Let’s go to work
Before you Barge your way into this issue of Esquire with all the delicacy of a finance bro on a bonus-week Negroni binge, turn the magazine face-down to the outside back cover and check out the power shoulder on that Prada coat. Hard to ignore that guy on the way in to work.
All done? Good. Now turn to page 10 and get a load of the mile-wide lapels on that gold overcoat from Dolce & Gabbana. Then, feast your magpie eyes on our cover star, Matt Smith, in Giorgio Armani whistle, crisp white shirt and tie, on the opening spread of his interview. Now take a stroll through our office-appropriate fashion shoot, spotlighting the best of the autumn/winter collections, and place your orders for the sharpest suits on the market.
For all the talk of post-gender fashion. Of non-binary style. Of an end to the distinction between men’s and women’s clothes. For all the hoo-ha over the softening of the male silhouette.
For all the endless column inches frittered away like spare change on the supposed death of the suit. (It’ll never happen!) For all the fulminating over dress-down Fridays. Smart-casual. (No, I don’t know what it means, either.) Streetstyle. And for all those WFH days when you’ve slipped your Zoom shirt over your pyjamas, traditional menswear remains central to men’s style and the male self-image. Even the most committed hypebeast will concede, when he looks around from beneath the peak of his limited-edition dad hat, that most of his fellow men — certainly those over 30 — look best in smart suit, collared shirt and serious shoes.
That’s not a call for a return to buttoned-up masculinity, strict gender roles and prissy formality. Uniforms are not for everyone. Rules are boring. People should wear whatever they want. Experimentation is encouraged. Flamboyance is fabulous. And just as there are people, of every gender, who look fabulous in tailoring, so there are people, again of every conceivable persuasion, who can look incredible in a ball gown, or tracksuit bottoms and a crop top.
But most of us men look our best in something a little more conventional. The messages
from the catwalks and showrooms of Milan and Paris are consistent with that idea. Not that there aren’t plenty of tracksuits and trainers on offer — and nothing wrong with that. Not that there aren’t far more outré outfits available, too. But tailoring continues to dominate the collections from the major designers, and it remains the word on style-watchers’ lips this autumn.
Granted, some of the outfits are less traditional than others — we’re not talking stiff collars and bowler hats — but the essential DNA of the look pioneered by the London dandies of the 18th century remains: relatively sober tailored jacket, complementary trousers, buttoned shirt, neckwear. It’s lasted so long because it looks so good.
By both default and design, there is a distinct back-to-work aesthetic to the fashion images in this issue. Think of this as a celebration, perhaps, of at least one aspect of the stuttering return to the office, after two years of hiding under our hoodies: the opportunity to get dressed up again, to make an effort, to wear something not just comfortable, but stylish, and flattering, too. If nothing else, as your boss and mine will no doubt concur, it’s about time.
Style is a central focus of this issue, but there’s much more besides. We know Matt Smith’s is a compelling presence on screen. In Tom Lamont’s profile, Smith emerges as more than the sum of his high-profile parts: a thoughtful, questing soul, captured here on the cusp of 40, and at the beginning of what will surely be one of the defining moments of his glittering career. Smith, who made his name on TV as the lead in Doctor Who, and then as Prince Philip in The Crown, is the star of what will certainly be one of the most widely consumed and forensically analysed productions of the new cultural season. House of the Dragon is HBO’s prequel to the phenomenal Game of Thrones. As far as I’m aware, none of its characters wears a business suit. But you can’t have everything.
For books, theatre, music, TV and more, the autumn months are the busiest. This year is even more frantic than usual. As the arts re-emerge from the pandemic, blinking in the stage lights, the rest of us are confronted by an entertainment deluge. It’s a situation both exciting and potentially overwhelming. Have no fear: Esquire’s Culture Forecast offers a series of (semi-)educated guesses about what might, and might not, be worth checking out as the evenings draw in.
As ever, our Journal section features essays from an A-team of Esquire writers. In this issue: Andrew O’Hagan, Benjamin Markovits, Sam Knight and Dylan Jones. We have interviews with the novelist Mohsin Hamid and musician Ezra Furman, plus food and travel and watches and booze and cars. All the crucial stuff.
And, finally, a sneak preview of photographer Chris Floyd’s Not Just Pictures. Floyd’s book is wide-ranging in its subjects, reflecting its author’s versatility. We decided to focus on his photos of British musicians. Here you will find both sportswear (Oasis, Arctic Monkeys) and tailoring (Pauls Weller and McCartney) as well as points in between (David Bowie, Massive Attack). Proof that, when worn with conviction, pretty much anything can look good.
Not being an international style icon myself (did you guess?), I’ll be mostly wearing a suit.
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