How to dress like a mob wife - according to Lorraine Bracco

 “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” It's been 30 years since these immortal words marked the arrival of Martin Scorsese's sprawling crime epic GoodFellas. Based on a true-crime novel by journalist Nicholas Pileggi, Scorsese's film follows the life of notorious gangster Henry Hill, from his childhood as a mafia errand boy skipping school in the Bronx in the 50s, all the way through his time at the mob's top table in the 60s, pulling off anything from truck hijacks to elaborate heists worth millions, to his coke-addicted decline in the 80s. 

One of the joys of GoodFellas is seeing how fashion changes over time, and who could document this better than the notoriously meticulous Martin Scorsese. To celebrate this, Dazed and Confused spoke to lead actress Lorraine Bracco, who starred in the film as Henry Hill's long-suffering wife Karen, about leather jackets, blue jeans, and the importance of family.

GO HELL FOR LEATHER

“Martin Scorsese, (costume designer) Richard Bruno and myself found the blue dress you first see Karen in, and we liked how youthful it was, which was important for the character. In the next scene, when Karen confronts Henry for standing her up, her dress is a really hot pink. We wanted her to stand out, so her dress had to be as hot as the scene. We went through lots of different looks and, for the later scenes in the early 1980s, I remember really pushing for leather. Karen was dealing drugs and she was into a lot of mischief, and I thought a black leather outfit would make a lot of sense for her character. She wasn't the same lovely little girl anymore.”

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