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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What a Feeling

“First, when there’s nothing but a slow glowing dream that your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind.” Goes the opening line of both Flashdance the movie and “Flashdance.. What a Feeling” the song.

Few movie theme songs have done a better job of summing up the emotional heart of the plot. Forty years on, you could make the argument that the song is more famous than the film itself. Which is quite an achievement because Flashdance is a certified classic.

You can’t have a discussion about Flashdance without beginning with the music. Movies start with scripts then producers, directors, and all their supporting staff go to work making those scripts come to life. Somewhere along the way, composers get involved creating original scores which often include theme songs.

For Flashdance, composer and so-called “Father of Disco” Giorgio Moroder was asked to write some music for the film based on the script alone. (You may know him from the song “Giorgio by Moroder” on the Daft Punk album Random Access Memory.)

Before filming even began, he came up with a raw version of “Flashdance…” that didn’t include any vocals. Director Adrian Lynne used it during filming to set the tempo of the entire production.

The slow build synths exploding into uptempo drum and bass stands as a quintessential club anthem to this day, copied a thousand times over the past forty years. Irene Cara helped flesh out the lyrics, summing up protagonist Alex’s struggle to pursue her dream in the face of possible failure. Cara then blessed the track with her vocals and the rest, as they say, is history. 

She’s a Maniac on the Floor

Another staff member that helps producers and directors bring a film to life is the costume designer. In the case of Flashdance, that’s Michael Kaplan.

It was only the third film he ever designed and he was following up his work on Blade Runner the year before. Kaplan would go on to design some legendary wardrobes for National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Fight Club, among others. 

Kaplan was tasked with outfitting an energetic yet soft spoken young woman making her own way in Pittsburg, PA during the last gasp of the American industrial age. This being an 80s movie, our protagonist Alex is not only a fantastic dancer in peak physical condition but also a skilled at industrial welder. Combining these two skill sets provided Kaplan with the opportunity to build two very different uniform sets. 

At her day job, Alex wears welding cape sleeves. These are genuine workwear that dates back to the early 1900s and is still commonly used today. Just as with welding jackets, cape sleeves are made from tough leather or a treated fabric. They protect welders from sparks and flames. Alex appears to be wearing a set made from a heavy treated canvas. They essentially look like a heavy duty waxed cotton jacket with the bottom half cut off.

In another scene, you can see Kaplan having fun with American industrial apparel by placing Alex in a pair of railroad stripe overalls and a denim workshirt.

His choices stand out as timelessly cool now, after the workwear renaissance of the 2010s that we still worship, but these clothes were very much not cool in the early 1980s. So in Alex’s work wardrobe, Kaplan was hinting at references to cool workwear that were decades ahead of their time. 

Early Hip-Hop and Proto-Streetwear

Every scene that occurs outside of the industrial setting shows off peak early-1980s fashion. You have influences of punk, early new wave, preppy, and proto-streetwear. Alex has a remarkably eclectic style which appears to be a reference both to her personality and to her financial situation.

She is young and supporting herself so she probably does all of her shopping at thrift stores. But she has great taste so she makes it work by cobbling together fun expressive outfits. This is a precursor to the boho look or it could be referred to as “thrift shop chic.”

Alex’s wardrobe is heavily influenced by the early hip-hop culture that was blooming in cities like New York and Chicago in 1983. What we would eventually come to know as streetwear started out as a mixing and matching of existing styles based mostly on access.

Hip-hop and the clothing style that grew up around it came from poor young kids living in urban slums with very limited access to clothing. They took what they could get and customized it to create their own looks. 

Photos of early hip-hop style shows athletic apparel, army surplus, preppy, punk, workwear, and remnants of disco. The remarkable thing is that it all somehow worked. This is a testament to early street style of the 1980s and 1990s being a pure form of self expression.

Unfortunately, most of the purity is lost today as the genre has been co-opted by the fashion industry. Street style brands are mostly pre-packaged facsimiles of that bygone age. Truly stylish icons like Tyler the Creator and A$AP Rocky think well outside the parameters of what you can find on the racks at Dover Street Market. 

Credit is due to Kaplan for dressing Alex in a form of style that is based in free flowing expression. Just as proto-streetwear was an extension of hip-hop into clothing, Alex’s wardrobe is an extension of her personality and passion. Her ripped up baggy jeans, crewneck sweatshirt with the neck and sleeves cut open, and chunky welder boots are all outward reflections of her dancer’s soul.

Pittsburgh is cold most of the year and for a few months it is downright freezing. So Kaplan understood that it was important for the main character to have a great collection of outerwear.

In various scenes she can be found in an oversized wool bomber jacket, a speckled tweed topcoat, a khaki trench coat, a plaid mac coat, and an M-65 military jacket. Like many of us, M-65 is her go-to throughout most of the film.

The Golden Age of Preppy

In fact, the versatility of the M-65 is demonstrated in Flashdance by the fact that Alex’s boss-turned-love interest also wears an M-65 despite having entirely different style.

Nick, the owner of the company that Alex works for (don’t worry, we’re getting there), is decked out in fundamental American preppy. The late 1970s into the early 1980s was a golden age of preppy fashion. It appeared in countless films, television shows, and print ads as well as being codified in The Official Preppy Handbook by Lisa Birnbach in 1980. 

Nick is the heir to a steel mill fortune, but grew up in and around the factory and steelworkers so he dresses in a sort of working man’s preppy. He is almost always in jeans and prefers two pocket work shirts to oxfords. Yet his blazer collection matches his Porsche and he loves to compliment them with a nice scarf.

His wrist is equipped with the preppy standard issue Rolex Submariner. In the scene where Alex and Nick meet, he is wearing a green puffer vest with a denim shirt and henley under it. This look has aged very well and can be found in Ralph Lauren stores any given fall. 

Bonus Points go to the affable fry cook named Richie who aspires to be a stand up comedian in Los Angeles. Despite being the klutzy buffoon of the film, he actually dresses better than most of the other male characters.

Richie’s signature flat brim hat was an ironic pull from the 1950s at the time but has come full circle into popular fashion today. His shearling bomber jacket is one of the coolest pieces of outerwear in the film. When we first meet him he is wearing a great aloha style button down shirt. 

Which brings us to the #metoo shaped elephant in the movie. Almost everything about Flashdance is deliciously 80s in that it exists in this world slightly polished up and simplified compared to reality (see 1990’s Pretty Woman for another example). Almost every movie from that decade was idealized in one way or another.

Which is why a relationship between an 18 year old—they actually say her age at one point—and her probably 40-something divorcee boss is romanticized. Even when it begins with him repeatedly accosting her in the office and her turning him down. Everything about Nick and Alex’s relationship would be a series of red flags today. Yet, in the early 1980s it was cute. 

Take Your Passion and Make it Happen

HR violations aside, Flashdance is a certified classic because of the soundtrack, the wardrobe, the dance numbers, and the brilliantly simple yet poignant plot they all decorate. As Nick points out during the emotional climax of the film, “when you give up your dream, you die.” Everyone has dreams and following them through to fruition is hard work.

Whether you’re still putting in that work, need the motivation to get back to work, or are fortunate enough to be living your dream, Flashdance sends a message that resonates with everyone. Better still, you can pick up some style inspiration and shake your ass along the way. 

Get the Looks from Flashdance

Steiner Weld-Cool Welding Jacket available at Legion Safety.

Brooklyn Tailors Unstructured Jacket in Donegal Tweed available at Brooklyn Tailors.

The Real McCoy’s Nylon Green Down Vest available at Lost & Found.

Burgus Plus Hickory Stripe Bib Overall available at Hinoya.

Buzz Rickson’s M65 Reproduction available at Hinoya.

TCB Cathartt Chore Coat available at Redcast Heritage (15% off for H+ members).

Schott Buffalo Trucker Jacket available at Schott NYC.

 

Snow Peak Flight Cap available at End Clothing.