GQ: The 50 most stylish men of the past 50 years, 3/10

...and what you can learn from them.

Part 3 of 10


Photo: Laura Wilson

Richard Avedon

When he died at 81, while on assignment in 2004, Richard Avedon was as famous and beautiful as any of his photographs. “You’ve got to ask yourself, How could one man be the author of so many of the iconic images of the twentieth century?” says David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, where the photographer worked for nearly sixty years. “We remember his Marilyn, his Ezra Pound, his Bert Lahr, his practically everyone.… Avedon’s enthusiasm was so winning and so seductive that he got people to do everything.” Avedon was a nearsighted high school dropout from the Bronx whose crew cut soon grew into a smooth, silvery mane and whose black frames became a trademark, protecting the ever peering eyes that never lost contact with their subject—he stood left of his camera, never behind it. “And if he ever blinked,” adds Remnick, “I missed it.”

• A safari shirt works as well in the city as it does in the field. It’s rugged but elegant.


Photo: Tim Auger/Retna LTD

Beck

Most of us met Beck shortly after the 23-year-old used an eight-track recorder, a drumbeat, and a slide guitar to lay down a Billboard Top 10 hit and generational anthem called “Loser.” Then he couldn’t get away from the song fast enough, declining to play it live and fleeing back to the studio. When he resurfaced with Odelay, which went platinum, he cemented his reputation as a Dylan of our time and reminded us that the only constant with Beck is change. The same goes for the man’s style. “It’s kind of derelict,” he once told GQ. “But I embrace it.” Whether he’s at a thrift shop in Paris or a design studio in Japan (the fashion of the two places, like the Dior suits he wears, best fit his slim frame), Beck balances the cool with the fun, with a nod to the old while creating the new.

• A suit is always appropriate—especially when worn out of the office. And so what if you’ve got long hair? The contrast makes that much more of a statement.


Photo: Thomas Hoepker/Magnum Photos

Muhammad Ali

It’s no accident that in 1997, Christie’s sold a robe of Muhammad Ali’s for $156,500. The three-time world heavyweight champ displayed the same greatness stepping onto the canvas as he did rhyming his way through a press conference or high-fiving his way through the streets of Zaire—and he always looked far better doing so than anyone in his swarming entourage. Although flamboyantly charismatic in and out of the ring, Ali favored a more classic wardrobe. The dark suits, white shirts, narrow ties, and buffed shoes gave him a look that traced back to his roots as a churchgoing boy in Louisville. “I don’t follow fashion so much as I try to find clothes that make me look good,” Ali told GQ recently. “Because that never goes out of style.”

• Wear a slim dark suit, white shirt, and dark tie, and you’ll look like a champ. That’s really all you need to know. It’s that simple.


Photo: INF Photo

Tom Brady

After thirty years on earth and seven seasons as quarterback of the New England Patriots, here is what Tom Brady has shown us he can do: Win. Handle pressure. Take a hit. Lead a team. Call the shots. Command respect. Show respect. Get the girl. Look good on the red carpet. Look even better on the green. Sign a big contract. Turn down a bigger one. Drop back. Go deep. Dress well. Live well. Give back. Look ahead. Come from behind. Scramble. Stay loose. Have fun. Give credit where credit is due. Play the game. Go to Disney World. Learn from his mistakes. Accept defeat. Inspire confidence. Grace the cover of GQ. Host Saturday Night Live. Laugh at himself. Get a laugh. Dance. Sing. Well, no, he can’t sing. But they say John Kennedy couldn’t carry a tune, either.

• If you want to be taken seriously, pay as much attention to your hair as your suit. You’re going to be judged from head to toe.


Photo: Pressens Bild/IPOL/Globe Photos

Björn Borg

Few have dominated their sport like Björn Borg did. The slender Swede chalked up eleven grand-slam titles from ’74 to ’81, grinding his victims down with his legendary stamina, making what was actually a methodical approach to the game seem relentless and fierce. This is the man who made tracksuits cool and put Fila on the map. “I never thought of myself as a style icon,” Borg has said, “though I can see that the way I dressed and how people looked at me created that.” And whether it was intentional or not, Borg came to typify, almost to the point of caricature—thank you, Luke Wilson, in The Royal Tenenbaums—the at once worldly and laid-back ethos of an era. He made luxe look comfortable and easy. And why shouldn’t it be when you’re young, gifted, and living the high life in Monte Carlo?

• Long hair works best when it’s loose and easy. You don’t want a coif or a do—you are not a member of Poison or Warrant.

Written and Reported by Andy Comer, Hilary Elkins, Alex French, David Gargill, Randy Hartwell, Howie Kahn, Cole Louison, Laurence Lowe, Trent MacNamara, Jordan Reed, and Luke Zaleski