We first meet Curran when he’s still on the clock, pursuing a cunning Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) in a throbbing coke den of a nightclub. In the middle of hoards of people, this seemingly straight-laced guy in a lazy V-neck and jeans, seduces—or is seduced by—Tramell on the dance floor. At one point, in the heat of passion as the music pounds on and on, Tramell shoves her hands behind the back of Curran’s V-neck and almost pulls it off—or rather spreads it off. The neckline gives her easy access.
The scene is an incredible moment for V-necks. Justice for all V-necks, if you will. We see Curran undone, bare-chested, and exposed. Men’s fashion writer Jason Diamond agrees with the layered meaning behind the silhouette. “When you do it without anything underneath, it’s this whole other level. You really have to be sure of yourself to make it work. That shot of Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct has always been a favorite because he knows what he’s doing,” he writes. “It’s work because he’s a cop and he’s investigating Sharon Stone for murder, but he also knows he wants to sleep with her and I always felt like that specific look was like a bat signal to her.”
Photo: Courtesy of Everett Collection
