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Rain, sleet, snow, or shine, he was there. As dependable as the baritone DING-DONG of the grandfather clock, he was there. As inevitable as your co-worker’s 2 p.m. Juul break, he’d materialize through the vapors. Because this is 2019, the year when down was up, up was down, and Grimes and Elon Musk dated, here is another true but unbelievable fact: The only constant in my life this year was a regular drip of Ben Affleck’s fit pics.
Yes, Ben Affleck—who has been mired in personal chaos over the past few years and is at his most climactically relaxed only after drawing serenely from the tip of his vape—never let me down.
Some context: In the process of assembling GQ’s Big Fit of the Day, we often find ourselves making our way through an endless scroll of photos from the services responsible for documenting all the celebrity or notable appearances. And this year, every day was more action-packed than a Kiefer Sutherland vehicle. Young Thug would wear a rug, or Timothée Chalamet would walk the red carpet at some event or another—they all blur together at this point—in artsy painter overalls, or Lenny Kravitz would appear in an item over his chest that was less a top than it was a decorative foam. It was dazzling, like trying to keep up with the color shifts in a kaleidoscope. But more often than not, within that sea of public appearances was, dependably, a picture of Ben Affleck. He would be wearing clothes and doing things. The fits weren’t good, per se—jeans that appeared to be of the mall-brand and stonewashed variety with a wide range of ill-fitting jackets—but they were available. The Starbucks of fit pics, if you will. And that alone is worth celebrating. Availability is a talent.
BuzzFeed reporter Katherine Miller wrote last month about all the ways the 2010s have destroyed our sense of time, what with the constant breaking-news alerts, the flood of information, and the magic algorithms that give precedence to yesterday’s Instagram posts and tweets over today’s. That sensation is unavoidable: I’d wake up to the sun rising while scrolling through Instagram posts of last night’s sunsets. Of course, had Miller spent the year bathing in the steadying force of Affleck’s crow-of-the-rooster fits, she might have felt differently. Compiled, they almost make up the contents of a tearaway desk calendar, one where every day reveals an Affleck fit, slightly tweaked. This is an absolutely real week in Affleck:
Monday: Ben Affleck in a blue button-up shirt, a notch-lapel jacket, and deep navy blue sneakers from God knows what brand.
Tuesday: Ben Affleck in a hoodie that absolutely must be Marine Layer—I will bet my life it is Marine Layer—walking with Mom.
Wednesday: Ben Affleck in a graphic Harley Davidson T-shirt layered underneath a structureless blazer, walking with Mom.
Thursday: Ben Affleck in a blue plaid button-up and aviator sunglasses, because he’s not a regular dad; he’s a famous dad.
Friday: Ben Affleck in a gray tee underneath a navy topcoat, casually holding his Dunkin’ iced coffee that he always—always—drinks with a metal straw (we stan an eco-friendly king).
These are outfits that clearly are not drawn up and pondered over by a stylist for a walk down the red carpet. These are the outfits for a dude just trying to make it through the week—or just, like, the day! They are clothes thrown on for a coffee run and nothing else. Not every day can rise to the level of Big Fit—sometimes just getting on pants, sneakers, a shirt, and a jacket (if you’re lucky) every day is enough. What’s more beautiful than that?
