First, a caveat. I’m well aware that Ryan Reynolds is not your average 47-year old guy, and that the chiselled-jawed Canadian could dress like Widow Twankey and probably still look great (damn him). Secondly, I have to confess a degree of bias here because Reynolds is one of the nicest celebrities I’ve ever met (yes, you did hear a “clang” from the name-dropping there).
But during his promotional tour for the new Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine, in which he stars alongside his friend Hugh Jackman, his style has been on point because of precisely what he’s not wearing. That is, the highfalutin #lewks that male actors on the red carpet feel the need to truss themselves up in these days, as social media plays an ever-important role in an actor’s trajectory and stylists push the envelope further and further until a nice Irish lad like Barry Keoghan finds himself dressed up like he’s heading for a night at Berghain (sorry Barry).
So it’s reassuring to see the affable, steadfastly pleasant Mr Reynolds stick to what he knows (nice clothes for a really nice guy) with a slight “stepping up” from the norm, by which I mean a summer shirt that’s not just summery but has a point of interest – like some detailed stitching – or a suit in a bold colour. With the film utterly panned by Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin, at least his clothes receive five stars.
“I’m not the guy who is going to try and call attention to himself,” said Reynolds when I interviewed him several years ago (as a rule of thumb, never have your photo taken alongside him; you’ll inevitably, as I did, look like an Ewok). He told me he doesn’t like red-carpet dressing, although with his wife, the glamorous all-American Blake Lively, on his arm, there’s a fair degree of showboating required.
“Ryan Reynolds always looks great because he sticks to the old adage; he wears the clothes, they never wear him,” says Johnny Davis, style director of Esquire UK. “He seems authentic. He wears the ‘right’ brands, but through his filter. A certain amount of projection from us is probably involved too – everyone likes Ryan Reynolds, right?”
So what style touches does Reynolds adhere to as he approaches the big 50?
The just-jazzy-enough shirt
Summer’s the time for a jolly shirt – I’ve never met a patterned shirt I haven’t liked – but Reynolds has been opting for lightweight, breezy shirts that are summery without being your standard-issue tropical print.
Shirts from New York brand Bode with embroidered details have formed the main part of his wardrobe recently; the brand specialises in beautifully made, rather whimsical clothes with embroidery, interesting stitching or crochet detailing.
It’s also encouraging that Reynolds (by way of his stylist Ilaria Urbinati) favours an independent brand rather than a luxury behemoth with sponsorship deal tie-ins. “What’s refreshing is that he likes to have fun with fashion,” says model and creative director Richard Biedul. “The Bode shirts he’s been wearing are lighthearted and crafty, a little bit homespun-looking, and as a guy in his late 40s it’s just very cool and relaxed. He could look very classic and preppy, but he’s a bit more nuanced.”
The colourful suit
A tricky one, we grant you, but the concept of the “sunshine suit” has been covered in these pages before and they make a great option for a summer wedding. Don’t be put off by pink out of some misguided sense of what constitutes “masculine attire” – pink’s a great colour for men as it complements grey and sand colours so well. It was also traditionally a colour for powerful men, so it’s about time we reclaim it.
Other subtle shades like pistachio or sage work well for a formal summer event. Reynolds tends to wear T-shirts with his suits – fine for an actor but less so at a continental wedding – but a handsome linen shirt is the more standard option here. Whatever you do, don’t combine a coloured suit with another colour; it can look raffishly Ralph Lauren-esque in the right hands, but it’s tricky to pull off and can look a little novelty.
Tailoring re-dux
That said, the dashing Reynolds also enjoys a proper suit, but tends to wear them in a less obvious way. There’s nothing seismically outré in how he does it – he’s no Timothée Chalamet going sans shirt etc – but there are small considerations which will help any midlife man to tweak the traditional formula, transforming a proper, upright suit into something that little bit more individual.
Without a tie, for example, with the shirt collar done up looks sleek and slightly “1990s art gallery owner”, or as Reynolds did to greet King Charles at Wrexham, a suit with a cardigan underneath the blazer but atop the shirt. It’s the British version of the Italian who wears a gilet under a blazer; a knitted inner layer that softens things somewhat and still looks smart.
Reynolds also has a fondness for a taupe suit, which looks pleasingly non-corporate and easy for warmer climes too; it’s donnish and smart rather than City-fied, and looks on point with a workaday denim shirt with informal knitted tie too, if you’re so persuaded.
A solid everyman game
In perhaps one of the strangest sporting moves in recent UK history, Ryan Reynolds bought Wrexham AFC along with his actor friend Rob McElhenney. As you do. Amid this curious Venn diagram where a Hollywood A-lister is on the stands of a second-division UK football club, Reynolds has opted for an everyman approach pitchside; Canada Goose jackets (yes, we appreciate they’re upwards of £600, but he’s not in Loro Piana cashmere), long-sleeved polo shirts and army jackets that any punter in the stands could relate to.
Of course, the main action is on the pitch, but football style has become big business – see the excitement over the years around what then England manager Gareth Southgate was wearing for important championships – and Reynolds holds his own against the best in pitch-side posturing.
It’s nothing to frighten the horses, just solid, dependable Harrington jackets, shirts, polos and hoodies – mainly in dark shades – that are a wingman for any guy in his 40s, made a little more personal with the addition of colourful beaded bangles on his wrist, presumably from his children. Again, it helps that it’s him; that action-hero jawline and sweep of hair can’t be bought.
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