Ryan Gosling's Sleaze-Adjacent Sweater Vest Look Is Difficult To Replicate
The high temperature today is 96 degrees fahrenheit, so I put on a polo shirt with lots of holes in it and walked out of my front door with a smug look on my face. "Eat shit, Mother Nature," I thought, "you've been hacked."
Not only did I learn, as sweat dripped down my back, that I hadn't hacked anything-I also learned that all the while, Human Envy Catalyst Ryan Gosling was rubbing it in my face.
Yesterday, Gosling showed up to the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy (temperatures in the low 80s), wearing a sweater vest. And for fuck's sake, of course he looks great. And of course you don't notice a drop of perspiration. And of course he found a way to add some elements of sleaze. This man knows what the hell he's doing.
We should state, before I digress, that you're likely to have a rough time replicating this look. Ryan Thomas Gosling, living style legend and Wikipedia page photo model for both "handsome" and "confident," has put together a complex look that'd be hard for the rest of us to inspire positive reinforcement from. When Ryan Gosling wears a sweater vest, it's straight-up erotic; if a mere civilian were to attempt a similar summer look, we'd be told that Bingo night is actually on Thursdays. A good rule of thumb on replication of these fits, from American Esquire's Jonathan Evans:
Should you do it? Honestly, probably not. Maybe on Saturday. (It helps if you have a hangover and a flop sweat.) But in day-to-day life, this works for guys who were already sitting pretty at the top of their own little style tribe. Also, people who are rich and famous and didn’t have to play by society’s rules even before they started dressing like low-level suburban weed dealers. Probably, the smart thing to do is just skip the experiment entirely.
But, hell. It’s the Summer of Sleaze. So fuck it. Go for it. You do you.
So for those of you ready to do you, let's talk about what got us all worked up about Gosling's choices. The Lacoste sweater vest is a flex of its own. It's vintage (swag!), so if you're looking to copy, you can try this. The sunglasses look like some of my favourite aviators from Randolph Engineering, but upon zooming I noticed the 'Randolph' insignia was missing from the left lens. Nonetheless, a frame like this is a great way to mix it up from the Ray-Bans even your most swagless friend owns. (Ray-Ban aviators are not swagless; au contraire. They're classics, which means it's harder to stand out in them.)
Shop Sweater Vests, If You Dare
What, you may be asking yourself, makes this look deserving of inclusion in the Summer of Sleaze discussion? It's really two simple things. My man's DGAF attitude, not only toward wearing a frickin' sweater vest, but doing so in the dog days of August, is the true derivative of the Summer of Sleaze to begin with. The second reason is all about the T-shirt.
Look at that (awesome) ratty old thing. I could be way off-this could be a pre-distressed £700 tee woven from the hair of the beard of God himself. But it sort of looks like he pulled it out from the bottom of his laundry bin and hung it up during a hot shower, loosening it up just enough to be Acceptable If Worn By Ryan Gosling. Bonus points for it visibly hanging out the back of his pants.
So, essentially, Ryan Gosling woke up in Italy this morning, put on a beat-up T-shirt, and decided his next move was to add a sweater vest. A bold choice. But, then again, this is also only man to ever made a tuxedo T-shirt and newsboy cap look sexy.
('You Might Also Like',)
