What is this costume meant to convey?

March 6, 2023 10:40 AM

There is a travelling entertainment called "Girls Night Out: The Show" in which hunky men dance while wearing very little. In this promotional photo, the man just to the left of center is wearing a black fedora?, tie, and blazer? suit jacket? and carrying a cane or umbrella. Are we meant to get a specific reference here?

Here's another view of the performer with more chest displayed.

The other costumes seem pretty easy to understand -- firefighter, gladiator, soldier, etc. But this one seems harder for me to grasp. Is he doing James Spader's character from The Blacklist? Is he doing "Singin' In The Rain'"? Is he alluding to Tom Holland's lip-sync performance of "Umbrella" which starts with a "Singin' In the Rain" homage? Is he just a generic besuited businessman?

This is really just mild curiosity and puzzlement on my part so please do not feel compelled to, say, watch hours of video of Magic Mike-esque dance routines to answer this question.

(I also don't know what in the world the leopard-print vest on that guy in the middle is meant to convey but that question bothers me less.)

posted by brainwane to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

My first thought was Liza Minnelli in Cabaret but the hat's all wrong, and it looks like he's wearing jeans? Maybe it's just "generic businessman" a la Don Draper? The hat looks like a Draper-esque fedora.

Oh now that I reread your question I see "generic suited businessman" was your guess. I agree with that.
posted by jabes at 10:57 AM on March 6, 2023

I was going to say like a spy type guy? Bc you can't see his face and he's wearing a trench?
posted by greta simone at 11:02 AM on March 6, 2023

Best answer: That is straight out of Magic Mike. It's Raining Men (video clip)
posted by Jawn at 11:02 AM on March 6, 2023 [12 favorites]

It's definitely a bit off, isn't it? I sorta wonder if they photoshopped some of the clothes in afterwards (maybe he was originally a cowboy?), but I just watched the Singing in the Rain clip of Cary Grant dancing, and yeah, he's got the umbrella that looks like a cane, a dark, short jacket, dark pants, and dark tie.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:03 AM on March 6, 2023

Best answer: Sexy Jack Abramoff
posted by bondcliff at 11:06 AM on March 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Just for the record, that's Gene Kelly in Singin in the Rain, not Cary Grant.
posted by kevinbelt at 11:09 AM on March 6, 2023 [9 favorites]

(Girls Night Out The Show has a website and a YT account, for what that's worth, though a quick skim of both did not reveal an answer to your question.)
posted by box at 11:23 AM on March 6, 2023

Oops! Yes, Gene Kelly dancing. Of course. Here's Cary Grant whistling Singing in the Rain in the film North by Northwest as I pretend to save face.

I'm going with sexy Gene Kelly for that weird poster.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:23 AM on March 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

It also reminds me of Tom Holland's performance of Rihanna's Umbrella on Lip Sync Battle (essential viewing). Presumably the LSB is kind of an homage to Singin' in the Rain via Magic Mike.
posted by urbanlenny at 11:48 AM on March 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you, Jawn! I had seen Magic Mike XXL but not the first film, so I missed the reference.

Thanks to bondcliff for "Sexy Jack Abramoff" which I loved.
posted by brainwane at 6:05 AM on April 6, 2023 [1 favorite]