Frank Serpico is hands-down the coolest hippie cop to ever grace our screens. Watching the NYPD Detective roam the streets of New York, is wildly, wildly captivating and that’s thanks to two things…
Firstly, there’s Al Pacino’s performance. It’s phenomenal. Right up there with his best, potentially even the best. Maybe even better than The Godfather. He flawlessly depicts an oddball cop, a guy who doesn’t quite fit in and isn’t at all bothered about how he’s perceived. The only thing that matters to Frank Serpico is getting the job done. And what he’s wearing to do it…
The obvious second thing that makes the film so great is Frank Serpico’s style. His wardrobe is a treasure trove for workwear, Americana, denim, crazy headwear and refined formal wear. There are so, so many iconic looks we could gawp at for hours – his field jacket, bucket hat, Coca-Cola T-shirt, and even his weird leather vest thing. Pacino’s character is the perfect representation of a character who enjoys experimenting stylistically – the implementation of seen-before garments into new rigouts makes all of his outfits incredibly believable. As if he just threw on some clothes he liked the look of that morning before heading to work.
Serpico is a character with an effortless amount of steeze and has gone down as one of cinema’s most stylish characters because of it. He’s a character who enjoys exposing corruption just as much as he enjoys dressing himself, and in that respect, we relate pretty hard to him.
So, astoundingly for the first time in Proper history, we’re here giving a comprehensive Frank Serpico-style round-up – hippie garb, workwear silhouettes – the lot.
All items have been handpicked from our friends over at EQVVS
Serpico’s bucket hat is one of the most iconic pieces of headwear in Hollywood history. True aficionados will know that the hat is actually a military sailor’s hat turned downwards, but we couldn’t find one of those. We think this Carhartt WIP number is pretty close, though. Main difference being that this has a little embroidered heart instead of the ‘LETS COMBINE FORCES‘ & ‘COMMUTE WORK COMMUTE SLEEP‘ badges on it.
Dickies Relaxed Fit Unionville GD Work Short Sleeve Shirt
Although Frank’s mannerisms and wardrobe tell us he’s definitely a born-again hippie, he’s still got a day job to do, and it requires functional clothing. The kind of clobber that can conceal a revolver if needed. To tick this box of apparel, Serpico usually opts for workwear-inspired shirting, not at all dissimilar to this Dickies Work Shirt.
Nanamica Oversized Hooded Deck Jacket
Serpico doesn’t actually own a Hooded Deck Jacket (as far as we know), but we reckon he’d be into one. The kind of thing he’d dust off after booking Woodstock off work. Can imagine him roaming campsites, hood pulled up, drawstrings tied, looking for people’s drugs to confiscate and later partake in himself.
Carhartt Relaxed Fit Newel Jeans
Like most of our favourite American cinema heroes, Serpico is into denim. He gravitates toward a dark wash pair, not quite slim, not quite baggy, and just the right amount of relaxed. Much like this Carhartt Newel pair.
Ray Ban Old Aviator Sunglasses
As mentioned earlier, Serpico has a few distinct looks throughout the film, and one of these is his iconic motorbike look, defined by a red polo shirt revealing a healthy amount of chest hair, and a pair of aviator sunglasses. For the complete film-accurate look, we’d recommend pairing these Ray Bans with said polo shirt & a gloriously hairy moustache.
Another nice bit of shirting we reckon Pacino’s character would be into. Belstaff have done a really good example of a chambray shirt here, just the right colour and two nicely sized chest pockets. Simple but effective. Just like our man Serpico.
Norse Projects Merino Lambswool Rib N Logo Beanie
Frank Serpico’s headwear allegiance isn’t just pledged to bucket hats – he wears loads of other interesting hats throughout the film as well. Notably, a weird one that looks like something your grandmother would wear while gardening, and a ribbed beanie. We’re not going into detail on the gardening hat, but the ribbed beanie is superb, always balancing just on the top of his head as if his ears don’t feel the cold. This Norse Projects one looks like a similar rib, and has a big cool ‘N’ logo on it.
Norse Projects Herluf Tech Poplin Jacket
We’ve put this in here because it looks similar to Serpico’s field jacket – only if it had a hood and was made of a techy poly-cotton fabric. It’s the kind of thing Frank would be into if he became fixated with Scandinavian design – who knows, maybe he already is. Wouldn’t be that surprised.
Once again, not a garment that Serpico wears on screen, but one we can definitely imagine him wearing. Chucking over a cream shirt before he goes out dancing for the evening with his several lady friends. All fantasy aside, this Belstaff Overshirt is well nice, you already know the zip is going to feel like butter.
We get a really good close-up of Serpico’s shoes at the start of the film when they’re being wrestled off his feet on the operating table, and although they’re not Clarks Wallabees, they’re not mega dissimilar. Alright they’re quite different, but his shoes aren’t really that special. These Wallabees are much nicer.
