Camera Ready: At award shows, men’s outfits shine or crash-land

During award show season, inevitably it’s the women’s wardrobe choices that face the fiercest scrutiny, while the men, for the most part, get a pass. Sure, the occasional bolo tie or Kangol hat (LL Cool J, we’re talking to you) is singled out for criticism, but beyond that, the tuxedo-clad men seem to fly beneath the fashion radar.

But there are always a few sartorial standouts — on both sides of the score card — and this year’s red-carpet rundown has proved to be no exception. Among the men who deserve a gentlemanly golf clap of approval for bringing some subtle swagger to the award show arena is Robert Downey Jr., who has made eye-catching neckwear his style signature since the 2010 Academy Awards when he paired a turquoise Lanvin bow tie with a midnight blue tuxedo. At this year’s Golden Globes, he memorably used a red satin necktie and matching pocket square to add a punch of color to his charcoal gray Prada suit.

Thanks to Justin Timberlake’s multi-hyphenate status — not to mention considerable talent — he’s logged a lot of award-show miles. And he’s done it with a mix of designers, wearing familiar brands such as Calvin Klein and lesser-known designers such as Simon Spurr, which has been a frequent choice for movie premieres and events, including the most recent Golden Globes, for which he wore a black, two-button, peak-lapel tuxedo and black necktie punctuated with three white diagonal stripes.

Colin Firth rounds out our top three as his confidence and demeanor make the standard-issue tuxedo seem as unique and regal as an ermine cape. Of course, it’s easy to be confident when it’s a Tom Ford tuxedo (as it frequently has been, ever since Firth starred in the designer/director’s debut film, “A Single Man”).

Fashion faux pas on the red carpet — men’s and women’s — are usually one-off bad judgment calls, so we won’t dwell for long on recent missteps like Russell Brand’s outfit at this year’s Academy Awards (though, to be fair, as Katy Perry’s husband he may assume no one notices what he’s wearing), or Joel McHale turning up at the 2011 Emmy Awards in a pale blue Michael Bastian tuxedo jacket with a black shawl collar.

Justin Bieber, however, is a serial sartorial offender, routinely hitting the red carpet in ill-fitting suits with pants that bunch at the ankles and bag at the waist, and voluminous jackets so out of proportion he looks like a kid playing dress-up in his dad’s closet. The cream-colored three-piece suit with a one-button, peak-lapel jacket he wore to the Grammy Awards this year was so baggy it looked like a homage to David Byrne’s “Stop Making Sense” wardrobe.

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