A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE: Rainy Day Dressing – The Key Piece

Looking good while being pounded into sogginess by horizontal rain is a challenge for any man’s wardrobe. Menswear expert Mats Klingberg of Trunk Clothiers suggests we look to style legend Steve McQueen for inspiration, in particular, his wardrobe in the Academy award winning crime thriller from ’68, Bullitt. This cult classic is most famous for its exhilarating car chase through San Francisco’s hilly streets — and for the sartorial suaveness of the film’s titular character, Bullitt; a police lieutenant hot on the trail of a gang of hitmen, played by ‘The King of Cool’ himself.

THAT COAT

McQueen wears several key outfits as Bullitt, all with a strong yet sexy, man-of-the-law-goes-against-authority vibe; but the golden khaki balmacaan-style (a loose, full overcoat with raglan sleeves) raincoat is one of the film’s standout pieces. It is this piece Klingberg thinks of first when putting together a look for inclement weather.

One of the coat’s final scenes features Bullitt jumping dramatically out of a (parked) airplane before a footchase across the tarmac with the coat flapping into the wind; but its presence is felt even when the hard-boiled cop is picking up groceries.

HOW TO BUILD A BULLITT-PROOF LOOK

Bullitt styles his coat with black trousers, dark roll-necks and brown shoes, and we suggest a classic palette of blues, whites, browns and black. Try pairing yours with a cotton shirt, a wool trouser that can take you from day to night, with a beautiful pair of leather shoes (waterproofed, of course) and a sharp umbrella. But the real key to looking like a man on a mission rather than a drowned rat is an unflappable cool – rain, hail or shine.

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A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE:
Rainy Day Dressing – The Key Piece

Trunk Clothiers’ Mats Klingberg on Steve McQueen, Bullitt and THAT coat

THAT COAT

HOW TO BUILD A BULLITT-PROOF LOOK