What is James Dean wearing here??

[Lost Ronin]

I've always wondered. I had a poster of this picture when I was a kid. It looks to be old style khaki pants maybe. The jacket or sweater is what I'm asking about specifically. Is it some kind of odd sport coat or blazer I'm not aware of?? It almost looks like a cardigan type sweater too. I know the guys here will know! I've been wondering off and in for years. If anyone has an answer I'm sure it's this lounge.
Thanks!

 

[Seb Lucas]

Summer wardrobe. From what I can see, cotton pants and blazer. The top looks like a long sleeve t-shirt with a crew neck. That look came back in the 1980's.

 

[Edward]

Yes. At first I thought a Pendleton 49er, but on closer inspection it looks more like an unstructured cotton work jacket/ blazer.

 

[Lost Ronin]

Thanks for the replies ! I wasn't sure and it's bugged me for years. I knew someone here would know.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I always wondered if the blazer was corduroy - fine wale. There's a hint of sheen to it in some shots.

 

[Edward]

I always wondered if the blazer was corduroy - fine wale. There's a hint of sheen to it in some shots.

Possible that it was needlecord, yes. Corduroy has long been a workwear fabric (at least on this side of the Atlantic), and thus ideally suited to this sort of thing.

 

[Big J]

To be honest, I'm kind of surprised by how loose his pants are (I know, that's why they're called 'slacks', but) and how over-sized his jacket looks.

 

[Monitor]

I don't like that guy at all...

 

[Big J]

@Monitor, don't worry yourself dude, he died terribly.

 

[Monitor]

@Monitor, don't worry yourself dude, he died terribly.

I know, I wish he hadn't, just that I never quite liked him nor the films he was in. Don't know why... No reason, really. That was some great acting in Rebel, there's no debate there.

 

[Big J]

@Monitor, I agree that he is a total style icon in Rebel, and I think that you really had to be there to appreciate the impact of that. But I think that the best movie he was in (not the movie he was best in) is Giant. I caught that randomly on TV the other day and just thought that it's still a pretty impressive and relevant movie.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Giant is a very cool American epic. I often wondered with Dean, had he lived would he have ended up doing cameos on The Love Boat and other TV vehicles like so many of the old stars. And with time would Dean's iconic power eventually have faded into the context of a less than glittering later career. Like that other fetish idol Marilyn it is almost impossible to understand Dean as a human being.

 

[Big J]

@Seb, yep, it's right up there with Once Upon a Time in America IMHO.
And you're right, Elvis and Brando both lived to get middle-aged and fat. There's nothing wrong with that (I did it too), but saying "He was handsome when he was young, before he got fat", takes some of the shine off that iconic status.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Once Upon A Time In America - now you're talking. Wonderful movie.

 

[Lost Ronin]

@Seb, yep, it's right up there with Once Upon a Time in America IMHO.
And you're right, Elvis and Brando both lived to get middle-aged and fat. There's nothing wrong with that (I did it too), but saying "He was handsome when he was young, before he got fat", takes some of the shine off that iconic status.

I think in large part because of the fact that both Dean and Monroe died young reinforces their legend. They're both forever young. They never got old and fat or declined physically. All that we have are pictures and video of them in their prime.

It's sad they died so young, but in doing so they were immortalized. IMO of course.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

James Dean was from my hometown. He rode motorcycles with my Uncle in the late 40s during high school and when back home in the early 50s. I met him in 1951 at my Grandparent's usual Sunday dinner at their home. I remember him as a strange kinda quiet guy ( of course I was quite young then ). I was at his Funeral. He is buried very close to my family. My first Wife is his cousin and our Daughter is his second cousin.

 

[Lost Ronin]

James Dean was from my hometown. He rode motorcycles with my Uncle in the late 40s during high school and when back home in the early 50s. I met him in 1951 at my Grandparent's usual Sunday dinner at their home. I remember him as a strange kinda quiet guy ( of course I was quite young then ). I was at his Funeral. He is buried very close to my family. My first Wife is his cousin and our Daughter is his second cousin.

Wow such a small world. That is amazing to me being a younger man myself.

 

[Seb Lucas]

James Dean was from my hometown. He rode motorcycles with my Uncle in the late 40s during high school and when back home in the early 50s. I met him in 1951 at my Grandparent's usual Sunday dinner at their home. I remember him as a strange kinda quiet guy ( of course I was quite young then ). I was at his Funeral. He is buried very close to my family. My first Wife is his cousin and our Daughter is his second cousin.

Thanks for that backstory. You're probably one of the few people that can see past the icon status of the man. Are you happy or ambivalent about his legacy in our popular culture?

 

[Big J]

@Hoosier, wow! That's an anecdote and a half! Thanks for sharing! Just goes to show, 6 degrees of separation and that.

@Seb, yeah, it's a great film, and I always wanted to see the version released in Soviet Russia that was edited so the story was shown in chronological order with no flashbacks.

 

[Benny Holiday]

My Mum was a teenager in the 50s, and adored James Dean. I was very fortunate to have her share her views on him with me over the years, and why he was so important to that generation, why he meant so much to them. He was part of a societal shift that, I guess if you weren't there to experience it, words alone don't do it justice. Elvis and rock'n'roll were a part of it, too, a big part, but there was something in the sensitivity of Dean's acting that reached out to the adolescents of that time. They connected with his characterisations, with the 'crazy mixed-up kid', with the loner and the rebel.
it was as though Dean's acting exhibited what they were feeling in the postwar Western world.

I wish Mum was still alive so I could tell her about your post, HD. In true 50s fashion she'd have said, "that story's the living end!"