Samuel Windsor

7 terrible men’s suits made awesome by the characters that wore them

Anyone can look well-coiffed in a suit, but it takes a man of considerable talent and fortitude to pull off an orange tuxedo, a banana yellow trilby or a purple velour blazer. To these fashion giants of the silver screen, we salute you. Here’s a selection of infamous men’s suits from film history.

Dumb & Dumber

Like it or not, Harry and Lloyd were badass. They sold a headless parakeet to a blind child, offed a trained assassin and drove from Rhode Island to Aspen in a giant dog. They then blew a million bucks on a Ferrari, a royal suite and two incredibly offensive suits, yet still managed to look undeniably cool.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Having been holed up inside a factory for the best part of twenty years with only orange midgets for company, it came as little surprise that Willy Wonka’s taste in fashion was a little on the eccentric side. But if anyone can rock the brown top hat look, it’s this guy. He bathes in a fountain of chocolate, transforms obnoxious brats into giant blueberries and commands an army of dwarfs. Certified awesome.

The Mask

As if Jim Carey wasn’t already cracked in the head, we now know that when he slips on a mysterious wooden mask, he actually transforms into a horny, green-faced goon with cartoon-character-like capabilities. Watching him rock out at the Coco Bongo club was made all the more pleasurable by his outrageous banana yellow zoot suit. Somebody stop me!

Beetlejuice

Say his name three times and enter into a world of awesomeness. Sure, his stripey ill-fitted suit looks more like a grubby pair of old pyjamas, but this Bio-exorcist can turn his tie into a friggin’ snake for crying out loud. We can only dream of being this cool when we’re dead.

The Fifth Element

Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg took office fashion to new levels in the Fifth Element. Even in the distant future, teaming a black pinstripe coat with a green shirt seems like an obvious no-no. Yet somehow, this peddler of death and wanton destruction comes out smelling of awesome. All hail Zorg.

Anchorman

Very few men would have the balls to team a thick moustache with a fitted claret blazer, but then again, very few men are Ron Burgundy. To quote:

‘I don’t know how to put this but I’m kind of a big deal. I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.’

You get the point. Awesome.

Batman: The Dark Knight

If you’ve got green hair, a white face and step-out in a questionable purple tailcoat, you’ve got to be either a serious-badass or clinically insane. Heath Ledger’s terrifyingly demented Joker was both, and then some. He killed a man with a pencil, blew up a hospital and fire-bombed Gotham City. Jeez, no wonder he was the only one smiling!