In 1978 the cult classic musical movie Grease came out. Still today you can go to any Karaoke Bar and be “treated” to a number of people attempting the duets made famous by Olivia Newton John and John Travolta in the movie. Travolta’s character in the movie was Danny Zuko, a teenage kid in a “gang” called the T-Birds who did little more than hang out after school and work on hot rods. Zuko is what is known as a “greaser” and his look is classic and easily achieved.

In the movie Grease, Travolta brought the Danny Zuko character to life with a very simple wardrobe. With the exception of a couple of scenes in the movie, Travolta always dressed in the typical greaser fashion.

Begin with the shirt. All the greasers including Travolta wore only white t-shirts. The t-shirts were just a regular undershirt –crew cut- and were trademarked with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve. If you don’t smoke you can accomplish the same look with a deck of cards. The shirt should be a little loose, but not to the point where it puffs up around you. Oddly enough, Travolta always tucked in his T-shirt in the movie.

The jeans worn by Travolta were either a dark blue or black color with the occasional lighter blue. Make sure you get jeans that fit snug, but don’t go crazy and wear skinny jeans. The jeans should be longer than you would normally wear so that you can role the bottoms several times in a flip motion. The role should be about two inches high. The belt that is worn should have a non-flashy buckle and be black in color.

Wear white socks and a pair of black shoes. The shoes should not be too dressy but not too casual either. A pair of Sketcher-type shoes will suffice. Make sure that the shoes are lace-up shoes and not slip-ons.

Most importantly to achieve the look you will need a good leather jacket. The jacket has to be black and should not be long in length. Avoid fancy leather jackets that have all kinds of buckles and zippers and keep the style of the jacket very plain. You can take the fashion all the way by getting “T-Birds” embroidered on the back of your leather jacket if you wish. Whatever you do, never zip up the jacket in any capacity as this was a greaser no-no for Travolta’s character.

Now that you have the style down the rest is a breeze. Simply get a can of “grease” and slick back your hair. Bring a comb with you as a true greaser always combs his hair every chance he gets. You also need to get a pair of dark sunglasses to wear.

Don’t forget the bad boy walk and the cheesy Italian New York accent. Why the accent is one of New York is a mystery as the film was supposed to be taking place in California. Now you can go out and live the greaser way with your new “Travolta fashion” and proudly proclaim, “Grease is the word.”