The REAL gangster look

[Feraud]

Is it a photo of Connery from Marnie?

 

[Fletch]

fftopic: James Bond != gangsta fftopic:

Her Majesty's Secret Service is not amused.

 

[nightandthecity]

we had a brief discussion of this in a British context a while back.....

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=12732&highlight=spivs

Gangsters often did dress differently..... Like the earlier quote said, the same clothes but bigger, brighter, bolder - what in the UK we call FLASHY.

 

[griffer]

Like any other nouveau riche class. Gangsters, like the bourgeoisie, were nto from hereditary wealth, so they flaunt it. Bigger, more, shinier.

Money, but no taste or class.

 

[JamesT1]

The Bond photo appears to be from Goldfinger. It's the scene where he and M are meeting with the people from the bank to discuss gold smuggling and the sherry.

 

[Undertow]

Anyone happen to have more "Gangster" photos? I liked this thread considerably.

 

[Patrick Murtha]

Anyone happen to have more "Gangster" photos? I liked this thread considerably.

If you like this thread, sir, then you simply must begin watching the DVDs of the television series The Untouchables. More gangster fashion than you'll know what to do with. And although it's true that the show is the late 20s/early 30s as seen from the perspective of the late 50s/early 60s, it's still wicked cool. The cops dress nicely, too, although not as flashily; I like Eliot Ness's three-piece suits as much as I like Frank Nitti's double-breasted chalkstripes. French cuffs abound (although Ness seems to switch to barrel cuffs after the pilot, in which he wears French cuffs a lot). It's all good, as they say.

 

[Edward]

They were much later that those mentioned thus far, but the Krays certainly knew how to dress. Now I think about it, though, I can't recall seeing (m)any images of Reggie and Ronnie in hats. Great suits, though.

 

[Alan Eardley]

What about Jack 'The Hat' McVitie'?

Alan

They were much later that those mentioned thus far, but the Krays certainly knew how to dress. Now I think about it, though, I can't recall seeing (m)any images of Reggie and Ronnie in hats. Great suits, though.

 

[Edward]

What about Jack 'The Hat' McVitie'?

Alan

Plenty of photos of him in a hat alright. Indoors as well: The Hat's nickname didn't denote a fine taste in headwear necessarily, but referred to his habit of keeping a hat on at all times, including inside buildings and other places where it would normally be removed. Apparently Jack had a bald spot he was keen to keep hidden....

I haven't managed to turn up any photos of McVitie online. Plenty of the Kray boys, of course. And Mad Frankie Fraser was always a snappy dresser. Suprisingly petite in height, too, for such a fearsome guy. I wouldn't tangle with him even now, for all the extra years he has ahead of me.

It feels a little strange to see the way these guys are glamourised and even worshipped by fans. I have an interest in the whole Kray legend myself. It's local history for me - I live opposite the Blind Begger, walk past the Grave Maurice (now rebranded the Q Bar) all the time, along with a bunch of other Kray sites. An ex worked on the Vallance Road, not that far from where Fort Vallance was. To hero-worship these guys, though, seems rather distasteful to me. Not that I see the point in demonising them either: there's another part of me that whispers the folks they rubbed out, in the main, didn't exactly play nice either. It seems rather tawdry to me that they ended up as political prisoners in the end - much like Myra Hindley, I guess, though I lean to the view that she could never have been released purely for her own protection.

 

[Chas]

Bugsy Siegel.

Too bad he didn't follow his buddy George Raft into the picture business. He was a pretty handsome cat.

 

[Undertow]

What's up with the brim on the far right? Looks kinda wore out to me.

 

[Sefton]

Isn't someone going to post the last known photo of Bugsy? That's REAL gangster. REAL dead gangster....

 

[Undertow]

It may not be Bugsy, but this was the first thing that came up when I searched google images (well, one of the first things anyway). Picture taken 1939 and looking great!

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

How much were the real-life gangsters influenced by the gangsters in the movies, I wonder?

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Now the orientation is correct...

They're not wearing 'girls' jackets anymore! The scribble on the negative reads as follows:

"Max Solomon, Atty. Benjamin Siegel. Isaac Paul, Atty."

 

[sarah smith]

It may not be Bugsy, but this was the first thing that came up when I searched google images (well, one of the first things anyway). Picture taken 1939 and looking great!

this photo looks modern to me. Are you sure it's vintage?

 

[resortes805]

It's a modern photo. The details of the jacket and the patent 'pleather' shoes give it away.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

The photo above is a modern photo from a period wedding -

The caption reads:

Pentax K-1000
Elmhurst, PA

This fellow owned the 1939 classic automobile hired for Eric and Ali’s wedding, and I took his picture while he was waiting for them to finish their pictures at the church. I told him he totally looked the part, too — a private eye going after Bugsy Siegel. Photo by Gail Edwin.

 

[carebear]

Aside from style issues, if you've ever had to get at something on your belt in a hurry, it's a lot easier with a SB jacket. Fewer buttons and fabric to manipulate. Also, an unbuttoned SB just looks casual, an unbuttoned DB looks out of place.

If you want to have quick access but not stand out, SB is the way to go, tools of the trade wise.