Playing with the rules and shaking up the suit: what makes a "best-dressed" man?

Matt Smith, voted GQ's best dressed man of the year and star of Burberry's new campaign

Men’s style magazine GQ have named The Crown actor Matt Smith the best dressed man in Britain this week, a notion I can happily get on board with. Smith looks great in clothes, in part because he has the frame - like his on-screen persona The Duke of Edinburgh - to carry them off with aplomb, long of limb and broad of shoulder that he is.

It’s also due in part to his very British sense of irreverence in how he dresses; proper, structured tailor worn with a boyish grin and a gauzy T-shirt, smart coats in heritage tweeds and wools, worn razor-sharp trousers and stomping boots. Burberry have made him the face of their most recent campaign, which will see him in more princely suits and checked trench coats than he can shake a BAFTA at.

Checked wool blazer.

The dark art of how one makes a “best dressed” list is a nebulous affair, and one I’m reluctant to pay attention to too often - spare a thought for Game of Thrones actor Kit Harrington who languishes in the lower rungs as the worst dressed chap in Britain, proof that in fact Jon Snow knows nothing - but in this case there are a few tenets to take away. Smith knows the power of tailoring, first and foremost, and uses it to accent his height. Checks, plaids and windowpane checks work harmoniously on tall, slender silhouettes - the busy-ness of the patterns need to have that space. Similarly, he knows how to modernise a suit with a sleek T-shirt or neat trainers; proof that it pays to ‘break’ the suit from time to time.

Hand painted trainers.

A welcome addition to the list is Brit actor Riz Ahmed, the emerging Star Wars talent who frequently strikes a singular note on the red carpet; eschewing the classic tuxedo of traditional suit (we’re spotting a theme here) in favour of suits worn with shirts sans tie, even with formal black tie attire; the effect is slick and contemporary.

Cotton T-shirt.

Also on the list was Jeff Goldblum, flying the flag for the over 60s and showing how far dad (even grandad) style has evolved; your wardrobe needn’t segue into a sartorial wasteland as you hit your sixth decade. In fact, in Goldblum’s case, it’s been finessed; relaxed polos with blazers instead of the standard shirt, love-worn leathers that are sharp and sleek rather than “ageing rocker”, polo necks for evening with a formal jacket and a fine line of trainers.

Motorcycle jacket.

Any man post 40 would do well to follow a similar style route; maturing doesn’t mean being bland in how you dress and men are more fit, healthy and youthful than ever. Harrington might grow into his style yet.

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