STYLE TRANSFORMATION: RICHARD GERE 1967 – 2003
RICHARD GERE’S beauty is legendary. But he’s aged like premium champagne and in a completely realistic manner. The grey hair and the glasses suit him surprisingly well.
Nothing that he ever wore on the red carpet made a particular impression on me. But that also means that he must have avoided serious blunders. Nowadays he’s very involved in political and social issues. I’m sure glamour is not a subject that he would find particularly fascinating.
But he did make an enormous impact on style nonetheless.
In 1980, he portrayed JULIAN KAYE, an escort/prostitute in the film AMERICAN GIGOLO. It’s not a particularly good movie though it is a rather interesting glimpse of late 70s LA decadence.
But the clothes….
Richard’s extensive wardrobe came from GIORGIO ARMANI. Those suits and shirts were incredibly gorgeous and exquisitely made. ARMANI’S stock went through the roof with that picture and he has AMERICAN GIGOLO to thank for that.
I’ve been told that, back in the day, every guy in the appropriate age group wanted to look like RICHARD GERE in that film. Who could blame them?
He was the ultimate trendsetter for the time.
To see Richard’s photo gallery, please go here
July 9, 2008 at 12:31 am
This is a guy that should have at least an Oscar nomination to his name SOMEWHERE along the line.
July 9, 2008 at 1:55 am
I TOTALLY agree, Danny.
Richard could’ve been nommed for INTERNAL AFFAIRS, CHICAGO or THE HOAX. AT LEAST…..
July 11, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I even kind of liked him in the misguided remake of Breathless. I dislike American Gigolo immensely, but he was good in it.
Also, The Hoax was one of the more underrated movies from last year.
July 11, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Oh….
Now you’ve got me going, Craig. Purists be damned.
(Yeah, I know you high minded types may never recover from this one. So I’ll apologize in advance.)
I MUCH prefer the 80s American remake of BREATHLESS to the French 60s original. In the RICHARD GERE version, you have one of the most fiery, exciting, crazily constructed car chases in cinema history AND it plays out to THE PRETENDERS’ MESSAGE OF LOVE!!! I like the fact that there’s lots of humour in it and the soundtrack is THE BOMB. I think it’s exceptionally cool. I’ve been looking for it in widescreen DVD mode for YEARS.
I also think THE HOAX is one film from last year that never got its due. Not only was RICHARD superb, but JULIE DELPY, ALFRED MOLINA and MARCIA GAY HARDEN were fantastic as well.
July 12, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Wow, I didn’t realize that was the cast of The Hoax, which I missed last year. My friend did speak highly of it, though.
July 13, 2008 at 3:05 am
I genuinely enjoyed THE HOAX, Danny. It’s very clever and well acted. All the more intriguing because it’s based on real life events.
This isn’t even a spoiler because it’s all been documented ad nauseum and anyone can easily track down this information. THE HOAX is about CLIFFORD IRVING, this charismatic guy in the 70s that took a big insane risk and had it blow up in his face for the entire world to see.
As in, he thought that he could pass off a HOWARD HUGHES autobiography as real when it was actually a fake.
So, at the end of the picture, he’s in a car and they’re going to haul him off to jail. This is after he’s been feted as the writer of the century for getting Howard to talk and blahblahblah – and of course it’s all a big fantasy that never happened.
People are standing out on the street gawking and (this is so sublime… ) you hear the opening bars of YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT by THE ROLLING STONES. Then, while people are still crowded around looking, Richard (in abject shame), writes the word “HOAX” in the dust on his window – clearly visible to them – before the vehicle pulls away.
So you’re certainly left with something relevant and important to consider. I thought that was an exceptionally striking and thought provoking conclusion….