At long last, it’s officially sweater weather. As the temperatures drop and we retire our summer staple cutoffs and tank tops in favor of cardigans and pullovers, we invite in this season’s hero: the knit.
But while many of us surely dream of sitting by the fire wrapped in a cozy sweater as we sip from a mug of cocoa, we live in an era where our knits aren’t what they once were. When considering the insulating wool of Billy Crystal’s sweater from When Harry Met Sally versus the polyamide hellscape that comprise most of today’s outerwear, writer Ellory Smith wrote: “The quality of sweaters has declined so greatly in the last twenty years that I think it genuinely necessitates a national conversation.”
Indeed, so much of the finest sweater weather inspiration comes from one source: vintage photos of older men, many of them famous. When it comes to dressing for the coziness and durability that autumn demands, these distinguished gentlemen have paved the way for people of all genders to try their hand at some truly impeccable fall fashion.
Whether we’re feeling envy over Robert Redford’s sweaters, or would love to raid Alain Delon’s closet, Hollywood’s male mainstays are becoming unintentional womenswear icons. So if Burt Reynolds’s pullovers or Sean Connery’s cardigans aren’t on your fall mood board yet, perhaps consider looking to these well dressed men for fall fashion inspiration.
