Style Spotlight: Harry Styles and his tour of fantastical suits
Boybander-turned-serious-musician Harry Styles concluded his Live on Tour about a week ago. Yes, he skipped Manila during its Asian leg (what, you too good for us, Harry?), but while I really don’t care much for his music, I have some grudging respect for his suit game.
Styles, if you don’t already know, is the latest celebrity to shill for Gucci, and this validation from a fashion label couldn’t have come at a better time, what with the 24-year-old seriously making headway in his effort to distance himself from the boybander image of his recent past.
Compelling allegations of his style thievery of Brandon Flowers’ looks aside, Styles does look like a proper style-icon-in-the-making, given that his suits present a stark contrast to the streetwear vibe his contemporaries seem to favor more. Just check some of the lewks and styling choices he made in his almost-year-long round-the-world tour.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlRszRgDwPF/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
We start at the end: There’s no better farewell than one made with an embellished matador-style jacket. Very Michael Jackson of Styles.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlLn-d5jdey/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
To the unevolved taste, a floral silk jacket speaks of a middle-aged woman enjoying her retirement life aboard a cruise ship. But with Styles’s boundary-pushing taste, it works as a performance outfit. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s from Gucci.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlERCTvj_Xx/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
A double-breasted jumpsuit is already a lewk. Add accordion pleats to it and it becomes a fashion choice.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk5qraojkZd/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
Hark, a pussy bow blouse! Told you, both boys and girls should have one in their closets, even one in paisley-printed silk.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkeBCcfDMeV/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
Going full-gingham from head to toe is far from being one Styles’s craziest style choices during his tour. In fact, it’s one of the best. This one is from the Gucci Resort 2019 collection.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkVSlfZj47H/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
Those wide-ass lapels and floor-sweeping bell bottoms are definitely not for the faint of heart, but the nonchalant teeth-brushing stance speaks of Styles’s confidence in his ability not to get toothpaste drippings on those velvet lapels or on that pristine floral pattern.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkFvA0Dj3Dy/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
This outfit may not seem much at first glance, but a closer look reveals a pussy bow blouse underneath that white jacket. There really is a lot of mileage a guy could get out of this fashion piece.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjlRB46jFjT/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
Styles was a cowboy masquerading as a mariachi band member for his Mexico stop, and you have to admit that he had no business looking great with all that fringe yet he still did.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiihAq7DJpL/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
This is a good squad photo on how to coordinate outfits with everybody else, with no specific theme dictating who should wear what.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiGXFDXDhUt/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
Why isn’t mustard yellow a bigger color in fashion? It bright, looks great under lights, and has its own brand of gravitas. This custom-made suit is by Calvin Klein 205W39NYC.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh_K54Djf5U/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
Another squad photo with his musicians and backup singers. Styles may be repping for Gucci, but that doesn’t mean he won’t put on a Gustav Klimt-inspired Alexander McQueen suit, from the label’s pre-Fall 2018 collection.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhrddJLjVmy/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
Another over-sized double-breasted pinstriped jumpsuit, also from the fashion label Charles Jeffrey. Could anyone imagine Zayn rocking this? ‘Cause I can’t.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhltUvQjIo9/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
More men should really explore wearing skirts, especially as formal wear.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhhM1UDj0OJ/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
Styles in another McQueen suit while in London, this time with a full-on leopard print. According to Kate Halliwell’s analysis of the singer’s touring wardrobe for The Ringer, Styles is a Shania Twain fan, so this look is really fitting.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhHYY8RDa4S/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
A sparkly custom-made Gucci suit for the Milan stop: a great argument for more men to explore wearing pink from head to toe.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg_VbiqDoXL/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
This houndstooth-patterned suit is from the Palomo Spain pre-Spring 2018 collection, and it’s something I’d personally like to see in my own closet.
The rest of the photos are more of Styles’s squad pics, each one a display of pretty solid wardrobe coordination. May more guys aspire to be as stylishly off-the-wall as he is.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgyK0dKDSvx/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgoIbEZj2P8/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgiqJyiDe8z/?hl=en&taken-by=harrystyles
