Larry David is the February GQ cover star, in honor of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s impending return to HBO for a tenth season on January 19. And in addition to being an obvious hero who cackles in the face of meaningless social niceties, mocking the absurdities of our everyday interactions with other people, LD is also something more unexpected: a fashion icon.
Why? He’s normcore, he’s comfy, he’s never met an earth tone he doesn’t like. He is compulsively clad in a faithful uniform of Oliver Peoples eyewear, smart blazers layered over thin shirts, and slacks. As GQ’s Brett Martin puts it, Larry’s body is “like two pipe cleaners twisted together”—but by god, does he work hard with what he’s got.
The real Larry David outfits the fictional Larry David with clothing he can later take off set and wear on the streets. There’s essentially no difference between Larry and his on-screen persona, perhaps the reason viewers consider him so dependable, even trustworthy. Neither his cantankerous attitude nor his fashion ever ages or diverts.
With this in mind, we’ve collected a few of the most relaxed Dad fits he’s made popular—nay, historic—on the show. There’s a reason Jennifer Lawrence has said she “feels it below the belt” with this guy.
Chet’s Shirt
LD gives no f*cks about propriety, and proves it by inquiring about the store brand of a shirt he likes that is being worn by the dead husband (Chet) of a family friend in a photograph. He tracks down the deceased’s same shirt—stark black and white, button-down, bowler-style—and ultimately ends up wearing it in front of the widower, who flings herself at his chest and sobs. He had it coming.
Angry Golf Wear
There is only one outdoor activity Larry David enjoys, and that activity is golfing. See how at ease he is on the manicured, Miyazaki-green field with his buddies in tow? Look at that casual leg cross, the balance of one confident hand on the club, the crisp khakis. Never mind that seconds after this screenshot, he ends up screaming at a fellow golfer who is going too slowly…and inadvertently kills him. The man had high blood pressure, and suffers a heart attack shortly after. LD doesn’t feel responsible, but should he? IDK.
Playboy Mansion
You think Larry is going to go topless just because he’s on Hugh Hefner’s boob-y turf? Naw. He dresses for comfort, not raunch. He might be next to a pool, but he’s wearing a black sportcoat and a black v-neck and a grey undershirt. Good luck getting LD in a bathing suit, ever.
The Disguise
When LD writes a musical about the fatwa placed on Salman Rushdie and does an impression of the Ayatollah on Jimmy Kimmel, he gets a fatwa placed on him. Terrified, he goes into hiding, traveling LA in clever disguise. Actually, it’s just a really unconvincing wig and matching mustache set, which Larry pairs with a plaid shirt and army jacket, clothing items he’d never normally select. The fit of this fake hair—so unbelievably big for his head!—ends up being pretty charming; as Rushdie tells him, a fatwa is like “sexy pixie dust,” marking him as a dangerous and enticing prospect for women the world over.
Casual Violence
Ah, the quintessential expression of a woman sitting next to Larry: one of barely-suppressed fury. This is the episode in which LD holds the door of an elevator for a lady out of kindness, then lets her walk out in front of him, then has to wait an extra forty-five minutes at the doctor’s office because she signs in before him, despite his earlier appointment. He misses a meeting with Diane Keaton, and later seeks revenge by tackling the lady and getting into the office before her. The outfit he dons for that second occasion is pure LD, so pure you could snort it: one of those half-sweaters with the half-turtleneck and the partial zipper, olive green. I’m not sure what you call this sort of not-quite-shirt, but it is Larry’s go-to. Good for wrestling a woman down to the floor.
IDGAF Hat
Larry wears this hat to a beach wedding. “I’m married, I can wear whatever I want,” he tells Jeff. And LD is right. This hat (which Jeff also says looks like what someone pulling a rickshaw might wear) protects from sunburn and even has an elastic band to keep it from blowing off in the wind. It’s a fit that says, “I don’t care what I look like,” and that’s kinda hot, truth be told.
Bodacious in Blue
Larry loves his blues. No shade of the color is out of the question. But this shirt is a particularly delightful flavor of an old favorite; baby blue, like a clear sky. Like staring deep into Frank Sinatra’s eyes. And a nice break from all those doomy grey tones. It just…looks really good on him. Damn it, I’m going to have to compete with Jennifer Lawrence, aren’t I?
Scruff
This is what Larry wears when he claims he’s “going to work out later.” This unshaven, disheveled appearance results in his not being allowed inside a high-end jewelry store, where he wants to buy Cheryl a present. They think he’s a homeless dude. What he should’ve done is gone back later wearing a fancy suit and Pretty Woman-ed their asses—but of course in Larry’s world, nothing ever works out so poetically. Still, women are scientifically proven to find scruff hot. Men: don’t shave. Ever.
Pants Tent
Where it all began. In Curb’s very first episode of its very first season, Larry David dons a pair of corduroy pants with a suspicious bunching of fabric at the crotch, and a woman at the movie theater accuses him of sporting an erection. But you know what, lady? Sometimes comfy pants bunch up. Larry will not be restricted into tight fits. He is a free man. A man on the run. You are not worthy. None of us are. Well, maybe Jennifer Lawrence.
