Working Titles takes a closer look at specific films with a denim and workwear aesthetic with the goal of examining the material’s shifting cultural image.

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“One day, you’ll be cool.” William’s sister assures him, as she flees their overbearing mother for a free-wheeling life in San Francisco. Those words reverberate in your mind for the rest of Almost Famous’s two hour runtime.

You’re treated to a glimpse at the fleeting world of rock and roll in the early 1970s. Nothing that cool can exist for very long and as brilliant as the film is, it stands as a reminder that you will never experience anything quite like this. As a small consolation, you can dress like the rock’n’roll gods of yore and the groupies sorry, Band Aids that worshiped them.

The 2000 film is a semi-autobiographical account of writer and director Cameron Crowe’s early days as a music journalist. While many details are elaborated and fictionalized with artistic license, the fact that Crowe traveled the country as a writer for Rolling Stone magazine at the age of 16 is completely true.

The events of the film are based on his first assignment when he joined The Allman Brothers Band on tour in 1973. They were replaced by the fictional band Stillwater so that a plot could be fleshed out around the interpersonal drama within the band. Much of the movie is also based on Crowe’s travels with Led Zeppelin during their 1975 US tour. 

William

Crowe’s fictional stand-in is William, a brilliant but naive teenager living in San Diego. His cool older sister Anita, played by a young Zooey Deschanel, defies their mother by listening to rock music. The film’s open prologue shows Anita encouraging her little brother to listen to her record collection after she leaves home.

Will heeds her advice and discovers a treasure trove of some of the greatest music ever pressed into vinyl stashed under his bed. He begins his musical education with the 1969 rock opera Tommy by The Who.

The movie then cuts to four years later when William is doodling “Led Zeppelin” and “Black Sabbath” on his notebook in class, revealing that Anita’s parting gift had the desired effect. Will may not be cool by 1970s high school standards but he knows cool music and that proves to be even better.

We soon learn that Will has been writing for his school newspaper along with a local paper and sending his articles to Lester Bangs. Bangs was the real-life editor of Creem Magazine, the anti-hero of 1970s music journalism that often stood in opposition to Rolling Stone. He is brilliantly portrayed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. While it is a small role, it is one of the late actor’s most charismatic performances and remarkably on point to the real Bangs. 

We meet Bangs at a local radio station before he chats with William about writing. Bangs warns William about the pitfalls of being a professional music journalist before offering him his first real assignment. Wardrobe is used as a visual contrast between the two characters in this scene. We see that William has gotten slightly cooler than the sheltered eleven-year-old we first met. His brown jean corduroy trucker jacket and jeans represent a high school kid who loves rock music but still lives with his mother. 

Any amount of cool that William has is blown away by Bangs. The grizzled veteran writer wears a beat-up old t-shirt from Canadian band The Guess Who, black denim, a black leather cafe racer jacket, all topped off with square-frame aviator sunglasses. The two writers might have equally mid-length shaggy hair but Bangs sports an epic mustache that William still can’t grow.

In Bangs, we see who William wants to become. Bangs advises William against pursuing that fate but can see clearly that the young writer’s destiny is already laid out before him. 

Bangs sends William off on his rock’n’roll hero’s journey by asking him for 1,000 words on Black Sabbath. “Never make friends with the rock stars,” warns the mentor to his pupil, foreshadowing that exact fate.

William’s assignment for Creem takes him to the Black Sabbath concert where he steps into the world of musicians and their vast network of handlers and hangers-on, who are all clad in the coolest clothes the early 1970s had to offer.

Upon failing to get past venue security, William encounters the whimsical Penny Lane played by a youngKate Hudson. The audience and William together are immediately captured by carefree attitude and even more incredible jacket.

Costume Designer Betsy Heimann told Interview Magazine in 2018 that she altered the legendary coat herself to make it fit Penny’s character. The fluffy shearling style collar and cuffs were taken from a rug that she cut and sewed on the jacket. Heimann collaborated with the cinematographer to find a material that would bounce light onto Penny’s face, giving her a glow.

The subtle light effect is subconsciously effective, highlighting Penny’s eyes while being overshadowed by how cool the jacket is. It is a green velvet material with subtle embroidered patterns but the over-the-top fuzz of the cuffs and collar give her a mythical aura. Heimann explained that Penny’s coat is meant to be the safety blanket that safely transports her from her real life into the world of rock’n’roll.

As Penny explains to William, “if you never take it seriously then you never get hurt.” A mantra that is impossibly simple, which we eventually learn when the emotional hardships of that world eventually break through Penny’s magical coat and shatter her spirit. 

“As far as Penny Lane goes, she was this young girl who was laughing on the outside and crying on the inside. It had to be that when she put that coat on, that was her sanctuary, her cocoon. I wanted it to be something that she could wrap herself up in. And my inspiration for the shape was a 1920s opera coat because it has a broader collar and a swingy bottom. When she goes up that ramp and she looks back to William, I wanted there to be some detail in the back, so I added some pleats. I just wanted it to be her safety blanket. The collar, I’m sure you’ve read somewhere, was a rug from Urban Outfitters that I cut up and it had to be the right color to bounce the light off of her face.” – Besty Himann, speaking to Interview Magazine in 2018

Stillwater

While standing outside the Black Sabbath concert while security is acting as a literal and figurative gatekeeper to the world of his dreams, William also meets one of his favorite bands band Stillwater. They dismiss William as “The Enemy,” their moniker for music journalists, before he wins the band over with some sweet talking and genuine appreciation of their music.

Stillwater is the opening act for Black Sabbath so they bring William backstage with them. Williams’ kind words open up a conversation with the band that will play out through the rest of the movie.

Stillwater is fronted by guitarist Russell Hammond, played by Billy Crudup, and singer Jeff Bebe, played by Jason Lee. All four members of the band are clad in classic rockstar garb throughout the film but it is Russell and Jeff who get the most screen time and the best looks. Jeff’s hair and beard combination closely resembles Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmore from that era. Russell is groomed to look exactly like George Harrison from the late 1960s. 

When we first meet the band, Russell is wearing a rugged linen pop-ver shirt that will see again periodically throughout the film. Heimann took into consideration that Stillwater is a young band on tour, so we see them mixing and matching a handful of items though the second act of the movie.

Jeff has a big black leather rodeo-style belt, covered in silver studs and too wide to fit through most belt loops (the kind lauded by Kapital & RRL). There are plenty of snap-button western shirts in various fabrics throughout the film, and the whole band wear solid white or black henleys. Rusell’s only jacket is a brown leather coat with pronounced woven leather details and leather-wrapped buttons. 

Stillwater, along with all the other musicians, wear slim-fit bootcut jeans. These were standard issue for rockstars (and everyone who wanted to be them) in the early 1970s. William on the other hand, is wearing (most likely mom-approved) straight-leg jeans as his wardrobe stands in contrast to that of his idols.

This contrast starts to blur as the film moves along. After some time spent on the road together, Russell starts taking a liking to William and you eventually see William wearing Russell’s Wrangler pearl snap western shirt. We’re never shown or told that Rusell gives William the shirt but Russell is clearly wearing it in one scene then Williams in later scenes. Not only is William breaking Bang’s rule of not becoming friends with the musicians — he’s starting to dress like them.

As the third act begins, William and Stillwater are in New York City. William has been told by his editors at Rolling Stone that his piece of the band will be the cover. Stillwater has seen increased record sales during their tour and are now under the guidance of a big deal manager sent by their record company. Things are going better for everyone involved but cracks in the relationship between Russell and Jeff — as well as William and the band — are starting to widen.

Tension may be growing but Stillwater are now dressed like successful rockstars, demonstrated by Russell’s velvet blazer. William, on the other hand, is back in his brown corduroy trucker jacket as he begins to distance himself from the band.

70s T-shirts

When William reaches his hotel in New York, we are treated to our second encounter with the Led Zeppelin super fan who makes his own fan t-shirts. This is one of the most unique wardrobe pieces in the film and represents a common practice from that era.

Music merch in the 1970s was nowhere near as big as it is in the twenty-first century. Even bands as big as Led Zeppelin only offered t-shirts at their shows and in limited quantity and variation. Fans routinely made their own merch to show off their dedication. Most of the vintage replica band t-shirts that you see today are completely made up. 

The movie is also full of other bold t-shirts, often with playful designs or controversial messages. Coming out of the 60s, one of the easiest ways to make a statement that you weren’t part of the status quo or scurrying around in the rat race was to have a bold graphic or message on your chest.

How to Dress like a 1970s Rock God

William’s journey in Almost Famous takes us through a place and time that really existed with meticulous detail and authenticity. William and his supporting cast of Penny and her Band Aids along with Stillwater are all made up but they’re interacting with people who really existed.

Stillwater stands as a representation of all the gloriously cool rock gods of the 1970s. Penny and her cohorts represent all the dedicated fans who rubbed shoulders with these deities and picked up just enough cool to stand above most mere mortals. 

We all want to believe Anita’s prophecy that one day we’ll be cool. Most of us will never be as popular as Russell or Jeff but we can certainly take inspiration from the style and wardrobe of them and their peers. The truth is that we are all closer to William, mere mortals in pursuit of the things that we love and admire. If there is a lesson to be learned from William’s journey it is that we should always remain true to ourselves. You can put on a rockstar’s shirt, but you can never inhabit their world, and you should strive to create your own. 

Leather Jackets

70s-Inspired Tees

Aviator Sunglasses

Paisley & Western Shirts

Boot Cut Denim

Leather Studded Belt

Henley