Time Machine - Operators Guide - DeLorean
The Back to the Future Time Machine, we explore how you would operate Doc Browns amazing Time Travelling DeLorean
The #DeLorean #timemachine is a fictional automobile-based time travel vehicle device as featured in the Back to the Future franchise.
The main operation of the time machine is the same in all three films. The operator is seated inside the DeLorean (except the first time, when a remote control is used), and turns on the time circuits using the Time Drive Switch, this activates a unit containing multiple fourteen- and seven-segment displays …..
Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine … Operators Guide.
The #DeLorean #timemachine is a fictional automobile-based time travel vehicle device as featured in the Back to the Future franchise.
Operation of the #DeLorean #Timemachine
The main operation of the time machine is the same in all three films. The operator is seated inside the DeLorean (except the first time, when a remote control is used), and turns on the time circuits using the Time Drive Switch, this activates a unit containing multiple fourteen- and seven-segment displays that shows the :
Destination Time and Date (Red),
Present Time and Date (Green)
Last-departed Time and Date (Yellow)
Enter in your own Time and Date into the TIme circuits using the keypad below the unit so, if you wanted to travel to 5th November 1955 at 6.00am you would enter :
11 05 1955 0600 then press enter.
The Plutonium Gauges will power up at the same time as the Time Display. After entering a target date, and with the Time Drive Switch is left on, the system is active. Once the operator accelerates the car up to #88 miles per hour (141.6 km/h), the flux capacitor actives……(and the rest is History !)
As it accelerates, several coils around the body glow blue/white while a burst of light appears in front of it as it enters the wormhole (see our ‘Is Time Travel possible’ blog)
Surrounded by electrical current (similar to a Tesla coil), the whole car vanishes in a flash of white/blue light seconds later, leaving a pair of fiery tire tracks.
A digital speedometer attached to the dashboard allows the operator an accurately gauge of the car's speed.
Observers outside the vehicle see an implosion of plasma as the vehicle disappears, while occupants within the vehicle see a quick flash of light and instantaneously arrive at the target time in the same spatial location (relative to the Earth) as when it departed.
Time Machine - DeLorean Dmc-12
Hover Conversion - The DeLorean Time Machine
In the destination time, (immediately before the car's arrival), three large and loud flashes occur at the point from which the car emerges from its time travel (at the speed of Sound, the Sonic Boom). After the trip, the exterior of the DeLorean is extremely cold, and frost forms from atmospheric moisture all over the car's body and thermal heaters on the back of the vehicle.
A few technical glitches with the DeLorean that could hinder time travel for its users :
In the first film, the car has starter problems and Marty McFly has a hard time restarting once stopped, much to his repeated frustration.
In the second movie, the destination time display malfunctions and shows random dates (mostly January 1, 1885), which partially cause Doc to be sent to 1885.
In the third movie, the flying circuits (added by Doc in 2015), fuel line, and fuel injection manifold are damaged, preventing the car from moving under its own power
In the feature film series, Dr. Emmett L. Brown builds a time machine from a retrofitted #DMC DeLorean car, to gain insights into history and the future. Instead, he and Marty McFly end up using it to travel across 130 years of Hill Valley history to change the past for the better and to undo the negative effects of time travel.
The car requires 1.21 gigawatts of power, and needs to reach 88 miles per hour in order to operate the Time Machine circuits so it can time travel. The official Back to the Future DeLorean (named the A Car) can now be viewed at the Petersen Automotive Museum
Reactor Core - DeLorean Time Machine
Hill Valley Clock Tower - Back to the Future
#DeLorean Power ..... !
The time machine circuits are electric and require a colossal power input of 1.21 gigawatts (1,620,000 hp) to operate.
Originally provided by a plutonium-fuelled nuclear reactor (in the first movie), #DocBrown has no access to plutonium in 1955, so he outfits the car with a large pole and hook in order to channel the power of a lightning bolt into the #FluxCapacitor and send #Marty back to 1985.
During Doc's first visit to 2015, he had the machine refitted to Hover above ground in addition to standard road driving, and he replaces the nuclear reactor with a Mr. Fusion generator that uses garbage as fuel.
Mr Fusion - Home Energy Reactor
DeLorean Time Machine - Being pushed by steam locomotive
Although the #MrFusion unit provides the required power for the time machine, the DeLorean is still powered by an internal 2.8 V6 PRV combustion engine for propulsion.
This caused a problem when the fuel line was damaged during Marty's trip to 1885 in Back to the Future Part III; after he and Doc patch it, they attempt to use whiskey as a replacement fuel since commercial gasoline is not yet available.
The test fails, damaging the car's fuel injection manifold and leaving it unable to travel under its own power.
Doc and Marty consider options to reach the required 88 mph such as :
Pulling it with horses, which fails because the car barely breaks 20 mph) but ultimately settle on pushing the car with a steam locomotive.
For the extra power needed to push the DeLorean up to speed, Doc adds his own version of "Presto Logs" (a chemically treated mixture of pressed wood and anthracite) to the locomotive's boiler and chooses a location with a straight section of track long enough to achieve 88 mph
Presto Logs - Back to the Future
The power required is pronounced in the film as one point twenty-one "jiggawatts".
While the closed-captioning in home video versions spells the word as it appears in the script, jiggawatt, the actual spelling matches the standard prefix and the term for power of "One Billion Watts": Gigawatt. Although rarely used, the "j" sound at the beginning of the SI prefix "giga-" is an acceptable pronunciation for "gigawatt."
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To find out more fun Future Facts by clicking our Blogs below……….!!! Please Share …..
Ghostbuster - Ecto 1
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/3/31/ghostbusters-ecto-1
Cars of Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/10/the-cars-of-back-to-the-future-55-
Back to the Future Fashion
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/19/back-to-the-future-fashion-te2yx
Ariel Leader
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/17/ariel-leader
Back to the Future - Hill Valley History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/2/hill-valley-history-jxrr4
Back to the Future Gadgets and Trends we have in 2021
Doc Browns Biography and the History of his DeLorean Time Machine
Marty McFly Biography also featuring Biff, George, Jennifer, Loranine
Back to the Future - Hill Valley History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/2/hill-valley-history
Back to the Future - Detailed storyline
Back to the Future - How to generate 1.21 Giggawatts / Jiggawatts with Mr Fusion
What is a Fat Bike ? And where did the idea of Fat Bikes come from ?
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/1/10/fat-bike-what-is-a-fat-bike-history
The Time Paradox explained - Back to the Future
The Sinclair C5
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/1/9/sinclair-c5-
Mini Jeep Mini Review
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/minicoolsterjeepreview
Hoverboards - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/12/13/hoverboards-
How does the Time Machine work - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/how-does-the-time-machine-work
The DeLorean Motor Company - What did it fail ? Or did it ?
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/whydiddeloreanmotorcompanyfail
The DeLorean Motor Company - History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/deloreanmotorcompany
The Flux Capacitor - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/fluxcapacitor
Is Time Travel Possible ? And what would it take ? Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/istimetravelpossible
Back to the Future - Fashion
Time Travel and the fashion of the era follow hand in hand, especially for Marty McFly, (maybe not so much for Doc Brown !) …..
So we look into the fashion in 1985, 2015, 1955, and 1885 !
Marty McFly
The clothing and accessories that people wear are a distinctive part of the popular culture. Clothing styles change not only with the time period, but also communicate one's social class and occupation. Those who don't dress appropriately are often viewed as outcasts or rebels, or at the very least, odd and out-of-place, so Marty McFly's clothing proved to be an endless source of embarrassment for him during his adventures, in spite of Dr. Emmett Brown's attempts to be prepared.
They generally had three options when they traveled from one time period to another:
They purchased and changed clothes after arriving in a new time period
They tried to find appropriate clothes for their destination before traveling
They neglected to change clothes and just endured the awkwardness of attracting attention.
Note: Outfits are described here under the time periods the clothing came from, which were not necessarily when they were worn.
Back to the Future Fashion
Outfit 1: Marty McFLY
This Marty McFly outfit is probably the most iconic of them all.
Everything from the vintage wash denim jacket and faded dad jeans, to the orange puffer vest, looks as good now as it did back in ’85.
Trainers
They’re the overwhelmingly popular Nike Killshot 2 which was originally released in the ’80s and saw a surge in interest when it re-released in 2009, and subsequently in 2014 in collaboration with J.Crew.
Marty McFly
Marty McFly
Denim Jacket:
Quilted Vest:
Tennis Sneakers: Nike Killshot 2 (They’re the overwhelmingly popular Nike Killshot 2 which was originally released in the ’80s and saw a surge in interest when it re-released in 2009, and subsequently in 2014 in collaboration with J.Crew)
Aviator Sunglasses: RayBan
Retro Calculator Watch: Casio
Marty
"Life preserver" First day of school in 1955
Marty wore a red and gray jacket (that he took off in the school cafeteria), white shirt with light blue rectangles, brown pants, brown loafers (slip- on shoes), and had hair tonic in his hair.
"Darth Vader"
The day of the skateboard chase – Marty wore the same red and gray jacket, this time with a black shirt with red chain link pattern, brown pants and Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star shoes.
"That zoot suit"
Marty wore a gray wool suit, a white shirt and narrow red tie, that afterwards he called a “zoot suit”. "Get yourself some 50’s clothes ... something inconspicuous!"
—Doc to Marty
Marty in his "inconspicuous" disguise.
"Something inconspicuous"– Marty chose an “inconspicuous” outfit to cover his basic outfit; he added a black felt fedora hat, black leather jacket and dark sunglasses. When Biff confronted Marty, he referred to the outfit as "that stupid disguise".
After getting to Biff's car, Marty took off his sunglasses. At the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, Biff's gang member Match wondered how he changed his clothes so fast. After being knocked down by a door as his other self ran through it, and when Biff stole back the almanac, Marty was forced to abandon the fedora, which had fallen off his head. When taking Doc back to his mansion, Marty put the jacket and Nikes by the fireplace, along with the letter, so they could dry off.
At the Delgado Mine – Marty wore the same clothes as the day of the skateboard chase, and added a tan overcoat.
Marty's 1955 western outfit
"Clint Eastwood never wore anything like this" – Doc prepared Marty to travel to 1885 with a pink and blue shirt with long, yellow fringe running along the chest, back and sleeves, under five embroidered atomic model designs on the front and back of his shoulders, a red bandana around his neck, red corduroy pants, an ornately tooled belt with golden sunburst buckle, white Nike sneakers, and carried along a white cowboy hat and boots that were too tight.
Outfit 2: Biff Tannen
Biff Tannen
Oh Biff — the mild mannered, charismatic antagonist of the Back To The Future trilogy.
Contrasting shirt tie combo, for the pants I tailored wool (herringbone) trousers. And for the shoes, black leather with white soles to complement the shade of the knit tie.
· Bomber Jacket: (alt) Grey
· Charcoal Wool Trousers
· Black Oxford Shirt
· Grey Knit Tie
· Black Minimalist Sneakers
Outfit 3: George McFly
The timid George McFly
George McFly
· Harrington Jacket: ASOS
· Olive Corduroy Pants: Everlane
· Grey Oxford Shirt: Everlane
· Black Frame Eyeglasses: Warby Parker
· Navy Suede Chukka Boots: Thursday Boot Co.
Outfit 4: Emmett Lathrop ‘Doc’ Brown
Doc Brown, the effervescent inventor of the first time machine, built out of a DeLorean sports car.
Often in a state of shock and awe, Doc had some questionable outfits throughout the series.
Doc Brown
Doc Brown
Doc Brown
· Khaki Trucker Jacket: Flint and Tinder (alt)
· Slim Fit Alpha Khaki: Dockers
· Stripe Polo Shirt: Amazon Essentials
· Suede Sneakers: Koio
“…your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has! Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one!”
https://www.gentlemanwithin.com/back-to-the-future-fashion/
The clothing and accessories that people wear are a distinctive part of the popular culture. Clothing styles change not only with the time period, but also communicate one's social class and occupation.
Clothing in 1985
"C'mon, I had to change! You think I’m going back in that-- that zoot suit?"
—Marty
Basic outfit –
Marty McFly
Marty McFly
Marty McFly
During most of his adventures, except when he changed clothes in 1955 and 1885, Marty wore Guess blue jeans with black 3/4" suspenders, a red t-shirt, lavender ("purple") Calvin Klein underpants, and white Nike Bruin shoes with red swoosh and backtab
(no word Nike on them until he visited 1885) with gray socks (changed to white socks when he visited 2015).
School outfit –
Marty McFly at School
From Friday before school through his first day in 1955, Marty added a Guess Marciano two-tone blue denim jacket with an "Art in Revolution" button, a Fender P-Bass pin and a white checked Shah Safara shirt to his basic outfit.
He accessorized this with a Casio CA50W digital watch on his left wrist, a silver Aiwa model HS-P02 Walkman, and mirrored Zeiss aviator sunglasses with a sweatguard in the morning.
"Life preserver" – From the evening at Twin Pines Mall through his first day in 1955, Marty added a dark orange Class-5 bubble down vest to his school outfit.
Tales From Space – Doc gave Marty a yellow full-length radiation suit for protection when loading the plutonium. Due to the similarity of his outfit to that of a space alien on a comic book cover, his outfit scared the Peabody family and an elderly couple driving past Lyon Estates in 1955.
"Darth Vader" – Marty wore the yellow full-body radiation suit, a hair dryer from Doc Brown's suitcase tucked into a belt, and held his Aiwa portable stereo cassette player.
Darth Vader BTTF
Doc Brown
Doc Brown
"Devo outfit" – Doc wore a white full-length radiation suit, over a green print shirt, white undershirt, black pants and orange Nike Vandal high-top shoes. He also had a watch on his left arm, and digital stopwatch on a lanyard around his neck.
Train shirt – While in 2015, Doc changed back to 1985-style clothing, a yellow Hawaiian shirt with a cartoon train pattern and brown cargo pants, expecting to return Marty, Jennifer and Einstein back home right away.
Jennifer "Hey Mom, nice pants" -
Jennifer wears a blue vest over a white shirt and has pink flower pants.
Other distinctive clothing of 1985
§ Dave wore a uniform for his job as a Burger King restaurant server.
§ George owned a suede jacket.
§ Biff wore a green warm-up outfit on Saturday; a purple warm-up outfit on Sunday.
Clothing in 1955
Biff
"Biff" - On Saturday, Biff wore a red short-sleeve pullover shirt.
School - At school, Biff wore blue jeans and a shirt with a checked red and white pattern.
For the rest of the week, Biff wore a grey jacket, a white T- shirt and black pants. He added a black shirt and a white tie for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
Lorraine
"You’re so ... thin" –
On Saturday, November 5, Lorraine wore a pink and purple plaid dress which had a rounded collar, a matching belt around the waist, and a pink bow at the neck. She also wore white socks.
School –
At school, Lorraine wore a blue blouse with a silver brooch and a purple pencil skirt. She also wore her hair in a bun.
"I think you'd look better wearing nothing at all"
On Saturday, November 12 at Ruth's Frock Shop, Lorraine wore a pink knitted sweater, saddle shoes and a novelty black cotton giraffe-print circle skirt which Biff lifted up to expose her panties once outside the shop.
"Well, lookee what we have here"
At the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, Lorraine wore a pink strapless dress, bought with Babs at Ruth’s Frock Shop, which she covered with a white sweater. When she leaned over in the car, Biff was able to see down the front of her dress.
Doc
On Saturday evening, Doc wore a silver robe with black lapels, white shirt, and white knit tie, and dark pants. During the rest of the week, he wore a long white laboratory coat, and put on a pair of green safety goggles when demonstrating the clock tower model. The following Saturday, as he tried to connect the electrical cable, Doc was wearing shoes with Velcro closures that had not yet been invented,[5] although he might have found them in his future counterpart's suitcase.
Other distinctive clothing of 1955
§ Milton Baines wore a coonskin cap, popularized by Disney’s Davy Crockett films.
Clothing in 2015
"First, you have to get out and change clothes."
—Doc to Marty upon arrival in 2015
Doc in his 2015 yellow coat.
Doc Brown
* Marty in his future son's outfit.
"Marty, you’ve got to come back with me"
Doc appeared in Marty’s driveway wearing a long yellow coat, a red shirt with Japanese symbols (no undershirt), silver wraparound glasses with internal video display, and a plastic transparent necktie.
Train shirt – (See: 1985 Doc Brown)
Marty
"You're the spitting image of your future son" –
* Marty Jr.’s outfit and Marty’s disguise consisted of an auto-adjusting and auto-drying jacket (though Marty Jr.'s jacket was broken on the left sleeve), blue jeans worn inside-out (Marty only turned his pockets out), white socks, white Nike MAG power-lacing shoes and a color-shifting lenticular baseball cap.
Marty Jr. wore a white t-shirt with a logo featuring a plus and minus sign. 47-year-old Marty wore a brown business suit over a light brown shirt and brown and yellow multiple ties with rising sun motifs.
Biff
Biff's outfit consisted of a red quarter zip sweatshirt and black, white and green plaid pants.
Griff
Biff Tannen
Griff's outfit consisted of a helmet with sharp metal spikes, a black-ribbed light green jacket over a black chainmail shirt, black pants and black boots adorned with a sharp metallic rhinoceros-like horn.
Marlene
Other distinctive clothing of 2015
§ Multiple ties worn by Terry, Goldie Wilson III and Marty Sr.
Clothing in 1985A
Lorraine
Lorraine 2015
Lorraine Baines McFly, aged 47, in 1985A clothing and breast implants.
"You’re so ... big" – Lorraine Baines McFly wore a black, belted pant suit with patterns of multicolored dots, and high heeled shoes. The blouse had a low neckline revealing her breast implants.
Biff
Although Biff was fabulously wealthy as a result of his cheating with the almanac in 1985A, his sense of dress was still tacky as the Biff of the original timeline. His outfits were gaudy and ugly, with gold chains and bright blue blazers, giving him the appearance of a lounge lizard. After coming out of the hot tub, Biff wore a blue bathing robe over black swim shorts.
Other distinctive clothing of 1985A
§ Biff's bodyguard Match wore a white cowboy hat.
§ Biff's goon 3-D no longer wore his nominal 3-D glasses as the 3-D movies fad had long since faded by 1985. However, unable to part with the nickname, he wore aviator sunglasses which he had custom made, the left lens to be red and the right lens to be blue.
Clothing in 1885
"You can’t wear those futuristic things in 1885. You shouldn’t even be wearing them in 1955."
—Doc Brown at the Pohatchee Drive-in
Marty
"Clint Eastwood never wore anything like this" – (See: 1955 Marty)
Marty's 1955 western outfit plus hat.
"You sure look like Seamus McFly" – Same as "Clint Eastwood never wore anything like this" (see: 1955 Marty), with a straw derby hat[6]
"Some respectable clothes and a fine hat" – Most of the week, Marty wore a long, blue workshirt, brown jeans, and a brown sarape over long underwear, with a brown flat-topped hat, and boots.[7] The outfit was very similar to the one Marty saw Clint Eastwood wearing in A Fistful of Dollars.
"Go ahead, make my day" – One morning, Marty woke up wearing his long underwear with a half-fastened drop seat, and put on his hat and gun belt to practice in front of the mirror.
Behind the scenes
1955
Bob Gale said that costume designer Deborah Scott found nearly all the clothing for the film in the studio’s wardrobe department; they didn’t have the budget for her to make many original items.[8]
Lea Thompson found the pink dress uncomfortable to wear and even more uncomfortable to dance in, and would walk around the set in the 1950s corset bra and crinoline underskirt to avoid wearing the dress, and once even shocked her mother when she visited her on the set. But despite that, she still hung on to one exemplar of the dress that was given to her, and helped out with the filming of the second movie when the original dress had been lost, and she provided it herself.[9]
The black fedora Marty wore as apart of his 'something inconspicuous' disguise was made by the Stetson hat company, especially for Michael J. Fox.[10]
2015
Costume designer Joanna Johnston said she was terrified at the prospect of designing the clothing of the future, making costumes for the cast and 150 extras from scratch, since Bob’s concept did not have a basis in anyone else’s work. For a future society in which men and women are truly equal, the clothing styles would exaggerate the difference between the sexes. She decided to use a very wide variety of fabrics in bright "but not fluorescent" colors.[11]
1885
Costume designer Joanna Johnston was already familiar with the clothing for the period, having worked on the movie Tess, but found that most of costumes that were made for the Westerns of the '40s, '50s and '60s lacked the authenticity she was looking for. After further research, she created clothing for the main characters and as many as 500 extras based on the original clothing patterns she found.[12]
Back to the Future is being cited as a key fashion inspiration, it will come as no surprise to any fans of the film or, indeed, of fashion.
So much so, in fact, that Eastpak is reissuing the original rucksack Marty travelled through time with this season, sold exclusively at Selfridges (although if you have a DeLorean, you are advised to time-travel and buy one of the 80s originals, as Eastpak is certainly not selling them now at 80s prices).
Marty rocking double denim and high-tops
Marty himself has been something of a hipster template for a while now: the double denim, the checked shirt, the high-tops. If only Marty had arrived in east London 2014 as opposed to Hill Valley 1955 (and, later, 2015 and 1885), he would have fit right in and instantly sparked a sleeveless parka revival.
As for the other characters,
Lorraine Baines (later McFly, then Tannen) has, waist up, a proper Alexa Chung look going on, with her Peter Pan collars and demure little jumpers.
Biff Tannen's sports jackets are definitely in style, for men and women, while George McFly's thick-rimmed glasses have been a fashion staple since the dawn of time (maybe alittle exaggeration there)
As for what Back to the Future fashion pieces the biggest vote has to be for Lorraine's wacky 1955 hairstyle, in which her hair zigzags across her forehead
And honestly? Yeah. The clothing is superb. It doesn’t feel costume-y or try hard like The Great Gatsby or Gangster Squad; in BTTF, the period looks are natural yet interesting, feeling cool but dated.
As this film was made in the 80s, that the period they were parodying (1950s) wasn’t that historical. It was like (literally) looking at pictures your parents wore and checking local thrift stores for clothing ideas.
This all probably contributes to why Hill Valley in 1955 feels real and not filled with some wise-cracking gangster with a down-on-his-luck shoeshine kid.
Clearly, there is a huge difference between menswear in 1955 and 1985, but there are just things that make the 1950’s stand out when compared to other eras, but the 1950’s was a remarkably different than the 1940s.
In this post war time, you had the first inklings of true casual style. Instead of sportcoats as sportswear, you had dedicated garments like Hollywood jackets.
Shortjackets with point collars and bomber styles were extremely popular to wear when you were off work or just a youth.
Jeans and converse were the new go-to for casual pant/shoes, though a few still wore pleated
Hollywood waist gab slacks and derbies. And let’s not forget the explosion of prints (tiki and atomic) and tone-on-tone variations that made sportshirts truly “sporty”.
People today call it the Bold Look for tailoring (due to the heavy shoulder pads and dropped button stance) and Rockabilly for casual style. Either way, it’s pretty cool.
Good examples of the fun casual shirts in the 1950s.
Short jackets of all kinds were common, this time done with fun details.
Great shirts and an epic trouser to boot.
Ties in the 1950’s were more about abstract vertical designs. Some were slim, others were wide.
Leisuire jackets were all the rage.
BTTF gets all of this right, presumably by the use of true vintage (since the patterns and designs are really specific) as according to the wiki, they only used whatever was in Universal’s costume warehouse.
However, warehouses could definitely still make good reproductions! We’ll never know what is true vintage or not, but I’m leaning on the use of true vintage pieces since would only be 30 years old and wouldn’t be hard to source and get in decent condition.
Marty McFly
We all know Marty McFly’s epic 1985 look. Denim jacket on slim high waisted jeans, with a solid colored crewneck under a button up shirt; we also can’t forget the life preserver and white/red Nike Bruin sneakers. It’s a classic outfit that isn’t actually out of place today, since you could wear it at a Halloween costume or as a generic dude in LA (maybe lose one of the layers though).
That period paved the way for “non-traditional” garment mixing that ushered in the current way we approach casual style. Since this is only 15 years from the period of overalls with oxfords or puffers and military chinos, it’s no surprise that wanna-be rocker Marty McFly would also wear something as weird.
However, as we saw in the movie, he stuck out like a sore thumb when he was accidentally sent back in time to 1955. Luckily with a rich heir like Doc Brown as a friend, Marty is able to get some period accurate clothes and fit into this iteration of Hill Valley.
Marty’s first look for a new day in 1955 is a damn good one: every piece is so great. Firstly we can see the two-tone leather-gab jacket with a point collar. Two-tone jackets were popular as youth novelty wear. I’m pretty sure the one in the film is a reproduction, but if you found that as vintage it would be worth a lot.
Underneath the jacket, Marty has a block motif sportshirt that he’s rolled up his sleeves a la James Dean. Patterns like this are what make this era’s shirts so much fun.
He has white socks and penny loafers!
With the shirt, he finishes this perfect 1950’s casual-youth outfit with (presumably) pleated hollywood waist slacks that seem to be made of some silk or rayon blend. providing crunchy/shiny texture that fits in with the era’s obsession with patterns and atomic themes.
Overall, it’s a great uniform to do: sportshirt + high rise trousers + casual jacket. Marty wears the look well, with everything fitting perfectly. In fact, this vibe not only informs some of the looks you can see at Inspiration LA It may not be atomic or tiki, but alohas are certainly in full force in today’s spring/summer. Even the thin belts are coming back.
They need to make prints like this again!
When Marty gets into the epic skateboard chase, he retains the two-tone jacket but brings in a new shirt and pant combo. The shirt, now a red/blue piece with a wild diagonal stripe mixed with oversized squares is an EPIC one. Its a bold pattern, which again makes the 1950’s unique in it’s choice of casual patterns. It just has that retro appeal that I think would look great under a sportcoat, if there were just makers that had it (since a true vintage one would no doubt be expensive).
Note here that he’s now wearing some straight cut blue jeans. It’s different than his slightly acid-washed ones from the 80s, mainly in how it drapes. They’re not overly wide, but moderate, ending with a cuff. They look how I want my jeans to fit with proper drape. Again, Marty kills it.
At some point, Marty swapped his Corteze with black converse. Looks very 50’s when worn with cuffed blue jeans.
Another fun gab sportshirt that is worn untucked with a white undershirt base layer.
Note the two-tone coloring. Very 50’s.
His last major 50’s look is a sportcoat-trouser combo, worn to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. We don’t really get a good look at the full cut or details, so we’re left wondering if this is a true 50’s jacket (or designed like it) or something from the 1980s that they tried to pass off.
The choice of odd trouser, a charcoal grey fleck Again, this was a time of exploring fabrics and cuts in the realm of tailoring, and while illustrations may keep everything clean, photographs from the era showed that the youth always had a mishmash of things. It’s probably because they didn’t have dozens of trousers to begin with.
The wide cut may be inspired by the zoot suit (Marty does reference it in the film, but zoot suits were more of a 40s thing IIRC), but he rocks it all the same.
Since you get to see it in full force (along with white socks and black two-tone derbies) while he’s playing the guitar, perhaps it’s his way of exuding that rebellious rocker chic in 1955. He certainly stood out amongst the crowd!
Doc Brown
We don’t really get to see much of Doc Brown’s attire until Marty goes to visit him in 1955; Doc is just in a white jumpsuit in the Lone Pine Mall.
When Marty visits him, Doc seems to wearing a variation on what we’d expect a well-to-do heir would wear at home. A pink shirt (the 1950’s loved color, if you couldn’t already tell) and a white single stripe tie are fun nods to the fact that he’s an adult, but you get the affluent charm with an epic silver dressing gown.
With a scale-esque texture and it’s moderate black satin peak lapels (echoed by the pocket piping), it definitely has that post-war fun vibe.
When Doc goes with Marty to Hill Valley High to check out Marty’s parents, Doc has on a very typical “casual man” outfit. The tiki shirt is a no brainer at this point, but note the cool gab jacket he has on.
It’s definitely some form of leisure jacket with modest lapels, patch pockets, and a fun little monogram on the patch. Jackets like this were casual but they clearly took after the classic sportcoat design; it looks smarter than simply wearing a leather jacket or gab short jacket.
Also take note of his straw fedora (I don’t think it’s technically a panama hat). Instead of the traditional black band, he instead has an abstract design as a ribbon, which was a common trend in the 1940s-1960s for straw hats. It also just makes the hat much more casual, which is one of the reasons why it’s hard to wear fedora-type hats often.
Flecked trousers. The 1950s loved fleck.
A checked asymmetrical sportshirt with a yolked pocket flap.
Look at Doc’s weird shirt! Super cool and novelty style that was popular in the late 40s-50s. Finding one today would be rare and expensive.
Doc Brown’s last outfit in 1955 is hard to make out, as he wears an balmaccan style rain coat for the climax, but his polo-style shirt deserves some recognition. Like so many other pieces we’ve seen, the shirt features a fun print, consisting of red and black squiggles.
The shirt has a contrast collar/placket and cuffs, which again fits in with many of the stylistic choices of the era. I’m not sure if I would wear it today, but more brands should definitely take a page out of the era and make something “new”!
Marty’s dad, at least this version of him, dresses like a dweeb because he is a dweeb. It’s supposed to be 1985, where RL and other mall clothes are in full swing, and yet he dresses like a caricature of a 1960’s accountant.
Short sleeve shirt, repp tie, pen pockets, and browline glasses, all contribute to it. I mean I’ve worn socks and shorts together, but I don’t think it looked this bad.
I mean, it makes sense since the film is portraying George as someone who is unlucky, who gets bullied, and gathers no respect.
A flecked short jacket.
In 1955, George McFly actually dresses pretty decently! He’s not exactly sticking out like a nerdy sore-thumb. Like Marty, he wears a few different sportshirts and short jackets, though in comparison, they’re much more plain. George could also benefit with a better fit, but it’s not terrible. At least in most cases.
What George does make a habit of doing is wearing his sportshirts fastened all the way to the top. Now this was done back in the day, but based on photos and illustrations, sport collars were definitely best worn open.
It’s a nerd thing to do that came back in the mid 2010s as the “air tie” and always results in the wearer looking “closed up”. And since George is a nervous guy with no friends or confidence, it works perfectly.
I like the checked cloth and red buttons.
In one scene, George actually wears a two-tone Hollywood Jacket! Like with Doc’s ivory jacket, these are meant to be a casual-yet-tailored approach to casual wear. You’ll see that the cut and design are similar to a chore coat’s, just with shoulder pads and “formal” cloth.
George’s brown gab short jacket has shoulder pads and is a size or two too big for him. Also see how he’s got his shirt buttoned all the way up.
An interesting cotton short jacket with a wider collar and hand warmer pockets. Very cool.
George goes all out for the dance, mainly because it’s his big moment to “save” Lorraine. A white dinner jacket and black tie is hard not to separate from James Bond (or Casablanca), and its actually the first time George wears something that fits him well. It’s still in the 1950’s aesthetic, so he has padded square shoulders, a low button stance, and closed quarters.
When we return to good ol’ modified 1985, accounting-nerd George has been replaced by a true chad version. There are no short sleeve shirts and browline shades here. Instead, he has a very 80s biz-caz outfit consisting of a moleskin blazer, vibrant red polo, and pleated slacks. It’s not bold, but since this is a “normal” outfit, it contrasts against George’s first appearance.I also love the aviators for max 80s cool.
Biff Tannen
Biff. When we first see him, his commandingly bold 70’s outfit just screams like a guy who peaked in high school and still bullies others. Which is definitely true.
It’s such a weird look that actually has some prep vibes to it, mainly with the use of a navy brass button blazer and plaid odd trousers; I think I may even see a white braided belt.
1985 Biff actually dresses rather “normal” for the era, though he stands out for his boisterous character and sheer Kingpin-like aura.
It’s all just sportshirts, white crewneck tees, and jeans, nothing to write home about. but with it just being done with jeans and sneakers, it feels boring, mainly because its an easy way to do a 1950s look. It’s easy to replicate, but don’t forget that a sportcollar makes a world of difference; a regular standing collar wouldn’t achieve the same effect.
I guess the point is that Biff is just a regular old bully, contrasting against George’s plain looks that utilize jackets and Marty’s much more interesting take on the era.
Biff’s jacket of choice is a bomber style one that has black contrasting collar and cuffs. Can’t you see how popular two-tone clothing was in those days? Like Marty’s leather jacket, this one also ends around the waist, but instead of it just being a plain bomber design, Biff’s jacket has decorative front pleating. Don’t ask why, it’s just for show.
Like with the shirt patterns, I wish we also had more vintage-inspired jackets like this!
A black shirt and bold tie? I guess stereotypical prom style was a thing even in 1955.
Others
Strickland has a bowtie and suit, but if you look closely, the suit is very 80s with wide shoulders, open notch and low buttoning point.
In 1955, he has a suit that clearly has more weight and features a fun shadow stripe, a common thing for vintage suits.
Ivy style isn’t really in the film other than the committee deciding on the band. 80s ivy is just like 70s ivy tbh: just a more exaggerated and bold version of 60s ivy.
Goldie Wilson also wears a bar motif sportshirt, though with the wide collar, it might be from the 40’s. That makes sense, since he might not have access to current fashions.
Lorraine’s dad wears a car coat (an overcoat with a shorter length). He has a fedora, which gives him an “adult” look. Not sure if the trouser fit is right though.
As can be expected, Lorraine’s dad has a gab sportshirt. The shorter collar points and higher buttoning point is period accurate to the 1950s.
So much great stuff here, from the faded, cuffed denim and saddle shoes to the absolutely epic novelty knitwear. I’m very glad that the youth have a variety of style!
Striped shirts are what kids wore back then, not flat caps, plus-fours, and suspenders.
Biff’s gang all have variations on casual style. Is that a knit tee I see? Wish we could see the ribbing!
More variety in style here and it all looks period. Love the kid’s pastel blue pleated pants, the red sweater, and what I think is a Cub Scout uniform. Check out that tiny brimmed hat!
Marvin Berry and the Starlighters all wear 50’s silk dinner jackets with their quintessential square shoulders and low button stance. Instead of bowties, they have matching continental bow ties.
Great short jacket.
Conclusion
BTTF is a great example of a movie that makes 1950’s clothing seem accessible and easy. There isn’t a big focus on tailoring, which probably makes it much more palatable. Instead, we see casual 50’s, rockabilly-esque style, which informs a lot of the heritage-Americana that is so easy for guys to wear. Sportshirts and cuffed jeans should get you through the most of it.
The real way to make it interesting is by checking out how Marty does it. Instead of plain shirts, he wore fun patterns that made his attire stand out among the others. It might be vintage and dated, but I certainly love the personality they bring to an outfit, especially since today you can refine it by wearing with loafers or a sportcoat instead of on its own.
Bonus points for those epic two-tone jackets (or leather jackets in general). I’m not sure if the world is ready for the return of hollywood jackets, but after the rise of chore coats and safaris, maybe there’s room for it.
Overall, I think a lot of guys who are searching for a more interesting way to dress can take some cues from this. BTTF did a great job and since it didn’t go too crazy (note the lack of flat caps, which if included would just be inaccurate), it comes off as classic and actually wearable.
I love this movie and I hope you enjoyed this dive into the costuming
Always a pleasure,
https://streetxsprezza.wordpress.com/2020/06/21/the-menswear-in-back-to-the-future-1985/
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Ghostbuster - Ecto 1
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/3/31/ghostbusters-ecto-1
Cars of Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/10/the-cars-of-back-to-the-future-55-
Back to the Future Fashion
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/19/back-to-the-future-fashion-te2yx
Ariel Leader
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/17/ariel-leader
Back to the Future - Hill Valley History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/2/hill-valley-history-jxrr4
Back to the Future Gadgets and Trends we have in 2021
Doc Browns Biography and the History of his DeLorean Time Machine
Marty McFly Biography also featuring Biff, George, Jennifer, Loranine
Back to the Future - Hill Valley History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/2/hill-valley-history
Back to the Future - Detailed storyline
Back to the Future - How to generate 1.21 Giggawatts / Jiggawatts with Mr Fusion
What is a Fat Bike ? And where did the idea of Fat Bikes come from ?
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/1/10/fat-bike-what-is-a-fat-bike-history
The Time Paradox explained - Back to the Future
The Sinclair C5
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/1/9/sinclair-c5-
Mini Jeep Mini Review
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/minicoolsterjeepreview
Hoverboards - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/12/13/hoverboards-
How does the Time Machine work - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/how-does-the-time-machine-work
The DeLorean Motor Company - What did it fail ? Or did it ?
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/whydiddeloreanmotorcompanyfail
The DeLorean Motor Company - History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/deloreanmotorcompany
The Flux Capacitor - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/fluxcapacitor
Is Time Travel Possible ? And what would it take ? Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/istimetravelpossible
External links
§ https://backtothepredictions.com/category/fashion/
§ https://backtothepredictions.com/category/fashion/clothing/
§ https://backtothepredictions.com/tag/clothing/
§ https://backtothepredictions.com/tag/fashion/
References
1. ↑ http://www.bttf.com/forums BTTF.com Message Board
2. ↑ http://www.bttf.com/forums BTTF.com Message Board
3. ↑ http://www.bttf.com/forums/topic.php?tp=38901-I+FOUND+IT%21+This+is+like+finding+the+holy+grail...+I+have+found+the+Marty+McFLy+Vest%21%21%21#
4. ↑ BTTF III novel, p. 38, 39
5. ↑ Velcro 50th Anniversary : Timeline, see "1985".
6. ↑ BTTF III novel, p. 73
7. ↑ BTTF III novel, p. 98, p. 205
8. ↑ Feature Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton, Part I, at about 1:10.
9. ↑ Gaines, Caseen, We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future trilogy, p. unknown
10. ↑ http://www.icollector.com/Back-To-The-Future-2-Marty-s-Something-Inconspicuous-Fedora-Michael-J-Fox_i20788290
11. ↑ Klastorin, Michael, and Sally Hibbin, Back to the Future: The Official Book of the Complete Movie Trilogy, p. 71-72.
12. ↑ Klastorin, Michael, and Sally Hibbin, Back to the Future: The Official Book of the Complete Movie Trilogy, p. 60-61.
www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk
The Cars of Back to the Future
Explore the Cars featured in Back to the Future …!! Which cars were used in the Filming of Back to the Future 1, 2 and 3
We showcase the models used in our Blog to the Future Post
The DeLorean Time Machine
Amazingly there are 55 separate automobiles and trucks in Back to the Future that are identified in imcdb.org, The "Internet Movie Cars Database", the newest of which were the :
Studebaker
Although Statler Studebaker is seen in Part I, there is only one Studebaker seen in 1955.
Toyota
There are three Toyotas seen in 1985, in three different scenes of Courthouse Square.
Chevrolet
The imcdb.org site counts eleven Chevrolets (including four Bel Airs in 1955), nine Fords, and only
Chrysler
Only one Chrysler spotted.
Other lines of automobile noted in the film are Buick, Cadillac, Datsun (now Nissan), Divco, Dodge, GMC, Honda, Hudson, Jeep, Kaiser, Mercury, Nash, Packard, Plymouth, Volkswagen and Volvo.
Although a Pontiac dealership is shown in Part II, there is only one Pontiac in Part II
AMC Eagle
(Mr. Parker's car) Jennifer Parker's father drives into downtown Hill Valley to pick her up.
The AMC Eagle is a four-wheel drive station wagon manufactured in the 1980s by American Motors. It was the first four-wheel drive crossover passenger car in America.
History
Jennifer Parker's father, Danny Parker Jr., drove an orange wood-panel 1984 AMC Eagle in 1985. Its license plate was 1J V8988.
In 1985A, the Parker residence had a wrecked AMC Hornet parked in the front yard, which may or may not have belonged to Mr. Parker, as there is the possibility that the house wasn't actually occupied by the Parker family in that particular ABC timeline.
Mr. Parker's AMC Eagle made one brief final reappearance in the Parker residence's driveway when Marty McFly drove up there in his Toyota 4x4 to wake Jennifer up, after the Grays Sports Almanac had been destroyed in 1955, restoring the timeline.
1984 BMW 733i (George's car in 1985-I)
"Marty got up [from the dining room table], walked to the kitchen window and looked out. There in the driveway was a sparkling new BMW. Next to it stood Biff Tannen, polishing diligently." —From Back to the Future by George Gipe (quote, page 244)
BMW 733I
The BMW 733i was a model of car manufactured by BMW in the 1980s.
History
The McFly family owned a BMW 733i in 1985. This was driven by George McFly, and was the main family car. Its license plate number was 3A709T8.
Before Marty McFly went back to 1955, Biff Tannen had borrowed and totaled another car owned by George, a Chevrolet Nova, while drinking and driving (at the same time!) — thus ruining Marty's plans to go up to the lake with Jennifer Parker for the weekend.
After Marty returned to what turned out to be an altered and improved present, the car changed to a BMW, in one piece, and Biff was waxing it with the two coats of wax George liked.
1952 Buick Super (Wilbur's car)
1952 Buick Super
Wilbur's 1952 Buick Super Riviera.
The Super was a vehicle manufactured by Buick from 1940 to 1958.
History
In 1955, an elderly man named Wilbur drove past Lyon Estates in a dark red-colored Buick Super Riviera, when he and his wife saw a young man in a strange yellow suit near a futuristic-looking car.
Wilbur began to slow down for the stranger, but his wife became frightened and forced him to drive on.
The Buick Super Riviera's license plate number was 4S28359.
1948 Cadillac Series 61
1950 Cadillac Series 62 (Demonstration model)
Caterpillar 12
1947 Chevrolet 4100
1947 Chevrolet Advance-Design Thriftmaster
The Chevrolet Advance-Design was a series of pickup trucks manufactured by Chevrolet from 1947 to 1955.
History
In 1955, Marty McFly held onto the back of a blue Chevrolet Advance-Design Thriftmaster pickup truck while being chased around Courthouse Square by Biff Tannen and his gang in Biff's Ford Super De Luxe Convertible.
1951 Chevrolet Advance-Design truck. - D. Jones Manure Hauling owned a 1951 Chevrolet Advance-Design truck.
1953 Chevrolet Bel Air (Sam Baines's car in 1955)
1953 Chevrolet Bel Air
Marty McFly being hit by Sam Baines's car in 1955A.
The first-generation Chevrolet Bel Air was a car manufactured from 1950 to 1954 by General Motors.
History
Lorraine's father, Sam Baines, drove a green 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air in 1955, 1955A, 1955B, and 1955C.
Its license plate was 6S 48405 (Coincidentally, the same plates are seen earlier in the film on another car that almost hits Marty in the town square).
On November 5, 1955, Sam hit George McFly with his car when George fell down from a tree into the middle of the street while supposedly birdwatching.
In 1955A, 1955B and 1955C, Sam hit Marty with the car, because Marty tried to rescue his father. Sam had just picked up the Baines family's brand new television set with his car.
1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad
1982 Chevrolet C-30
1974 Chevrolet Camaro
1974 Chevrolet De Luxe
1980 Chevrolet Malibu (Police car in 1985)
1980 Chevrolet Malibu
A Chevrolet Malibu serving as a Hill Valley Police car.
The Malibu was a vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet.
In 1985, Marty McFly, using his skateboard, hitched a ride on the back of Hill Valley Police car #5253, a Chevrolet Malibu, as he left Courthouse Square to go home.
1979 Chevrolet Nova (George's wrecked car in 1985)
"As he drew closer, Marty saw that its [the car's] front end was completely smashed, as if someone had driven it into a wall. Nearby stood Marty's father and Biff Tannen, watching in silence as the truck driver unhitched the damaged vehicle."—From Back to the Future by George Gipe (quote, page 28)
History
In the first timeline, George McFly drove a 1979 Chevrolet Nova in 1985 before he lent it to his work supervisor Biff Tannen, who totaled it while drinking and driving (at the same time!).
Biff then blamed George by claiming the car had a blind spot, and forced him to pay up to have his suit dry-cleaned as he had spilled beer over himself in the crash. The car was subsequently returned to the McFly residence on the back of a tow truck.
Marty McFly had been planning to borrow the car to take Jennifer Parker to the lake, but thanks to Biff these plans were ruined.
Lorraine used the car on one occasion in 1983 to go after Marty when she heard the sound of his skateboard as he sneaked out of the house and set off to meet his friends.
Following Marty's return from 1955 to what turned out to be an altered and improved present, George owned a BMW 733i, which Biff — who now had his own auto detailing company — was waxing with the two coats of wax George liked.
1964 Chevrolet Suburban
1946 Chrysler
1972 Datsun 1200
1974 Datsun 260Z
1975 Datsun B210
1975 Datsun B210 Coupe
DeLorean Time Machine
(Primary car of the films acting as time machine) he DeLorean DMC-12 is a sports car that was manufactured by the De Lorean Motor Company for the American market from 1981 to 1983 in Northern Ireland. It is most commonly known simply as the DeLorean, as it was the only model ever produced by the company. The DMC-12 featured gull-wing doors with a fiberglass "underbody", to which non-structural brushed stainless steel panels are affixed.
The first prototype appeared in March 1977, and production officially began in 1981 (with the first DMC-12 rolling off the production line on January 21) at the DMC factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. During its production, several aspects of the car were changed, such as the hood (bonnet) style, wheels and interior. About nine thousand DMC-12s were made before production stopped in late 1982. Today, about 6,500 DeLorean motor cars are believed to still exist.
Unknown Divco
1955 Dodge Coronet
1981 Dodge Ram
1950 Dodge Wayfarer
Unknown Ford Courier (or Datsun truck) (Biff's Auto Detailing truck)
Biff's Ford Courier truck stands nearby as he puts the second coat of wax on George McFly's BMW 733i.
The Courier is the name used on a variety of vehicles manufactured by Ford.
History
In 1985, Biff Tannen owned what appeared to be a yellow Ford Courier pickup truck that he used for his company, Biff's Auto Detailing.
Behind the scenes Biff's yellow truck is never seen fully on-screen at any point during the Back to the Future trilogy, so it remains unknown as to whether it was a Ford Courier, a Datsun or a similar vehicle.
1952 Ford Crestline Victoria
A Ford Crestline Victoria at Hill Valley High School.
The Crestline Victoria was a vehicle manufactured by Ford in the 1950s.
On November 12, 1955, a dark green Crestline Victoria with a white roof was parked outside Hill Valley High School during the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
1953 Ford Customline
1985 Ford Econline
The Econoline, also known as the E-Series and the Club Wagon, is a line of full size vans manufactured by Ford.
In 1985, an Econoline van was used for the re-election campaign of Goldie Wilson for Mayor of Hill Valley. Its license plate number was 2H67820.
1984 Ford F-350 (Flatbed carrying Marty's future Statler Toyota 4X4)
1984 Ford F-350
The F-350 was part of the F-Series of vehicles manufactured by Ford.
History
In 1985, a seventh generation F-350 flatbed truck carried a Toyota Hilux for Statler Toyota. Marty McFly told his girlfriend Jennifer Parker that his dream was to one day own that Toyota 4x4.
1940 Ford F-5
A Ford F-5 tank truck parked at the Texaco service station in 1955 (in the background, on the far right).
The F-5 was part of the first generation of F-Series vehicles manufactured by Ford.
A Ford F-5 tank truck was owned by Texaco and was present at the Texaco service station in Courthouse Square, Hill Valley, in 1955.
1954 Ford Mainline
1984 Ford Ranger (First pickup that Marty skitches on)
1984 Ford Ranger
A Ford Ranger pulling out of Burger King in Hill Valley.
The Ranger is a vehicle manufactured by Ford.
In 1985, Marty McFly grabbed onto the back of a blue Ford Ranger while riding his skateboard on the way to school.
1946 Ford Super De Luxe (Biff Tannen's car in 1955)
1946 Ford Super De Luxe
Ford Super De Luxe Convertible
Biff and his gang in the Ford.
" After a half block of falling rapidly behind their prey, Biff's pals turned and shrugged, looking to Biff for a new tack. / "Get the car!" Biff ordered. / The four hotfooted it over to Biff's convertible, which was parked nearby. A few seconds later, they roared off after Marty, burning rubber on the town square and disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. " —From Back to the Future by George Gipe (quote, page 177)
" "Here she is, Biff," Terry gestured proudly, "all fixed up, like new. Except we couldn't get her started." He glanced over at the eager Tannen. "You got a kill-switch on this thing?" / Tannen grinned at that. / "Nope, you just gotta have the right touch," he bragged. "Ain't nobody can start this car but me." / He climbed in the car and turned the key. The car growled to life on the first try. " —From Back to the Future Part II by Craig Shaw Gardner (quote, page 144)
Marty: "Let's land on him [Biff in the Ford], we'll cripple his car."
Doc: "Marty, he's in a '46 Ford. We're in a DeLorean. He'd rip through us like we were tin foil."
— As the DeLorean hovers over the Ford
The Super De Luxe was a model of vehicle manufactured by Ford during the 1940s.
The Ford filled with the contents of a manure truck.
The newly restored Ford Super De Luxe on display at the entrance to the Biff Tannen Museum in 1985A
Marty McFly hiding in the back seat of Biff's car.
Biff chases down a hoverboarding Marty through the River Road Tunnel.
Biff Tannen owned a 1946 model in 1955 which was a convertible, painted black with a red interior, and had the nickname "Sheila".] Its license plate number was 6H 96472.
Biff was the only person who knew the trick to starting the ignition (a push-button on the dashboard), as he explained to Terry at Western Auto, who had been unable to start the car whilst working on it and wondered if it was fitted with a kill-switch:
"You just gotta have the right touch. Nobody can start this car but me." Biff still remembered the technique in his old age — much to the amazement of his younger self, who demanded to know how this "old codger with a cane" knew how to do this.
"You just got to have the right touch. Nobody can start this car but me."
—Biff to Terry, regarding the trick to start his car.
After being provoked by Marty McFly in Lou's Cafe on November 8, 1955, Biff and his gang chased him in the Ford around Courthouse Square before slamming into a manure truck.
By November 12, Biff had the car repaired. In order to repair the damage to his car, Biff was pressured by Terry to pay $302.57 for the job, but refused payment. As he argued with Terry, both Marty and Biff's older self jumped into the Ford, with Marty hiding in the back seat. Old Biff drove the Ford back to his house and parked it in his garage before displaying the Gray's Sports Almanac.
Later that night, Marty snuck away in the back seat again as Biff drove to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance at Hill Valley High School. Biff parked the vehicle outside the door of the gymnasium and drove off in it after discovering that Marty had been after the almanac.
Biff drove the Ford towards River Road Tunnel on the way home before Marty swooped in using the hoverboard. Biff and Marty fought over the almanac outside and in the tunnel, with Biff sideswiping the wall of the tunnel with the right side of the Ford.
When Biff reached the end of the tunnel, he turned completely around and faced Marty who was still halfway inside. Biff charged the car towards Marty in the hopes of running him over, but failed when Marty grabbed a string of pennants attached to the DeLorean time machine. As Biff watched Marty and the DeLorean hover away into the night, he crashed the Ford into a manure truck again, filling his car with manure.
1946 Ford Super De Luxe
It’s unclear what became of the Ford after 1955, but it reappeared newly restored in 1985A where it was on display at the entrance to the Biff Tannen Museum, alongside a waxwork figure of Biff.
Trivia
During the filming of the first two films, three different Ford Super De Luxe cars were used (a 1946 car, a 1947 model and a 1948 model). The 1946 car was a black coupe, with the roof cut off, so it looked like a convertible. This car was used the most, and was also the one that got covered in manure. The other two cars (the 1947 and 1948 Fords) were used in long shot or in close-up. The 1946 car was kept by Universal after Back to the Future Part II was completed and put on display in their back lot tour, before being sold to a private collector.
Through the course of the first film, the car changes from a 1946 Ford to a 1947 Ford. This difference is noted by the fact that the 1947 Ford Super De Luxe differed from the 1946 model with the absence of the red accents on the grill and parking lights below each of the front headlights.
Another difference between the 1946 and 1947 Ford Super De Luxe is that the upholstery seating in the car changes.
As shown in Back to the Future Part II, when 1985-A Biff spoke of the manure incident from the first film, Biff states that he had "enrolled [the car] in a drag race a few days earlier". Marty correctly guessed Biff had crashed his car into a manure truck (much to the surprise of 1985-A Biff). When Biff demanded to know how he knew that, Marty lied that his father told him before he died. Also, unknown to Biff, Marty was responsible for his car being wrecked.
In Back to the Future Part II, when Old Biff gives the almanac to his younger self, the sun visors on the convertible are gone, while in the rest of the film, the sun visors are still there. The car also has sun visors in Back to the Future.
1984 GMC Value Van (Emmett Brown's van in 1985)
Doc Brown GMC Van
Doc's GMC Value Van, with the DeLorean inside, stands in the empty parking lot at Twin Pines Mall, watched over by Einstein (on the far right).
"Checking his image in a mirror, he [Doc] ruffled his wild white hair even more, perhaps perversely adding to his own reputation as a wild eccentric. He then walked to the front of the garage, opened the rear doors of the oversized step-van on the side of which was lettered DR. E. BROWN ENTERPRISES — 24 HR. SCIENTIFIC SERVICE, and peered inside. / It was, of course, still there.
Even in the sparse light of the garage, the sleek stainless steel DeLorean with its gull wings shone back at him like a giant Christmas tree ornament. How appropriate, he thought, that the vehicle which would prop mankind into the past and future should be such an extraordinarily beautiful piece of machinery. There was no doubt in his mind as he closed the doors. / "It will work," he said softly. "And I'll be famous." " —From Back to the Future by George Gipe (quote, page 27)
The GMC Value Van was a multi-step truck that was manufactured by General Motors.
Dr. Emmett Brown owned a 1984 P-60 model Value Van for his business. In 1985, he used it to transport the DeLorean time machine and the plutonium needed for the vehicle's first test at Twin Pines Mall.
Doc Browns Van
It bore on the sides the wording DR. E. BROWN ENTERPRISES — 24 HR. SCIENTIFIC SERVICES.
1978 Honda Civic
1984 Honda XL 600 R
1952 Hudson
1955 International Harvester R-160
1984 Jeep Cherokee
Jeep CJ-7 Unknown (Second vehicle that Marty skitches on through Courthouse Square)
Jeep CJ-7
Marty skitching on the Jeep close to Courthouse Square.
The Jeep CJ-7 was a compact 4X4 car manufactured from 1976 to 1986 by American Motors, who owned the Jeep brand.
Jeep CJ-7
History
On October 25, 1985, a skateboarding Marty McFly grabbed onto a blue Jeep CJ-7 in Courthouse Square. The Jeep had no doors or roof, and its licence plate was 726 BXG. The driver was a middle-aged man, who wore a Mountain Dew baseball cap.
At the same street where Marty would accelerate the DeLorean time machine up to 88 m.p.h. in 1955 in order to return to his own time, the driver noticed there was a young man holding onto his car. Marty was late for school because all Dr. Emmett Brown's clocks were exactly twenty-five minutes slow, which is why he was grabbing onto cars.
Marty also performed a similar car-grabbing act, this time while riding a hoverboard, on a hover-converted Jeep Wrangler YJ which landed on Second Street on October 21, 2015 while he was fleeing from Griff's gang.
1953 Kaiser Manhattan
1954 Mercury Monterey
1951 Nash Statement
1948 Packard Custom Eight Victoria (Doc's car in 1955)
The Packard parked at Hill Valley High School.
The Packard was a make of car in the 1950s.
History
Doc Browns Car
Dr. Emmett Brown owned a cream-colored 1949 Packard Custom Eight Victoria in 1955, which was used along with a flatbed trailer on November 5 to transport the DeLorean time machine — concealed beneath a tarpaulin — to his lab, and to Courthouse Square on the night of November 12 for Doc's 'weather experiment'.
Doc let Marty McFly borrow the Packard for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance at Hill Valley High School on November 12. The car became the scene of the scuffle between Biff Tannen, Lorraine Baines, and George McFly.
During Marty's second visit to 1955, he drove Doc home after he fainted in Courthouse Square on seeing Marty again — having only just sent him back to 1985.
After Doc restored the DeLorean to perfect working order, including installation of vacuum-tubed time circuits and new whitewall tires, the Packard and flatbed trailer were used once again to haul the DeLorean to the Pohatchee Drive-In Theater in preparation for Marty's trip to 1885 to rescue Doc's older 1985 counterpart.
The Packard's license plate number was 8N39742.
Behind the scenes
Only one Packard was used for all three films in the Back to the Future trilogy. The exact same car was also used in the 1991 film The Marrying Man starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. It is now in a private collection in Massachusetts.
1953 Plymouth Cranbrook (Fuels at Texaco service station in 1955)
1950 Plymouth De Luxe (Nearly hits Marty in 1955)
1954 Plymouth Savoy
1985 Pontiac Sunbird
1953 Studebaker Starliner
1984 Toyota Celica Supra Mk.II
1984 Toyota Van
1979 Volvo 242
Cab B25
Cab B25 from the Luxor Cab Company arrives in Hilldale. The DeLorean time machine, with Marty McFly standing next to it, can be seen in the background.
The cutout Collector Card for the Back to the Future Taxicab (bottom right-hand corner) on the rear packaging of Funrise, Inc.'s Back to the Future Part II three-vehicle pack gave a little more information about Cab B than was mentioned in either the movie or the novelization — namely, its on-board 'Entertainment System'.
" The oldster [Biff Tannen] pointed a quivering finger at a sleek silver car that was just taking off overhead. / "Follow that DeLorean!" he croaked. / Follow that DeLorean? That was the sort of thing people said in old, 2-D movies! Where was this old guy coming from? / Still, a fare was a fare. Fred eased the cab out and up. " —From Back to the Future Part II by Craig Shaw Gardner (quote, page 60)
Cab B25 was a flying taxicab from the Luxor Cab Company in Hill Valley in 2015.
History
The cab was a Citroën DS driven by Fred, who drove Biff Tannen in pursuit of the DeLorean time machine to Hilldale on October 21.
It was fitted with six cylinders, and was fuel injected via a fusion turbine accelerator.[1] Cab B25 was capable of 90 m.p.h. on the ground and over 170 m.p.h. in the air with thrusters.[1] It also came with an 'Entertainment System' consisting of "200 local channel stereo, mobile phone, food, beverage and snack dispensing systems". A warning to embarking passengers, WATCH YOUR HEAD, was printed on the roof above the rear doors.
The taxicab with which the DeLorean nearly collided when it departed from Lyon Estates in 1985 and appeared in the wrong lane of Skyway C25, facing oncoming traffic, was also a Citroën DS. Whether this was Cab B25 or another cab of the same make and model remains unclear.
Behind the scenes
The Citroën DS was marketed from 1955 to 1975, so had such a vehicle appeared during the 1955 sequences in Back to the Future it wouldn't have looked out of place.
The same Citroën DS used as Cab B25 reappears later in Back to the Future Part II as one of the wrecked vehicles in 1985A.
The cutout Collector Card for the toy Back to the Future Taxicab on the rear packaging of Funrise, Inc.'s Back to the Future Part II three-vehicle pack, released as part of their Micro Action Super Cars series in 1989 (the other two being the DeLorean Car (Modified Engine) and the Back to the Future Police Car), gives additional information about the vehicle. This was not derived from any information given on-screen or in the novelization.
The taxicab is now in France where it has been owned by the company Tadico Events since January 2019, and is operated under the name The DeLorean Experience and Luxor Cab DS Taxi.
BMW 633CSi
Griff BMW 633 CSI
Griff's BMW 633CSi being waxed by his grandfather, Biff Tannen.
This model of BMW was built between 1976 and 1989.
History
In 2015, Griff Tannen owned a heavily modified hover-converted version of the BMW 633CSi, which was a convertible orange and black model waxed for him (two coats, naturally) by his grandfather Biff Tannen, and in which Whitey, Data and Spike traveled with him as passengers.
Griff accidentally smashed the car's nearside taillight with his bat while swinging furiously at Marty McFly.
Whether the BMW could not be started by anyone except Griff, like the Ford Super De Luxe Convertible owned by his Grandpa Biff in 1955, remains unrecorded.
Behind the scenes
In the novelization by Craig Shaw Gardner, Griff's car is described as being "a beat-up old convertible" (quote, page 32), rather than the perfect, futuristic-looking BMW seen on-screen.
Anyone expecting to see in 2015 a futuristic, flying BMW of the make and model featured in Back to the Future Part II is going to be disappointed, as the BMW 633CSi is no longer being produced — something the movie makers obviously did not foresee.
As far as is known, BMW have no plans to produce a flying model in the foreseeable future.
Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I
The Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I is nearly hit by Needles' truck.
"A horn blared up ahead, followed by a squeal of brakes. They [Marty and Jennifer] both looked out the windshield [of Marty's truck] as Needles' truck swerved, barely missing a Rolls-Royce that had started out of a side street." — From Back to the Future Part III by Craig Shaw Gardner (quote, page 210)
"Jeez! I would've hit that Rolls-Royce!" — Marty
History
In the original timeline, on October 27, 1985, Marty McFly was racing Douglas J. Needles in his Toyota Hilux. He collided with a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I that had just pulled out of a side street and broke his hand in the crash, preventing him from ever playing the guitar again.
The owner of the Rolls-Royce pressed charges against Marty for the damage to his vehicle. As a result, Marty gave up on his musical career and spent decades feeling sorry for himself.
When Marty returned from 1885, he and Jennifer Parker encountered Needles and his gang at a red traffic light near the very spot where he would crash his truck.
However, Marty has already learned his lesson, that he should not lose his temper and act recklessly when someone called him "a chicken"; thus, at the last second, while Needles wasn't looking, he put the truck in reverse while Needles raced ahead when the light changed to green, and witnessed the Rolls-Royce nearly hit Needles' Ford F-150.
It was at this moment that Jennifer saw the words "YOU'RE FIRED!!!" disappear from Ito T. Fujitsu's fax to Marty, a copy of which she had taken from the McFly residence in 2015. The dismal events of Marty's future were averted.
A StarCar (on the far left) parked on Second Street in 2015 as a flying Jeep comes in to land.
The StarCar was a futuristic car in 2015.
History
In 2015, a StarCar was parked on Second Street when the flying Jeep landed; and Spike, Data and Whitey chased Marty McFly on hoverboards around Courthouse Square.
Behind the scenes
Star Car in Back to the Future
The StarCar was a fictional car which appeared in the 1984 science-fiction movie The Last Starfighter, and was built by Gene Winfield. The 1963 show car the Strip Star and the Spinner from the 1982 neo-noir science-fiction movie Blade Runner were also built by Winfield; both vehicles appeared in Back to the Future Part II as futuristic cars.
The design of the StarCar was inspired by the DeLorean DMC-12, including its gullwing doors. However, the DeLorean DMC-12 would not become familiar to science-fiction movie fans as Dr. Emmett Brown's DeLorean time machine until the following year.
The current whereabouts of the StarCar is unknown, but it is rumored to now be in France and been repainted red.
The StarCar was built specially for The Last Starfighter, and thus has never entered mass production.
A Texaco tank truck at the Texaco service station was a motor vehicle used by a fuel company to transport and deliver gasoline to service stations.
History
A Ford F-5 tank truck was owned by Texaco, and was present at the Texaco service station in Courthouse Square, Hill Valley on the morning of November 5, 1955, when Marty McFly was watching the attendants at work — indicating there had been a delivery of gasoline.
The tank truck was a small one in Texaco's signature color of bright red, with the Texaco star logo on the doors of the cab and the name TEXACO in large white letters along the sides of the tank.
Behind the scenes
A futuristic, flying Jeep Wrangler YJ lands on Second Street in 2015.
The Jeep Wrangler YJ was a 4X4 car manufactured from 1986 to 1995 by American Motors, who owned the Jeep brand.
History
A futuristic, flying Jeep Wrangler YJ landed on Hill Valley's Second Street on October 21, 2015.
A hoverboarding Marty McFly caught hold of a rope on the back of the car while he was fleeing from Griff Tannen and his gang, in a similar manner to when, while skateboarding in 1985, he had grabbed onto a Jeep CJ-7 in order to get to school.
Behind the scenes
American Motors stopped manufacturing the Jeep Wrangler YJ in 1995, something the movie makers obviously did not foresee.
Actuality
As far as is known, Jeep have no plans to produce a flying model in the foreseeable future.
Pulse
Pulse in BTTF
A Pulse on display during the Universal Studios Backlot tour.
The Pulse was a model of vehicle classified as an "autocycle" — an enclosed motorcycle with two main wheels and two outrigger wheels, one on each side. About 347 Pulse vehicles were produced by the Owosso Motor Car Company from 1985 to 1990.
It was a fairly common model of car by 2015, since at least two of them were in downtown Hill Valley at about the same time. A red Pulse was the first vehicle Marty McFly saw as he exited the alleyway opposite the courthouse, driving along Main Street from right to left. A white Pulse could briefly be seen parked in front of True Blues during the hoverboard chase.[2]
Behind the scenes
Bob Butts of Fantasy Cars leased seven Pulse cars to Universal Studios for the filming. One of them, known as #74, was originally red, but rolled over in an accident and was repainted white. This same car was later used in the films Hologram Man and Lawnmower Man II, and was modified for the television series Seaquest DSV.
O.K this is not a car but it was Griff’s 2nd mode of transport …… The Pit Bull Hoverboard
Pit Bull Hoverboard
" As if to demonstrate the meaning of power, Griff tossed his hoverboard to the ground. And what a hoverboard! It was three times the size of the board Marty was riding, with twin jets in the back, and fins beside, not to mention those spikes all around the edges. In fact, it didn't look much like a skateboard — or hoverboard — at all. It looked, Marty thought, more like a chain-saw. Trapped over the pond, he had plenty of time to read the name of the board, too, written in gold letters on a jet black background: / THE PIT BULL. "
—From Back to the Future Part II by Craig Shaw Gardner (quote, page 45)
"Keep it! I got a Pit Bull now!"
—Little girl to Marty when he attempted to give her back her Mattel hoverboard
The Pit Bull was a model of rocket-powered hoverboard that was used to make extremely fast trips.
History
Unlike most other hoverboards which had to be pushed with one foot on or near the ground, the Pit Bull's two directional rockets provided enough power for travel over water. It also had three tow cables that allowed additional hoverboarders to be towed behind the main unit.
Griff Tannen was a known owner of one, but after his arrest it came into the possession of a little girl, who in turn let Marty McFly keep her Mattel hoverboard.
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Ghostbuster - Ecto 1
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/3/31/ghostbusters-ecto-1
Cars of Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/10/the-cars-of-back-to-the-future-55-
Back to the Future Fashion
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/19/back-to-the-future-fashion-te2yx
Ariel Leader
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/17/ariel-leader
Back to the Future - Hill Valley History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/2/hill-valley-history-jxrr4
Back to the Future Gadgets and Trends we have in 2021
Doc Browns Biography and the History of his DeLorean Time Machine
Marty McFly Biography also featuring Biff, George, Jennifer, Loranine
Back to the Future - Hill Valley History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2021/2/2/hill-valley-history
Back to the Future - Detailed storyline
Back to the Future - How to generate 1.21 Giggawatts / Jiggawatts with Mr Fusion
What is a Fat Bike ? And where did the idea of Fat Bikes come from ?
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The Sinclair C5
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Mini Jeep Mini Review
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/minicoolsterjeepreview
Hoverboards - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/12/13/hoverboards-
How does the Time Machine work - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/how-does-the-time-machine-work
The DeLorean Motor Company - What did it fail ? Or did it ?
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/whydiddeloreanmotorcompanyfail
The DeLorean Motor Company - History
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/2020/11/22/deloreanmotorcompany
The Flux Capacitor - Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/fluxcapacitor
Is Time Travel Possible ? And what would it take ? Back to the Future
https://www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk/blogtothefuture/istimetravelpossible
Back to the Future Fashion
Marty McFly
The clothing and accessories that people wear are a distinctive part of the popular culture. Clothing styles change not only with the time period, but also communicate one's social class and occupation. Those who don't dress appropriately are often viewed as outcasts or rebels, or at the very least, odd and out-of-place, so Marty McFly's clothing proved to be an endless source of embarrassment for him during his adventures, in spite of Dr. Emmett Brown's attempts to be prepared.
They generally had three options when they traveled from one time period to another:
They purchased and changed clothes after arriving in a new time period
They tried to find appropriate clothes for their destination before traveling
They neglected to change clothes and just endured the awkwardness of attracting attention.
Note: Outfits are described here under the time periods the clothing came from, which were not necessarily when they were worn.
Back to the Future Fashion
Outfit 1: Marty McFLY
This Marty McFly outfit is probably the most iconic of them all.
Everything from the vintage wash denim jacket and faded dad jeans, to the orange puffer vest, looks as good now as it did back in ’85.
Trainers
They’re the overwhelmingly popular Nike Killshot 2 which was originally released in the ’80s and saw a surge in interest when it re-released in 2009, and subsequently in 2014 in collaboration with J.Crew.
Marty McFly
Marty McFly
Denim Jacket:
Quilted Vest:
Tennis Sneakers: Nike Killshot 2 (They’re the overwhelmingly popular Nike Killshot 2 which was originally released in the ’80s and saw a surge in interest when it re-released in 2009, and subsequently in 2014 in collaboration with J.Crew)
Aviator Sunglasses: RayBan
Retro Calculator Watch: Casio
Marty
"Life preserver" First day of school in 1955
Marty wore a red and gray jacket (that he took off in the school cafeteria), white shirt with light blue rectangles, brown pants, brown loafers (slip- on shoes), and had hair tonic in his hair.
"Darth Vader"
The day of the skateboard chase – Marty wore the same red and gray jacket, this time with a black shirt with red chain link pattern, brown pants and Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star shoes.
"That zoot suit"
Marty wore a gray wool suit, a white shirt and narrow red tie, that afterwards he called a “zoot suit”. "Get yourself some 50’s clothes ... something inconspicuous!"
—Doc to Marty
Marty in his "inconspicuous" disguise.
"Something inconspicuous"– Marty chose an “inconspicuous” outfit to cover his basic outfit; he added a black felt fedora hat, black leather jacket and dark sunglasses. When Biff confronted Marty, he referred to the outfit as "that stupid disguise".
After getting to Biff's car, Marty took off his sunglasses. At the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, Biff's gang member Match wondered how he changed his clothes so fast. After being knocked down by a door as his other self ran through it, and when Biff stole back the almanac, Marty was forced to abandon the fedora, which had fallen off his head. When taking Doc back to his mansion, Marty put the jacket and Nikes by the fireplace, along with the letter, so they could dry off.
At the Delgado Mine – Marty wore the same clothes as the day of the skateboard chase, and added a tan overcoat.
Marty's 1955 western outfit
"Clint Eastwood never wore anything like this" – Doc prepared Marty to travel to 1885 with a pink and blue shirt with long, yellow fringe running along the chest, back and sleeves, under five embroidered atomic model designs on the front and back of his shoulders, a red bandana around his neck, red corduroy pants, an ornately tooled belt with golden sunburst buckle, white Nike sneakers, and carried along a white cowboy hat and boots that were too tight.
Outfit 2: Biff Tannen
Biff Tannen
Oh Biff — the mild mannered, charismatic antagonist of the Back To The Future trilogy.
Contrasting shirt tie combo, for the pants I tailored wool (herringbone) trousers. And for the shoes, black leather with white soles to complement the shade of the knit tie.
· Bomber Jacket: (alt) Grey
· Charcoal Wool Trousers
· Black Oxford Shirt
· Grey Knit Tie
· Black Minimalist Sneakers
Outfit 3: George McFly
The timid George McFly
George McFly
· Harrington Jacket: ASOS
· Olive Corduroy Pants: Everlane
· Grey Oxford Shirt: Everlane
· Black Frame Eyeglasses: Warby Parker
· Navy Suede Chukka Boots: Thursday Boot Co.
Outfit 4: Emmett Lathrop ‘Doc’ Brown
Doc Brown, the effervescent inventor of the first time machine, built out of a DeLorean sports car.
Often in a state of shock and awe, Doc had some questionable outfits throughout the series.
Doc Brown
Doc Brown
Doc Brown
· Khaki Trucker Jacket: Flint and Tinder (alt)
· Slim Fit Alpha Khaki: Dockers
· Stripe Polo Shirt: Amazon Essentials
· Suede Sneakers: Koio
“…your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has! Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one!”
https://www.gentlemanwithin.com/back-to-the-future-fashion/
The clothing and accessories that people wear are a distinctive part of the popular culture. Clothing styles change not only with the time period, but also communicate one's social class and occupation.
Clothing in 1985
"C'mon, I had to change! You think I’m going back in that-- that zoot suit?"
—Marty
Basic outfit –
Marty McFly
Marty McFly
Marty McFly
During most of his adventures, except when he changed clothes in 1955 and 1885, Marty wore Guess blue jeans with black 3/4" suspenders, a red t-shirt, lavender ("purple") Calvin Klein underpants, and white Nike Bruin shoes with red swoosh and backtab
(no word Nike on them until he visited 1885) with gray socks (changed to white socks when he visited 2015).
School outfit –
Marty McFly at School
From Friday before school through his first day in 1955, Marty added a Guess Marciano two-tone blue denim jacket with an "Art in Revolution" button, a Fender P-Bass pin and a white checked Shah Safara shirt to his basic outfit.
He accessorized this with a Casio CA50W digital watch on his left wrist, a silver Aiwa model HS-P02 Walkman, and mirrored Zeiss aviator sunglasses with a sweatguard in the morning.
"Life preserver" – From the evening at Twin Pines Mall through his first day in 1955, Marty added a dark orange Class-5 bubble down vest to his school outfit.
Tales From Space – Doc gave Marty a yellow full-length radiation suit for protection when loading the plutonium. Due to the similarity of his outfit to that of a space alien on a comic book cover, his outfit scared the Peabody family and an elderly couple driving past Lyon Estates in 1955.
"Darth Vader" – Marty wore the yellow full-body radiation suit, a hair dryer from Doc Brown's suitcase tucked into a belt, and held his Aiwa portable stereo cassette player.
Darth Vader BTTF
Doc Brown
Doc Brown
"Devo outfit" – Doc wore a white full-length radiation suit, over a green print shirt, white undershirt, black pants and orange Nike Vandal high-top shoes. He also had a watch on his left arm, and digital stopwatch on a lanyard around his neck.
Train shirt – While in 2015, Doc changed back to 1985-style clothing, a yellow Hawaiian shirt with a cartoon train pattern and brown cargo pants, expecting to return Marty, Jennifer and Einstein back home right away.
Jennifer "Hey Mom, nice pants" -
Jennifer wears a blue vest over a white shirt and has pink flower pants.
Other distinctive clothing of 1985
§ Dave wore a uniform for his job as a Burger King restaurant server.
§ George owned a suede jacket.
§ Biff wore a green warm-up outfit on Saturday; a purple warm-up outfit on Sunday.
Clothing in 1955
Biff
"Biff" - On Saturday, Biff wore a red short-sleeve pullover shirt.
School - At school, Biff wore blue jeans and a shirt with a checked red and white pattern.
For the rest of the week, Biff wore a grey jacket, a white T- shirt and black pants. He added a black shirt and a white tie for the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
Lorraine
"You’re so ... thin" –
On Saturday, November 5, Lorraine wore a pink and purple plaid dress which had a rounded collar, a matching belt around the waist, and a pink bow at the neck. She also wore white socks.
School –
At school, Lorraine wore a blue blouse with a silver brooch and a purple pencil skirt. She also wore her hair in a bun.
"I think you'd look better wearing nothing at all"
On Saturday, November 12 at Ruth's Frock Shop, Lorraine wore a pink knitted sweater, saddle shoes and a novelty black cotton giraffe-print circle skirt which Biff lifted up to expose her panties once outside the shop.
"Well, lookee what we have here"
At the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, Lorraine wore a pink strapless dress, bought with Babs at Ruth’s Frock Shop, which she covered with a white sweater. When she leaned over in the car, Biff was able to see down the front of her dress.
Doc
On Saturday evening, Doc wore a silver robe with black lapels, white shirt, and white knit tie, and dark pants. During the rest of the week, he wore a long white laboratory coat, and put on a pair of green safety goggles when demonstrating the clock tower model. The following Saturday, as he tried to connect the electrical cable, Doc was wearing shoes with Velcro closures that had not yet been invented,[5] although he might have found them in his future counterpart's suitcase.
Other distinctive clothing of 1955
§ Milton Baines wore a coonskin cap, popularized by Disney’s Davy Crockett films.
Clothing in 2015
"First, you have to get out and change clothes."
—Doc to Marty upon arrival in 2015
Doc in his 2015 yellow coat.
Doc Brown
* Marty in his future son's outfit.
"Marty, you’ve got to come back with me"
Doc appeared in Marty’s driveway wearing a long yellow coat, a red shirt with Japanese symbols (no undershirt), silver wraparound glasses with internal video display, and a plastic transparent necktie.
Train shirt – (See: 1985 Doc Brown)
Marty
"You're the spitting image of your future son" –
* Marty Jr.’s outfit and Marty’s disguise consisted of an auto-adjusting and auto-drying jacket (though Marty Jr.'s jacket was broken on the left sleeve), blue jeans worn inside-out (Marty only turned his pockets out), white socks, white Nike MAG power-lacing shoes and a color-shifting lenticular baseball cap.
Marty Jr. wore a white t-shirt with a logo featuring a plus and minus sign. 47-year-old Marty wore a brown business suit over a light brown shirt and brown and yellow multiple ties with rising sun motifs.
Biff
Biff's outfit consisted of a red quarter zip sweatshirt and black, white and green plaid pants.
Griff
Biff Tannen
Griff's outfit consisted of a helmet with sharp metal spikes, a black-ribbed light green jacket over a black chainmail shirt, black pants and black boots adorned with a sharp metallic rhinoceros-like horn.
Marlene
Other distinctive clothing of 2015
§ Multiple ties worn by Terry, Goldie Wilson III and Marty Sr.
Clothing in 1985A
Lorraine
Lorraine 2015
Lorraine Baines McFly, aged 47, in 1985A clothing and breast implants.
"You’re so ... big" – Lorraine Baines McFly wore a black, belted pant suit with patterns of multicolored dots, and high heeled shoes. The blouse had a low neckline revealing her breast implants.
Biff
Although Biff was fabulously wealthy as a result of his cheating with the almanac in 1985A, his sense of dress was still tacky as the Biff of the original timeline. His outfits were gaudy and ugly, with gold chains and bright blue blazers, giving him the appearance of a lounge lizard. After coming out of the hot tub, Biff wore a blue bathing robe over black swim shorts.
Other distinctive clothing of 1985A
§ Biff's bodyguard Match wore a white cowboy hat.
§ Biff's goon 3-D no longer wore his nominal 3-D glasses as the 3-D movies fad had long since faded by 1985. However, unable to part with the nickname, he wore aviator sunglasses which he had custom made, the left lens to be red and the right lens to be blue.
Clothing in 1885
"You can’t wear those futuristic things in 1885. You shouldn’t even be wearing them in 1955."
—Doc Brown at the Pohatchee Drive-in
Marty
"Clint Eastwood never wore anything like this" – (See: 1955 Marty)
Marty's 1955 western outfit plus hat.
"You sure look like Seamus McFly" – Same as "Clint Eastwood never wore anything like this" (see: 1955 Marty), with a straw derby hat[6]
"Some respectable clothes and a fine hat" – Most of the week, Marty wore a long, blue workshirt, brown jeans, and a brown sarape over long underwear, with a brown flat-topped hat, and boots.[7] The outfit was very similar to the one Marty saw Clint Eastwood wearing in A Fistful of Dollars.
"Go ahead, make my day" – One morning, Marty woke up wearing his long underwear with a half-fastened drop seat, and put on his hat and gun belt to practice in front of the mirror.
Behind the scenes
1955
Bob Gale said that costume designer Deborah Scott found nearly all the clothing for the film in the studio’s wardrobe department; they didn’t have the budget for her to make many original items.[8]
Lea Thompson found the pink dress uncomfortable to wear and even more uncomfortable to dance in, and would walk around the set in the 1950s corset bra and crinoline underskirt to avoid wearing the dress, and once even shocked her mother when she visited her on the set. But despite that, she still hung on to one exemplar of the dress that was given to her, and helped out with the filming of the second movie when the original dress had been lost, and she provided it herself.[9]
The black fedora Marty wore as apart of his 'something inconspicuous' disguise was made by the Stetson hat company, especially for Michael J. Fox.[10]
2015
Costume designer Joanna Johnston said she was terrified at the prospect of designing the clothing of the future, making costumes for the cast and 150 extras from scratch, since Bob’s concept did not have a basis in anyone else’s work. For a future society in which men and women are truly equal, the clothing styles would exaggerate the difference between the sexes. She decided to use a very wide variety of fabrics in bright "but not fluorescent" colors.[11]
1885
Costume designer Joanna Johnston was already familiar with the clothing for the period, having worked on the movie Tess, but found that most of costumes that were made for the Westerns of the '40s, '50s and '60s lacked the authenticity she was looking for. After further research, she created clothing for the main characters and as many as 500 extras based on the original clothing patterns she found.[12]
Back to the Future is being cited as a key fashion inspiration, it will come as no surprise to any fans of the film or, indeed, of fashion.
So much so, in fact, that Eastpak is reissuing the original rucksack Marty travelled through time with this season, sold exclusively at Selfridges (although if you have a DeLorean, you are advised to time-travel and buy one of the 80s originals, as Eastpak is certainly not selling them now at 80s prices).
Marty rocking double denim and high-tops
Marty himself has been something of a hipster template for a while now: the double denim, the checked shirt, the high-tops. If only Marty had arrived in east London 2014 as opposed to Hill Valley 1955 (and, later, 2015 and 1885), he would have fit right in and instantly sparked a sleeveless parka revival.
As for the other characters,
Lorraine Baines (later McFly, then Tannen) has, waist up, a proper Alexa Chung look going on, with her Peter Pan collars and demure little jumpers.
Biff Tannen's sports jackets are definitely in style, for men and women, while George McFly's thick-rimmed glasses have been a fashion staple since the dawn of time (maybe alittle exaggeration there)
As for what Back to the Future fashion pieces the biggest vote has to be for Lorraine's wacky 1955 hairstyle, in which her hair zigzags across her forehead
And honestly? Yeah. The clothing is superb. It doesn’t feel costume-y or try hard like The Great Gatsby or Gangster Squad; in BTTF, the period looks are natural yet interesting, feeling cool but dated.
As this film was made in the 80s, that the period they were parodying (1950s) wasn’t that historical. It was like (literally) looking at pictures your parents wore and checking local thrift stores for clothing ideas.
This all probably contributes to why Hill Valley in 1955 feels real and not filled with some wise-cracking gangster with a down-on-his-luck shoeshine kid.
Clearly, there is a huge difference between menswear in 1955 and 1985, but there are just things that make the 1950’s stand out when compared to other eras, but the 1950’s was a remarkably different than the 1940s.
In this post war time, you had the first inklings of true casual style. Instead of sportcoats as sportswear, you had dedicated garments like Hollywood jackets.
Shortjackets with point collars and bomber styles were extremely popular to wear when you were off work or just a youth.
Jeans and converse were the new go-to for casual pant/shoes, though a few still wore pleated
Hollywood waist gab slacks and derbies. And let’s not forget the explosion of prints (tiki and atomic) and tone-on-tone variations that made sportshirts truly “sporty”.
People today call it the Bold Look for tailoring (due to the heavy shoulder pads and dropped button stance) and Rockabilly for casual style. Either way, it’s pretty cool.
Good examples of the fun casual shirts in the 1950s.
Short jackets of all kinds were common, this time done with fun details.
Great shirts and an epic trouser to boot.
Ties in the 1950’s were more about abstract vertical designs. Some were slim, others were wide.
Leisuire jackets were all the rage.
BTTF gets all of this right, presumably by the use of true vintage (since the patterns and designs are really specific) as according to the wiki, they only used whatever was in Universal’s costume warehouse.
However, warehouses could definitely still make good reproductions! We’ll never know what is true vintage or not, but I’m leaning on the use of true vintage pieces since would only be 30 years old and wouldn’t be hard to source and get in decent condition.
Marty McFly
We all know Marty McFly’s epic 1985 look. Denim jacket on slim high waisted jeans, with a solid colored crewneck under a button up shirt; we also can’t forget the life preserver and white/red Nike Bruin sneakers. It’s a classic outfit that isn’t actually out of place today, since you could wear it at a Halloween costume or as a generic dude in LA (maybe lose one of the layers though).
That period paved the way for “non-traditional” garment mixing that ushered in the current way we approach casual style. Since this is only 15 years from the period of overalls with oxfords or puffers and military chinos, it’s no surprise that wanna-be rocker Marty McFly would also wear something as weird.
However, as we saw in the movie, he stuck out like a sore thumb when he was accidentally sent back in time to 1955. Luckily with a rich heir like Doc Brown as a friend, Marty is able to get some period accurate clothes and fit into this iteration of Hill Valley.
Marty’s first look for a new day in 1955 is a damn good one: every piece is so great. Firstly we can see the two-tone leather-gab jacket with a point collar. Two-tone jackets were popular as youth novelty wear. I’m pretty sure the one in the film is a reproduction, but if you found that as vintage it would be worth a lot.
Underneath the jacket, Marty has a block motif sportshirt that he’s rolled up his sleeves a la James Dean. Patterns like this are what make this era’s shirts so much fun.
He has white socks and penny loafers!
With the shirt, he finishes this perfect 1950’s casual-youth outfit with (presumably) pleated hollywood waist slacks that seem to be made of some silk or rayon blend. providing crunchy/shiny texture that fits in with the era’s obsession with patterns and atomic themes.
Overall, it’s a great uniform to do: sportshirt + high rise trousers + casual jacket. Marty wears the look well, with everything fitting perfectly. In fact, this vibe not only informs some of the looks you can see at Inspiration LA It may not be atomic or tiki, but alohas are certainly in full force in today’s spring/summer. Even the thin belts are coming back.
They need to make prints like this again!
When Marty gets into the epic skateboard chase, he retains the two-tone jacket but brings in a new shirt and pant combo. The shirt, now a red/blue piece with a wild diagonal stripe mixed with oversized squares is an EPIC one. Its a bold pattern, which again makes the 1950’s unique in it’s choice of casual patterns. It just has that retro appeal that I think would look great under a sportcoat, if there were just makers that had it (since a true vintage one would no doubt be expensive).
Note here that he’s now wearing some straight cut blue jeans. It’s different than his slightly acid-washed ones from the 80s, mainly in how it drapes. They’re not overly wide, but moderate, ending with a cuff. They look how I want my jeans to fit with proper drape. Again, Marty kills it.
At some point, Marty swapped his Corteze with black converse. Looks very 50’s when worn with cuffed blue jeans.
Another fun gab sportshirt that is worn untucked with a white undershirt base layer.
Note the two-tone coloring. Very 50’s.
His last major 50’s look is a sportcoat-trouser combo, worn to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. We don’t really get a good look at the full cut or details, so we’re left wondering if this is a true 50’s jacket (or designed like it) or something from the 1980s that they tried to pass off.
The choice of odd trouser, a charcoal grey fleck Again, this was a time of exploring fabrics and cuts in the realm of tailoring, and while illustrations may keep everything clean, photographs from the era showed that the youth always had a mishmash of things. It’s probably because they didn’t have dozens of trousers to begin with.
The wide cut may be inspired by the zoot suit (Marty does reference it in the film, but zoot suits were more of a 40s thing IIRC), but he rocks it all the same.
Since you get to see it in full force (along with white socks and black two-tone derbies) while he’s playing the guitar, perhaps it’s his way of exuding that rebellious rocker chic in 1955. He certainly stood out amongst the crowd!
Doc Brown
We don’t really get to see much of Doc Brown’s attire until Marty goes to visit him in 1955; Doc is just in a white jumpsuit in the Lone Pine Mall.
When Marty visits him, Doc seems to wearing a variation on what we’d expect a well-to-do heir would wear at home. A pink shirt (the 1950’s loved color, if you couldn’t already tell) and a white single stripe tie are fun nods to the fact that he’s an adult, but you get the affluent charm with an epic silver dressing gown.
With a scale-esque texture and it’s moderate black satin peak lapels (echoed by the pocket piping), it definitely has that post-war fun vibe.
When Doc goes with Marty to Hill Valley High to check out Marty’s parents, Doc has on a very typical “casual man” outfit. The tiki shirt is a no brainer at this point, but note the cool gab jacket he has on.
It’s definitely some form of leisure jacket with modest lapels, patch pockets, and a fun little monogram on the patch. Jackets like this were casual but they clearly took after the classic sportcoat design; it looks smarter than simply wearing a leather jacket or gab short jacket.
Also take note of his straw fedora (I don’t think it’s technically a panama hat). Instead of the traditional black band, he instead has an abstract design as a ribbon, which was a common trend in the 1940s-1960s for straw hats. It also just makes the hat much more casual, which is one of the reasons why it’s hard to wear fedora-type hats often.
Flecked trousers. The 1950s loved fleck.
A checked asymmetrical sportshirt with a yolked pocket flap.
Look at Doc’s weird shirt! Super cool and novelty style that was popular in the late 40s-50s. Finding one today would be rare and expensive.
Doc Brown’s last outfit in 1955 is hard to make out, as he wears an balmaccan style rain coat for the climax, but his polo-style shirt deserves some recognition. Like so many other pieces we’ve seen, the shirt features a fun print, consisting of red and black squiggles.
The shirt has a contrast collar/placket and cuffs, which again fits in with many of the stylistic choices of the era. I’m not sure if I would wear it today, but more brands should definitely take a page out of the era and make something “new”!
Marty’s dad, at least this version of him, dresses like a dweeb because he is a dweeb. It’s supposed to be 1985, where RL and other mall clothes are in full swing, and yet he dresses like a caricature of a 1960’s accountant.
Short sleeve shirt, repp tie, pen pockets, and browline glasses, all contribute to it. I mean I’ve worn socks and shorts together, but I don’t think it looked this bad.
I mean, it makes sense since the film is portraying George as someone who is unlucky, who gets bullied, and gathers no respect.
A flecked short jacket.
In 1955, George McFly actually dresses pretty decently! He’s not exactly sticking out like a nerdy sore-thumb. Like Marty, he wears a few different sportshirts and short jackets, though in comparison, they’re much more plain. George could also benefit with a better fit, but it’s not terrible. At least in most cases.
What George does make a habit of doing is wearing his sportshirts fastened all the way to the top. Now this was done back in the day, but based on photos and illustrations, sport collars were definitely best worn open.
It’s a nerd thing to do that came back in the mid 2010s as the “air tie” and always results in the wearer looking “closed up”. And since George is a nervous guy with no friends or confidence, it works perfectly.
I like the checked cloth and red buttons.
In one scene, George actually wears a two-tone Hollywood Jacket! Like with Doc’s ivory jacket, these are meant to be a casual-yet-tailored approach to casual wear. You’ll see that the cut and design are similar to a chore coat’s, just with shoulder pads and “formal” cloth.
George’s brown gab short jacket has shoulder pads and is a size or two too big for him. Also see how he’s got his shirt buttoned all the way up.
An interesting cotton short jacket with a wider collar and hand warmer pockets. Very cool.
George goes all out for the dance, mainly because it’s his big moment to “save” Lorraine. A white dinner jacket and black tie is hard not to separate from James Bond (or Casablanca), and its actually the first time George wears something that fits him well. It’s still in the 1950’s aesthetic, so he has padded square shoulders, a low button stance, and closed quarters.
When we return to good ol’ modified 1985, accounting-nerd George has been replaced by a true chad version. There are no short sleeve shirts and browline shades here. Instead, he has a very 80s biz-caz outfit consisting of a moleskin blazer, vibrant red polo, and pleated slacks. It’s not bold, but since this is a “normal” outfit, it contrasts against George’s first appearance.I also love the aviators for max 80s cool.
Biff Tannen
Biff. When we first see him, his commandingly bold 70’s outfit just screams like a guy who peaked in high school and still bullies others. Which is definitely true.
It’s such a weird look that actually has some prep vibes to it, mainly with the use of a navy brass button blazer and plaid odd trousers; I think I may even see a white braided belt.
1985 Biff actually dresses rather “normal” for the era, though he stands out for his boisterous character and sheer Kingpin-like aura.
It’s all just sportshirts, white crewneck tees, and jeans, nothing to write home about. but with it just being done with jeans and sneakers, it feels boring, mainly because its an easy way to do a 1950s look. It’s easy to replicate, but don’t forget that a sportcollar makes a world of difference; a regular standing collar wouldn’t achieve the same effect.
I guess the point is that Biff is just a regular old bully, contrasting against George’s plain looks that utilize jackets and Marty’s much more interesting take on the era.
Biff’s jacket of choice is a bomber style one that has black contrasting collar and cuffs. Can’t you see how popular two-tone clothing was in those days? Like Marty’s leather jacket, this one also ends around the waist, but instead of it just being a plain bomber design, Biff’s jacket has decorative front pleating. Don’t ask why, it’s just for show.
Like with the shirt patterns, I wish we also had more vintage-inspired jackets like this!
A black shirt and bold tie? I guess stereotypical prom style was a thing even in 1955.
Others
Strickland has a bowtie and suit, but if you look closely, the suit is very 80s with wide shoulders, open notch and low buttoning point.
In 1955, he has a suit that clearly has more weight and features a fun shadow stripe, a common thing for vintage suits.
Ivy style isn’t really in the film other than the committee deciding on the band. 80s ivy is just like 70s ivy tbh: just a more exaggerated and bold version of 60s ivy.
Goldie Wilson also wears a bar motif sportshirt, though with the wide collar, it might be from the 40’s. That makes sense, since he might not have access to current fashions.
Lorraine’s dad wears a car coat (an overcoat with a shorter length). He has a fedora, which gives him an “adult” look. Not sure if the trouser fit is right though.
As can be expected, Lorraine’s dad has a gab sportshirt. The shorter collar points and higher buttoning point is period accurate to the 1950s.
So much great stuff here, from the faded, cuffed denim and saddle shoes to the absolutely epic novelty knitwear. I’m very glad that the youth have a variety of style!
Striped shirts are what kids wore back then, not flat caps, plus-fours, and suspenders.
Biff’s gang all have variations on casual style. Is that a knit tee I see? Wish we could see the ribbing!
More variety in style here and it all looks period. Love the kid’s pastel blue pleated pants, the red sweater, and what I think is a Cub Scout uniform. Check out that tiny brimmed hat!
Marvin Berry and the Starlighters all wear 50’s silk dinner jackets with their quintessential square shoulders and low button stance. Instead of bowties, they have matching continental bow ties.
Great short jacket.
Conclusion
BTTF is a great example of a movie that makes 1950’s clothing seem accessible and easy. There isn’t a big focus on tailoring, which probably makes it much more palatable. Instead, we see casual 50’s, rockabilly-esque style, which informs a lot of the heritage-Americana that is so easy for guys to wear. Sportshirts and cuffed jeans should get you through the most of it.
The real way to make it interesting is by checking out how Marty does it. Instead of plain shirts, he wore fun patterns that made his attire stand out among the others. It might be vintage and dated, but I certainly love the personality they bring to an outfit, especially since today you can refine it by wearing with loafers or a sportcoat instead of on its own.
Bonus points for those epic two-tone jackets (or leather jackets in general). I’m not sure if the world is ready for the return of hollywood jackets, but after the rise of chore coats and safaris, maybe there’s room for it.
Overall, I think a lot of guys who are searching for a more interesting way to dress can take some cues from this. BTTF did a great job and since it didn’t go too crazy (note the lack of flat caps, which if included would just be inaccurate), it comes off as classic and actually wearable.
I love this movie and I hope you enjoyed this dive into the costuming
Always a pleasure,
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References
1. ↑ http://www.bttf.com/forums BTTF.com Message Board
2. ↑ http://www.bttf.com/forums BTTF.com Message Board
3. ↑ http://www.bttf.com/forums/topic.php?tp=38901-I+FOUND+IT%21+This+is+like+finding+the+holy+grail...+I+have+found+the+Marty+McFLy+Vest%21%21%21#
4. ↑ BTTF III novel, p. 38, 39
5. ↑ Velcro 50th Anniversary : Timeline, see "1985".
6. ↑ BTTF III novel, p. 73
7. ↑ BTTF III novel, p. 98, p. 205
8. ↑ Feature Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton, Part I, at about 1:10.
9. ↑ Gaines, Caseen, We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future trilogy, p. unknown
10. ↑ http://www.icollector.com/Back-To-The-Future-2-Marty-s-Something-Inconspicuous-Fedora-Michael-J-Fox_i20788290
11. ↑ Klastorin, Michael, and Sally Hibbin, Back to the Future: The Official Book of the Complete Movie Trilogy, p. 71-72.
12. ↑ Klastorin, Michael, and Sally Hibbin, Back to the Future: The Official Book of the Complete Movie Trilogy, p. 60-61.
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