Ryan Gosling has been out and about on the promotional meet and greet for Netflix’s new action thriller The Gray Man recently, and gosh (or should we say Gos), haven’t we all been reminded of what a sartorial maverick he can be. What the actor doubtless considers to be a small sartorial step in dressing-up would represent a giant leap for the majority of his red carpet peers.
First, there was the powdery pastel pink and lavender suit combo he wore with patent white leather shoes earlier this week, which nodded to his upcoming role as Ken in Barbie, The Movie. Following this there was the bold post-box red blazer and skinny black leather tie that he wore in Berlin on Tuesday. And then last night, for his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the actor wore a navy Gucci suit that was stitched with gold embroidery, which he wore with a peach shirt, white socks and what appear to be snakeskin loafers. It was a look that was bang on the money (quite literally, it’ll set you back a cool £3,500), and part of that new preppy look that is currently doing the rounds in menswear.
Prepster came to the fore in the 1930s, when it came to signify the social standing of the American educated elite, but in subsequent decades, the dress code has left the confines of the campus and taken on a sort of global, egalitarian status. Pastel shirts, penny loafers, rowing blazers: they’ve all been repurposed, made cooler, and popularised again by street style stars and overall trendsetters such Tyler the Creator, David Beckham and Eddie Redmayne. Not to mention bolstered by shows such as Gossip Girl, the 00’s series that was relaunched for Gen Z last year. In fact, come to think of it, there is something quite Max Wolfe about Gosling’s look.
Whatever the inspiration is, it’s a look that shows that Gosling’s style choices are as unpredictable, but as well-judged, as his movie choices. What’s next, we wonder?
