GQ December 2017

this is only a test

DO YOU REMEMBER those tests that used to run on television, bracing the nation for an eventual cataclysm? A newscaster with a firm but comforting voice would narrate these alerts calmly, like a man sipping herbal tea at the apocalypse: This is a test of the Emergency Broadcasting System.… This is only a test.… (Maybe they still run on TV. I don’t know. I have Netflix.) Then came a long, insistent tone, which was more jarring than deafening, like the P.A. signal blast of an alien invasion. Or the last thing you hear before the asteroid collides with your DirecTV dish. The tone screeched on and on for a full half a minute or so, just enough to get the message across: Hey, America! Just scaring the shit out of you for…

your favorite…

…Feature Story: “A Most American Terrorist” ▸ “You’ve always had poor white people in America, right?” Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah told NPR in the weeks after her wrenching story about Dylann Roof hit newsstands. “What you haven’t always had...is the discussion of where these people come from and what they do with their anger.” …Instagram: Ryan Gosling ▸ We thought Craig McDean’s photo of Ryan Gosling in a Hungarian bath would quench America’s Gosling thirst, but the thirst persisted. Heart-eyed emojis jammed up the comments section of our most liked non-archival photo of 2017 for weeks. …Profile: Brad Pitt ▸ It could have been Ryan McGinley’s dramatic shots of Pitt diving into dunes in White Sands. It could have been Pitt’s raw answers to Michael Paterniti’s questions about life after divorce. Whatever it was, the summer…

…contributor: keith olbermann

▸ GQ’s own Man of the Year has doggedly chronicled the darkest moments of the Trump administration in his thrice-weekly video series, The Resistance with Keith Olbermann, which has spawned a book, Trump Is F*cking Crazy. All episodes can be found at GQ.com. What is your goal for The Resistance going forward? We’ll keep doing this as long as it’s necessary—until Trump resigns and flees the country. I would like nothing better than to be sitting here one day and find out we’re totally put out of business by circumstances. What’s a line that we can whip out to shut down conversations with the Trump supporters in our lives this Thanksgiving? Well, I think that the only thing that seems to have registered is: He’s sold everyone else out— when do you think he’s…

get the gq look

EACH MONTH, the editors of GQ will select a series of items from our pages available through our online retail partner, Mr Porter.com TO LEARN more—and see different ways to wear what we’ve chosen this month—go to GQ.com/selects Just a few of our picks from this issue... Lanvin jacket Page 64 Gucci sweater More on page 122 Ralph Lauren tuxedo Page 115 Calvin Klein 205W39NYC suit More on page 66 PHOTOGRAPHS, PEGGY SIROTA; JASON KIM; MARK SELIGER; NATHANIEL GOLDBERG; JASON KIM. SWEATER, POLO SHIRT, AND DUFFEL BAG: GUCCI. SNEAKERS: ADIDAS ORIGINALS. BRACELET: DAVID YURMAN. RACKET: WILSON SPORTING GOODS CO. BOTTOM RIGHT, T-SHIRT: CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC. NECKLACE: RENVI.…

best stuff

PLUS OPENING PAGE It’s Been a Very Black Year + $12 for toothbrush boieusa.com $1,000 for mixer kitchenaid.com • There are two reasons GQ is running photos of a toothbrush and a stand mixer to kick off Best Stuff. The first: Because they’re so, so black. It’s been a dark time in lots of ways but especially with design, where black is all over watches, sneakers, underwear, and phones. Second: Because Boie USA, an N.Y.C.-based start-up, actually built a better toothbrush, which they’re calling...Toothbrush. The genius is in the disposable brush section, which you replace every two or three weeks instead of throwing the whole thing in the trash and wasting a whole lot of plastic. And this limited-edition Black Tie stand mixer? It’s not any different from the KitchenAid you may already…

the year in kemptness 2017

The Technicolor Crop WHAT THE HELL: The most visible look of the year was the unnatural dye job—Frank Ocean pink and blue; Jaden Smith green or red—on closecropped hair. It’s an ’80s-punk fuck-you look interpreted by the millennial hip-hop set. HOW TO PULL IT OFF: The darker your natural (a.k.a. un-festive) hair is, the harder it will be to bleach it white, an important step in getting the brightest color possible. So find yourself a professional colorist... and slip them a great tip between steps. The Mustache Keeps Growing WHAT THE HELL: James Van Der Beek and Joe Jonas aren’t going to be entering any overthe- top-mustache competitions, and that’s precisely the point. They’ve helped usher in a new era of un-gimmicky retro facial hair. HOW TO PULL IT OFF: A mustache can easily make…