Over the past century, fashion hasn’t been kind to men. While womenswear designers regularly conjure up new trends, creating looks in fresh color palettes and styles, menswear often resurfaces the same basic silhouettes, in the same drab colors.
But Ken, that icon of men’s style, has always pushed back against this reality. Since his debut as Barbie’s boyfriend in 1961—wearing red swim trunks and matching slides—he’s offered a ray of hope that men’s dressing can be every bit as fun and expressive as women’s.
Ken hasn’t had much influence over the fashion sensibilities of real, flesh-and-blood men. After all, the doll’s target audience was always little girls. But as gender norms change, Mattel is marketing its dolls more inclusively, featuring boys in its ads. Add to the mix Greta Gerwig’s new Barbie film, and Ken is finally poised to get his moment.
The character, played by Ryan Gosling, is dressed to perfection. He wears bowling shirts in fun, colorful prints and denim jackets with cut-off sleeves to expose his perfect biceps. In one scene, he’s in a fur coat on top of a leather fringe vest, accessorized with a black bandana headband and a stallion necklace. But make no mistake: The man also knows how to dress down. In more muted moments, he can pull off a James Dean look, with a black T-shirt and jeans paired with loafers.
Ken’s looks appear to be having an impact off camera as well. Gosling, along with his male costars, have been appearing at movie premiers in pastel colored suits and fun prints. Menswear designers are also moving toward bolder, brighter looks this season.
So, if you’ve wanted to push the boundaries of your everyday style, now is a good time to do it. Here’s a step-by-step guide to Ken-inspired fashion.
First, pick your decade
Ken has been a fashion icon for more than 60 years. But during that time, his style has evolved, closely tracking what’s happening in menswear. (Indeed, Mattel has had a team of designers specifically focused on translating off-the-runway looks into tiny outfits for Ken dolls.) In the new Barbie movie, the costume designers appear to have taken inspiration from the whole archive of Ken fashion. This is good news because it means you can now pick from a wide range of Ken’s looks to find the aesthetics that best suit your style and personality.
In the 1960s, Ken looked like a film star. Sometimes, he pulled off a cute high school boyfriend look, with a red cardigan over a plain white T-shirt. But on his European travels with Barbie, he wore a green sports jacket paired with black and white loafers, and a cute carry-on bag.
In the ’70s, things got more exciting. His hair got longer and he took cues from disco stars, with bell bottoms and low-cut shirts, sometimes paired with neck scarves. He also knew how to rock a groovy hippy look, with fringe vests, tie-dye shirts, and bright yellow pants.
In the ’80s, Ken and Barbie got really into working out, which meant they both had neon spandex outfits and colorful tracksuits.
Over the past two decades, Ken has gotten more diverse. There are now Kens of seven skin tones, three body types, eight hair colors, and nine hairstyles, from man buns to corn rows. And there’s an enormous range of outfits to choose from. You can pick from surfer dude to Silicon Valley tech star to Brooklyn hipster. The world is your oyster.
Next, express your identity—and make it extra
While Ken now has an enormous range of aesthetic sensibilities, he still has some defining styles. He takes any look to the next level, thanks to clever accessories. Ken can rock the casual white button-down and denim look, but he takes it up a notch with shiny silver sneakers and a slim tie. Sure, he perfects nerdy hipster look with really thick black glasses and a bright yellow plaid shirt. Ken doesn’t just wear boring dad jeans; he wears them super skinny or extra-wide leg, to make a statement.
If you’re looking for a Ken look that is relevant to your profession, Mattel has got you covered. Over the years, Ken has done many different jobs, including barista, film art director, rapper, and soda fountain worker. He’s taken the standard clothing of these fields and added his own twist. He wears bright blue shoes to spruce up his doctor’s outfit. He looked the part of a reporter with bookish glasses and a snazzy tie.
Remember, don’t fear color and print
Many menswear brands tend to focus on muted colors and solids, with just a small selection of bright tones and prints. But Ken would argue that color and pattern is where the fun is. It’s how fashion goes from being functional to being a source of expression and creativity.
From the start, even when Ken was in his more demure 1960s phase, his outfits were visually interesting. In his first-ever look, the red swim trunks and slides, he also had a striped red shirt. Even more muted professional looks played with prints: He wore an Oxford shirt with purple stripes along with a red and white cardigan. The pattern play got even more exaggerated in the years to come, from the tie-dye to the Malibu beach outfits and bowler shirts.
The power of these fashion choices is evident. Ken is a plastic doll whose expression doesn’t change; and yet when he puts on different outfits, his attitude seems to change. You think of him differently.
Finally, embrace Ken’s sexual fluidity
Ken’s sexuality has always been the subject of some speculation. He was created in 1961, two years after Barbie, because little girls wanted their doll to have a boyfriend to do things with, like attend the prom. Over the decades, given his flamboyant clothing choices, people have wondered whether he’s queer. And that question became even more salient in 2004, when Mattel announced that Ken and Barbie had split up, “to spend some quality time apart,” but they would “remain friends.”
This was particularly true in the 1990s when Mattel released Earring Magic Ken, who looked like he just stepped out of a gay bar, wearing a necklace that looked identical to a sex toy called a cock ring. Overnight, Ken became a gay icon. At the time, however, homophobia was still very powerful and Mattel wasn’t happy about this turn of affairs, quickly pulling the toy and replacing Ken’s wardrobe with more boring looks.
Fortunately, we now live in a more inclusive moment (at least in some parts of the country). Mattel has created nonbinary Barbie toys and a Barbie based on transgender activist Laverne Cox. And when it comes to Ken, clothing is not a marker of sexuality. The guy can wear whatever he wants, and his sexual preferences are now, as always, his own damn business. Hopefully, other men will follow his lead, choosing to wear exciting, interesting clothes without worrying about how others perceive it.
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