STYLE: The 10 Most Stylish Men In America

GQ has named their 10 Most Stylish Men in America.

1. Justin Timberlake
“You don’t want to look like Inspector Gadget,” he says. And as an L.A. guy, he loves a T-shirt. These days he goes for simple graphic ones that can be dressed up or down. His vintage tees, though, have mostly gone the way of his trucker hats. “I used to have an amazing collection,” he says, “but Jess and my cousin Rachael have pretty much grabbed them all.”

2. Mark Ronson D.J., Producer
“Over the past five or six years, I became obsessed with ’60s soul and Motown. On the back cover of all those Blue Note records, you’d see the guys going into the studio to play on sessions, and they’d all be dressed up. You have to dress like you take your job seriously. When you’re in a room working with the Kaiser Chiefs, these five lads from Leeds who have this sort of gang mentality, it’s like being a schoolteacher. It helps if you wear a tie as a sign of authority. One day I had to do some laundry when I was working on that record. I came into the studio in jeans and a T-shirt, and Ricky was like, ‘I’m not listening to you today. You look like a 14-year-old fool.’”

3. Alexi Lubomirski Photographer
“My mother told me when I was about 12 that I should wear blue because I’ve got blue eyes. It stuck. Every time we watched old movies together, she would point out to me who was dressed well and who wasn’t. So all my icons are the old guys: Paul Newman. Robert Redford in Three Days of the Condor. I remember watching that and stealing his style. Basically, it’s a uniform: the blue shirt, the jeans, the Indiana Jones–style boots. When I started working for Mario [Testino],I was a student from a tiny town in England where everybody wore exactly the same thing—hooded tops and baggy trousers—but I love things that are superfitted. And like I said, I pretty much wear the same stuff all the time.”

4. Andre Balaz Hotelier, Scene Magnet
“I view myself as a very traditionalist hotelier, regardless of what kinds of labels get placed on me for this or that, or for my clientele. To me, what makes a hotel great doesn’t come from the Zeitgeist. The new Standard [hotel] in New York, for example, has what I call a familiar modernity. It’s not using design as a gimmick; it’s using design to achievea purpose, a sense of emotional well-being. It’s the same with style. There’s a million ways to be stylish, as long as it’s true to the individual or the place. But comfort is the most important thing. Comfort is like happiness—who’s not looking for happiness?”

5. Kanye West, Pop Musician, Aspiring Designer
“At photo shoots, people are always tryingto put that fucking Day-Glo suit on me: ‘Kanye West is gonna wear this Day-Glo suit.’ No, Kanye West is not! I might wear a Day-Glo pocket square. Or socks. But I’m a normal human being! Kanye West is not your hanger. With this outfit here, I wasn’t trying to say anything—it’s just what appealed to me. It’s instinct: color. Fabric. The way it feels on you. I feel like the outfit was a 95 percenter. I had on the mid-cut Common Projects. But as soonas I got home, I’m looking at the low-cut Common Projects, and I’m like, ‘That would’ve looked better. Maybe they can do something with that in Photoshop.’”

6. Sid Mashburn Haberdasher, Southern Gentleman
“My look is kind of an amalgam of different things: European, preppy, southern. Preppy is oftentimes pejorative, but if you really boil it down, it’s nothing more than classic clothes—a pair of khaki pants, a Shetland sweater.”

7. T.I. World-class MC
“Every morning, I start with my shoes. Usually, I have a pair that I just know I wanna wear, and from there I put my shirt with my shoes, my pants with my shirt, my belt with my shoes and my shirt. I have real basic, old-school, classic style, homey. I’m still a Polo kid. I still like my pants to fit a certain way. I got first-grade pictures of me in suits. So I guess the fact that more formal stuff like blazers is acceptable in hip-hop these days…I could take a little credit for that.”

8. Glenn O’Brien GQ’s Style Guy
“How have I stayed stylish? I’ve always worn the same clothes. I have ties older than my wife. I think I’ve had this suit for twelve years. And it’s my favorite suit. Style is about expressing your personality, and it’s not like that changes from one year to the next. Winston Churchill had incredible style, and it was permanent. When I had shoulder-length hair, I wore the same kinds of clothes I wear now. I never wore bell-bottoms. It’s also about dressing with respect. My grandmother was a big influence on me in that way. If I was going on a date, she’d say, ‘You can’t wear that pink shirt—what’s the girl’s mother going to say? Have some respect.’”

9. Jason Schwartzman Actor, Indie Rocker
“Ever since I was a little boy and I had to dress up, I liked suits. I’d slick my hair back and be like ‘Yeah!’ When I talked to the casting director about going in for Rushmore, I remember I was wearing tails. When I met Wes Anderson, he didn’t wear suits. He wore a collared shirt with corduroys and a sweater—always. Then he got to suits. Later, I decided that I wanted to wear them, and I asked Wes where to go. I got a blue one, a pin-striped one, and a gray one. I like combining different things like a sweatshirt and a suit, but I don’t feel totally comfortable going balls to the wall; one half of me doesn’t want to stand out, and another part loves Keith Moon.”

10. Ed Ruscha (and son, Eddie) Artist, L.A. Icon
“My style is…loose and lazy? [laughs] It has everything to do with living out here. I’ve got a pair of 501s on now. And I have several pairs of thin cotton pants by Armand Basi, which are good for this weather. René Magritte—he’d paint wearing a suit and tie. Artists got rough-and-ready around the ’50s—all-out comfort became important. For twenty-five years, all I bought was used clothing. The only extravagance was that I had a couple of sequined cowboy shirts made. I don’t like all-black and I don’t wear suits and ties that often. When I do wear a tie, it’s usually a bolo tie. I have a collection of ’em—I like those little strings that dangle.”