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Cinematic Fashion Advice For Men

By Holly Pyne

25 July 2013

Sorry friends/family/girlfriends/colleagues, but men are more likely to heed the words of a movie character than they are you.

Let's face it, when it comes to taking advice, men are scientifically wired to observe the wisdom of someone they like, someone they trust, someone like say, a film character. Granted, they may be a mere figment of a scriptwriter's brain, but if they're always well turned out in tailored suits and polished brogues, odds are you'd be more inclined to adhere to their style guidance than Greg from Accounts who still wears a tie like a truant schoolboy.

And, for all the riveting storylines and gripping drama, it would appear that a great deal of cinema has been merely white noise for what's really being imparted on screen - subliminal fashion advice. So, feel free to absorb the sartorial wisdom of Messrs Brüno, Bateman and Burgundy (and plenty more that don't begin with B), as they present the best fashion lessons of cinema.

Images: Allstar/Rex/YouTube

Charles Darwin (Creation)

Year: 2009

Played by: Paul Bettany

“Nature selects for survival, man for appearance.”

Abe (Looper)

Year: 2012

Played by: Jeff Daniels

“The movies that you’re dressing like are just copying other movies.”

Lord Arthur Goring (An Ideal Husband)

Year: 1999

Played by: Rupert Everett

“Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear.”

Frank (Once Upon a Time in the West)

Year: 1968

Played by: Henry Fonda

"How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can't even trust his own pants.”

Mark Thackeray (To Sir With Love)

Year: 1967

Played by: Sidney Poitier

“Every new fashion is a form of rebellion.”

Cal Weaver (Crazy Stupid Love)

Year: 2011

Played by: Ryan Gosling

“Are you Steve Jobs? Oh okay well in that case you have no right to wear New Balance sneakers ever”

Rigby Reardon (Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid)

Year: 1982

Played by: Steve Martin

"I hate that dumb way of wearing your shirt buttoned with no tie."

James (Party Monster)

Year: 2003

Played by: Seth Green

Never wear white after Labor Day and avoid that one like the plague!

Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)

Year: 2000

Played by: Christian Bale

"Now, John, you've to wear clothes in proportion to your physique. There are definite dos and don'ts, good buddy of wearing a bold striped shirt. A bold stripe shirt calls for solid coloured or discreetly patterned suits and ties."

Marshall (Joe Versus The Volcano)

Year: 1990

Played by: Ossie Davis

“Clothes make the man. I believe that. You say to me you want to go shopping, you want to buy clothes, but you don't know what kind. You leave that hanging in the air, like I'm going to fill in the blank. That to me is like asking me who you are, and I don't know who you are, I don't want to know.”

Brüno (Brüno )

Year: 2009

Played by: Sacha Baron Cohen

"A lot of the style gurus in Austria are saying like Osama Bin Laden is the best dressed guy, do you think so?"

Vivian Cash (Walk the Line)

Year: 2005

Played by: Ginnifer Goodwin

"You can't wear black. It looks like you're going to a funeral."

Derek Zoolander (Zoolander)

Year: 2001

Played by: Ben Stiller

"Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty."

Seth (Superbad)

Year: 2007

Played by: Jonah Hill

"Nobody has gotten a hand job in cargo shorts since 'nam!"

Arnold Rothstein (Mobsters)

Year: 1991

Played by: F. Murray Abraham

"What's the secret of America? MONEY! Everything is MONEY, Charlie. But you'll never make any money, because you dress like a schmuck."

Rex (Napoleon Dynamite)

Year: 2004

Played by: Diedrich Bader

"Take a look at what I'm wearing, people. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys?"

Uncle Henry Skinner (A Good Year)

Year: 2006

Played by: Albert Finney

"A blue suit is the most versatile of accoutrements. More important than the suit itself, is the man who fits it for you. Once you find a good tailor, you must never give his name away - not even under the threat of bodily harm."