The Busiest Two Weeks in Men’s Fashion

BY BEN DINSDALE

The past two weeks have held three of the most anticipated fashion events of the year: Cannes Film Festival, the Met Gala, and the Royal Wedding. Each affair had some clear standouts, men who truly embraced the theme or atmosphere of the events and demonstrated what makes a striking red-carpet look.

Cannes Film Festival

Teo Yoo (Esquire), Luke Evans (Popsugar), Vincent Cassel in Tom Ford (GQ)

The fantastic thing about the Cannes festival is that, along with the outstanding films that are put on, the event is a week where red-carpet glitz meets the Mediterranean beach. A great Cannes look will embrace the warm, beachy atmosphere, while still maintaining the class and luxury that is required to kill in front of the cameras.German actor Teo Yoo, star of the film Leto, showed up with arguably the best outfit of the festival. With a simple black t-shirt under a black and grey plaid suit, black tasseled loafers, and no socks, Yoo rocked the Cannes style, while looking confident, smart, and trendy.Another stand out was Luke Evans, appearing in this photo in a Bottega Veneta beige tonal outfit. Each one of Evans’ looks from the festival did a fantastic job of embracing the beach-meets-glamour style, making him an ambassador of the Cannes look all week.As Cannes is, at its heart a film festival, a great tux always looks fantastic on the red carpet. I’m a huge fan of wearing allowing the jacket of a tuxedo to do the talking, and Vincent Cassel did this exact thing in a fantastic Tom Ford black jacket covered with a dotted pattern.

Met Gala

The Met Gala theme this year was “Heavenly Bodies” inspired by Catholic iconography. I was a huge fan of this theme because of the richness of colour that it provided. The ruby red and shining gold that highlights most Catholic imagery is dripping in luxury and excess, providing the designers with so much to work with.

Chadwick Boseman (Esquire), Darren Chris (GQ), Donald Glover (GQ)

No one embraced the theme more than Chadwick Boseman. His outfit was everything that was great about this theme, but the best part was how comfortable and confident he looked in it. Compared to Jared Leto who also rocked the Catholic imagery, Boseman seemed natural in the outfit, blowing everyone else out of the water.Although the jacket was a lot, Darren Chris’ outfit was so well coordinated and well put-together that it was hard for me not to include him on this list. Everything detail in this outfit, from the tailoring of the pants, fitting of the jacket, to the grooming of his beard was perfect.Donald Glover. I could have picked any of his outfits from Cannes, and if he had gone to the Royal Wedding his outfit from that probably would have been fantastic too. The 70’s style tuxedo he wore looked great from the front and had the addition of a black strip down the side, but the detail on the back – the eye of providence from the US dollar bill – really added that extra pop. It also had an interesting political message, so I encourage you to google it and find out for yourself.

The Royal Wedding

The final event of May was the Royal Wedding. It was the spectacle of the year, with every detail planned and executed to perfection. The fashion, from the fascinators to the tailcoats, was somewhere between hilarious and spectacular, but the elegance and the class of the men who attended stood out as some of the highlights of the royal affair.

Gabriel Macht (Harper’s Bazaar), James Middleton (GQ), David Beckham (Harper’s Bazaar)

Meagan Markle’s Suits co-star Gabriel Macht appeared in a simple tailcoat with a perfectly fitting grey vest and maroon tie that beautifully matched his wife’s dress. His hair and glasses also fit the event perfectly, rounding out his well-executed yet understated look.James Middleton, younger brother of the Duchess of Cambridge, went against tradition sporting a relatively unkempt beard and long hair, as well as a blue tie with an intricate pattern. The addition of the gold tie pin made the look a little more traditional, but he stood out walking into the chapel.And then there was Beckham. Someone tweeted that if they were Prince Harry they’d have Becks removed because no male guest should upstage the Prince. Fair point. Everything about the King of British style was incredible, an outfit as close to perfect as humanly possible. Once again, David Beckham stole the show. As spring’s best month of fashion events comes to a close, two rules remain constant. You can go as extravagant or colourful as you like, add layer upon layer or keep things simple, but what will always look good is an outfit that fits well and makes you feel like David Beckham at the Royal Wedding.

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