Dressing The Gentlemen
Season 2 of The Gentlemen has dropped and with it our jaws, as the whole cast get a noticeable upgrade in their fits. Apparently it was difficult getting brands on board with Season 1, not to say they were completely out in the rain. It’s reported that they wore over US$12 million in watches for the first season. But now that they are a proven and known quantity everyone’s leaping at the chance to throw them suits and accessories.
Guy Ritchie is an incredibly visual guy – a handy thing to be as a director. He likes his looks to be as snappy as his dialogue. “Style’s a big part of the show,” actor Theo James told Tudum. “Guy is an incredibly stylish dude and an incredibly visual director. So we will talk about collar shapes on shirts, patterns, colors, buttons.”
This season has a lot more relaxed looks for Eddie as he’s abroad in Italy, “We leant on a lot of those Italian shapes, brands, silks, and cottons, also the colors,” says James.
Eddie’s outfits are flavoured with ’90s references and sharp tailoring – therein lies the trick. It doesn’t always cost a million bucks to look like a million bucks. Costume designer Loulou Bontemps revealed that there are plenty of thrift store finds. She flips the suits inside out to check the seams to see if they can be tailored, and then takes them to get fitted, instantly making a cheap old suit on the verge of getting binned appropriate for British aristocracy.
She mentions guys will approach her about the looks and say it’s way out of their price range, “But it’s a suit that I would have bought for maybe fifty pounds or a hundred and fifty pounds, and had it tailored,” she tells DMARGE.
At the beginning of season 1 Eddie is in the armed forces, so on his wrist, naturally, is a steel Bremont Broadsword.
Once everything hits the fan and the inheritance comes in he pops on a rose gold Patek Philippe Nautilus ref 5990. During season 2 we get a veritable catwalk of watches – it’s hard to keep up. But just to list a few, Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 126500LN, Omega Seamaster 300M, and a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Chronograph. Every character has their own story, and that’s reflected in the watches. So don’t use these moving lookbooks as a downright endorsement of what you should personally wear. What’s the story you’re trying to tell about yourself?
Bontemps’ final advice for a good fit, which DMARGE wrangled out of her, was “Start with your feet. It’s really important to have a good pair of shoes. You can make an expensive outfit look so cheap if you’re wearing bad shoes.”
A lot of people mention the voluminous below-the-knee shooting trousers Eddie wears. Guy reportedly kept asking for bigger pants, eventually forcing them to be handmade because, Bontemps says, “they don’t exist” in that size. She calls them “plus-12s”, for how far the hem hangs below the knees. “I started with plus-fours; Guy said they weren’t big enough. We went up and up, plus-sixes, eights, tens, eventually plus-12s, and even then, on the day, he felt I’d gone too fashion with the overall look. He took the whole thing apart and rebuilt it.”
What’s in store for season 3? No doubt more watches, more tweed, and perhaps if we’re very good, even bigger pants.
Not So Gentle Woman
Susie Glass, played by Kaya Scodelario, has always looked incredible, and season 2 is no exception. While I’d have to defer to my M2woman counterparts on how to look good in a dress it’s worth noting that Glass has subtle nods in her accessorisation that pair her with Eddie Halstead.
“I play around a lot with links between Eddie and Susie because I like to mess around with the audience a little bit. They have links here and there that are quite often symbolic,” Bontemps says.
Nothing says sexual tension like the pair both wearing a set of Jaeger-LeCoultre Reversos.
While in Italy, the designers were inspired by Monica Bellucci, Italian mob-wife glamour, ’80s and ’90s prints, vintage fur, headscarves, and giant sunglasses.
The Gentlemen Season 2 Premiere Looks
