Maybe it's the hulking, but slightly vulnerable swagger. Or the gold rings. Perhaps the crumpled lounge robes, or the pressed khaki trousers and the Gucci loafers, or the myriad silky shirts, straining against his prodigious gut. Or even the way that, when irate, he squints his eyes and furrows his brow and purses his thin lips to deliver a venomous "What'sTheMatterWithYOU!?"
I am a Sopranos latecomer, having only made my way through David Chase's HBO masterpiece (which is now free to watch online for those who know their way around a VPN, along with loads of other stuff) over the last few months, two decades late to the party. Partly, it was a sense of authenticity in the cast's 'looks', in particular that of James Gandolfini's flawed New Jersey crime boss, that drew me in for those six seasons. Unlike other crime shows and films, the clothes worn by Tony and the rest of his funny, messy, cruel and ambiguously aligned affiliates don't possess the costume-y grandeur of a Tony Montana or a Vito Corleone. Tony Soprano is a man of means, but there is a subtlety and fallibility (as much as a New Jersey crime boss can be subtle and fallible) that makes his style and demeanour feel relatable (as much as a New Jersey crime boss can be relatable).
In 1999 the New York Times wrote "The Sopranos, more than any American television in memory, looks, feels and sounds like real life. Watch any episode and you're likely to come away with the queasy feeling of having consumed a greasy slice of late-Nineties America with its surreal mixture of prosperity and brutishness."
Speaking to the Independent in 2014, the show's costume designer, Juliet Polca, addressed this consideration to small wardrobe details. "David [Chase] was very clear that he wanted these characters to be true to life, no stereotypes.
"Tony was always a bit more elegant than his crew, it behoved a boss of his stature. He never wore those loud ugly ties that his crew favoured. 'Goomba' ties I called them."
With Tony's wealth, along with his waistline and worries, increasing with each season, there might have been a temptation to fit Gandolfini into pieces more in line with his bank account (or gold bars under his bed), another potential character pitfall that Polca sought to avoid. "Tony was still a bit of an everyman, so being flashy would take the viewer out of that. His suits did get better though. Mostly because I found a better tailor."
Tony's day-to-day wear: print camp collar shirts, knit polos, gold jewellery, pleated trousers and Gucci loafers, have all become modern menswear trends of varying popularity over the last few years. A Tony Soprano fancy dress outfit might be an accurate reflection of young male fashion today (at least an aspect of it). Except, maybe, the big khaki chinos.
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A few years ago the journalist Emilia Petrarca, who in her day job writes for NY Mag's The Cut, had a similar observation. Another latecomer to the show, Petrarca began compiling screen grabs of memorable outfits into a folder to share with friends, which led to her setting up the Instagram account @sopranosstyle. With nearly 40,000 followers, it has become the internet's most comprehensive archive of iconic The Sopranos outfits. "I hadn't really seen an appreciation of the style on The Sopranos in a mainstream way, so I wanted to make a record of it," she writes via email. "I think it [the style of the show] is all about confidence. The characters seem powerful and comfortable with who they are, but also relatable. Their clothes feel like an authentic expression of their personalities; not a costume.
"I don't know that I would call Tony a 'style icon.' Compared to a lot of the other characters, he dresses more toned-down. He's not flashy. He's not trying to get anyone's attention. He actually dresses like a pretty average guy: button-down shirts, loafers, sweatsuits on the weekend, etc. Again, I think it's his confidence (and insecurities) that draw so many people to his otherwise-questionable character. He feels like someone we know."
Having seen more of Tony and his outfits than most, Petrarca is fond of the Gucci loafers. "I love when he looks down at them during therapy. In terms of an outfit, though, I have to say my favourite is his bathrobe! It's in line with so many mob movies we've seen – The Godfather, Goodfellas, and The Irishman, most recently. It wants to be Hugh Hefner, but it's just Average Joe."
Twenty one years since it ushered in a new era of cinematic television and complex, flawed, relatable characters and arching, multi-layered storylines, The Sopranos still feels like a feat. Much of that sense of timelessness is down to the menacing, balding, goomba-spouting man who leads it and the clothes — the Italian loafers, dishevelled robes, satin bowling shirts and big pleated trousers — that he wears.
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