Wool Sweaters & Vintage Jackets – Charm

When Josh O’Connor leads a film, chances are he’s going to get dirty. In Challengers, he plays a sweaty tennis player; in La Chimera, he’s a tomb raider whose white suit is always covered in a layer of grime. And while we meet J.B. Mooney, O’Connor’s character in Kelly Reichardt’s latest feature, The Mastermind, as a Waspy dad in clean white Keds, Mooney’s conscience isn’t the only thing that gets stained.

Mooney lives down the street from his mother and father, a conservative judge, in Massachusetts, with a wife (played by an underutilized Alana Haim) and two kids. He’s also a regular at his local art museum with a habit of stealing small pieces from the exhibitions. With the help of two friends, Mooney conspires to pull off a heist and steal three large paintings from the museum.

Photo: Courtesy of Mubi

When I first saw The Mastermind, while I was struck by the ease with which Mooney slipped figurines into his pocket undetected, I really could not take my eyes off his mellow wardrobe. Even if the character is actually quite sleazy, the autumnal palette of his fuzzy ensembles made me think I should try wearing more menswear this season. I mean, who wouldn’t trust a man with a rotating collection of Shetland sweaters (all of which are vintage and actually sourced from the time period of the film; “Very Ivy League,” according to costume designer Amy Roth)? His plaid button-up shirts and chino bomber inspired me to add those pieces into my closet, too, but I can’t say I would go as far as to wear the pantyhose he and the thieves use as masks, or start acting like him and his sad gang. “The idea is that he doesn’t really have a job,” Roth says. “It’s Women’s lib. His wife’s got a curler in her hair; she’s obviously fed and dressed the kids and they’re getting into the car.” In other words, Mooney is not a man who “wakes up and puts his pants on,” he’s a man on the run — from the law and from his paternal responsibilities.

Throughout this film, Mooney’s image never matches his actions. He doesn’t exactly dress like he’s robbing a museum, and it’s his understated attire that allows him to escape. Eventually, he goes to stay with old art-school friends in the country and nabs some clothes from their closet. Roth tells me she wanted him to look like he was going undercover: “He feels like a hippie, which is like a dirty word for Josh’s character.” When he puts on an oversize coat, a wool hat, and some boots, to create a fake identity, aiming to reinvent himself, over and over again, my closet started calling me to pull more of my winter clothes out of storage and toss them into the rotation.

Photo: Ryan Sweeney/Courtesy of Mubi

Whenever O’Connor’s character does something to tarnish his clothes, it of course provides a bit of difficulty for a costume designer like Roth, who sourced as many vintage pieces as she could for this film. “You don’t always get doubles. There were a few costumes for Josh’s scene where he would fall asleep, and then these sprinkler systems goes off in a park that he’s sleeping in,” Roth says. “It was very funny. It didn’t make the cut, but we needed two jackets for that … Josh is one of those actors that brings a little magic to it, so you can almost put anything on him and it works.” Another stop on the journey leads Mooney to a hostel, where he spots a 1950s passport from the pocket of a sheer orange blouse. He rummages through all the clothing in the closet, unable to find anything else to conceal his identity in the meantime, but manages to shed his bohemian outfit for an ill-fitting gray suit. “I saw the suit in the end as him becoming his father,” says Roth. “He tried different hats on. The hippie life wasn’t for him, but he eased into that suit pretty well. And shoes say a lot about a person. He ends up in a lace-up leather shoe, like something his father would have worn.”

Time moves very slowly in The Mastermind, but the film’s final moments shocked me into wanting more. And in this case, what I wanted was a vintage Shetland sweater and a really good bomber jacket. When you watch this movie, you’ll probably feel the same as I did, but if you don’t want to buy brand new or sort through your local Goodwill, below are some dupes you can shop instead.