It's fair to say that Jeremy Allen White is leaning into this whole 'heartthrob' thing. There was the much-thirsted-over Calvin Klein campaign early this year, complete with bare abs and biceps (as per ancient Calvin Klein tradition). And before that, JAW also unlocked another well-worn fantasy – the locker room – in a covershoot for GQ's Men of the Year. TikTok got very giddy about that. But for all of the curation, and for all the campaigning, Allen White is arguably at his most fiery on the off-duty.
We'll call it ‘slacker hot'. And nowhere was this strange and sacred menswear sub-genre better illustrated than on a sunny, off-duty Los Angeles walk. After the noise of The Bear season three premiere, JAW is luxuriating in the non-red carpet stuff. Which meant a scoop neck T-shirt that's lost its diamond whiteness in the fifth wash, denim slashed at the ankle and… sliders. It's a jumble. It's uncaring. It's thrown together. And that's exactly what makes for peak hot guy style.
Think of slacker hot as like the pre-amble texts to a Hinge date. The more communication, the more curation, the more effort, the quicker your mysterious enigma dries up. So you keep elements simple. After all, there's an innate confidence to committing solely to roughed-up staples. Messed-up hair alludes to the morning after. A white T-shirt is the evergreen grail of evergreen pin-ups. Sliders are eternal vacation hooves, and they don't try too hard – after all, overexertion is the thief of hot.
So the next time you're trying to nail intrinsically sexy menswear, go slacker. This stuff doesn't need extra sauce, just a pair of sunglasses. And yeah, you might not be Jeremy Allen White in a Calvin Klein campaign, but some heavy lifting and a crumpled tee will get you pretty close.
