What’s your go-to source of style inspiration? Maybe you like to follow Fashion Week, perhaps you’re a sucker for cinema and emulate the looks you see on screen, or it could be that, like so many people these days, you rely on your chosen social-media app’s explore feed to deliver your sartorial stimulus.
There’s something to be said for all of these options, but in our experience, the purest and most authentic place to look is all around us – at the people in our day-to-day lives for whom dressing well seems effortless.
Some people just instinctively know how to pull an outfit together, and we always notice. The ones who do it best have a knack for incorporating trending pieces with timeless favourites while allowing their own sense of style to shine through.
So what are the best-dressed guys we know wearing right now? Here’s what we’ve been seeing a lot of in 2026.
Key Pieces
Cropped Jackets
Traditionally, outerwear tends to be cut longer than garments such as T-shirts, knits and shirts. But that’s not always the case. In recent years, cropped, boxy styles have been on the rise as menswear as a whole gets more experimental with proportions.
It’s largely light outerwear we’re talking about here – think waxed jackets, mechanic jackets and chore coats – layered with some slightly longer pieces underneath for depth.
Try styling them with relaxed or straight-leg pants, preferably high-waisted, to complement the proportions.
Straight-Leg Pants
Men’s legwear has been bouncing between extremes for a long time now, so it’s only right that we should eventually reach a happy medium.
All the best-dressed people we know default to a straight leg now, whether we’re talking jeans, tailoring, chinos or whatever else.
If you look back through the decades, this cut is one of the only constants in the history of modern menswear. It’s always there, and it always works.
If you want to cringeproof yourself for the future, steer clear of the baggies, the skinnies and the bootcuts and stick to this instead.
Approach Shoes
Built for the outdoors and repurposed for city life, we’re seeing approach shoes on the feet of all the most stylish men we know at the moment, and it’s been gaining momentum for some time.
Why now? Just zoom out for a moment and look at two of the biggest overarching trends of the last five years: gorpcore and low-profile sneakers. If you were to draw a Venn diagram of these two things, approach shoes would sit right in the middle.
Check out La Sportiva and Mammut for the real deal, or for something a bit more city-friendly, take a look at Village PM and Keen.
Raw Denim
Anything that gets better with age is a winner in our book, from Barbour jackets to a proper pair of leather boots. These are things that take on character through their patina and imperfections, telling a story of the wearer’s lifestyle.
Raw denim is perhaps one of the prime examples. While it has always been a good option for jeans and denim jackets, there has been a notable uptick in its popularity of late.
The best-dressed men look like they belong in their clothes, and the more you wear something, the more it becomes an extension of you. A good pair of raw denim jeans becomes more comfortable over time, and comfort breeds confidence.
Buy a good pair and wear them to death.
Slim Sneakers
More broadly, slim sneakers with flat-to-floor soles and low-profile silhouettes are still very much the casual footwear of choice for menswear’s most stylish.
The Samba was the shoe everyone was pointing to when the trend first took off, but there are countless alternatives that fill the same gap on your shoe rack. Look at Maison Margiela’s Replica or Adidas’ Tokyo for a start.
Loafers
There was a time when loafers felt a bit try-hard outside of tailoring. Too polished for jeans, too relaxed for anything properly formal. That middle ground has since been reclaimed.
The best-dressed men are wearing loafers the way they were always meant to be: as everyday shoes. Think chunky penny loafers with raw denim, slim suede pairs with lightweight tailoring, even the odd tassel style with fatigues and a sweatshirt.
The key is contrast. If the outfit leans casual, the loafer sharpens it. If it’s already refined, it keeps things from getting too stuffy. Either way, it’s doing more than a trainer ever could.
Casual Derbies
If loafers are the easy win, casual derbies are the thinking man’s alternative. Slightly more structured, a touch more grounded, and often overlooked.
The pairs we’re seeing tend to come with thicker soles, matte leathers and rounded toes. Nothing too sleek, nothing too formal.
They work best when you lean into their heft. Pair them with straight-leg trousers, heavy twill chinos or even fatigues and let the proportions do the talking.
It’s a subtle shift, but one that makes an outfit feel more considered without drawing too much attention to itself.
Dress Watches
There’s a noticeable move away from oversized sports watches and towards something quieter. Slim profiles, smaller case sizes, simple dials. The sort of watches that don’t announce themselves across the room but reward a closer look.
It makes sense. When the rest of your outfit is doing less, the details matter more. A clean leather strap, a well-proportioned case, maybe a slightly offbeat dial colour if you’re feeling adventurous.
It’s less about flexing and more about refinement.
Colour-Pop Headwear
For the most part, the palette we’re seeing is fairly restrained: navy, olive, ecru, washed black. Which is exactly why a hit of colour works so well. A bright cap, a knitted beanie in an unexpected shade, even the occasional graphic trucker.
It’s a low-risk way of injecting personality into an outfit without derailing it. Keep everything else grounded and let the hat do the work.
The best-dressed guys aren’t afraid of a bit of colour, they just know where to place it.
Key Colours
Faded Black
There’s been a growing trend towards distressed clothing for a while now. We’re not talking about those spray-on jeans with 1,000 artificial rips in each leg, but clothes that have been authentically lived in… or at least look like they have.
Think faded band tees from the 90s, beaten-up cotton crew-necks in the gym and baseball caps complete with salt lines. Maybe it’s a symptom of the move back towards vintage clothing, or perhaps it’s indicative of a desire for authenticity in a market flooded with soulless fast-fashion tat.
Whatever it is, faded black is the colour that ties it all together, and it’s increasingly becoming a staple in the wardrobes of those who really know how to dress.
Browns
Pantone’s colour of the year last year was something called Mocha Mousse: a sort of pale, pastel brown. Since then, it has been inescapable.
You might think of brown as being boring or a bit stuffy, but it can look great on the right pieces and in the right outfits.
Go for fabrics that complement rich colours, like suede, cord, or even towelling, and don’t be afraid to experiment with tonal combinations using darker browns, black, and even earthy greens.
Cream
If faded black is about character, cream is about restraint. It’s the colour that seems to crop up everywhere once you start looking for it – ecru denim, off-white tees, natural canvas jackets, unbleached knits.
Softer than optic white and far more forgiving, it sits quietly at the centre of many very good outfits.
It also does something useful in a broader sense. Cream has a way of lifting darker tones without introducing contrast that feels too sharp. Pair it with navy, olive or brown, and everything just settles.
Terracotta
Earth tones have been doing the rounds for a while, but terracotta feels like the one that’s stuck. It has warmth without tipping into anything too rich or seasonal, which makes it surprisingly wearable year-round.
We’re seeing it most often in midweight pieces – overshirts, chore jackets, relaxed tailoring – usually in fabrics with a bit of texture. It works well as a focal point, but it’s just as effective dialled down alongside neutrals. Think terracotta with ecru, faded black or olive.
Nothing too loud, just enough to give an outfit a bit of life.
Sky Blue
Not the crisp, corporate shirt blue, but something softer and slightly washed out. The kind of tone you’d expect to see on a well-worn Oxford or a vintage sportswear piece that’s spent a few summers in the sun.
It’s an easy way to bring colour into an outfit without it feeling forced. Sky blue sits comfortably with pretty much everything – raw indigo, cream, navy, even those warmer browns – and has a way of making heavier fabrics feel lighter.
In a wardrobe that leans heavily on muted tones, it’s often the piece that stops things from looking flat.