Knives Out, the murder mystery directed by Rian Johnson (of Star Wars: The Last Jedi fame), was a critical and financial success last fall. Combining humour, social commentary, and a twist on the traditional “whodunit” genre, the film had quite an impact, not least thanks to its brilliant costuming. The cream wool, aran-knitted, crew neck jumper Chris Evans wore even became a popular gift that Christmas.

Where that one bit of costuming became a hit because of who wore it, Benoit Blanc’s wardrobe was a big hit largely due to his character. His clothes were essential, in fact: every bit as important as his “Kentucky-fried, Foghorn Leghorn” drawl. Jenny Eagan, the film’s costume designer, intentionally clothed Blanc to stand out slightly from other characters. She often used floral patterns to pull this off, allowing him to fit into most scenes without fading into the background.

The Southern Gentleman film archetype, as well as his typical clothing, is as old as cinema itself. Filmmakers have been dressing their southern characters in striped seersucker suits so often that the outfit itself became a cliché long before the release of Knives Out. But even if originality didn’t matter to Eagan, she couldn’t have made use of this trope: seersucker is too cold for Massachusetts, where the film takes place. Blanc wears instead a dark grey, hopsack tweed sports suit. At some points, it almost appears that he’s wearing a hopsack sports coat and flannel trousers in a matching shade. But looking closer at high resolution production stills, the trousers are indeed hopsack as well. The poster art depicts him wearing a bright olive suit and matching tie with purple flowers, but this does not appear in the film and the colours were probably altered to give it more visual punch.

Deconstructing Benoit’s look

The two-button jacket is styled with narrow notch lapels, three open patch pockets including the breast, and a single vented back. The sleeves have three non-functional buttons matching the front two buttons, all in a black leather football design traditionally used for tweed sports coats. The jacket is quite unstructured and its shoulders have little padding and lightly roped sleeve heads. Its top button sits higher, per modern trends, but manages to look harmonious with the trousers when closed since they also sit rather high.

The cuffed trousers have a flat front, slanted side pockets, and a waistband with an extended point tab secured with a button. They also have belt loops but he holds them up using a pair of navy silk braces with an octagon pattern. The braces have black leather kips with matching braided nylon ends, similar to those used for eveningwear.

In a production still, he wears a black leather braided belt and these braces at the same time, but thankfully this faux pas didn’t make it to the final movie.

The fit of Craig’s clothing in this film is looser than he typically wears when he plays James Bond and far more relaxed than the Cucinelli suits he wears in his personal life. Given Craig’s impressive physique, the suit in this film is most likely made-to-measure given how seldom off-the-rack suits actually fit muscular men.

The Shirts…

Benoit’s shirts all have one-button barrel cuffs and a soft, long point collar. They’re the kind that would traditionally take a collar pin if one was so inclined, but it’s not surprising that Eagan opted not to give him one of those since they also call to mind his Bond outfits. Carl Goldberg of CEGO Custom Shirtmaker made a copy of this shirt for a client, claiming the collar is definitely based on a vintage design. The collar, cuffs, and placket all have unfused construction and Blanc does not use collar stays. Though the collar is slightly shorter than some worn in the 1920s-1940s, the shirts in Knives Out definitely look like they could come from that period including the fabrics.

In a scene near the end of the movie, Benoit removes his jacket, rolls up his sleeves, and tucks in his tie, revealing the shirt’s close fit and angled breast pocket. The usefulness of the pocket is reduced since he’s always wearing a jacket and braces, plus it spoils the lines of his outfit by peaking out behind his jacket lapel. Perhaps he’s just an old-school American who prefers dress shirts with pockets despite modern sartorial wisdom. They could certainly be used as sports shirts if desired, so the pockets give them some flexibility. Given the fit and the wear on the edges of the collar, Blanc must have gotten a bunch of shirts made for him at some point and is wearing them until they fall apart. He also doesn’t appear to press his shirts very thoroughly. His ties are a standard, modern width of around three and a quarter inch and coordinate with his jacket lapels.

Three Days, Three Looks

Knives Out takes place over the course of three days, on each of which Benoit has a distinctly different look. We don’t give away spoilers here at The Kavalier but let’s just say that the detective’s clothing choices factor into the storyline.

The first shirt he wears is light blue with a diamond pattern and matching light blue buttons. He wears it with with a dark brown satin tie with a large floral pattern of light blue, medium blue, and black. His socks have a black coral reef and white fish motif against a light blue background. The pocket square is a heathered light brown fabric, probably a cotton-linen blend. It is lightly folded and stuffed into the breast pocket with one of the points up, further showing Blanc as a man who appreciates clothing but doesn’t fuss too much about it.

The second shirt is white with a closely-spaced, thin grey broken stripe. The tie is woollen with a navy background and printed burgundy flowers, a great choice for a tweed suit. Blanc takes off his shoes at one point and we get a decent look at his navy socks, which have cream and brown sunflowers and a light blue heel and toe. His pocket square is white cotton broadcloth with grey stripes, folded lightly and stuffed in the breast pocket. This time, it leaves an uneven edge and struggles to fit the width of his breast pocket. It is nowhere near as crisp and clean looking as the linen and cotton pocket squares Craig wears when he plays James Bond.

The third shirt is light grey with a large windowpane made up of thin black lines, smaller self-squares within each box, also with white buttons. The tie again has a navy ground, this time with printed blue flowers which have white outlines, solid dark red flowers, and solid green branches. It also looks to be woollen like the last tie. This last pocket square is linen navy with a light brown edge. It is puffed and placed in the breast pocket with the contrast edges up for a sprezzatura touch.

The Shoes

Blanc’s shoes are black calf leather, full brogue wingtips with black suede under the vamp and around the sides, similar to spectator or co-respondent shoes popular in the 1930s. They have double leather soles for a more casual look. He wears this same pair of dress shoes throughout all three days. Although brown full brogue wingtips are common country attire for Brits, Blanc, being thoroughly American, moves easily and stylishly from the city to the country in his black brogues.

The OUterwear

Outdoors, Benoit wears a raglan sleeve topcoat in herringbone wool overcoating. It is more or less a modern take on the relaxed Balmacaan coat. The coat has narrow notch lapels with a longer collar, making it look like a stylish hybrid of the Prussian collar which these coats traditionally have. Unlike the latter, which has a functional buttonhole to fasten all the way up to the neck, this one has a straight buttonhole at the top.

Also unlike a traditional Balmacaan, this coat does not have a fly front closure or slanted hand warmer pockets. Instead, it has a conventional button front and horizontal flapped pockets, as on topcoats made for the city. We hardly ever see them since Blanc’s hands are always in his pockets.

The sleeves are finished with squared-off button tabs which have two buttons to adjust the fit. In practice, this feature is rarely used by the wearer and more for style. The fabric’s large herringbone pattern is made up of alternating cream and light brown chevrons, making it look tan from a distance.

Thanks to research by some friends of ours, we know this coat is the Brooks Brothers Golden Fleece Herringbone Topcoat and is still for sale to this day. It looks as though it was purchased a size up so Craig could wear it over a suit. The partial lining makes the coat easier to travel with and more versatile when it comes to weather. Like many modern topcoats, it hits mid-thigh rather than just above the knees. However, all the other details go well with Blanc’s somewhat old-fashioned style sensibilities. It also makes sense that he would have a few modern pieces in his wardrobe as things wear out and need replacing.

PUlling THe Looks Together

With all three outfits mentioned above, Benoit wears a mid-1960s Omega Seamaster DeVille. This may or may not be to satisfy the endorsement deal Daniel Craig has had with Omega since 2006. Regardless, it’s still in character for Blanc, who seems the type to buy nice things and hold on to them for as long as possible.

He also wears the Cutler & Gross 1303-05 Honey Turtle Optical Glasses, which we again have our friends to thank for identifying. There are actually two pairs, one with clear lenses and the other with amber lenses. These are classic designs that will look stylish and function perfectly for decades and beyond with proper care.

Archaically modern?

Benoit Blanc’s style borrows from the 1940s but does not look terribly out of place or costume-like nowadays. It would not be surprising if he flew to Massachusetts in this one suit and pair of shoes, having a single carry-on with a few more shirts, ties, pocket squares, and socks. Blanc relies on his cozy American-made topcoat to keep him warm in the autumn rather than an assortment of heavy tweed and corduroy three-piece suits.

Benoit certainly packs lighter than James Bond does, but it’s this more realistic approach that helps sell the costuming in this movie, even though it was chosen carefully to make each character recognizable at a glance.

Jenny Eagan deliberately made Benoit a little more rumpled than the movie’s wealthier characters, with his crease-free trousers and worn-out, wrinkled shirts.

This helps differentiate Craig from his most famous role but it also helps Benoit to relate better, at least in the audience’s eyes, to the movies’ common folk.

Who knew that even costuming could aid in a filmmaker’s social commentary?

Giselle is a menswear expert and freelance writer who gained an interest in dressing well upon re-watching James Bond movies, researching what makes him so stylish, and later engaging with others in online spaces to learn more. She has written about tailored clothing for over a decade through her blog, Nouveau Vintage, after being inspired by others to share her passion.