If you live in London, then you'll know that seeing Bill Nighy out and about is a common occurrence. He's a Soho fixture, often seen outside department store Liberty. He's regularly seen grabbing black Americanos on the Strand. Listen: it just wouldn't be a proper day out in the capital without a Nighy sighting.
And you'll also know that the 73-year-old actor always looks impossibly and timelessly good. Nighy rarely deviates from his uniform of excellent Savile Row suits or separates like single-breasted topcoats and sharp blazers. He's arguably this country's premier suit wearer (look to the 2023 Met Gala for proof).
“I take clothes very seriously as objects,” the actor told GQ last year. Before he hit the big time, he would compromise on his living situation in squats so that he could spend more cash on his clothes. Today "he's always a little overdressed”, and always wears a suit to work – even if it requires him rolling around on the floor. “I’m going to work,” he said. “So I dress as though I am.”
And yesterday he was photographed taking a solo lunch in Marylebone (pretty chic really), Joan Didion's Miami in hand, looking his usual self: a pair of charcoal trousers, with perfect upturned hems above scuff-free loafers. His shirt – denim! A maverick! – was tucked into his trousers, and complemented with a knitted tie. He finished the outfit with a soft-shouldered blazer, cinched ever-so-slightly at the waist, and in keeping with his overall aesthetic.
It's not that Nighy is actively going against the grain in 2023, whereby men are dressing however the hell they want (take those Big Red Boots for instance), but he's inadvertently making a case for old-school, rakish menswear that has always looked good. He knows what works for him, and he ain't gonna change it.
That's Bill Nighy, coming to a Mayfair coffee shop near you.
