Words by Peter Minkoff

Illustrations by Zack Huffman

There are not many bad guys that the whole world falls in love with, but when it does, it falls in love oh so desperately. One such guy is definitely Rusty Ryan, one of the most memorable characters in the globally popular and critically acclaimed Ocean’s Eleven series. Even though Rusty Ryan was made alive by the amazing Brad Pitt, it is not because of his angelic face that we fell in love with him. No, Rusty Ryan is so much more, and he might be the symbol of all the bad boys that we want to turn good. It’s his style, his attitude, his brain that we loved, and when we combine all of that and add his love towards junk food, we get a character that we simply cannot not love, even if he was played by any other actor in the world. But what does it take to be a Rusty Ryan? Even though it seems impossible, it’s really not.

THE ELEGANCE

Rusty Ryan is quite different from other bad guys – not only is he good-looking and metrosexual; he really does like the elegant note and honestly, it looks good on him. When he does business, he means business, and this is a very attractive trait. He is the best proof of how rebellion and style can match together perfectly. Regardless of which part of the franchise you liked the most, there must be at least one Rusty Ryan’s suit that you loved. May it be the Louise Frogley’s white silver suit or white striped suit in Ocean’s Thirteen, Bruno de Santa’s very very hot gray silk suit in Ocean’s Twelve or Jeffrey Kurland’s classic light gray summer suit from Ocean’s Eleven, each one of us has that one specific suit that would steal from Rusty Ryan if we had the option to. And if we weren’t intimidated by him so much.

THE ACCESSORIES

Another thing that Rusty Ryan knows how to do (apart from looking elegant and actually knowing his shit) is accessorizing, and we all love a guy who knows how to perfectly accessorize his outfit. It is impossible to find a shot on a sunny day during which Ryan’s not wearing sunglasses that match perfectly with his suit, and all of the choices that he makes are even today, ten years later, still fashionable but also retro at the same time. If that is not fashion forward, nothing is. In case you really want to pull a Rusty Ryan, make sure that you do well with accessories, as it’s the right choice of the accessory that will make you a believable Rusty Ryan. If not sunglasses, you can always choose versatile wrist accessories like designer watches that are very trendy and can be matched with anything. It’s also 2020, so we need to think a bit outside of the box. Call to action: Go to your closet, choose your suit, take your watch and your sunglasses and get rolling.

THE BOLDNESS

It’s not only important to be fashion-forward and to know which color of suit to pick. In case you want to be a real Rusty Ryan, you need to have some guts. Not being afraid to wear whatever you want is one of the biggest strengths of Brad Pitt’s character, which can be seen in the first movie, in the scene when he’s wearing the perfect yer very unusual snakeskin shirt. Rusty Ryan is one of the few cinematic characters that know how to wear a particular piece of clothing, and if there is anything that we can learn from him, it’s to wear anything we want with pride and without insecurities.

THE SHORT BLONDE HAIR

In order to look representable, you have to pay attention to the state of your hair. This might be quite difficult for guys as not having a haircut for a week can definitely show and ruin your whole appearance, and Rusty Ryan knows that. This is why he always opts to cut his amazing blonde hair short – not because he wants to come off as dangerous, but because this indeed is the best way to match it with the rest of your outfit, so find a haircut that is popular and versatile. His tattoos scream “rebellious”, but his hairstyle and clothes hush those screams a lot and make him a guy we will definitely trust from now on.

THE “HIS THING” THING

Finally, what about Rusty’s food? He is seen eating in the majority of the scenes, and this indeed is a great way to make a character more memorable. If you, however, do not want to make eating junk food your “thing” (especially because not everyone can pull eating in public off and make it seem kinda sexy), find another special thing that makes you stand out. This might include a single accessory that’s seemingly unimportant, such as a hat, a tattoo, or a gimmick that you want to pull off.

 The first movie from the original trilogy was released more than 10 years ago, and it’s still one of the best action movies ever made. However, even though it’s mostly popular because of it’s legendary characters and great plot, it will always stay as one of the movies where Brad Pitt was extremely fashionable and we believed him.