The outfit Marty McFly wears in Back to the Future is one of the most recognizable movie costumes of all time. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else in that sweater and jacket combination, but it turns out that Michael J. Fox was not the first choice for the role. (In fact, Eric Stoltz played Marty for about a month before being replaced by Fox.)

Even if you’re too young to have seen Back to the Future when it was originally released in 1985, you probably know this outfit well. As with most things, there are entire blogs devoted to this particular outfit. One such blog is How To Wear an Outfit Like Marty McFly: a blog about the outfit Marty wears in Back to The Future.

The author of that blog is Mike Fontenot, who first noticed this outfit during a re-watch of Back to the Future when he was 18 years old. He has been wearing variations of it ever since. We spoke with Fontenot about his interpretation of this look, and how he thinks it holds up today.

The most iconic outfit Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future was, of course, the red puffer vest and white t-shirt. This is the outfit he wore when he first went back to 1955. It’s also the outfit he wore later on when he was playing guitar with his band in that same town.

So how do you wear an outfit like Marty McFly? There are three main components you’ll need to get right:

● The Vest

● The T-Shirt

● The Shoes

I’ll go into each of these separately below, but before I do I want to point out that this is not a costume. This is a real outfit you can wear in real life. Don’t worry about finding exact replicas of everything Marty wore; instead focus on finding your own version of these items that fit your style.

The most important thing about Marty McFly’s outfit is that it is an outfit. It’s not just a pair of acid-washed jeans and a pink shirt. It’s carefully coordinated.

If you were an 80s teenager, you might possibly have bought this outfit yourself in 1985. But if you were an 80s teenager, you wouldn’t have worn it like Marty wears it: with the shirt tucked into the pants and the pants rolled up to reveal the ankle. You would have worn it untucked over a pair of sneakers or Converse All-Stars. The belt would have been optional, though not necessarily absent.

And in fact if you had worn it exactly as Marty did back then, people would have laughed at you for being so square. His outfit was already retro in 1985, because it was a deliberate attempt to mimic the style of 1955.

Marty McFly’s outfit in Back to the Future is a classic. It’s a look that transcends time, and it can be worn today with a few simple modifications. Here are some tips on how to rock Marty’s look for yourself:

1. Get a red puffer jacket.

The jacket is the centerpiece of this outfit. Brands like Patagonia and The North Face make red puffers that are similar to the one Marty wears, but any brand will work so long as it is red, puffy, and has a zipper closure.

2. Make sure people can see your chest hair through the jacket (if you’re a man).

Marty often wears his jacket unzipped and we can see his body hair peeking through the neckline of his shirt. This is an important detail to get right if you want to really pull off Marty’s look!

3. Add a pop of color with an orange undershirt or t-shirt.

Marty wears an orange shirt under his white button down throughout the movie, but my personal preference is to wear it on its own with the sleeves rolled up. I think it looks good that way, but you do you! As long as your shirt is orange and has short sleeves,

At the beginning of Back to the Future, Marty McFly wears a red puffy vest, a white long sleeve top, blue jeans and black shoes. This outfit is pretty easy to copy, although it may be hard to find a red puffy vest like Marty’s.

First, you need a red puffy vest. It can be any color (as long as it’s red) and any style (as long as it’s puffy). I found mine at the thrift store for $1. If you don’t have a thrift store near you or don’t want to shop there, you can also find one on eBay, or Amazon. The best way to search for one is by typing in “puffy vest” in the search bar and then selecting your preferred color. If you don’t want to buy one new or used, you could always try sewing one yourself. There are many tutorials online on how to make your own puffy vest. Some of these include: Craftsy’s Sewing Puffy Vest tutorial, Sweet Red Poppy DIY Puffy Vest tutorial and Colette Patterns’ Button Up Puff Vest tutorial.

Next you need a white long sleeve top. Again this can be any brand – as long as it’s white and long

Marty McFly’s outfit from Back to the Future is a pretty popular costume for guys who want to look cool but aren’t interested in dressing up as a superhero. It’s just a jean jacket, red shirt, and jeans, right?

Not quite. The jean jacket is a Levi brand denim trucker jacket with A-line silhouette and buttoned front pockets. Marty wears his with the sleeves pushed up so you can see he’s also wearing a white undershirt (with probably gray banding around the neckline). His red shirt is also Levi brand, a short-sleeved plaid western style shirt in Aztec Red. He wears this tucked into dark blue straight-leg 501 jeans (yes, it’s important that they’re 501s). Marty completes his getup with white Converse high-tops and red underwear.

Marty’s pants and shirt are both available on Amazon (and if you’re looking to update your wardrobe outside of Halloween, they look great together), but I haven’t been able to find an exact replica of the jean jacket or underwear yet. I’ll keep looking!

In this episode, Marty is wearing a blue puffer vest over a white button-up shirt with black jeans and plain white sneakers. It’s one of his most casual looks, and it’s easy to copy.

You can wear the puffer vest over anything—a t-shirt, a long-sleeve shirt, or even a hoodie. I wouldn’t recommend wearing it over another jacket or coat though. You don’t want to look like you’re wearing a jacket over another jacket!

When wearing a puffer vest, leave it unzipped for the most natural look. If you do want to zip up your puffer vest, remember that you should also close the buttons on your shirt to avoid looking like you’re wearing two different jackets.

If you want to wear your puffer vest without a shirt underneath, make sure you’re comfortable wearing just a t-shirt underneath!