both black), courtesy of The Harbinger. But the most menswear-pilled character in the franchise has to be the Marquis de Gramont, who affects an elegant and antiquated appearance through the use of U-neck, DB waistcoats, watch chains, coat-suits (where the matching jacket is a long coat), and ascot-esque ties wrapped in the Van Wijk Knot.
Even if the execution is a bit off to my classic menswear-pilled brain (it’s mainly the slim fits, low waists, and the dimensions of the lapels), I actually appreciate the effort to create distinct styles that communicate a bit about each character. They’re certainly dramatic, which adds that extra flavor to the world of John Wick.
In other words, there was certainly an opportunity here to dress in service of the Theme without simply defaulting to wearing black-on-black.
Avoiding the stereotypical John Wick look was a challenge, but one that I enjoyed!
It goes without saying that do enjoy wearing dark, tonal outfits, but it’s always centered on shades of navy, grey, and brown, with a dash of black in the neckwear and footwear. Oddly enough, I do own a black point collar shirt (in full cotton), which I initially tried on in order to be more directly “Wick”, but I didn’t like it. Like any other outfit, I want whatever combination I wear to make me feel excited and not just feel like I’m defaulting. You know what that means: I needed to figure out what character I wanted to be.
Taking inspiration from the rain (which certainly set the mood for the evening), I did a spin on an English country look. That called for a guncheck jacket (acquired last year during the rarified Armoury sample sale), a sweater vest, my Barbour Gamefair, and, of course, riding boots. To make it a bit more “John Wick”, I went away from earth tones (as would be expected for a country look) and went dark and tonal for the palette, opting for black riding pants (instead of the khaki ones) and a dark grey dress shirt (instead of an Oxford or chambray).
If I had to frame the narrative, I’d say that I was dressed like an “English Country Gent Assassin”, another agent of The High Table that would no doubt be easily dealt with by the Baba Yaga.
I really loved my look. It felt quite “Ethan”, but was firmly on Theme, which is exactly the result I strive for in Occasions such as this.
Since this was a laser tag party, I assumed that people weren’t going to be too dressed up, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised! Every attendee was decked out in their best John Wick attire, ranging from sleek black dresses and corsets to full-on jackets, shirts, and ties (all black).
I was particularly taken with MJ’s look, as he wore a black mock-neck with his EG utility vest (both under a black moleskin overcoat), creating a fun mix of chic and tacti-cool. As you heard on the pod, Spencer forgot his look at home (having to drive up in a rush), but thanks to his typical accoutrements, he ended up looking like a cool nautical mercenary thanks to his cream rollneck, peacoat, and navy watch cap. Unfortunately, the cream did end up glowing once we stepped into the laser tag arena, creating a literal target on Spencer’s back.
Playing laser tag after all these years was incredible. It was quite different from our usual experience with Nerf and Airsoft; laser tag is certainly a sillier activity, but this actually helps you get more into it. The outfits certainly helped with the “immersion”, but the lack of eyepro/helmets or chest rigs full of ammo made us feel nimble, allowing us to focus on winning the game. Because Joseph had a large party (a feat in itself, it can be hard to wrangle people for a party as an adult), games were only done with 12-14 people at a time, where we played free-for-all (I got 2nd), zombies (I was the last one alive), and squads (MJ and my team came in 2nd).
As you probably expected, MJ and I went full tactical in the arena (which was an apocalyptic/mall maze), clearing corners, covering sixes, and tapping shoulders to indicate relief. Thankfully, everyone else followed suit (to a lesser degree, of course). No one treated the game like a sport by running circles in the arena or doing jump shots, which is something you see in Nerf or paintball quite a bit, or when children are also playing. No, people really got into the Spirit of it all, and it made for a really fun evening.
In between laser tag games, Joseph and Linh set up duel minigames: arm wrestling, five-finger fillet, two-shot Nerf blaster duels, and inflatable pencil fencing. These duels would be the only way to increase your amount of coins, which Joseph and his girlfriend Linh gave everyone five of at the beginning of the evening. Plenty of people took advantage of the games, providing opportunities for fun even if you weren’t blasting enemies in the laser tag arena. Thanks to an extremely lucky high card, I ended up taking Serhan’s loot, which, when combined with my winnings from my laser tag performance, made me the winner of a John Wick Funko Pop and a trophy of a high table. Like I said, I take every activity very seriously.
During post-party drinks, Joseph told me that he was very pleased with how the evening went. Like me, he didn’t expect everyone to be down to “play”, but he was happy to be proven wrong. No one half assed anything. Hell yeah!
It might sound a bit silly, but this topic has been quite important to my friends and me, especially as we get older. With each passing year, it’s easy to lose that “Full Send” attitude, if you ever even had it at all. Most people find that putting in any kind of effort to be cringe, whether it’s a themed party or your outfits. But honestly, it’s not even just about having nerdy or silly interests, being unabashed in how you express them! Why wouldn’t you want to wear a suit and play laser tag, get sorted at an elaborate wizarding school party, or get drunk as shit at the Ren Faire while wearing riding boots?
Thankfully, neither Joseph nor I has to worry about that. With the great turn out clear that we’ve found our people– the ones who have no qualms about getting into the Spirit and having fun. Life is about Play and going Full Send, always.
Dressing For Early Fall
Oh yes, we also talked about what we wear in Early Fall on the pod, but because that one had way too many photos (and launched me into a typical, self-reflective mood), I decided to give it its own standalone article.
You can read it here!
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The Podcast is produced by MJ.
Always a pleasure,Ethan
a little bit of rest 