IT'S A WRAP

Words: Nhlanhla Masemola | Images: Getty, USA Network + Instagram

Ever smiled as you flipped through channels or scrolled through a never-ending list of titles and just sat there, taking in all the splendour that 21st-century entertainment has to offer? You, astonished, then begin to imagine all the paths your evening could take. Sally Rooney’s TV adaptation of Normal People in bed or are you feeling more like The Office on the couch? Oh, the agony of choice. Frankly, thanks to the explosive rise in streaming, never before has there been so much stuff to watch quite so enjoyably in the comfort of our homes. Almost everywhere we turn, we’re bound to run into something that demands a binge-watch, lest we feel left out of the conversation. Few things beat our good ol' shows that keep us laughing or give us a welcome intermission from the mess of life. And then, when some of our faves happen to demonstrate the wonders of menswear and the idea that dressing well is actually kind of cool, then that‘s something to write about. Whether hanging off the shoulders of an unrepentant bad boy or warming the back of an eccentric billionaire, the outerwear worn by our favourite film and TV characters tends to stand out. Perhaps it has something to do with the actor or the fact that jackets and coats can say a lot about the character? Or maybe it’s down to coats allowing some men to feel their most dressed up, say, in the same way that a striking dress can. Whatever the reason, we’ve got to admit that it’s hard to ignore a suave character in outstanding outerwear. When looking for some outerwear style inspiration, there are few places better to mine than the small and big screen.

There’s something to be said about someone who stars in only a handful of films and manages to leave a lasting impression on the imaginary yet globally recognised Big Book of Iconic Style. His mark on pop culture and fashion can’t be denied and you know what else can’t? That red jacket. Just google “James Dean jacket” and you’ll get it. The iconic cherry-red Harrington made its first appearance in Dean’s star-making turn as the disaffected Jim Stark in the 1955 classic Rebel Without a Cause. His work helped to solidify Hollywood’s go-to casually-indifferent-bad-boy-with-hidden-depths role. Dean’s untimely death at the age of 24 not only cemented his iconic status, but also bolstered the appeal of the red Harrington jacket.

There should be a rule written somewhere: any list about stylish on-screen characters should be considered incomplete without the indelible Harvey Specter. If you’ve ever watched an episode of Suits, you’d know that Gabriel Macht’s Harvey spends his high-rise life almost eternally in a tailored suit. The show’s title sort of gives it away. It was difficult to narrow it down to one outerwear piece, because Harvey has so many. So instead, we’ve gone with this charcoal Tom Ford suit jacket from season 4, worn with a logo-printed silk tie by Gucci. Classic, sophisticated and tailored to perfection, this is the suit jacket of our office dreams.

Like Harvey, Billy Porter as Pray Tell in Pose has a robust wardrobe brimming with the finest tailored clothes. But unlike Harvey, Pray Tell has a flair for the extravagant and audacious, which is well-suited to his role as an emcee in New York City’s ballroom scene. It’s virtually impossible to sit through a season of Pose and not be impressed by the costumes in each episode, but in the fourth of the second season, Pray Tell saunters in wearing a striped blazer that was nothing short of remarkable. It had the showy trademarks of jackets often seen bobbing across the runways of Alessandro Michele’s Gucci while hinting at its era. The episode in question marks an important and devastating shift in the season and thanks to the work of costume designers Lou Eyrich and Analucia McGorty, Pray Tell dressed perfectly for the occasion.

Besides a compelling story that both entertained and perplexed, The Matrix trilogy also managed to introduce us to futuristic and fashionable garbs. When Neo, played by the forever-relevant Keanu Reeves (decked out in his signature overcoat) dodged bullets in slow-mo, it went down in cinematic history as one of the most meme-able scenes well before memes were a hallowed institution. But aside from the visual effects, it was Neo’s slick coat that kept us entranced. Practical and oddly monastic, Neo’s coat still has us wondering if this is the winter we, too, can nonchalantly jump across buildings and finally bend spoons. Next year, perhaps.

While the trench coat's role in film may now be synonymous with the cynical investigator waiting for a contact on a dimly lit street corner at night, it was delightfully reinterpreted as the standard uniform of the fictional angel, Castiel, on Supernatural. When Thomas Burberry discovered breathable, rain-repellant gabardine in the 19th century, it’s likely that he never envisioned his innovation worn as a trenchcoat on a highly popular dark fantasy TV show. Misha Collin’s character doesn’t revolutionise the trench (is it even possible to revolutionise a timeless classic?), but he does add charm and a certain dishevelled elegance that we’d like to incorporate into our wardrobes ASAP.