Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Esquire

“You learn to own up to your MADNESS and be a man. And I had a lot of madness INSIDE ME. I was trying to keep that shit deep down and TUCKED because I had to be the guy that was the SAVIOR to millions.” KID CUDI IS STANDING IN FRONT OF A JUMBO SCREEN AT THE HOME of the New York Mets, watching a stadiumful of fanatics chant his name. He hasn’t toured in five years, and he forgot how much he needed this feeling. Not just the idolatry but the physical connection with fans that’s kept him alive all these years. Night after night this summer, he’ll feel it again when he embarks on a twenty-seven-city world tour, an ambitious, theatrical exhibition combining his love of singing and acting…

IT FELT LIKE CHEATING, BUT IT WAS delicious. The early days of my relationship with the dirty martini were complex. I craved the easy sophistication that a martini conjured, but my postcollege self wasn’t ready for its stone-cold booziness. Few in their early twenties have dealt with enough adult life to appreciate the martini’s ability to make you forget that you now have to deal with adult life. A dirty martini, however? That wisp of olive brine alongside gin and vermouth made the drink downright quaffable and fun, even though it still looked like the thing that grown-ups who had a mortgage and a dinner jacket drank. It became a go-to when I felt the need to flex some faux refinement. But hang around too many serious bar folk and…

AROUND AUSTIN, YOU MIGHT NOTICE a certain kind of modern gentleman who perfectly nails the ideal mix of contemporary and nostalgic clothes. There’s a good chance he got his outfit at Stag Provisions, a place where the staff wears cowboy hats, well-loved plaid shirts, and authentic, raw denim. It also serves beer, but most important, anything you buy here will almost certainly be stylish decades from now. The mix of eclectic brands in the store spans countries, with an impressive selection of hard-to-find Japanese labels, but Stag makes it all feel like modern-day Americana workwear. There are stacks of folded RRL work shirts, a medley of Beams+jackets, an assortment of Chamula woven bracelets, all within steps of one another. You’d be hard-pressed to find all of these brands together in any…

THE IDEA OF PUTTING on an overcoat right now might strike you as ill-conceived. It’s still so damn hot. You’ve got time, right? Wrong. Here’s the thing about shopping for an overcoat: You need to try it on. You need to feel it settle onto your shoulders. You need to appreciate the way it transforms from a garment into a piece of armor, giving you the kind of confidence that makes all those little indignities the world throws at you feel small and easily surmountable. Because that’s what an overcoat does. Provided, of course, you pick the right overcoat. And here’s the thing about picking the right overcoat: It’s not all that easy. If you don’t get a jump on hunting for the very best ones, the ones that can…

I PICTURE MY DAD IN SPERRYS. HE’S NOT A DYED-IN-THE-WOOL BLUE BLOOD like some of his friends from the Main Line, outside Philly. But he certainly dressed the part back in the day. Brooks Brothers to marry my mom. Faded jeans and L.L. Bean chamois shirts to wrangle the kids. And, of course, the boat shoes. Practical. Dependable. Unassuming. The first pair of “dad shoes” in my life. I was appalled by them. Dads aren’t cool! So I got into sneakers: Vans, Chucks, Nikes. Then, in the middle 2010s in New York, a few of my best-dressed buddies started wearing New Balance 990v4’s. Even though these weren’t the dad shoes I grew up with, they were dad shoes nonetheless. Practical. Dependable. Unassuming. And … cool? Maybe I was just chasing the…

Gabby Giffords ACTIVIST, FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN, 52, TUCSON _ I LIKED TO GO HUNTING WITH MY PARENTS. I’m not against guns. I still own guns even today. Safely, of course. _ I DON’T THINK OF MY ASSAILANT. He took so much away from me, and even more away from the families of the six people he murdered. At Jared Lee Loughner’s sentencing hearing, my husband [former astronaut and current U. S. senator Mark Kelly] told him, “You have decades upon decades to contemplate what you did. But after today, after this moment, here and now, Gabby and I are done thinking about you.” _ I’D RATHER SPEND MY ENERGY on channeling that pain into purpose than giving him another ounce of myself. _ I THINK OF FORGIVENESS as tied to–but distinct…

Bros begins with Billy Eichner’s character, Bobby, mocking a Hollywood exec’s outrageous invitation to make a big-studio gay rom-com that appeals to straight men. “Am I gonna get buttfucked by Jason Momoa while we’re both worrying about a volcano?” Bobby asks, his caustic delivery effectively cutting the startled exec down to size. It’s the kind of nightmare scenario that the forty-three-year-old Eichner, an openly gay actor for more than two decades, feared he might be in when Nick Stoller, who has directed dude-friendly rom-coms like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Neighbors and is notably straight, approached him about making a big-studio gay rom-com. “There’s something about being queer in Hollywood,” Eichner says from a well-appointed hotel room during an early-summer Zoom call. “It turns you into a fighter.” But Stoller and…

SECRET FAMILIES—THE result of one man living a double life involving two households that are unaware of each other, each unhappy in its own way—are more common than you’d think. We know of three, and it’s not even happy hour. Two spouses, two houses. It’s a lot, and listen: We’d never do it ourselves. The contemptible weasels who perpetrate these deceptions run the gamut, from one-time-affair milque-toasts to delusional narcissists who hate to limit their gifts to one brood. The duplicity often goes on for decades, usually uncovered only by accident—a chance meeting with a look-alike, say, or a misdelivered Edible Arrangement. But let’s set aside their debauchery for a second and ask ourselves if these men are, when seen in the right light, logistical geniuses. We can’t help but marvel…

OUR MODERN LIVES ARE GOVERNED BY THE Algorithm. Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify push us to the products and entertainment we already like. This creates more data and profits for them and more of the same for us. Serendipity is dying fast. When, for instance, was the last time you were knocked on your ass by a music recommendation? I bet it’s been a while. The solution isn’t to become a Luddite—I’m not suggesting you abandon the platforms—but to reintroduce yourself to an old friend: the radio. Yeah, I know, the radio sucks. Scuzzy audio quality, corny disc jockeys, lame Top 40. The trick is to avoid (most of) the corporate-owned stations and seek out the college and public-radio outlets on the low end of the dial. There’s magic there. Music that…

DURING MY MOST RECENT TRIP TO MILAN, IN JUNE, I BUMPED INTO A LOCAL I know who asked, at least half seriously, “You’re here so much, why don’t you just get an apartment?” It’s a good question. I’ve been in Milan more than a hundred times since starting as a fashion writer in the ’90s. This year I’ve been four times, and I’ll be back in a couple weeks. I have always loved it. Milan is a bustling, working city that is home to roughly 1.5 million people. In the past decade, it has transformed into a thoroughly modern place that lives proudly on its reputation for being a world leader in contemporary style, art, and design. And while big-designer fashion is usually a magnet for most visitors, I tend…

INVESTMENT-WORTHY JEWELRY— the stuff you shell out for now, wear for years, and let your kids fight over when you’re dead—doesn’t scream for attention. It reveals itself quietly, then demands a second look. It makes even the jewelry-phobic feel like they might be missing out. And in the case of the new Tiffany Lock bracelet, it does all of this while paying homage to a design motif that’s as essential to the company as the famous little blue box. Since the late 1800s, the lock has been entwined with the history of Tiffany, seeing its way onto pieces like heart-and-key pendants and charms. But the Lock bracelet is sleeker than its forebears. It’s capsule shaped and lightweight on the wrist, adding a bolt of shine without weighing you down. You…

IF YOU’RE ANYTHING LIKE US AT Esquire, your grooming routine is constantly evolving. Taking care of your skin, styling your hair—hell, even brushing your teeth—all mean something different today than they did yesterday. (Are those laugh lines?) No matter where we are in our grooming evolution, though, we want to look good now, dammit. That’s why we buckled down and slathered, rubbed, spritzed, lathered, and tested every new product we could get our hands on—hundreds in total—to make sure you know the absolute best ways to upgrade your grooming game right now. shave/beard hair body face fragrance teeth…

I’M DOING THE THING I ALWAYS HATED WHEN I WENT TO CLUBS AS A KID—INSTEAD OF DANCING, I’m just standing, staring at everyone here. Even worse, I’m checking out what they’re wearing, watching bodies move and swirl around me, trying to see if I can pick out cohesive styles, emerging trends. There are a lot of anime girls here. E-boys and e-girls in rave-friendly tech wear. There’s somebody in the corner dressed like a banana, another like Master Chief from Halo. Stylistically, it’s chaos, no obvious cohesion at all. It’s almost ugly, anxiety inducing. But it also feels warmly familiar to me, nostalgic, like I’ve slipped back in time twenty-five years to the parties of my youth. Then the music changes, the DJ dropping a subwoofer-rattling slice of tech-step drum…

STORE INFORMATION For the items featured in Esquire, please consult the website or call the phone number provided. Blueprint, p. 48: El Cosmico kimono robe, stagprovisions.com. P. 52: Prada bag, jacket, and trousers, prada.com. P. 55: Loro Piana coat, us.loropiana.com. Wales Bonner x Adidas sweater, adidas.com. Officine Générale jacket and jeans, us.officinegenerale.com. Tecovas boots, tecovas.com. P. 56: Todd Snyder coat, toddsnyder.com. Wales Bonner jacket, walesbonner.net. Officine Générale trousers and sweater, us.officinegenerale.com. Salvatore Ferragamo boots, ferragamo.com. Canali coat and trousers, canali.com. Jacques Marie Mage sunglasses, jacquesmariemage.com. P. 58: Tiffany & Co. bracelets, tiffany.com. P. 60: Vacheron Constantin watch, vacheron-constantin.com. Atelier Cillian jacket, ateliercillian.com. P. 62: New Balance sneakers, newbalance.com. Louche Life, p. 100: Celine Homme by Hedi Slimane jacket, boots, and top, celine.com. AMI trousers, amiparis.com. ATM Anthony Thomas Melillo T-shirt,…

I HAD TO RUN IT BACK, BECAUSE I WAS certain I hadn’t heard what I’d heard. It was a weekday after another weekend of mass shootings, which itself had followed a week that contained a mass shooting in an elementary school. It was a time for deep reflection and decisive action, unless you’re an American lawmaker: South Dakota senator John Thune was asked the sensible and relevant question “Why do people even need AR-15’s?” “They are a sporting rifle,” he said with a sigh, unable to make eye contact with his interviewer. He continued. “And in my state they use them to shoot prairie dog and, you know, other types of varmints.” And that was that. Don’t bother wondering why a prairie dog needs to be vaporized, or why that means…

WE’VE ALL HEARD THE “IT’S ABOUT THE JOURNEY” THING, BUT LET’S face it—it’s the destination. Shuffling through security and getting cracked in the elbow by the beverage cart feels worth it when you’re heading somewhere spectacular. So next time you’re preparing for a big trip, make sure you’ve got the gear to match. Ditch the hyperfunctional, many-pocketed backpack and opt for a bag that works on the plane and when you land. Prada’s leather carryall is large enough to hold your laptop, headphones, and every other in-flight essential but sleek and stylish enough that you’ll want to bring it with you after checking in at the hotel. And if by some poor stroke of luck you’re going somewhere less than spectacular? Well, at least you’ve got a damn good bag to…

BACK IN MY SALAD DAYS, I CARRIED MYSELF WITH SWAGGER. The dashing raconteur—that’s the role I liked to play. But today, I never turn on the charm the way I used to years ago. These days, I make a conscious effort to mellow my manner in mixed company. I’m talking about man issues, which for decades I had confused with girl problems. That confusion sent me on a quest leading to some of the most desired and objectified women in the world. If I’d read different books, watched different movies, and looked up to different role models as a kid, I might’ve figured things out earlier. Instead, here I am with my hair turning gray and I’m still revising my understanding of the man I want to be. My self-diagnosed girl…

WHEN ISMAEL CRUZ CÓRDOVA WAS A FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD ASPIRING actor in the early 2000s, he washed cars and mowed lawns every weekend to finance his first big purchase: a television and a DVD player. One of the first DVDs he bought was The Fellowship of the Ring. Córdova dreamed of an actor’s life and longed to play one of Tolkien’s elves, but as an Afro-Latino teenager growing up in a poor community in Puerto Rico, he saw no place for himself among their lily-white ranks. “I was on a quest to find my voice and a voice for my people,” he says. “But then I wondered: Why is there nobody like me in these movies?” It was nearly twenty years later that Córdova scored an audition for The Rings of Power,…