Style Icon: Hugh Laurie

Who would have thought in the 1980s that Hugh Laurie would, two decades later, be considered a style icon, but that’s what has happened.

A lot of the stylish appeal of Laurie has to do with the same qualities that have made the House star the highest paid actor in television, he is able to slip seamlessly out of clothes as he is in and out of character without it feeling unnatural.

An example of this was when executive producer of House (and director of the forthcoming Superman film) Bryan Singer after watching Laurie’s audition for the titular role of the medical drama thought the actors accent so convincing he said the Brit was the exact type of American actor they were looking for.

Laurie also has an undeniably cool and unapologetically clever personality having been a member of the Cambridge Footlights and the intellectual and comedic jousting partner of Stephen Fry.

His personality certainly imbibes his clothes, he always dresses smart without taking himself overly seriously.

Laurie generally goes for the business-casual style. Loads of lads think they can pull it off and fail due to a tendency to over-elaborate, Laurie keeps it simple – he generally wears a blazer, with a wrinkled shirt and t-shirt on the inside.

The blazer can be a tweed one or a sports jacket.

These are accompanied with a pair of jeans (not the skinny type) he wears regular cut Levis or Lee jeans. He’ll wear a pair of sneakers with this – usually Converse.

It’s a look that doesn’t look out of place anywhere, but looks smart everywhere.

The odd time Laurie wears something else, a t-shirt and jeans or a suit for an award show, but he always makes it look good and well-fitted.

Unlike his youth, these days Laurie usually sports a well-maintained 5 O’Clock shadow that plays in nicely to the smart gentleman persona.

That’s because Laurie as good an actor as he is, doesn’t take himself or his clothes too seriously and all seems natural, smart and well-turned out.

Fortunately, the walking cane is reserved for his character in House, but if he chose to actually use one we think Laurie could pull it off too as he makes looking stylish look easy.