The Tamesis
“Ugh,” Harry Styles said during his television debut in 2010. “I work in a bakery? I love selling cakes in the shop…” The then-16-year-old was wearing a long cardigan, a scoop-neck T-shirt, and a thin scarf around his neck printed with patterns that resembled ancient hieroglyphics. There was also a fabric bracelet, a “handcuff” so to speak, wrapped around his forearm. All of which are considered true reflections of someone’s fashion capital in the 2010s, especially if that person’s Avenue Montaigne was Redditch’s Topman. But less than a decade later—and a series of record-breaking world tours, albums, brand launches, high-profile romances and Beatlemania—pop culture would elect Styles as its menswear god. Harry Styles’ best outfits reflect his ongoing creative evolution.
That’s largely because Styles – in the tradition of many performers before him – wore a pearl necklace, pussy-bow blouse, high-waisted pants and a sadly underrated salon dress. While the musician’s personal attire rarely goes beyond a cropped T-shirt and jeans, his on-stage persona (created by stylist Harry Lambert and former Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele) was gorgeous: a taut frame covered in strategically spaced tattoos but dressed in a lime green feather boa, sequined bell-bottoms and a burgundy jumpsuit. A swaggering sex symbol whose roots lie not in filth but in stupidity.
Styles, 31, founder and angel investor of British brand SS Daley, sat front row at the London Fashion Week show in Liverpool in September. Although he seems to be out of the public eye for the time being, his influence can be mapped to the heartthrobs of 2025: among them Timothée Chalamet, Kit Connor, Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi, who seem to have built their image on Style’s brilliant blueprint. See also: There are now plenty of heterosexual civilian men who have the guts to wear pearl necklaces on nights out and, if they happen to be amateur poets, the occasional dab of nail polish. The only thing that’s inexcusable, in my opinion, is the mainstreaming of one (one) dangling earring. It only worked for the Met Gala, which was themed around the word “camp”…but not so much for my friend’s boyfriend, who bravely decided to try his hand at songwriting.
However, since he retired from the music industry after a hugely successful music career in 22 months love on tour In 2023, Styles’ off-duty looks have proven to be the most eye-catching: walking around New York with Zoë Kravitz in a long-sleeved T-shirt, Levi’s and The Row loafers; walking around Hampstead in an Olsen-made French work jacket, Adidas cutoff shorts, and slim-fitting Dries Van Noten sneakers; wandering around Rome with a bomber jacket slung over his shoulders—more than a few women wish they could be in its shoes. If these moments prove anything, it’s that Styles is probably at his most powerful when he’s at his most populist. It’s an idea echoed in Johnny Duft’s artwork for his fourth album –Keep kissing. Disco, occasionally— wearing only a Patrick Carroll T-shirt and jeans from The Vintage Showroom.
Scroll down to see Harry Styles’ best outfits over the years.
