The Irishman's murderer's row of A-list movie mobsters has grabbed the Academy by the lapels and shaken it down for protection money: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and Stephen Graham, all under the eye of crime epic capo dei capi, Martin Scorsese.
What makes The Irishman so special, though, is how genre-defining this cast is. The film itself – a parable that distills Nineties gangster glamour into a sober shot of loneliness for 2019 – wouldn't exist without the De Niros, and the Pacinos. Their own tale of Italian-Americans in ascendance mirrors the hoodlums they've depicted on-screen. Of course, their success has all been above-board. But Scorsese and co. carved out the mafia epic on their terms. At the big LA premiere, their wardrobes did exactly the same.
Pacino, in the grand tradition of silvered stars wearing sunglasses after-hours, went for crystalline, translucent shades. Which would be considered a faux pas to the masses. But when you're either a) a storied actor or b) a storied fashion editor, rules get flexible. His shades were a bold finish to monochrome print clashes, with the 79-year-old placing an embroidered scarf above micro-patterned tailoring. Regulations just don't apply here. Harvey Keitel got in on the act as well, with Sixties shades riding high above a two-piece that he deftly dressed down with a polo shirt.
DeNiro and Scorsese, of course, went classic. For the latter, it was the small touches that elevated his look. Peak lapels. A slight check. And that tie: wide, bold and brawny. Any man sub 5'9 is strongly advised against widening one's front (the goal, generally, is to elongate your torso with slim ties that make your body seem bigger). And yet here we are, with Scorsese standing amongst giants in the stuff that works for him.
But the biggest mood of all? Joe Pesci, who belly-flopped into the wardrobe of a Sicilian racketeer, the sort that slaps friends, foes and family members across the face in greeting. The cuffs! The fedora! The club collar on performance-enhancing drugs! Throw out whatever Halloween costume you had planned – Joe Pesci is your new spirit animal.
This is a brigade of old timers doing it the old way. Granted, it's not quite a lean into the left-field of Chadwick Boseman in Givenchy, or Timothée Chalamet-as-intergalactic nobleman. But it is an example of men doing – and dressing – as they please. As they should, because they've earned it. Capeesh?
