I didn’t see this one coming.
And even Esquire has to explain themselves:
An unconventional choice to be sure, but hear us out.
Esquire’s “Best Dressed Man” for 2013 is …ย [drum roll] … Pope Francis! They write:
The opulent jewelry and fur-lined capes of yore have given way to humbler dress, and this break from aesthetic tradition says a lot of the man and what he hopes to achieve while doing his earthly duties.
Mark-Evan Blackman, assistant professor of menswear design at FIT,ย says of Pope Francis:
I remember when John Paul II was buried in those opulent bright red shoes. When the current pope was elected and chose not to wear the red shoes I thought that was very reflective of his approach to being a person functioning in a role.
Mary Lisa Gavenas, author of The Fairchild Encyclopedia of Menswear,ย says:
Pope Francis understands that menswear is meant to express the character of the man wearing the clothes.
Ann Pellegrini, Associate Professor of Performance Studies & Religious Studies at New York University puts it this way:
The humility of his garments offers a way to visibly display his theological and material concerns for the poor. This Holy Roman emperor really does have new clothes.
Esquire calls it “progressive orthodoxy.” I like that!
awr
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