The Unbeatable Fall Style of ‘Meet the Parents’

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For many—this author included—autumn is linked with a precise pressure of New York passionate comedies, specifically these from Nora Ephron’s oeuvre. The late writer’s most beloved films mainly deal with fall foliage and cozy knitwear as secondary characters—especially 1989’s When Harry Fulfilled Sally, which has earned its status as each a top rated-tier rom-com and also A Terrific Fall Design and style Movie. But Ephron doesn’t have a stranglehold on cozy-outfits cinema. And although you might not consider of the Ben Stiller 2000 comedy Satisfy the Mom and dad as a legendary drop design movie, effectively: you’d be mistaken. These days, the movie stands as a timeless snapshot of autumnal men’s fashion—a bizarrely prescient reflection of fashionable-day menswear.

The motion picture does not promptly announce alone as currently being chock-comprehensive of complex and traditional type. Stiller’s Greg Focker is a Chicagoan dressed in operate-of-the-mill, transform-of-the-millennium metropolitan apparel. He attire like a Hole person, mainly. It’s only when Greg and his girlfriend, Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), head out east to fulfill her family that the sartorial ante is upped. You most likely try to remember the rest: the airline loses Greg’s baggage, which indicates that he’s pressured into clothes borrowed from Pam’s overprotective father Jack (Robert De Niro) and her pot-smoking younger brother. The Byrnes spouse and children dwell in a perfectly-to-do part of Lengthy Island and costume the section, opting for a truly classic acquire on East Coastline style—right at the location where the tumble catalogs of Ralph Lauren and L.L.Bean fulfill.

Robert De Niro, Thomas McCarthy, Teri Polo, Ben Stiller in Satisfy The Mother and father, 2000.Everett Assortment / Courtesy of Universal Pics

“We needed it to feel timeless,” describes Daniel Orlandi, the Emmy-winning costume designer who worked on the film. “It was a ton of Brooks Brothers and Paul Stuart. They’ve been building these apparel for many years and the glance has not seriously changed.” For Orlandi and the director, the idea of the motion picture is really relatable—everyone has achieved the parents—and the wardrobe ought to abide by that lead.

The dinner scene in which Greg delivers up a slam poem-like prayer and then accidentally smashes the ashes of Jack’s lifeless mother all above the ground is very best remembered for its antic amount of cringe comedy. (“I’ve acquired nipples, Greg—can you milk me?”) But looking at it lately, I was most struck by Greg’s licensed Fall In shape. He wears an olive turtleneck sweater, black pants, and a notably outstanding flannel jacket. (Not as opposed to this a single from Aimé Leon Dore.) The search is pulled entirely out of Jack’s very own closet and sets the tone for the quintessentially East Coast menswear that will be a visual continual in the course of the rest of the movie. Orlandi picked up that jacket from Purdey, a extended-standing rifle company that also will make hunting attire that had a retail outlet at Madison Avenue at the time. (He explained he obtained gun catalogs in the mail for a decade after, but a tiny rate to shell out for these kinds of an fantastic piece of outerwear.)