Issue #54 | Walton Goggins, Man of Style
He's got it
Greetings from Philippines! I’m here with Mrs. Front of Book after a week in Japan. The Tokyo menswear scene was everything I hoped for and I’m working on a guide to my favorite shops. In the meantime I wanted to give a shout out to a Hollywood Man of the Moment and “cocktail partaker” Walton Goggins.
First a quick anecdote: In Tokyo last week I stopped by the menswear store Bryceland’s Co. Ethan Newton, the shop’s Aussie founder and a well-known figure in the menswear world, was there. The first item that caught my eye was a funky silk shirt in cream with a camp collar, pearl buttons, and flapped patch pockets. It’s kind of a modern Western look meant to be worn loose, drapey, and tucked in, ideally into high-waisted tailored pants.
The shirt was transformative, imbuing the wearer with an immediate dose of confidence and swagger. As I walked out of the changing room, I said, “This shirt is very Walton Goggins.”
“I love Walton Goggins,” Ethan replied.
“Me too.”
Does anybody not love Walton Goggins? He’s all over the place these days, a great comedic actor but also with dramatic chops, as he shows in Season 3 of The White Lotus. (He’s also starring in HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones and Amazon’s Fallout, by my favorite Goggins gig is the grossly underrated Vice Principals.)
One of the reasons I love Goggins, though, is his style. He has it. There’s a lot of debate these days about personal style, what it is, who has it, whether it even exists. The answer: It does! Look at Goggins. You can immediately tell he has his own style, and I don’t know how you could argue otherwise.
Goggins’ style is louche. But not over-the-top louche. It’s just right louche. There’s a bit of Serge Gainsbourg in there, a dash of Husbands Paris, some vintage YSL. He’s found a vibe he likes and he sticks with it. His clothes have an easy, kind of sexy, flow. You see and outfit of his and you know: It works. That’s personal style.
Here are the signature elements of Goggins’ style:
Gorgeous shirts with wide collars, made of a luxurious material, unbuttoned to the third button
Maybe with an attention-grabbing pattern
Straight leg trousers that sit high at the waist, thought not necessarily at the natural waist (i.e. above the hip bone). Like the shirts, the pants are made of a fine material, and are neither too tight nor too loose
Soft, unstructured jackets and suits with wide lapels
Jewelry. He’s often wearing a gold Rolex, a gold necklace and wristband, and a few gold rings.
Loafers
I actually saw Goggins walking around SoHo one day last year. It was a cool fall day and he was wearing an outfit exactly like one of these, with a cropped suede jacket over top and sunglasses. I clocked him right away—he was a man of style.
You also have to love how an actor like Goggins is having a moment at this stage of his career. He’s one of those actors whose face you immediately recognize from somewhere—it is very recognizable—but can’t quite place it. You’ve seen him in about a dozen things before, you can’t remember what, but you know you liked him. You can see why Mike White picked him for White Lotus and cast him against character. Goggins brings a lot to that show—there’s a lot happening behind the eyes.
So cheers to you, Walton Goggins. Don’t ever change. And where do you get those shirts??
Now it’s off to the beach for me! I’ll be back soon with a Tokyo menswear roundup. See you then.
Mitch
Question? Comment? Suggestion? Caught a typo? Email me at mitch.moxley@gmail.com
Great piece. Couldn’t agree more. What belt is he wearing for his opener in SNL? Too cool!