Summer Outfit Inspo from Top Gun
Plus an interview with a Navy Insider
I watched Maverick on my flight home from my recent week in the New Hampshire woods. And by “watched” I mean literally watched the movie without sound on the tiny screen on the seat back in front of me. I know that the flight attendants give out the headphones that actually work when you plug them into your armrest but this is altogether too much tech for me. If I wanted to listen to Maverick I would have had to put on my reading glasses to find the little hole to put the United headphones into. In an effort to do this, I would have likely dropped my iphone which I wedge between my thigh and the armrest so that my wired iphone headphones remain connected to my ears at all times. This is because flying makes me anxious and I can’t get distracted by talking to people during a flight because I am focused on keeping the plane in the air. If I am forced to wriggle around to find out where to plug in the United issued headphones, my phone will likely fall out of my seat and the whole system falls apart. I also know that I can buy an adaptor thingamajig to make my headphones work in the airline jack and that there are these things called airpods which are wire free but neither works for me. Besides, who needs actual dialogue when watching hunky beefcake fighter pilots play football on the beach.
Which led to the following interview with my husband, a Navy veteran, the moment I got home from the airport. Prince that he is, he had waited up for me but was in bed, ready for lights out, the moment I got home.
Me: “When you were in the Navy, did you ever encounter a pilot who looked like Tom Cruise or Val Kilmer?”
STF*: Dramatic sigh and eye roll. “You know I wasn’t a pilot, right?”
Me: “Right, but you worked with pilots…”
STF: “Sure.”
Me: “And were the pilots, you know, hotter than the other …..do you call them seamen or sailors?”
STF: “Yes, they were better looking.”
Me: “Really?! All of them were? Every single one?”
STF: Rolls over. “Probably.”
Me: “Because their jobs required a higher level of fitness or what?”
STF: Double checking that his alarm is set on his iphone. “I don’t know why but I can tell you they had big egos and big personalities and they were really intense and generally better looking than the rest of us.”
Me: “Were there ever big rivalries like Maverick and Iceman or that’s just in the movies and in real life everyone knows they are on the same team?”
STF: Turns off the bedside lamp and closes his eyes. “Big egos, lots of trash talk. lots of competition. Can we go to sleep now? I was waiting for you to get home from the airport and I really need to go to sleep.”
It’s 11pm on a weeknight and pitch black in our room but my mind is still swirling from the movie and I have so many more questions that I can’t believe I haven’t bothered to ask him before.
Me: “Speaking of competition, was there a lot of football playing on the beach when you were not on the ship?”
STF: Sigh, rolls over again, opens one eye. “Sure, we played football, soccer, whatever, on the beach”
Me: “And did you ever do it in jeans? In the movie, they were all in jeans without shirts which seemed odd because obviously it was hot outside.”
STF: “No, we wore bathing suits like everyone else on the beach. Goodnight”
Me: “How about the singing in the bar to women? Did that ever happen?”
STF: “Lots of hitting on girls in bars, yes.”
Me: “And did you ever get to take a ride on a fighter jet?”
STF: “Again, you know I wasn’t a pilot, right?”
Me: “Yes, but did you ever get to, you know, just go for a ride?”
STF: “There’s no “going for a ride” on a fighter jet.”
Me: “Okay but did you ever get to see the plane up close or sit in the cockpit?”
STF: “Yes I got to sit in the cockpit once.”
Me: “Was it badass?”
STF: “Yes, and small.”
Me: “So when you say the pilots were better looking, was it like Maverick and Iceman better looking?”
STF: “Goodnight.”
Me: “What would your callsign have been?”
STF: “My call sign would have been goodnight.”
Me: “Did they all wear aviator sunglasses like in the movie?”
Silence.
Me: “Do you still have your uniform? The white one?”
Still silence.
In addition to naval aviators, the movie made me think about Meg Ryan’s pretty sun kissed California vibe in Top Gun, as well as the looks Kelly McGillis turned out. Let’s imagine how we might manifest these looks this summer, shall we?
Look 1: Take me to bed or lose me forever.
The golden tan, the bleach blonde short curly hair, and a strapless plaid dress. I’ll bet she smells like Bobbi Brown beach perfume. No necklace. No notes.
Dress (sadly sold out in most sizes), vintage Celine sunnies, old Zara sandals (similar), perfume, sunny legs (odd product but IT WORKS), ring
More plaid dresses here, here, and here .
To really pull off this look you will need an expensive colorist or a bottle of this.
Look 2: Crash and burn in the ladies room
Arguably one of the most famous scenes in the movie. Here we have our hero, the cocky naval aviator, hitting on the stunning Charlie who is on a date with another man. Her hair, her confidence, and her full blown dismissal of Maverick is so fun to watch. The Cartier Panthere flex? Perfection.
I have tried and failed to get my hair to look like Charlie’s and Meg Ryan’s (her name is Carole in the movie but I have no recollection of that, so Meg it is) since seeing the movie in the theater in 1986. I look like this when my hair is short and curly:
Hair aside, let’s try to pull together the classic polo and jeans look with natural makeup and pink flushed glowy skin. Yes, I know she uses lipstick in the movie in the day, but don’t you think Charlie would be a Jones Road girl in modern times? Or would she wear Chanel lipstick? Or Tom Ford? I’m truly stumped on this one.
L.L. Bean polo , J.Crew sweater, Mother jeans, Tibi sandals (love love the burgundy with the pink and white combo that is at risk of leaning too preppy), Jones Road miracle balm in flushed, Cartier watch (look for less here and my favorite gold watch, here)
Certainly I am not the first or the last to write about the iconic style in these films. If you can’t get enough, read more here, here, here, and here.
Speaking of breathtakingly handsome sailors, I was so wound up by the Top Gun/Maverick images that I poured over while “researching” this “newsletter” that I talked STF into trying on his old Navy uniform. The look was not unlike the time I ordered a pair of Spanx one size smaller than I needed thinking it would make me an additional size smaller. After wriggling into his decades old uniform, STF immediately began to sweat and dare I say panic that he would need to be cut out of the head to toe polyester matching set. Still, he did take a moment to declare the try-on a win, saying:
“I can’t believe it still fits!”
His uniform also fits our size 2 youngest daughter.
Now get out there and toss the football around in your jeans.
Thanks for reading!
XOXO,
Tara
*STF is my husband. His name is Steve, but at home our kids and I refer to him as Steven The Fabulous with an emphasis on “fabulous” because when his mother comes to visit, it sounds like this, “Oh, Steven the house looks just fabulous. Steven, this roast chicken is fabulous. Girls, you are so lucky to have such a fabulous cook in the house.” He is her only son.
Thank you, this is really fun! It does seem weird to have them playing football in jeans. I love the plaids, especially the ones at the last link!