In Defense Of Harry Styles’ Wild New Wardrobe And Its Rock Origins 

In Defense Of Harry Styles’ Wild New Wardrobe And Its Rock Origins

There is no denying Harry Styles has gotten verrrry experimental with his look as of late. Things started off slowly with a printed shirt here and there, but then, he started wearing patterned pants and, most recently, a full floral suit. We originally likened his shirt collection to that of your loud, tacky aunt, but his look actually has more of a basis in classic rockstar style than you may have realized.

Harry Styles And His Floral Suit Make A Bold Statement At The AMAs

Harry’s taste has definitely rubbed off on the other members of One Direction, yet he manages to stick out from the group on red carpets and during performances thanks, in large part, to his flamboyant style.

Harry’s recent, unexpected style choices may help him stick out from other male celebrities in 2015, but all draw direct inspiration from iconic rockstars of the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Harry pulls a lot of pages from Mick Jagger’s style book, who, like Harry, was initially fond of a preppy, blazer-heavy style. By 1973, Mick had starting experimenting with his look a little more, growing out his hair and wearing bold, feminine-inspired blouses. Sound familiar??

In 2015, many men stick with simple, leather dress shoes. Harry, however, follows in David Bowie’s footsteps—literally, LOL—in making sure his shoes are as impressive as his outfit. In 1973, at the tail-end of his Ziggy Stardust era, Bowie wore metallic turquoise boots, which punched up his otherwise simple brown suit. Since late 2013, Harry has been fond of Saint Laurent boots, which, especially when they’re sparkly, add an exciting element to his often monochromatic performance outfits.

Today, embroidered jackets may invoke the marching band uniform of your high school, but Harry’s inspiration seems to stem from someone way more stylish—Jimi Hendrix. In the 1960s, Hendrix bought a vintage military jacket and turned it into one of his trademark looks. He wasn’t the only one—Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, and John Lennon all purchased similar jackets from I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet in London. While Harry’s jacket is Saint Laurent and military-inspired rather than, y’know, an actual military uniform, it adds him to a long legacy of musicians who aren’t afraid of ornate jackets.

Sure, the Harry Styles-Mick Jagger comparisons have been around for years, but Mick isn’t the only member of the Rolling Stones who Harry takes inspiration from. Ruffled tuxedo shirts were in style in the 1970s, though—surprise!—they didn’t often make appearances on stage at Rolling Stones gigs. In 1971, however, Keith Richards managed to turn a ruffled tuxedo shirt into a look suitable for a Stones performance by wearing it unbuttoned and without a jacket. 43 years later, Harry followed Keith’s lead by wearing a ruffled shirt without actually wearing a tuxedo. The look initially took us by surprise, but a closer examination reveals something important—rockstar-level confidence is required to pull off a shirt like this.

Harry’s bold floral Gucci suit took a lot of people by surprise at the 2015 AMAs, but unsurprisingly, Mick Jagger wore a similarly ~out there~ suit. Checkered suits became extremely popular by the mid-70s, but Jagger spearheaded the trend, wearing it in 1969 on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” While it doesn’t seem like floral suits are set to take red carpets by storm any time soon, we wouldn’t be surprised if subtle patterns started popping up here and there—gray suits are ubiquitous and tired. Dudes are inevitably going to want to mix it up. Calling Harry’s impact now—keep your eyes out.

Harry Styles’ New Fancy Pants Are Making A Lot Of People Feel A Lot Of Things

When Zayn resurfaced at Paris Fashion Week after leaving the band, we were convinced that he was angling for a fashion campaign. While he may have been—and still might be, for all we know—he’ll have some stiff competition from Harry, who is quickly proving he can pull off most things, including flared pants.

Gucci, you know what to do. Harry has a break coming up, after all—what better way to fill it?