THE JOURNAL

Can you be the best dressed man in the room in a simple white T-shirt or do you need to go all out with a three-piece suit, NFT necklace and sock suspenders to impress? Is a stylish outfit something you want to emulate, admire or both? Do real people even wear sock suspenders? We spend our time pondering these quandaries at MR PORTER HQ (someone has to), but we already know that any answer to nebulous questions about fashion will be intuitive.
The famous men we’ve chosen this month for our best-dressed list are the ones who have not necessarily made the all-guns-blazing effort to stand out, but who look most at home in what they’re wearing. They are the ones who wear even the simplest of clothes with pizazz or panache. Only seven made the cut – here they are.
01.
Big Matthew

Big Matthew at Hotel de la Marine, Paris, 6 July 2022. Photograph by Mr Jacopo M Raule/Getty Images For Balenciaga
An absolute unit. Not so much Big Matthew, who, at 6ft 1in, if Google is to be believed, is not an insubstantial lad himself, but whoever lent the K-pop rapper this suit. BM was in Paris at Balenciaga’s behest, so it is not a massive leap to assume Mr Demna Gvasalia’s team were behind the outfitting. At least not as massive as the outfit itself, which Gvasalia’s team could have fitted into, like kids in a trench coat trying to sneak into an 18 movie. Does the big man have big boots to fill? The one thing that we couldn’t find on Google was his shoe size. But what BM brings to this ensemble a vast reserve of chutzpah, and that goes a long (and tall) way.
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02.
Mr Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Mr Aaron Taylor-Johnson promoting Bullet Train in Berlin, 19 July 2022. Photograph by Backgrid
The actor Mr Aaron Taylor-Johnson looks like a sartorial visualisation of cocaine. And yes, he might be about to tell you about his Bitcoin wallet for two hours very close to your face, but it is for these reasons we have decided to highlight this look. It exudes such brazen Once Upon A Time In Hollywood-cum-1970s-drug-lord confidence that to be triggered by it as an observer would be to admit some very dark truths about yourself. That you are scared and you are not comfortable with who you are. This look isn’t for everyone, but we can all accept and admire it.
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03.
Mr Matt Smith

Mr Matt Smith at the Wimbledon men’s singles final, 10 July 2022. Photograph by Mr Karwai Tang/Getty Images
As far as acting goes, Mr Matt Smith has what they call range. He has played The Doctor, Prince Philip in The Crown and is about to make waves (or flames) as Prince Daemon Targaryen, a reptile-wielding, white-haired psychopath in the new House Of Dragon series. And it turns out that white suits him. He nails the riviera vibe of the camp-collar shirt and loafers. The all-white look is somehow very The Talented Mr Ripley meets A Clockwork Orange, and not just because he looks like a tall glass of milk.
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04.
Mr Andrew Garfield

Mr Andrew Garfield at the Valentino Haute Couture FW22 show, Rome, 8 July 2022. Photograph by Mr Jacopo Raule/Getty Images
Nautical blazer? Top Gun aviators? Bootcut jeans? Pussy-bow blouse blowing nonchalantly in the wind? A group of out-and-out wild clothing choices if ever we saw them. This should be the most hideous outfit ever conceived. Maybe it’s his dazzling charm, but the actor Mr Andrew Garfield’s enthusiastic smile at the Valentino haute couture show this month means it’s entirely convincing. Sometimes, it really is about how you wear it.
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05.
Mr Hayato Arai

Mr Hayato Arai at MR PORTER’s Throwing Fits event in New York, 14 July 2022. Photograph by Mr Christopher Fenimore
MR PORTER took over Ray’s on Manhattan’s Lower East Side earlier this month for the launch party of Throwing Fits And Friends, a capsule collection curated by Messrs Lawrence Schlossman and James Harris, co-hosts of the cult podcast Throwing Fits. And what a fun time it was. There were burgers from Shy’s, ice-cold beers and, as you would expect, an abundance of stylish outfits, including the one being modelled here by Mr Hayato Arai, the founder of Hayato, one of the brands handpicked by Schlossman and Harris to be part of the collection. His incredible vintage-workwear-inspired denim, which you can get your hands on now, is paired with a plain white T-shirt, a Yankees cap and a candy-coloured necklace. He looks a bit bored in this picture, but we are reliably informed that he had a lovely evening.
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06.
Mr Brad Pitt

Mr Brad Pitt at the Bullet Train premiere at Le Grand Rex, Paris, 18 July 2022. Photograph by Ms Dominique Charriau/Getty Images
We may have included him in this month’s best-dressed round-up regardless – have you seen the man? – but it just so happens that when high temperatures call for lighter layers, Mr Brad Pitt seems to have mastered the art of looking the part in scorching heat pretty well. Now on the worldwide press tour for his upcoming movie Bullet Train, the Hollywood actor has opted for a linen suit designed by Anecho’s co-founder, Mr Haans Nicholas Mott – in different colours, naturally – on a few occasions. In Paris, he went for the slate-grey colourway with pink accents and a pair of relaxed adidas x Gucci Gazelle sneakers.
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07.
Mr Leon Bridges

Mr Leon Bridges on stage at Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, 5 July, 2022. Photograph by Mr Frank Hoensch/Getty Images
They say the clothes make the man, but the context definitely helps. Snap the actor Mr Ben Affleck outside a 7-Eleven and he’s bound to lose a bit of his star quality. By contrast, being on stage at a Berlin music hall, stage lights shining down through the smoke that drifts across the stage behind you – that gives any man a boost. Not that we’re saying the singer/songwriter Mr Leon Bridges, with those fantastic print trousers, feet elegantly poised in formal shoes (a contrast to the casual collar of his smartly fitted shirt), statement shades and roguish facial hair needs any help looking suave. Just that he is dressed perfectly for the occasion.
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