Life changed fast for Tim Walz this summer, when the Minnesota Governor (not exactly unknown, but certainly not well known to most) was announced as Kamala Harris’s running mate for November’s presidential election. His wasn’t a name that had been in the mix, but it was a smart addition to the Democratic ticket, not least because Walz – a former high-school football coach and National Guard vet – reads more regular guy than political elite. He owns a dog called Scout, he jokes (at least, I think it’s a joke) that turkey isn’t meat, he is more at home in plaid shirts, barn jackets and Red Wing boots than the navy blue suits more typically seen on the political class – something the Democrats capitalised on with their tribute HARRIS-WALZ camo cap. He is the archetypal normal dude. Walz is a bloke.
But what do we mean when we say ‘bloke’? Less flashy than a geezer, more grounded than a gent, older than a lad, he’s an uncomplicated, call-a-spade-a-spade normal fella. He is talked about by mates as ‘bloody good’ (the standard positive epigraph for a bloke; see also ‘top bloke’). He drinks pints, follows a football team, he could at a push ‘survive off the land’ for a day or so (but why would he want to, he’s a bloke not a lunatic?). If he owns a gun he is A) American and B) of the huntin’, shootin’, fishin’ subset of blokedom. He is normcore coded without the hipster connotations.
Walz aside, it’s turning out to be a golden year for the bloke. Look at Lana Del Rey getting hitched to camo-wearing alligator tour guide Jeremy Dufrene, the pair picking the Louisiana bayou where they first met for their wedding. Look at Arsenal footballer Declan Rice making his catwalk debut at the Emirates Stadium for Labrum. Speaking of, you can see flashes of it in the men’s collections: trackies (Wales Bonner, Louis Vuitton), double denim (Prada, Valentino – see also Interview editor and supreme Canadian tux wearer Mel Ottenberg’s Re/ Done collection), padded jackets (Sacai), fleece vests (Auralee) and even Walz’s beloved Red Wings (a Fendi collaboration).
The blokes are coming for Hollywood too. Barry Keoghan? Definitely blokey. Jeremy Allen White? Ditto (being found in the smoking area of every awards ceremony is very much bloke behaviour). And how about Paul Mescal? Sure, he is a bona fide hunk at this point – something which will only be amplified by his role in Gladiator II this autumn – but the fact that he’s still often papped in sports shorts feels very blokey. All three have a fondness for a white tee and ID bracelets/chains that befit their blokey-ness.
And then, of course, there is one of next year’s most highly anticipated cultural events: the Oasis reunion tour. Having thawed the biggest fraternal feud since Romulus and Remus, Noel and Liam are back in the spotlight – and with it their look. To many, theirs is still the look of Northern, working class blokeishness (no matter that they are now camped out in NW postcodes with millions in the bank): parkas, bucket hats, football shirts. Many will try to emulate the Gallagher uniform by the time the tour kicks off, but few will be able to do it with their swaggering, IDGAF attitude. Start with a can of Stella, limited control of your middle finger and see how you go.
Given the noise around the tour, coupled with their singular approach to style, it’s unsurprising that fashion is already tapping up the Gallaghers. There’s Liam fronting campaigns for two of the outerwear brands that have been a staple of his look for decades: Berghaus, whose Icons campaign he gives his best come-n-’ave-a-go stare to camera for, and the Italian streetwear brand Stone Island. In the spirit of peacekeeping, special shoutout to Noel too and his ‘Definitely City’ Manchester City kit, which smashed club records when it went on sale.
But the biggest sign to date of the temperature change in masculinity – or at least how it presents – comes courtesy of another singer: Harry Styles. Parking his frou-frou blouses and feather boas for a more bloke-adjacent look: defiantly bad hair (his an almost-mullet – but see also the Oasis shag), white socks, Umbro hoodie. He’s even going to watch golf tournaments, FFS, which is peak bloke. He wouldn’t look out of place in a ’Spoons. It feels radical now that middle-aged A-listers Daniel Craig and Brad Pitt are unleashing their peacocky, fashion-dude sides.
One important distinguisher of the new bloke from the bloke of old is that he is more emotionally nuanced. He is sensitive and he is unafraid to show it. Look at Walz being frank about his and his wife’s fertility journey, the Gallaghers kissing and making up, Dufrene not being the main breadwinner. One doesn’t imagine Styles has distanced himself from dresses forever – he doesn’t have to. Stone Island didn’t just tap up man’s man Liam for that campaign; DJ Peggy Gou and art fanatic Russell Tovey are also in the mix. Evidence that bloke-pleasing brands don’t only please blokes – or if you want to put it another way, anyone can be a bloke, bloke is an energy.
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