FOR DECADES, GQ WAS THE PLACE MEN LEARNED TO DRESS THEMSELVES.
We'd teach you how to talk to your tailor, introduce you to your next gameraising boots, and crucially-lay down a handful of hard and fast rules about style that you, the reader, were meant to follow religiously.
Like: Never wear a tie wider than three inches. Plaid flannels are fine for a lumberyard or a hardware store, but not a formal office.
Don't go shirtless at a music festival. (That one is still true.) On occasion, we'd even explain how to properly break the rules with panache.
But a few years ago, GQ pumped the brakes on all the lawmaking. The thought was: We had entered menswear's Wild Style era, where stylish guys began exploring new modes of self-expression at every turn-ditching their tuxes for flowy tunics and jumpsuits on the red carpet; dabbling in makeup and nail polish; investing in flashy It bags. Dictating exactly what one should and shouldn't wear suddenly felt curmudgeonly and antiquated.
Who were we to stand in the way of progress? It was a time for unbridled experimentation.
In 2023, though, the moment finally feels right for us to lay down a few new sartorial edicts.
The anything-goes abandon of the last couple years has given way to a return to elegance.
This story is from the December 2023 - January 2024 edition of GQ South Africa.
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This story is from the December 2023 - January 2024 edition of GQ South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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