FT Picks: October’s Best Dressed Men

As it’s Halloween, we thought it’d be appropriate to give you a few sartorial treats (October's best dressed) and then – to top it off – a little bit of a Halloween trick. (It’s not anything like that Tesco Value monstrosity from a few weeks ago, but more a lesson in how the small details of a suit can make a huge difference to how sharp you look.)

#1 Jon Hamm

As Don Draper, Jon Hamm was the epitome of cool; sharp suits, whiskey cocktails and exceptional hair. And, as you can see here, as Jon Hamm, the situation isn’t much different. Taking a more relaxed approach to suiting up, he’s paired a chalk-checked suit with dark brown shoes and added a final flourish with a similarly checked pocket square. Ditching the tie gives this a relaxed, casual look, but it’s still incredibly sharp.

#2 Roger Federer

As anybody who has seen The Nice Guys will attest, the 70s is coming back in a real way. The brown and orange hues that have long since been relegated to the realm of geography teachers are now cool again, expertly demonstrated by Roger Federer. Not only has he shown complete dedication with a slightly burgundy suit, but he’s matched it with a matching roll-neck sweatshirt and aviators with brown lenses. It’s bold and daring departure from his traditional black tie attire, but it works and it’s earned him a spot as one of our best dressed men this month.

#3 Joel Edgerton

Sticking to the 70s theme here, Joel Edgerton’s maroon suit makes Roger Federer look reserved and unadventurous. The three-piece maroon suit with brown shoes is not only a success because it’s throw-back to the 70s, but because he’s paired it with a college tie, a neat tie pin and a subtly contrasting pocket square. Joel is easily one of October’s best dressed men.

#4: James Marsden

At the premiere of Westworld, James Marsden gave everybody a lesson in how to mix and match patterns and textures without looking like Timmy Mallett. In an outfit that shouldn’t work (but does), he carefully combines a wool, chalk-check suit with a floral shirt, a striped tie and brown shoes. On paper, it shouldn’t work, but because he’s kept the colours similar and muted, it does. Maybe it’s time to dig out that floral shirt from the back of the wardrobe and throw it on?

#5: David Oyelowo

Another coloured suit – are you noticing a pattern? David Oyelowo, while promoting his new film A United Kingdom, rocked an indigo suit with a bold printed tie and a lapel pin. To top it off, he threw on some loafers with no socks. Normally, we’d be against this sort of thing, but when you pull it off with this amount of panache, we can’t help but get on board. (If you fancy putting your own spin on this look, check out our range of lapel pins and printed floral or paisley ties.)

FT Tricks: Our so-near-but-so-far Best Dressed Man

Ben Affleck vs Tom Gyllenhaal

This Esquire article goes into a lot of depth into why Ben Affleck’s suit is quite so bad, but to sum it up: lazy tailoring (notice the baggy arms and too much gathering around his ankles) and a huge amount of cuff showing. The reason that it’s our Halloween trick – rather than something outrageous and disgusting – is that it shows you just what a difference the small details can make. Ben’s suit is a Gucci Marseille suit, so you think all of the hard work should be done – just throw it on and look sharp. However, if you don’t pay attention to the smaller details (namely, correct tailoring to get sharp, fluid lines) you’ll still end up looking like you’ve pinched your Dad’s suit to go to the school disco.

Image Credits: Getty Images