Arianne Phillips built Cliff Booth's look around garments that seem naturally worn-in. The Hawaiian shirt and T-shirt are memorable, but the buckle, footwear, and tailoring to the body also play a part in that image.
A carefully constructed casual combination
Cliff Booth is often remembered for the yellow Hawaiian shirt, the white T-shirt, and the jeans. The combination conveys comfort, but its spontaneous appearance is the result of costume design. Arianne Phillips explained that many of Brad Pitt's garments were made for the film. The mustard-colored shirt with Asian-inspired motifs belongs to that specific work, even though it represents an everyday piece within 1969.
The Champion Spark Plugs T-shirt introduces a graphic reference tied to the world of motors. It appears under the open shirt and contributes to the image of a man used to physical labor and vehicles. The logo does not need to become a fabricated professional affiliation. It can be part of the character's wardrobe without showing that he worked for the brand or that there was sponsorship within his biography.
The jeans create a simple silhouette that lets the body stay in motion. Cliff drives, fixes an antenna, walks around the ranch, and reacts physically to danger. The clothes do not seem to require constant attention to his appearance. That ease contrasts with Rick's concern for the image he projects, even though both are professionals in the same field and share many of the same spaces.
The open shirt adds color and breadth around the torso, while the T-shirt maintains a clear, recognizable base. The outfit can remain legible in wide shots, even when the character moves through a visually complex environment. The film's cinematography uses that difference in surfaces and tones to keep his presence within the landscape without needing formal dress or a star figure carefully isolated from the background.
The buckle links the body to a trade
Phillips found a buckle linked to the Stuntmen's Association in Warner Bros.' costume archive and incorporated it into Cliff's look. The origin is documented by the designer herself. The object establishes a concrete connection to the world of stunt performers, much more precise than an interpretation based only on the size or shine of just any buckle.
That reference does not authorize reconstructing a complete administrative affiliation for the character. The film does not present an association file or a detailed work chronology based on the accessory. Its cinematic usefulness lies in offering a trace of the profession within everyday clothing. It can help the actor feel a connection to that world and give the attentive viewer a detail consistent with what they already know about Cliff.
The work of stunt performers often remains behind the star's image. Cliff belongs to that production zone where the body carries out tasks the audience will attribute to another face. The buckle introduces a small professional statement in a character whose public recognition is limited. It does not take up a prolonged explanatory close-up, but it preserves a work identity in the spaces where the story shows mostly friendship, errands, and practical labor.
The footwear takes part in the same bodily construction. The soft loafers differ from the cowboy boots Rick keeps as part of his look. The choice lets us sense a less rigid relationship with movement and with the ground. It does not by itself explain Cliff's physical skill, but it fits into a performance that conveys readiness: the character seems prepared to go from sitting to intervening without a ceremonial costume change.
Comfort can coexist with threat
Cliff Booth's casual look helps ensure that his capacity for violence is not always the first thing perceived. He can seem like a relaxed man who is talking or doing a domestic task, and then respond with unexpected force. The clothes maintain continuity between those states. The film avoids making him put on an action uniform to reveal a side that was already part of his body and his history.
At the Spahn Ranch, the yellow shirt sets him apart from the surroundings and from those watching him. Cliff moves through the space with a confidence that does not depend on belonging to the group. The costume helps keep that difference visible while he tries to recognize a place associated with his former work. His presence can feel bright and ordinary, even when the scene develops an atmosphere of surveillance and threat.
The relationship with Brad Pitt adds another layer without replacing the character. The actor has a recognizable public image, and the costume uses his physical presence to build someone who works on the margins of the spotlight. The clothes seem to favor that paradox: the double can strongly attract the audience's gaze while, within the fiction, he remains the man who drives the star around and then returns to a trailer.
The costume and identity meet here in material details that serve different functions. The shirt organizes color, the T-shirt provides a graphic reference, the jeans and loafers allow ease of movement, and the buckle recalls a trade. Together they create a coherent figure without turning each garment into a biographical statement. Cliff seems to inhabit his clothes with ease, and that ease makes the contrast between his modest life, his practical competence, and the violence he can exert more noticeable.
More context in the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood guide.