Words: Jonathan Wells
Martin Scorsese has created many great characters. There’s James Conway, the truck hijacker and gangster who pulls the strings (and several triggers) in Goodfellas. There’s Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein, the handicapper sent to Las Vegas by the Chicago Mafia in Casino. There’s John ‘Johnny Boy’ Civello, the small-time gambler from the director’s first major success, Mean Streets. There’s even some not played by Robert De Niro.
And almost every one of these characters is impeccably dressed. Whether it’s Rothstein, and the 52 different suits he wears in Casino, or Daniel Day-Lewis’ gentleman lawyer, Newland Archer, in The Age of Innocence, one thing a Scorsese film guarantees is fashion. But many of the director’s most stylish characters are not leading men. So forget your Belforts and your Bickles — and discover who we consider Scorsese’s best-dressed below…
Charlie Cappa (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets, 1973
In Martin Scorsese’s first ever feature, 1967’s Who’s That Knocking at My Door, he cast Harvey Keitel as the lead. It was Keitel’s first ever role. So, when the time came for Scorsese to write and direct his second film, he once more called upon the actor, pairing him with a young Robert De Niro in this tale of punks and petty criminals set in Manhattan’s Little Italy.
Keitel’s character, Charlie Cappa, finds himself torn between his dealings with the Mafia and his Catholic religion. And his outfits capture this contrast; neatly buttoned-up, but with his tailoring imbued with a slightly sharper edge — one that hints at his more illicit, nastier work. Think endless collar points, fat silk ties and perhaps the first fully-formed mobster to spring from Scorsese’s pen.
Eddie 'Fast Eddie' Felson (Paul Newman) in The Color of Money, 1986
In 1961, Paul Newman made his debut as Eddie Felson in Robert Rossen’s sporting drama, The Hustler. 25 years later, the actor stepped back into Felson’s immaculately laced shoes for Martin Scorsese, starring alongside Tom Cruise in The Color of Money. He won an Oscar for his efforts.
But the character — a small-time pool hustler and successful liquor salesman — owes much of his characterisation to the costume department. Whether it’s a pair of strait-laced braces, iconic brown-toned shades or suits slicker than most of the mobsters Scorsese has put on screen (but what else would a pool shark wear, if not shiny sharkskin?), Newman’s Felson is a performance perfected by his wardrobe.
Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) in The Aviator, 2004
Robert De Niro has worked with Martin Scorsese 11 times. Leonardo DiCaprio isn’t far behind, and this biopic — following 2002’s Gangs of New York — was the second time the two collaborated on a period piece. Set in the 1940s, the film scored DiCaprio his first nomination for the Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’. Designer Sandy Powell also received an Oscar nod (and took home the trophy) for ‘Best Costume Design’.
It was an accolade well-earned. Whether DiCaprio’s Howard Hughes is wearing white tie, his flying duds or gallivanting around a golf course, he is — without fail — dressed to the nines. There’s a hint of The Talented Mr. Ripley in there, a dash of romantic swashbucklers and some of the finest fedoras ever doffed on screen. Our two favourite features of this wardrobe? Those round, gold-rimmed sunglasses, and Hughes’ penchant for a ‘spearpoint’ collar.
Roger Thornberry (Simon Baker) in The Key to Reserva, 2007
Who, we hear you cry? And quite right — this is a particularly niche choice. It’s not a feature film of Scorsese’s, but rather a short piece produced to advertise Freixenet Cava. And it stars Australian actor Simon Baker in just one outfit; a light-grey silk-blend suit with a silver tie and grained leather shoes. So why does it make the cut?
Because the short, which films three pages from an unshot Alfred Hitchcock script, is designed and staged in the style of late 1950s films, including The Man Who Knew Too Much and North By Northwest. And, rather than relying on mafioso-style shoulder pads or period costumes, Baker is dressed in a simplistic way that emulates Cary Grant’s famous lightweight blue-grey worsted wool suit. Neatly tailored, it’s an enduring look. Transformative; timeless.
Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) in Shutter Island, 2010
Another of Scorsese’s collaborations with Leonardo DiCaprio, this time we’re shifting style focus to his co-star, Mark Ruffalo. Shutter Island is the tall tale of a patient (DiCaprio), tricked into investigating a psychiatric facility by his doctor — played by Ruffalo — in the hopes that this will cure his delusion. And, while Ruffalo is playing dress-up for most of the film (albeit still looking sharp in that coat and hat combo) it’s the doctor’s real threads that earn him a place on this list.
Just look at that dark brown, Donegal tweed suit. It’s three pieces of pure, handsome style. Paired simply with a white shirt, similarly spotted tie and a cigarette, Ruffalo’s got an air of unruffled cool about him and a classic collegiate style that, once more, offers something other than a Goodfellas-black, double-breasted suit in Scorsese’s oeuvre. And, for that distinction, it must be applauded.
Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) in The Wolf of Wall Street, 2013
Most of the fashion in Scorsese’s raucous retelling of Jordan Belfort’s life is appalling. From Jonah Hill’s multi-tone shirts to Kyle Chandler’s baggy FBI-standard suit, the outfits are a brash product of that nineties setting. But there are exceptions. Jean Dujardin’s Swiss banker is reasonably well-togged, and some of DiCaprio’s later suits are sophisticated enough — but this style stems entirely from one character; Matthew McConaughey’s Mark Hanna.
He may only have a short amount of screen time, but the Wall Street stockbroker who takes Belfort under his perma-tanned wing sets the pace for every contrast collar, power tie and pinstripe to come. His suits are lined with bombastic red silk. His cufflinks glimmer with more gold than his rings and wristwatches. His ties are chest-thumpingly, ostentatiously patterned. Hanna is the man Belfort wants to be — so he starts dressing like him.
Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) in Vinyl, 2016
Another of Scorsese’s characters from a smaller screen, Bobby Cannavale’s Richie Finestra was the protagonist of the short-lived HBO show, Vinyl. Co-created with Mick Jagger, Scorsese’s period drama takes place in the 1970s, and follows Finestra’s exploits as a record executive at his own label, American Century.
It also follows his wardrobe — a cacophony of louche leather jackets, vast lapels and more flares than you can shake a 12-inch at. But what gets Finestra into Scorsese’s hall of fashionable fame is his diversity of style. Whether he’s rocking a pair of denims, pulling on a knitted polo, draping a thin gold chain over his matted chest or going full business-mode in a brash, bold suit, he looks good in just about everything (and costume designer John Dunn, who also worked on Mad Men and 1995’s Casino, deserves the credit for that).
Want more cinematic style? These are the most stylish Wes Anderson characters…
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