Working Titles – Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid

In this edition of Working Titles, we'll examine Butch & Sundance and its historically accurate and timelessly cool wardrobe.

Brad Lanphear |  December 22

“Most of what follows is true,”

 goes the opening disclaimer of arguably the greatest buddy-western biopic ever created. 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

 was not only a well-written and charismatically acted film but it sweated historical detail far more than any western had before it.

Through all the great western epics of the 1940s and 1950s, character development was typically one-dimensional, plots were straightforward — good guys vs. bad guys (almost always portrayed by minorities) — and historical accuracy was often ignored altogether. Then in 1969, legendary screenwriter William Goldman and up-and-coming director George Roy Hill teamed up to completely recreate the genre.

Though writers Goldman and Hill laid the foundation for the film’s success, the film’s stars are generally credited with cementing 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 

into legend. Robert Redford and Paul Newman were already two of Hollywood’s biggest male leads when the film was made.

This was the 1960s equivalent of George Clooney and Brad Pitt teaming up for 

Oceans 11

, or Pitt starring opposite Leonardo DeCaprio in 

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

. These two guys could read a takeout menu to each other and make it look impossibly cool. Give them an excellent script handled by a clever director and you end up with cinematic gold. 

From Left to Right: Robert Redford, Katherine Ross, and Paul Newman. Image via 20th Century Fox.

Butch and Sundance

 is probably best known for its comedic dialogue, charmingly silly soundtrack (written and performed by Burt Bacharach), and heart-wrenching final scene. But what the film doesn’t get enough credit for is its historically accurate and timelessly cool wardrobe.

Credit for this parade of fire fits goes to Costume Designer Edith Head. Head is an absolute legend in her field, having outfitted 

Sabrina, Roman Holiday, 

and 

Barefoot in the Park,

 among many others. She even dressed Newman and Redford again eight years later, in the Hill-directed 

The Sting

.

All four of those films are menswear classics, but none of their wardrobes are as ruggedly cool as the western wear Head displayed in 

Butch and Sundance. 

Going, Gone West

Image via IMDB

Hollywood started making westerns as soon as they started making movies. Arguably the first hit film ever made was called The Great Train Robbery. The 1903 silent film followed a group of western outlaws robbing a train. Westerns grew in scale from there, but not really in depth. For sixty-six years, Hollywood made countless cowboy movies that followed the same glorification of American mythology.They all went something like: White men tamed the west from Native Americans and Spanish people, making the way for modern civilization. Fittingly, Butch and Sundance was a film about a couple of train robbers that set the record straight. Goldman aimed to turn the western trope on its head by pointing out that it was indeed modern civilization that drove the cowboys to extinction. The film begins in 1899, as the Spanish American War is being fought. On a couple of occasions, Butch and Sundance banter about joining the American Army to fight in the war and clear their criminal records.This was a brilliant historical reference by Goldman because the Spanish American War marked the end of a period where the United States focused inward toward the American West and turned its attention outward towards building a global colony of influence. As the west fell to a new modern age, cowboys who lived outside of the law like Butch and Sundance saw their way of life ending.  

Butch in his signature rancher jacket with toggle buttons. Image via 20th Century Fox.

The movie’s wardrobe encapsulates this turn-of-the-century period perfectly. It begins with late-nineteenth-century workwear like Butch’s canvas ranch jacket and Sundance’s wide-wale corduroy blazer. They both wear sharp-brimmed cowboy hats and tall-shafted roper boots.This is the uniform of the pair as they scope a bank they’ve previously robbed for a return visit, dismiss a challenge for leadership of their gang, and pull their first train heist of the film. Then they take to town to enjoy the spoils of their heist and we see them dipping their toes into the new age of menswear.  

Butch and Sundance on the run, sharing one horse. Image via 20th Century Fox.

By 1899, men’s suiting had been established in a way that essentially still exists today. Basic jacket design had evolved from formal military uniforms to resemble the 2-4 button closure, notch lapel, and buttoned cuff silhouette we still have today. As Butch and Sundance sip beer on the balcony of a brothel, they’re both wearing waistcoats, paisley ties, and bowler button-down shirts.

The next day, Butch partakes in a bit of modernity by riding a bicycle around town – an invention claimed to replace the horse by the man selling it the night before. He does so wearing a bowler hat, waistcoat with matching trousers, and a collarless button down. 

Butch riding his new bike in his bowler cap. Image via 20th Century Fox.

Butch wearing a button-down without a collar is another subtle accuracy nailed by Head. Men generally only owned a few outfits back then. Even successful thieves like Butch and Sundance couldn’t afford more than one or two suits.So Butch would be wearing the same exact outfit from the night before, only where did his collar and tie go? Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, men-owned shirts without collars and bought detachable collars to place on their everyday shirts when they needed to wear a tie.  

On the Run

Sundance in his wide wale cord jacket. Image via 20th Century Fox

The entire second act of the film is one long chase sequence that begins with a train robbery which turns out to be a trap. This chase established a faceless villain named Joe Lefors, known only by his pork pie hat.This is another touch of using the wardrobe to represent the modern age closing in on our protagonists. Straw pork pie hats were not popular until the early 1900s, peaking during the Jazz Age. When Lefors shows up again in the third act, you see only his hat. 

Lefors in his pork pie hat. Image via 20th Century Fox.

Butch and Sundance are in the same outfits for this entire act. What’s more, these are the same outfits they wore for most of the first act. This dedicates a ton of screen time to a few pieces of classic western workwear. Fortunately for us viewers, they’re great pieces.

Butch’s khaki canvas ranch jacket defines his look. The double breast pocket design is probably the most essential look in work wear. What sets it apart is the toggle button closure, which is old-fashioned, even for 1899. This implies that Butch has had this jacket for a very long time and may not even be the first owner.

Robert Redford’s glorious facial hair. Image via IMDB.

Sundance is partial to black throughout the film. His outfit for the first two acts consists of a black shirt, black pants, and a wide-wale corduroy jacket. The top portion of the lapel on his jacket is black leather, tying it into the black theme. He also wears a pair of tan buckskin gloves that really completes the outfit.However, the coolest part of Sundance’s look is actually his facial hair. Redford is rocking big chop sideburns and a thick mustache. Conveniently for the actor, this facial hair style was popular in both the 1890s and the 1960s.  

Bolivia or Bust

Butch in a three-piece suit and a bowler cap. Image via 20th Century Fox

Eventually, our heroes outrun the pursuing lawmen and return to Sundance’s love interest, Etta. They convince Etta to move to Bolivia with them. This plan had been bounced around throughout the film but their current situation has forced it into action.Etta speaks Spanish and provides a cover as a fake wife, though the viewer can plainly see that Sundance – and mostly Butch as well – are in love with her. The three make their way to New York City before boarding a ship to South America.  

Sundance and Etta dancing together on New Years Eve 1900. Image via 20th Century Fox.

Their trip to New York is shown through a series of sepia-tone still images overdubbed with more Burt Bacharach ditties. This slideshow shows our gang of three diving head first into the twentieth century.We’re never explicitly told, but the final shots show what looks to be a New Years’ Eve Party, making it the year 1900. Butch and Sundance wear dapper three-piece suits until the final part, where they’re in full white tie tuxedos. Etta is decked out in over-the-top Gilded Age regalia the entire time.  

Butch, Sundance, and Etta in their New York finery. Images via IMDB.

When we arrive in Bolivia at the beginning of the third act, all three main characters remain garbed in their New York finery. A heated discussion between Butch and Sundance about the run-down state of Bolivia reveals that it is not what they expected. Butch had talked up Bolivia as the new California, experiencing a gold rush of its own. Instead, they land right back into an untamed backwater much like the one they left in the Western United States.

The subsequent scenes show Butch and Sundance shed their twentieth-century three-pieces for more rugged western wear. Now Butch is wearing corduroy, with a much finer wale blazer in the same color as his old ranch jacket. Sundance sticks with black, opting for a black blazer with a chambray shirt and a brown leather vest. In a unique touch, his vest has a single leather tie closure. 

Butch and Sundance in disguise. Image via 20th Century Fox.

It is worth noting here that neither Butch nor Sundance wear jeans at 

any

 point in the film. This could techincally be historically accurate because denim was still typically relegated to miners and laborers at the time. Gentleman bandits wore trousers, usually made from wool or cotton. 

Butch and Sundance in Bolivia, trying to go straight. Image via 20th Century Fox.

In Bolivia, our two comrades return to robbery, now with Etta as an accomplice. After a while, local law enforcement starts to pursue them and they make an attempt at going straight. Of course, this goes terribly wrong because neither man knows how to do anything but rob for a living.

For the sake of the reader, we will leave out any further plot details. The ending of this film is probably the most famous detail about it but for anyone who hasn’t seen it, we won’t give it away.

If you’re a fan of the film then we hope this has given you a new perspective on its wardrobe. It is among the coolest details of the film and was tied masterfully into the plot. If you haven’t seen it, then you absolutely must and we hope you get a few fit inspirations out of it.

Newman and Redford playing ping-pong during production. Image via IMDB.

 Get Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Look 

RRL Roughout Suede Jacket, available for $1,900 from Ralph Lauren. 

Stetson Corral 4X Cowboy Ha, available for $150 from Stetson. 

Thomas Farthing Edison Harris Tweed Jacket, available for $383 from Thomas Farthing. (Matching trousers and waistcoat sold separately.)

The Earl by Tecovas, available for $265, from Tecovas. 

Cordings Chestnut York Corduroy Jacket, available for $525 from Cordings.

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