1980s Costume Idea for Men – Sonny Crockett




Here’s an costume idea for men from the 1980s that’s suitable for Halloween, costume or theme parties. Miami Vice was an iconic, and influential, television show from the Eighties that was set in Miami, that drew heavily from the New Wave culture and music of the period.

The two main protagonists in the series were detectives working for the Metro-Dade Police Department (nowadays the Miami-Dade) who usually worked undercover. Both work as Vice Cops for the police department, which is why undercover work was such a large part of their job.

Detective James “Sonny” Crockett, played by the actor Don Johnson, was one of the two cops, his partner being former NYPD and now Metro-Dade detective, Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs. Sonny’s undercover alias was usually that of Sonny Burnett, and was that of a drug dealer. Consequently, Sonny’s lifestyle often appeared to be quite high to maintain the image of a successful drug dealer. This including driving expensive, and fast, cars. Two notable ones were a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4 (this was actually a kit car, which was destroyed after Ferrari complained) and a 1986 Ferrari Testarossa (a genuine car; two were donated by Ferrari).

As well as being influenced by the fashions of the day, Sonny Crockett’s costume also influenced them back. Sonny’s clothes were generally Italian inspired and popularised Italian fashion in the United States. Although the clothes worn did change a bit, they were all fairly similar, in generally light or pastel colours.



The Head

Being Miami and it being sunny a lot of the time, sunglasses – preferably Ray-Ban Wayfarers (Model L2052, Mock Tortoise, were a type used, but these may well be collectable by now, so not really suited for a costume) – are a useful accessory here. The hair is long, reaching to about the neck, but slicked back from the face. Crockett also had a permanent five o’clock shadow, so a bit of stubble is needed – this is easiest to do by not shaving.

The Body

Sonny Crockett wore an Italian sport coat with a T-shirt underneath. The sport coat can be an Armani suit jacket – or a similar but cheaper jacket. The jackets come in a number of pastel shades, with colours such as peach, fuscia, pink, blue and green being in the approved colours list. The T-shirt worn underneath would normally be a contrasting, colour, darker colours for the lighter jackets and lighter colours for the darker ones.

The trousers, or pants, would be linen and usually white.

The Feet

Sonny didn’t wear socks on his feet but did wear shoes, which were men’s loafers.

The Accessories

The main, true accessory, would be one of the Ferraris, but this is unlikely to be possible. The other accessories, representing Sonny’s job with the police, would be a detective’s shield and a gun. A special shoulder rig, which would be worn under the jacket, was made for the character of Crockett, called the Galco “Miami Classic” but any shoulder rig should do. Sonny had a couple of main handguns during the series, both steel framed semi-automatics, so any suitable large, steel replica gun will suffice.

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