Robert Redford Epitomizes the Best of '70s Style. Here's How to Get His Look.
Welcome to the inaugural version of Vintage Gold, a recurring segment where we here at Esquire HQ collectively lose our shit over some of the best throwback looks in Fit History. Today, we're kicking things off with an image of Robert Redford so good it made the rounds over Slack a few days ago, and we haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. Thanks again for coming by, and be sure to check back in right here on Esquire dot com for the next installment as soon as it's live.
Goddamn, son. *Lets loose long, low, wolf whistle* My man Robert Redford out here looking goooood. According to Getty, this blessed image was snapped at a London studio in the mid '70s, which, let's be honest, is the only context in which a picture like this could be taken. If you told me Redford was flicked up in this fit literally anywhere else in the world, my mind would still insist it was a London studio in the mid '70s, regardless of where this shit actually went down. That's how strong the "critically-acclaimed-actor-and-director-at-the-peak-of-his-popularity" energy is on display here. Look at him! Can you feel it? There's no use resisting. It's... it's... it's... A VIBE.
When people rhapsodize at length about the glory days of Old Hollywood, they tend to gloss over the fact that they're referring to an era in which bad (oftentimes terrible) behavior was rampant, while the worst kinds of men chomped cigars and abused their not-inconsiderable power with impunity. What they should be talking about is Robert Redford in a fit that epitomizes the best of '70s style by embracing the era's air of no holds barred, louche elegance with a level of stylistic verve that can only be appreciated by intensely scrutinizing each and every element involved.
I mean, fuck. The shaggy, permanently-windswept hair. The cooly-distant smolder, masked only by a pair of tinted aviators. The absolute unit of a 'stache dangling insouciantly above his upper lip. The slightly oversized point collar jutting jauntily out over the thin, ribbed knit. The hip-hugging, perfectly-flared jeans with just enough rockstar edge to make you seriously reconsider whether you, too, could pull 'em off. The structured black blazer with a subtle western trim and super high lapel gorge. The chunky, cuban-heeled boots.
Robert Redford looks like the platonic ideal of what your dad wishes he looked liked in his heyday. Robert Redford looks like what every faux-creative-type sees in the mirror when they start growing out their hair and saying things like they've been "really inspired by the free-thinking energy of the '70s lately". Robert Redford looks like he's so comfortable with himself, so at ease in what he's wearing, so ineffably and inarguably cool, he must've known this picture would one day be taped to many a designer's mood-board decades down the line. (Hell, his fit is so good it looks like it could've sashayed straight off the runway of Hedi Slimane's latest show for Celine.) Robert Redford looks like he's about to fuck up ALL your shit, and guess what, baby? You're going to let him.
Here's how to get the look for yourself.
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