You undoubtedly recognized Timothée Chalamet, but did you also recognize Bob Dylan? For the past few weeks, the French-American actor has been playing the folk legend on the set of A Complete Unknown in New York. Directed by New Yorker filmmaker James Mangold and adapted from Elijah Wald's Dylan Goes Electric!, the biopic focuses on Dylan's early career and his electric phase, extremely resented by folk purists, in the second half of the 1960s.
Chalamet was seen decked out in a brown calfskin jacket similar to the one the singer wore on the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album, released in 1963. This leads to a lexical quiz. What is calfskin? The term refers to a piece of leather used on its flesh side, in other words, the hide's inner surface. In other words, leather is used inside out. So it's entirely distinct from suede? Not really, no. While the word "suede" is used to designate this type of material, it doesn't refer to anything tangible, as it's been a long time since suede was hunted for clothing.
Like Dylan on the cover of The Freewheelin', Chalamet was also wearing a pair of Levi's 501 jeans on April 29, complete with their emblematic stitching on the back pockets. Called "arcuate" (curved like a bow in Latin), these were introduced in 1943 by the American brand to set its jeans apart from the competition, and have never disappeared since, except for a few months in 1944 when, to contribute to the war effort and reduce the use of thread, the brand gave up its double topstitching, temporarily replacing them with two identical but painted curves.
Let's continue our investigation with a look at the boots. They're a good opportunity to issue a reminder that will come in handy if you are French and ever plan to go shopping in the US. Don't ask for a pair of "santiags," even in a specialized store: No one would understand you. In fact, the French are the only ones in the world to use the word "santiag," a reference to the name of the importer of the first boots of this kind in France in the 1960s... In the US, and everywhere else, just say cowboy boots.
Lastly, let's take a look at this New York yellow cab. One simple question: Why yellow? Simply because in 1908, New York entrepreneur Albert Rockwell (1862-1925) was looking for the most conspicuous and striking color for his brand-new cab company. Orange? Green? Violet? His wife finally settled on yellow, her favorite color.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.