This Week We're Channelling: Casino's Sam Rothstein

Robert De Niro’s wardrobe in Casino spans in excess of 70 outfits, from mint green dupion silk suits to yellow linen sports jackets, and reportedly cost over $1 million. While the styling is undoubtedly epic – and authentic - in its own way (credit to wardrobe designer Rita Ryack), most of these looks are not easy to wear in the office or on the move if you’re not a casino-owner-come-mobster from 1974. But some stand out, precisely for not standing out, with more subtle colours, elegant cuts, and quietly sophisticated cloths. This outfit is one such example, and one of the few where De Niro’s character Sam doesn’t colour-match his shirt to his tie. The single-breasted jacket in a grey, burgundy and green windowpane check with peaked lapels and strong roped shoulders illustrates Sam’s broader sense of style in his enormous collection of tailor-made suits. The cut is more flattering than some of his looser, more era-appropriate drape suits, with a single button closure and gently slanted breast pocket. Finished with a deep, wine red tie, the long points of the collar complement the peaked lapels, and while most style writers today advise against matching your tie to your pocket square, if you’re Sam Rothstein, I think you can do whatever you damn well please. Rubinacci’s Bordeaux-bordered pocket square is appropriately rich in gold accents, a nod to Rothstein’s penchant for jewellery, while his taste for exotic furs would no doubt have extended to skins. An alligator card holder can keep your business cards and wads of casino winnings in check with an appropriate level of gangster insouciance. SaveSave