Male style icon of the week: Matthew McConaughey

By LINDSEY JOHNSTONE
Published on 21/06/2012 16:45

A man most often photographed shirtless may seem an odd choice for a style icon but Matthew McConaughey, star of Edinburgh International Film Festival opener Killer Joe, is awarded the plaudit thanks to sterling work in his first major role - as 1993’s Dazed and Confused’s David Wooderson.

Although mostly remembered for oft-quoted line “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age,” Wooderson’s sartorial influence on a generation of fashion-conscious young men is clear to see.

Homages to his signature look of tight white graphic print t-shirt, sleeves rolled, tucked into belted, snug, pastel-hued jeans, accessorised with side-parted locks and a neatly-groomed moustache, can be seen on any number of hip young chaps about town, all dead ringers for Wooderson’s pioneering image.

McConaughey himself brought the look back earlier this year, reprising his Wooderson role in the music video for US band Butch Walker and the Black Widows’ song Synthesisers, pink jeans and all, with the only discernible change to the look a slightly expanded waistline.

If the pattern continues, expect to see a profusion of black Stetsons teamed with leather gloves in a bar, club or branch of American Apparel near you in about twenty years time.