Bell-Bottom Blues

The Movie: “Born on the Fourth of July”

The Set-Up: Tom Cruise plays Ron Kovic, gung-ho Marine turned disabled Vietnam War vet and anti-war activist.

The Look: Spanning three decades, from the apple-pie Eisenhower era to the riotous political age of the Nixon Administration, the film runs the gamut, sartorially speaking. Cruise’s wardrobe is enormously significant for the way it reveals his character’s personal transformation. Early on, he’s the clean-cut, all-American kid dressed in short sleeve plaid shirts, jeans, and high tops. After his tour of duty, he’s a hippie with long, thinning hair and a wardrobe of well-worn denim bell bottoms, plaid flannel shirts, ripped Marine sweat shirts and sandals.

The Labels: Please, don’t even ask. For the most part, we’re talking Woodstock Generation.

The Stores: Costumer Judy Ruskin, who worked as an assistant on “Wall Street,” “Fatal Attraction” and “New York Stories,” launched a perfect-oldies quest that makes a good story in itself. She was driving on the Long Island Expressway, pulled over because she was exhausted, and happened upon a neighborhood general store chock full of vintage bell bottoms, Nehru jackets, fringe vests, pointy ‘50s “bullet” bras, the works. “We bought the entire contents of the basement, sight unseen, and sent in a semi-truck to pick it up,” Ruskin says. “I was blessed by the costume gods.” Other fashion dinosaurs came from Domsey’s, a rag house in Brooklyn, where Ruskin and her crew sifted through mounds of used clothing that is dumped onto conveyor belts and ultimately shipped to Third World countries. Then there was the dry goods store in a small New Hampshire town, whose attic was stocked with hundreds of period shoes--original prices still intact. “There I found everything from ‘50s saddle shoes to hippie sandals and clogs to ‘70s platform shoes,” Ruskin says.

The Conflict: Although Cruise had to wear bell bottoms in the film, he despises them, Ruskin says. “Tom and I have a bet that if bell bottoms ever return to mainstream fashion, he’ll buy me the car of my choice.”

The Payoff: The end of the ‘80s is a apt moment for looking back on past decades of fashion. The clothes in the film convey transitions in American style. In particular, we are reminded of the powerful message of clothing in the ‘60s, when a resounding political statement could be made simply by tossing on love beads or a peace symbol.

Postscript: Before his death in April, 1989, Abbie Hoffman made a brief appearance in the film, playing himself as an anti-war organizer. He’s decked out in a tie-dyed T-shirt, a popular fashion of the love-and-peace generation. After completing his role in the film, Hoffman gave Ruskin his Woodstock T-shirt, one simple garment that carries a wealth of meaning.