Jeremy Clarkson’s style dissected: From bad jeans to wooden jewellery

The embattled Top Gear presenter is known for his 'dad-dress' as much as his motoring punditry

Linda Sharkey
Wednesday 11 March 2015 15:01 GMT
Comments
Jeremy Clarkson has denied he will be sacked from Top Gear after racism complaints
Jeremy Clarkson has denied he will be sacked from Top Gear after racism complaints (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Jeremy Clarkson might be Britain’s most controversial man of the moment but he’s also widely known for his lack of sense of style.

Clarkson was suspended from BBC after he allegedly punched an assistant producer. Shortly after he posted on Twitter: “Wanted: new presenter for Top Gear. Applicant should be old, badly dressed and pedantic but capable of getting to work on time.” Reminding us of his famously-known lack of fashion.

His famously ill-fitting jeans combined with a retro leather jacket (which looks more old than artfully vintage) and the occasional addition of wooden jewellery has earned him a place on Worst-Dressed lists numerous times.

In 2006 he told GQ that he took inspiration from Richard Hammond’s attire “because he's sort of aware of trends much more than I am, obviously, and I notice he wears a suit jacket with jeans”. This led to his occasional swap of leather jackets for more tailored suit jackets.

Furthermore, in an article published in 2004 on Top Gear’s website, he told viewers that if they don’t like his style “put something in front of the right side of the screen and look at the adorable little Hammond with his flowery shirts and his puppy-dog eyes instead”.

In it, he explained that he’ll stick to jeans because “cords are for people who have given up on sex, parties, girls flirting, everything… They are truly for people who are looking forward to dying”.

“I tend to wear whatever happens to be nearest to the bed and don’t really care if my socks don’t match,” he wrote.

However, he does have some standards that he sticks to: “no car-branded stuff of any kind.”

Besides his occasionally racist quotes and controversial personality, Clarkson’s attire has something of a marmite effect – either hated and admired. Despite his attempt at style Clarkson embodies the classic ‘dad dresscode’ - untailored white shirt, no ties, 80s stonewashed badly fitted jeans and a leather jackets that has seen better days.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in