Our man Wes Anderson is known for his distinct cinematic visuals, limiting color palette, tracking camera angles, subtle comedy and films with all-star line-ups. What makes these films fascinating to us—apart from the plots, sub-plots and Bill Murray—is the way each of his stories seems to be totally separate and self-contained, yet distinctly Anderson. This clearly involves ridiculous planning, shedloads of research and (what we imagine to be) some kind of nutsy costume department; the clothing through his back catalogue always seems totally spot on, and attainable, too. With so many memorable style moments throughout Wes Anderson’s film career, we’ve decided to dissect them a little, and pick out a handful of our favorites that you could adopt.
Love for Corduroy
We’re not just talking about clothing within his films, Anderson is also known for his understated appearance and love of worn-in attire. He seems to favor a more classic fitting garment than our super slim modern counterparts. We’d describe his style as a mix of Cary Grant and The Wet Bandits from Home Alone, on a sight-seeing tour of the India. Make sense? This modern version of a classic cord suit by Albam fits the bill. Link
(Image Credit: Fox Searchlight)
Clarks Wallabees
The man is never far away from a pair of Clarks Wallabees either. Nearly every photo you’ll see of him he’s busting out the mid-90s version (which seems to come up a little higher than modern versions) of the Wu-Tang-endorsed steppers. He makes wearing them with a crumpled brown suit look way too easy for our liking. Clarks is still producing the classic Wallabee, and this FW they have a decent selection of colours and materials. Link
(Image Credit: Fox Searchlight)
Duck Boots from Moonrise Kingdom
Although these duck boots only appear in a couple of scenes, it seems Anderson has a thing for the practical. You’ll spot a pair of them in Moonrise Kindgom, as donned by the natty narrator, played by Bob Balaban, but also worn in backstage scenes by Anderson’s cast in The Grand Budapest Hotel. We hear that LL Bean can’t keep up with demand for their classic Duck Boots these days, too, which goes to show it’s hard to mess with practical and classic design. Link
Team Zissou Hat in Life Aquatic
One of the most iconic pieces to come from cinema in recent years is the bright red wooly hat from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Seen throughout the whole of this bonkers caper, as worn by the whole oceanography team, this woolen number has since become synonymous with the 2004 cult classic. We’re a bit bias towards this film, as we pretty much dig everything about it—the acoustic David Bowie covers throughout are badass. We can all pretend to be in Team Zissou this Fall with this Watch Cap by Epaulet New York. Link
Adidas Team Zissou in Life Aquatic
Another bit of Life Aquatic action here, and the pair of adidas sneakers that feature in a short but memorable exchange between Bill Murray and Cate Blachet’s characters. We still don’t really know how the scene came about, other than Zissou finally accepting Jane as part of the team, and thus sizing up the feet of his new colleague for a pair of special edition adidas Team Zissou. Customized directly from one of adidas’ first sneaker, the Rom (designed for the 1960 Rome Olympics), these hand-painted kicks are available to buy directly from the Wes Anderson studio. Link
Socks
Oh, and while we’re still on Wes’ personal style, what about his love for chunky socks? On closer inspection (yep, we looked at a whole bunch of ankle shots) he seems to stick to beige, grey, brown and red. The Hill-Side are producing some in North Carolina, we’re particularly fond of their contrasting heel and toe. Link
(Image Credit: Fox Searchlight)
Flannel Suits in The Darjeeling Limited
Flannel suits are at the forefront of every scene in 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited. Three estranged brothers are reunited on a train trip across India, in the hope to find themselves and reignite friendship and seek out their mother. A fast-paced and slightly twisted plot is accompanied by the brothers all wearing variations of the flannel suit (as worn with odd shoes, slip-ons or bare feet…), which fit the film’s narrative perfectly. J.Crew makes it easy, as their signature Ludlow suit comes in a variety of fabrics and colors, including flannel. Link
adidas Tracksuit in The Royal Tenenbaums
Product placement at its most blatant in The Royal Tenenbaums, with a massive nod to adidas’ late 70s training suit. The red and white tracksuits were actually controversially worn with Puma sneakers, which many would see as a total no-no when it comes to mixing brands (given their long rivalrous history). If you’re not warming up for a match, maybe break the pieces up. Link
