Sorry Jeremy Allen White, I Want Polo Necks Over Pecs Right Now – And These Pictures Tell You Why

If you have a pair of eyes and a phone, you will have caught wind of a certain Jeremy Allen White. Ah yes, the very talented actor, I hear you say, hasn't he just won every award going? That's right - and well done him - but he's also single-handedly perked up the start of 2024 for anyone with a pulse via his underwear campaign for Calvin Klein.

A thirst trap so successful that it was necessary to drink roughly a gallon water after seeing those washboard abs reclining on a sun-baked rooftop, it's left many lost for words. Not least his brilliant co-star in The Bear, Ayo Edebiri, who, confronted pictures of said campaign blown up on a whiteboard-style prop during a backstage interview like a biology lesson gone somewhat awry, said: 'I’m putting it away from my boy! [...] This is a work function...,' as she placed it against a wall. Well, quite. (She, in case you're wondering, has also won a slew of awards for her turn in the show that's given new meaning to the phrase, 'Yes, Chef!')

I have to say, I agree with her - on multiple levels as it turns out. Jeremy Allen White is entitled to his lucrative contract, of course. The general public, in turn, is entitled to be, shall we say, moderately to severely aroused by the fruits of his collaboration with Calvin Klein. But it's also January, the least sexy month of the year by a considerable distance. I simply wasn't expecting such an assault on the senses this early in 2024. Which is why my head was turned by a phenomenon of a more approachable nature: hot men wearing polo necks.

It all started with a new couple alert: Dua Lipa and Callum Turner, the actor you'll recognise from the deep-fake thriller The Capture, who is about to hit the even bigger time thanks to his latest project, Masters of the Air, with co-stars Austin Butler, Barry Keoghan and Rafferty Law. Spotted earlier this week in Santa Monica, the rumoured couple were photographed leaving a theatre. And instead of an appropriately polished but somewhat anonymous suit, Turner instead turned to the humble polo neck, specifically a chunky sage green number that didn't look 'styled' so much as a sensible choice when it could be chilly later. A Christmas present from his nan, perhaps, who didn't realise it's actually pretty balmy in LA? We'll never know, but that's when it struck me: we might not be able to handle a hot man, but a warm man? That we can manage.

This revelation - polo necks over pecs - has taken me down an unexpected rabbit hole (albeit one that's pleasingly lined with cashmere, wool and merino). Because I thought, in my ignorance, Turner was the original poster man for the trend. In fact, he's just the latest to jump on the bandwagon. Mark Ruffalo was up to his usual charming tricks on the red carpet in December, where he turned up to a premiere sporting a polo neck under his suit. Colman Domingo, who has been getting style plaudits left, right and centre this awards season, wore one that coordinated with his rather snappy tailoring to the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards, which rather blew the boring tuxedos out of the water. Other hot men in polo necks include Jamie Dornan, Willem Dafoe and Pedro Pascal, who wore a printed style to this year's Golden Globes.

The look is quite literally the opposite to the bare-chested chutzpah demonstrated by Timothée Chalamet, Ryan Gosling and Jeremy Allen White. (Before you start googling, I don't mean literally bare, just a loose approach to doing up their buttons which means that a triangle of flesh is on show. Even that's too much for now? Got you.)

There will always be time for pecs. But for now, with minus temperatures to contend with, we'll take a warm man in a polo neck, please.