The Most, uh, Innovative Men’s Fashion at This Year’s Oscars

Everyone’s so creative! While in Oscars past, men could get away with (or, depending on one’s inclinations, were sentenced to) standard black tuxes, a new day has come in formal men’s fashion. And last night, the looks on Hollywood’s boldest and brightest stars on the red (or rather, champagne) carpet, during the Academy Awards ceremony, and especially at Vanity Fair’s after-party certainly were...something to look at! The Rock in pink satin! Director Daniel Kwan decked out in a reference to his seven-Oscar-winning movie Everything Everywhere All at Once! Jesse Rutherford dressed like a literal clown! The floodgates have opened and now men have nothing but options for formal wear. You know how it is, you let drag queens read to children and all of a sudden you’ve got guys showing up to the Oscars looking like Golden Girls or, at minimum, my aunt sitting at a slot machine in Atlantic City.

Some of these looks are great. Some of them are not. But looks they are, and we’ve rounded up some highlights from Sunday’s festivities for your looking pleasure.

The suit is Saint Laurent, the shoulder pads are Zbornak.

Majors reportedly cited Frederick Douglass as his fashion inspo for Hollywood’s biggest night. That’s surely an Oscars first! Meanwhile, the cup he’s carrying is inspired by something his mother told him. As he explained previously: “It means mind your cup. You’re a vessel. Nobody can fill you up. Nobody can pour you out. You do that yourself...And so holding onto this [cup] is a reminder that, even in this craziness that’s happening, my self-esteem is my self-esteem. No one can big me up, as it were, or tear me down.” OK!

Riddle me this: What the fuck.

This one will finally put an end to the debate on whether or not it’s socially acceptable for men to wear shorts, especially at night and particularly in a formal setting. Thanks, Russ!

This is beautiful! What is that, velvet?

In case you missed it, a little movie called Everything Everywhere All at Once came out last year and one of its directors is referencing it directly on his suit jacket. The more you know!

Yet another Joker reboot! This time, he’s dating Billie Eilish.

There’s nothing outrageous about Grant’s getup (in a rather tense red carpet interview with Ashley Graham, he said he couldn’t remember who made it and then credited his tailor), but onstage he did describe his overall appearance as “basically a scrotum,” and hey, baggy is in!

Finally, someone has paid sartorial tribute to the great CD revival that’s currently underway.