Zac Efron’s career is on the move, with critics lauding his wrestling biopic The Iron Claw as a tragic, eerie look into the gilded world of professional playfights. Variety says that, despite the all-star line-up, the film belongs to Efron and Efron only. It’s a big thing for a Disney alum to make a movie that makes people weep, but for all the gushing and the transformation and The Craft of it all, Efron’s physical form has stuck to just three modes: ripped, jacked and insanely jacked.
Don’t let the surplus of Instagram muscle cloud your judgement, either: it takes an ungodly amount of work (and ground turkey) to look that tonk. It is impressive and godly and a nightmare for dressing. Because, while the sight of a thigh-sized bicep is becoming increasingly normalised, most clothes are made for guys with bicep-sized biceps. That’s led a small army of gym bunnies and former Love Island contestants to grab the ‘muscle fit’: normal-looking clothes cut into a shrunken frame and made from fabric with a lot of stretch. You’ve worked hard for that bod. Show it off. Go gedddddit, brah!
RB/Bauer-Griffin
But the problem with distorting classic shapes is that things can look, well… distorted. The muscle fit polo shirt might pop your shoulders. It might cinch your waist into something one can only describe as “snatched”. But it doesn’t make a for natural-looking outfit. Compliments flatter. They don’t squeeze.
That’s why Zac Efron has ditched the ‘muscle fit’ for something more natural, something that shows off the chisel without putting everything into a chokehold. Standard sweaters in cashmere and merino wool give a lot of give. That means your bod fits inside, it bulges in the right places but it still has some semblance of a normal shape. On the Jimmy Kimmel Live tunnel walk, Efron paired his own navy knit with equally as classic grey trousers, hi-shine Chelsea boots and a pair of Hollywood-mandated shades. Whether you’re huge or happy without a gym membership, it’s the sort of solid fit that always works.