Go ahead and come on around.
Okay.
Yeah.
You will probably need to wear them just slightly higher than you are used to wearing them,
because men wore stuff at their waist.
Back in the day they wore them at their waist.
Okay, she's going to have to decide if she wants to shorten those.
Mm okay. I shortened the waist. I think we're kind of in the ballpark.
Do we want to shorten it?
When he bends his knee, he actually needs that girth.
–Go ahead and bend your knees for us please.
Yeah, he needs the girth definitely.
Yeah, with his shoes on it's 39.
–Is this right? is this where it should be?
–The objective of this project is really to recreate this famous tracksuit that Bruce
Lee wore in the 1971 TV show, Longstreet.
Thankfully, we have body measurements from him because he was such a meticulous documenter
of his own physical progress.
We had to then find a fit model, who was as close to Bruce Lee's measurements as possible,
which was not that easy of a feat.
–Okay, so we know this is coming in.
What about on his forearm?
I think we're okay on that forearm.
–I do, too.
–Alright, cool.
–I want to do an extended chest here again, you guys.
Yeah, 39.
–Boom.
–Okay, good.
Very good.
The fabric took more work than just about anything I would say.
Because this was the 70s, or late 60s, the fabric that they would use then, we can't
get anymore.
This is a representative, a representation of a knit fabric, it's probably a bit heavier
than those were at that time, it's got a little bit different stretch, but it reads like this.
And that's the whole thing.
Making it look so that it reads, when the person looks at it, "Oh, that's that burgundy
tracksuit."
And that was the whole beginning, too, of all the Adidas and Reebok, all those companies
getting going with their stripes and you know, being athletic.
So as long as it reads to your eye when you see it that that's what this is, then we've
done our job.
–Maria?
You cut this elastic at 29, right?
Okay, we need to take about two inches off.
In a short amount of time, that man died when he was 32, he opened so many doors for Asian
people and introduced martial arts to the United States and the world really.
He brought it out of its closed community and gave it to the world.
He did so much with so little.
And when you see him on the screen, he is just fluid motion and action.
He's larger than life.
Plus, he's just cool.
Bruce Lee is just cool.
Why is this tracksuit different from every other tracksuit known to man?
The most significant thing is the stirrup and the zipper on the side.
The stirrup definitely, because he's doing so much action.
That'll hold the pant in place.
And the fact that he's got the zipper on the side means he can get in and out of it quickly.
So those little details are specific to his needs as an actor and as an artist.
That's what makes it a Bruce Lee tracksuit.
I got reference photos, I got some rudimentary measurements, I had sample garments that I
could get more information off from, and I was given fabric and trim.
That was the package I got.
This is a shirt that was most likely custom made for Bruce Lee.
It has his initials and it's got Lee stamped in the back.
But more importantly, there are little minute details on this shirt that say to me that
this was custom made by someone.
This wasn't manufactured in a facility.
We don't really think about it because he's up on the big screen, so what you're seeing
is a huge blown up image, plus his own personality and charisma made him seem larger than life.
But in real life, he's actually a tiny guy.
He's only 5' 7", I'm 5' 6" - so he was probably about an inch taller than me and he was very
slight.
His build was very muscular, he has very rounded shoulders, he has very...he's kind of a V-shape,
his rib cage and his shoulders are large compared to his very tiny waist.
His waist is 29".
We also were given this pair of Levi's Strauss, so these are definitely manufactured, the
label is still in them.
But like Sharon was saying, they were probably tailored. And we also got this fine pair of
pants.
Now this is also manufactured, this was one of his favorite pairs of pants and this is
a fine piece of 70s, 70s clothing here.
Now, I didn't use these to make a pattern because it has very specialized seams.
It's got saddleback seams, it's got seams cutting here, the legs are really wide.
This isn't a good garment for me to tear apart to make a tracksuit.
So I went with the Levi's, which were, its got an inseam and an outseam.
The leg is fairly tapered, so I get a better idea of what his leg is like, so that's what
I used.
The reference images, that's the blueprint.
That tells me what I'm making.
This is a good reference photo for the overall design.
It shows me front, it gives me a three-quarter view so I can see this detail in the sleeve.
It's a good starting point.
This one's good because it gives me collar front detail, and I can also see just very
faintly that there's a raglan sleeve line.
This is another good one, I can definitely see my raglan sleeve line here.
I can get an idea of the length of the collar.
I've got a good shot at the cuff.
This is an excellent reference photo because it shows me that he has a zipper on the side.
It also shows me that he's got stirrups that he's wearing.
I get a good indication of what length the cuff would be.
This is an even better photo because I can clearly see the zipper pulled here.
It tells me the stirrup is forward of the zipper, and I can get a general idea of how
wide those stripes are and what the space between the stripes is.
We love our Bruce Lee.
We love our mannequins.
Okay.