Following One Direction’s last ever (well, for now) performance on The X Factor final last night, all we could really think about – without welling up – is their outfits! Dressed up in suits to belt out the bluesy *History, *they each took slightly different tacks, but provided you consider Harry’s to be the best outfit (more on that later), this is the definitive list of their outfits, ranked.
1. Harry’s floral suit
Foregoing the flares, he stuck to the classic skinny suit style, with one big massive twist: he was covered in crimson adored with pink flowers. While The Debrief office has had some heated conversations about the suit, it’s generally agreed that if he’d simply worn the floral jacket with some black suit trousers, he might have looked a bit like a flamboyant B&B owner or an estate agent trying something jazzy for the weekend. No, putting his entire heart and soul into the outfit, he defined comfortable masculine androgyny without looking like the maitre d’ of a chintzy Chinese restaurant.
2. Niall’s checked suit
From afar, Niall could like the average Apprentice contestant, all blue-y suit and brown tie. But closer up, the outfit’s all checkered blues and the inside lining seems to be of a blazing red sunset. As for the tie? It could be brown, it could be mauve, but for the sake of fairness, let’s say it’s oxblood. It’s almost as daring as Harry’s suit with all its complexities, but also the sort of thing a guy could wear in front of really conservative old people whose eyes are too weak to discern its jazzy pattern.
**3. Louis’ suit-and-T-shirt combo **
Louis has perhaps been the least keen on formal-wear throughout One Direction’s lifespan. Eschewing socks at every opportunity and never quite having a robust covering of facial hair, a la Zayn, he’s happily taken up the opportunity to play this very smart event more smart-casj. The rolled up trousers of his past were paid homage to in the rolled up sleeves of his blazer. And the pink lining of these matched Harry's outfit and complemented Niall’s tie, making us wonder if the stylist’s vision was to use pink as a shared beacon of unity between the boys, a tender way of acknowledging that as they fork off into their seperate lives, apart, they do so gently.
4. Liam’s velvet pink jacket
While Liam’s jacket might match the pink of Harry’s outfit, and complement the deeper hue of Niall’s tie and the rolled up sleeves of Louis’s arms, it’s still not that nice. Coupled with the microphone spins, the mic-stand drags and the polished American accent he uses to sing, the performance had a tinge of the Barry Manilows to it as a result. Maybe he’d have got plus points for daring to wear an entire suit of the blazer’s material, but maybe we will never, ever know.
What we do know, however, is how much we’re looking forward to the next few months. As sad as it is that One Direction’s break has come, it’s a necessary one. One thing we can look forward to is the departure of One Direction’s stylists who have previously spent years helping to make the boys look like they're part of the team while simultaneously reining in Harry’s desire to dress like a 1970s heart-throb. While there might not be a huge disparity between the quality of the boys’ outfits right now, we can’t wait for each to be left alone, with millions of pounds in the bank, a cacophony of designers wishing to dress them, a lot of friends unwilling to tell them they look a bit stupid with that hand tattoo (for example) and a lot of spare time. What on earth will they look like in five years’ time? We can only dream and be very, very patient. After all, they might make a comeback in 2020!
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.