When a man is known for his suit, it is hard to pry him from it: an old English proverb (maybe), and a conundrum once faced by Jon Hamm (most definitely). After staggering around in the shoes of Mad Men's Don Draper for almost eight years in the nonpareil of prestige telly, the character-actor relationship arguably became symbiotic – and indistinguishable.
It's not that looking like a capitalist nightmare of an ad exec is a bad thing. It should be, but it really, really isn't. It just means that each and every suit has an echo of Mr Draper, because they're one of the few things he liked (along with having sex with women that weren't his wife and not maturely dealing with the past). Hamm did a good job of that. But he also does a good job of many other things. Everyone knows he's more than Mad Men.
He's a steely vice admiral in Top Gun's absurd-but-acclaimed sequel, too. But on the campaign trail, the 51-year-old went neither Bruce Springsteen nor Brooks Brothers. He was Hollywood sage instead. That meant a soft-shouldered blazer. It's smart, but relaxed; the sort of manager that deeply cares about your development but still buys you a beer at 3pm on a Friday. He's a good guy! Then there was a navy knit underneath (a real reliable bit of kit), with grey trousers. Solid.
The best bit, though? A pair of aviator glasses. Or, as they're more commonly known in Hollywood: the visor of power and glory. Long worn by influential men and women with an unequivocal understanding of good taste, Hamm's Seventies specs began life in the skies. Bausch & Lomb designed purpose-built shades for pilots that reduced glare in the cockpit, and then released them to the general public as war heroes became the new pin-ups around WWII. Which, OK, granted, sounds a bit Top Gun. But following their wider release, aviators became the go-to for Real Big Deals that have attained icon status: Gloria Steinem, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Robert Redford, even Elvis Presley.
That's a Hollywood list. With his own take, Hamm is embracing the grand tradition of proper actors with the proper actor starter pack – and that's his biggest role yet.
