SHOULD YOU DRESS LIKE JEFF BEZOS?
Is it right for the average man to follow Amazon’s boss when it comes to matters of style, asks Stephen Doig
The New York
Times has heralded Amazon boss Jeff Bezos a “style icon” to coincide with his ascension to the ranks of “world’s richest man”.
Amid the juice-sipping moguls of Palo Alto he stands out, apparently, for his “minimalist” attire that’s been likened more to a Hollywood action star than a technology giant and newspaper owner with a questionable approach to his warehouse staff ’s welfare.
It’s particularly pertinent at a time when a new movie starring Rob Brydon, Swimming With Men, looks at the changes men undergo when they feel a mid-life crisis looming. Should your average 50 something professional man look at himself under the microscope, style-wise, or settle into a happy sartorial lull now that he’s found what he’s comfortable?
Certainly Bezos seems to have opted for the former; he has morphed from a rather nondescript and geeky looking computer enthusiast in bland chinos and sack-like shirts into buffed up security-detailcome-ted-talk-dynamo. When he was photographed in Sun Valley with his receding hair shaved into a sharp bald trim, crisp polo shirt to showcase his newly #swole physique and an actionready gilet (some complaining, sleepdeprived minions to take down, Jeff?); The Telegraph crowned him the “biceps billionaire”. Other stylish outings have seen him don a sporty leather jacket and neatly tailored suits.
But does this make Bezos a “style icon”? I’m not sure there’s anything particularly “iconic” about it, but it does highlight how a man can re-examine his wardrobe at a particular age and refuse the path of slouchy sweaters and dad chinos. Of course, it helps if you have the stratospheric wealth of Bezos in enlisting a personal trainer, nutritionist et al, but forgoing baggy, slouchy shapes in favour of something more defined certainly helps as a man segues into middle age; a neat polo shirt is smart but at ease, and some of the best ones – John Smedley, Sunspel – are made in cottons that will sculpt around your frame.
And while we’d question the Vin Diesel army styles that Bezos sports, a good gilet is the