The 20th annual edition of the Screen Actors Awards took place on January 18th in Los Angeles. The ceremony honored the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2013. More than that, we could see a lot of fantastic outfits on the red carpet!
Usually, when we write about what different men wore at awards ceremonies, we always say that pretty much everyone wore “the same thing”, which is the classic black suit and that we rarely see something more extraordinary in terms of menswear.
Today however, we picked four different outfits and we will discuss the small details that make them look great. What you can learn from these celebrities is how to use accessories or fine touches to transform a simple suit into a red carpet look.
1. Kit Harington. We picked Kit Harrington as the leading guy, as he wore the classic suit with a classic tie in a classic way. The key to working a simple suit and still look red-carpet-ready, is fit. Look at how well each piece of Kit’s suit fits his body. It is obviously not an off-the-rack suit, and it has probably been tailored to fit the size of his body perfectly. That is something anyone can do. If you shirt fits, your pants fit, you’ve got on a shiny pair of shoes and well-matched accessories, you are all set to go.
2. Aaron Paul. Aaron Paul also wore a classic suit at the SAG awards, but brought a few fine touches to it that really took the whole outfit to a whole different level. First of all, he is wearing a shirt which hides his buttons, which increases the outfit’s simplicity and elegance. A bow tie and well-cut lapels are also nice touches, but the focus of the outfit goes on the shoes. Shoes with embellishments are a very bold statement and they will definitely bring a lot of glam to an outfit. Even the most simple outfit can be styled up with an extraordinary pair of shoes. You don’t need to wear shoes such as those Aaron is wearing, you can opt to stand out through fabric, color, texture, etc.
3. James Marsden. The 30 Rock actor wore a great outfit which he embellished with a nice pocket square. A pocket square is a way to style up even the most boring outfit and it’s the one place you can go as crazy as you wish. The main rule of pocket squares is that they are not supposed to match the rest of your outfit in terms of fabric or color (unless you really affirm the rule). James brought a little color to the red carpet, but kept it subtle. The small, black buttons of his shirt are a fantastic indicator of elegance and finesse. As you can notice, the pieces of the suit fit him very well and the shoes are well shined.
4. Michael K. Williams. Michael K. Williams is a very colorful man! He wore a classic jacket and a classic pair of pants, but expressed his personality and creativity by mixing them with a very colorful shirt, that he left untucked so that everyone can see it, a bow tie in a complimentary color to the shirt (blue and red), and a wonderful pair of shoes. The shoes are “abfab”: the fabric, their color and the wonderful embellishments are really outstanding!
Basically, what you can learn is that you can wear a simple suit and still look great and stand out by using small touches and accessories and that cut, shape and fit are the three major pillars on which a great-looking outfit is based on!
Now we want to hear from you! Which outfit did you like best? Cast your vote in the poll below:
Fraquoh and Franchomme
P.S. What do you think? Which outfit do you prefer? What fine touches do you use to style up your outfits? Share your comments below!
12 replies on “What they did right: Comparing 4 men’s outfits from the SAG Awards”
I like james suit better. it works for me
His suit looks great indeed!
Agree with your thoughts! Thanks for sharing!
Justin
Walking, Talking Style
Thanks Justin, it’s great to have you on the blog!
I like James’ whole look 🙂 The colour looks great on him 🙂
It really does! Thanks for casting your vote!
Though I love the suits above, James’ in particular, I’m missing the color. Women usually dominate the red carpet because they go all out in dresses that exhibit a variety of fabrics, diverse colors, and an array of accessories. I love a well tailored suit and shoes that shine even in the dark as much as the next guy, yet, I’m waiting for the savior of fashionable men hoping he will liberate them from their red carpet fashion rut. You can see it crerping in, the play with fabric on the lapel and in the (amazing) shoes Paul wore that night. But its still lagging behind in comparisson with women. Imagine the night when all these men wear colors only found on the rainbow. Can you imagine what that carpet would look like?
Hy Daniel,
We can completely relate to what you are saying. Almost every time we are covering a red carpet “runway”, we notice how all the men fear from wearing those bright and colorful clothes offered by designers. It’s interesting that the outfits exist (we featured a lot of them on our site), but they are not represented in our culture (except as fashion statements made by their creators).
Once again a great article from you guys!
I like all outfits you listed except Aaron Paul’s. I find it kind of scattered and not polished at all. I could ignore the overly long laces (that give the exception they are untied) but then there are the trousers that look as if they hadn’t even been tailored to his height and even sag weirdly at his hips. The worst of it all – the blazer looks like it is different colour than the trousers. And the sleeve doesn’t fit around his biceps. Weird. Oh, and I hate the shoes. Hipster studs should be left out of formal dressing.
I love James Marsden’s outfit! In my opinion, black bow ties and colourful pocket squares with a classic (matching!) suit are the way to go! 🙂
Eva
Hy Eva,
First of all thank you for the appreciation! It’s great to have you on the blog giving such a clear opinion and expressing yourself so well! We really love it when our readers engage in the conversation we like to start in our articles!
James will probably take the “best dressed” prize in the end! 🙂
I like how James looks so much better: sharp!
Unfortunately it is hard to see Harington clearly because there’s no contrast in the background with so many people behind him. My first impression is that his suit looks a bit oversized, but without a better photo it is hard to tell.
Hy Mario,
Indeed, sometimes red carpet photos can make it a little harder to tell what somebody looks like, even though the lighting is quite good!
As for James, it seems he has a big fan base here on Attire Club!