Ah, the mystery of internet heartthrobs. What is the je ne sais quoi behind Keanu Reeves sadly eating a sandwich? Or the viral thirst over Pedro Pascal’s suspiciously posed selfies? These are questions for philosophers greater than myself. But when it comes to 2022’s Sexiest Man Alive, Chris Evans, the enduring dreamboat essence can be pinned down to his uniform.

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This week, Evans is out and about promoting his new action-romance movie Ghosted, co-starring Ana de Armas, ahead of its Apple TV+ release on April 21. Lucky for us, he is serving a selection of ever-satisfying outfits, courtesy of famed menswear stylist Ilaria Urbinati. With each new appearance, Evans looks both supremely cozy and like he put a reasonable amount of effort into getting dressed. An A+ combination!

At the film’s New York City premiere on April 18, a bespectacled, scruffy-bearded Evans arrived in a white knitted polo by King & Tuckfield and green Giuliva Heritage trousers. The coloured stitching on his shirt brought out the playful hue of his lower half, right down to his forest socks and Vinny’s suede loafers. Waving at the paparazzi with a “Hey guys!” warmth, Evans’s impeccably coordinated get-up is emblematic of a precise outfit methodology.

When you possess a certain fashion intuition, a select few styles nestle themselves seamlessly into your wardrobe with a surprising amount of versatility. For Chris Evans, the recipe is as follows: a knitted polo; wide-set trousers; retro eyewear; and a good pair of shoes, preferably loafers. In other words: styles that show off his biceps (if you got it, flaunt it!), and allow him to stand out in a never-too-flashy kind of way.

Case in point: When guest starring on Good Morning America, Evans told an equally polished sartorial story. Wearing burnt orange pleated pants with just the right amount of slouch and a patterned polo tee with a complementary warm palette, Evans’s decade-exceeding heartthrob status emanated from his vintage-leaning ensemble.

For an interview with People, he donned a navy iteration of this style, featuring a criss-cross pattern with a few buttons undone to reveal a white tank. Another day, he gave the look a preppier spin with a white shirt featuring blue stripes and a pair of green khakis. Notice a theme?

To be clear, there’s a difference between “signature” and “boring.” While sporting a tried-and-true formula, Evans experiments via colour and patterns. And every now and again, his traditional rotation is peppered with knit vests layered atop crisp T-shirts. Such was the case when he appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week, and last summer when promoting his film The Gray Man. With each new appearance, his style is reliable, just like his role as an internet darling.

This appeal may seem obvious. I mean, he’s literally Captain America. But the 41-year-old actor’s unique charm is not in his conventionally good looks. It’s the way that he seems oddly approachable. Perhaps that’s because he’s not afraid to dance on the cusp of archetypical nerdy outfit territory. Or the fact that he, to paraphrase One Direction, doesn’t think he’s beautiful. He may be the Chris Evans, but he never takes himself too seriously. Take his viral back and forth flirtation with Lizzo, which ignited a will-they-won’t-they dynamic that brought joy to the world in 2021. This playful persona seeps through his easygoing approach to fashion, and it’s been a long time coming.

Evans’s red-carpet appearances once involved lots of plaid and baseball caps. Since he began working with Urbinati roughly 17 years ago, the world has watched his style silently evolve down to a refined — yet uncomplicated — science. We’ll always love Harry Styles’s commitment to rainbow feather boas. But Chris Evans proves that, even if you aren’t “pushing the boundaries” per se, you can still be a style icon in your own way. “I’ve been working with Chris longer than any client I have,” Urbinati told People in 2021. “His style has really evolved over time and he has acquired really beautiful taste of his own.”

What does that mean? He sticks to what works. And it works, every time.

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