Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando is remembered as a man of the ’50s and ’70s: Before 1960 he played Stanley Kowalski and Terry Malloy, enraptured a young James Dean (who copied him ever after), and transformed the humble T-shirt from underwear to outerwear; after 1969 he was Kurtz and Corleone before retiring into a mysterious Tahitian fatness and becoming America’s greatest public enigma. Brando’s ’60s are forgotten. They shouldn’t be; it was then that Brando came into his own as a man. Beatnik rebellion gave way to grown-up purposefulness and a more serene, suited look as Brando took his act offscreen, involving himself in the Native American and civil rights movements. In this role, Brando achieved a look of effortless power and bull-like grace. His body, broad and with brooding kinetics, carried a suit like no other man’s.
• Suit your shape. If you have strong, broad shoulders, you don’t need a heavily padded suit to accentuate them.
Photo: Evening Standard/Getty Images
Andre 3000
Those of us who have followed Andre 3000’s career (or at least his outfits) shouldn’t be surprised that his style is as natural as his musical talent. “It’s been there all along,” says his OutKast colleague, Big Boi. “It was just about staying fresh, and it’s still going on to this day.” Best friends since their sophomore year of high school, the two met in the cafeteria one day and musically bonded over everything from N.W.A. to Def Leppard. At first the duo tore, dyed, and airbrushed their clothes to match each other, but with the resources that the success of their breakthrough album, ATLiens, brought, Andre’s wardrobe grew. And it continues to grow. From woven hats and wraparound sunglasses to lederhosen and polka-dot bow ties, Andre’s style (like OutKast’s music) challenges the tradition it honors. The range is no surprise, considering the boys first favored Guess? jeans and V-neck sweaters.
• Find your inner dandy and let him loose. Getting dressed should be fun, not stressful.
Photo: Christina Radish/Red Ferns/MusicPictures
Warren Beatty
If Warren Beatty wore scuba flippers instead of shoes, we might consider copying. If he wore garbage bags instead of oxfords, we might wake up and throw them on, too, because, you know, Warren did it. But inevitably we’d balk because, well, we’re not Warren Beatty: We don’t have that once-in-a-generation leading-man confidence, that hyperevolved swagger, that “Me? Yeah, I know—I’m great looking” smile. In a sense, it’s never really mattered what Warren Beatty wore. Warren Beatty, shirt unbuttoned to his navel, silk scarf knotted around his neck, looked…manly. Beatty tuxedo-clad? Downright debonair. And from Splendor in the Grass onward, he’s always looked completely nonchalant, which isn’t to say he didn’t think about his sartorial choices. Of Beatty, Eva Marie Saint once said, “Some guys come at you like a Mack truck. But Warren’s slow, smooth, and in complete control.” It’s hard to imagine him being anything but.
• A white shirt and black tie are can’t-miss complements to a khaki suit. Think of it as the Reservoir Dogs look, but for summer.
Photo: Everett Collection
The Ramones
It’s not just that the Ramones made their awkward geekiness look cool; it’s when they did it. In April 1976—as the Bee Gees climbed the Billboard charts—Sire Records released Ramones, fourteen fast tracks of three-chord noise carried by the incomparable voice of Joey Ramone. He stood on the cover in what would become punk’s immortal uniform: filthy Keds, torn jeans, and a black leather biker jacket. Fifty-two blocks down from Studio 54, a tiny club called CBGB was giving the unknown band gigs. The block has been renamed Joey Ramone Place. The Bee Gees have been given no such honor.
• A Leather biker jacket should be snug and trim. Buy one a size smaller than you normally would and you’ll look like a rock star. Trust us.
Photo: Ebet Roberts
Michael Jordan
If you are over six feet four, are American looking, and like to travel, you’ve heard the name called out in every imaginable accent: Mee-kel Hordan! Em-hay! Doesn’t matter if you’re white, fat, and 75. Michael Jordan is still everywhere. Nine years after MJ’s final championship, the young guns might be selling more jerseys, but they’re not the reason shorties in Dakar are showing up to Sunday practice in low-riding baggies, sleek black kicks, forearm wristbands, and scalp moisturizer. His Airness was an utterly dominant, totally accessible hero, and with a little help from his magic smile, Scottie Pippen, and Nike (his ’84 tricolor Air Jordans were so cool the NBA banned them), Jordan spent more than a decade as the most famous athlete on earth. Every baller on the planet is on record saying he’s always wanted to be him, and every one’s still trying.
• A bald head is always better than a balding head. Jordan taught us this, and everyone from Bruce Willis to Mark Messier has proved it so.
Photo: John Huet
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