5/100: Casino (1995)

Very good luck, very bad luck, and an equal amount of blueberries in each muffin

Casino (1995)

Costumes by: Rita Ryack and John A. Dunn

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

This movie may be for you if: your first stop in a time machine would be 1970’s Las Vegas, your personal style has been described as “loud,” and your favorite word is fuck.

Where to watch: It’s currently free on Tubi!

Another iconic title card

What better way to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of my own Las Vegas wedding than a look at the film that inspired our nuptial aesthetic: Martin Scorsese’s 1995 mob drama Casino.

Casino illuminates a unique intersection of American excess, set in a particularly debaucherous decade in a particularly debaucherous city. The original story was based on the real lives of Frank Rosenthal, Geri McGee, and Anthony Spilotro, and the highly dramatic movie retelling is surprisingly more accurate than I would have expected. The movie was adapted for the screen from a non-fiction book by author Nicholas Pileggi, who worked on the screenplay alongside Scorsese. The stellar cast played perfectly alongside the film’s larger-than-life star: the city of Las Vegas itself.

The real life Frank & Geri

Their on-screen versions at a restaurant that overlooks Fremont Street

Costume designers Rita Ryack and John Dunn created a wardrobe with a reported budget of over a million dollars. Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein had over 70 different looks, while Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna wore over 30 outfits. Beyond the numerous highly detailed looks for the main cast, the costume department was also responsible for over 7,000 extras, from blackjack dealers to showgirls. Much of Casino’s wardrobe was pulled from vintage archives to create an authentic 70’s-80’s look.

Every re-watch of this movie reveals another incredible random outfit, many on screen for only a moment.

To be as accurate as possible for both costuming and character, De Niro and Ryack went to Florida to meet with the real life Rosenthal. They looked at his photo albums, went through his closet, and consulted with his shirt makers. All of De Niro’s suits were custom made by a New York tailor to match the cuts, colors, and styles of Rosenthal’s original suiting, but to be perfectly fitted to De Niro just as Rosenthal’s were perfectly fitted to him.

One of Ace’s many colorful ensembles

My husband knew he wanted to wear a green suit for our wedding, and a re-watch of Casino during our planning sparked the inspiration for the direction of his look. He went to P. Johnson tailor here in New York to design a wide lapel, double breasted forest green mohair suit. He opted for monochrome styling, as seen on De Niro in one of the best shots in Casino, pairing a silk Tom Ford shirt with an ecru silk tie. A sweet Lily of the Valley boutonniere tied the look together (flown from New York by my dear friend and florist Joanna Block!).

That’s my fucking husband! HELLO??

Thank you Rita Ryack for the endless inspiration!

I repeat, that’s my husband!!!!

“Rita was an enormous help, and she really is a genius,” Stone told Vogue in a 2020 interview for the film’s 25th anniversary. “Very few people have that kind of intense understanding of the whole amalgam of everything—how it goes with the period, how it goes with the emotional sweep of the picture. Very few people see it as a whole, and not just a rack of clothing. When you walk on set and the costumes are correct, they not only define your character but they define the interplay of your character with the other characters and where you belong on the set. It all starts to make sense.”

As the son of a seamstress and a garment presser, Scorsese was raised with a special appreciation for clothing. Rita Ryack is my favorite costume designer - you may remember my annual obsession with the fashion of The Grinch. Scorsese has worked with Ryack on multiple projects thanks to her masterful way of storytelling through fashion.

In an unforgettable scene, Ace stands up at his desk before a meeting to reveal that he isn’t wearing any pants. The character cares so much about his appearance that he works in his shirt and underwear so that he doesn’t wrinkle or ruin the creases in his crisply pressed suits.

I’d honestly wear the pants-less look. The sheer high socks with the various shades of blue are really doing it for me.

When Ryack and Dunn couldn’t find the exact vintage items they were looking for, the wardrobe team made the pieces themselves. “If we couldn't find specific [pieces], then we would create an exact replica of a costume that was worn,” said Stone. Ginger’s bridal suit, shown below, was a copy of the look that the real Geri McGee wore to her wedding to Rosenthal.