From One Direction to Harry’s House, Harry Styles has cemented himself as a mainstay in pop culture. His fashion choices often leave people scratching their heads, but the real question we need to address is whether or not he’s hot.
Let’s start from the beginning. Back in 2010 a group of lads from the UK and Ireland banded together under Simon Cowell’s tutelage to form One Direction on the 7th season of The X Factor. That’s where we got our first glimpse of a 16-year-old cherubic twink adorned in a green scarf named Harry.
Styles charmed the audience with his banter about what was in or out at his bakery job at the time. He shakily sang Train’s “Hey Soul Sister,” before pivoting to an acapella version of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.” While it’s deeply inappropriate to call a 16-year-old hot, it was clear from the audience reaction that the teenage girls present were completely smitten.
Styles was paired with the other 1D members, and they ultimately placed third on the show. That didn’t stop them, though. They enjoyed a level of fame that only the ferocity of teenage girls can grant a boyband.
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As the boys entered adulthood, Harry stood out as the shaggy one. His long locks and tattoos gave him a more “rockstar” quality. Even during these days, Styles was the clear fan0-favorite, as anyone around at the time can attest. It wasn’t until Zayn Malik’s departure from the group in 2016 that we really saw Harry Styles come into his own, though.
In 2017, Styles cleaned up his look a bit, and released his first self-titled album. He cut his hair, started dawning suits — some more interesting than others — but this was his peak hotness. His hair, ensemble, and maturity shone through. His eccentricity was limited to loud print suits, and served him well.
Then it got crazy. In 2020, Styles was named GQ’s “Most Stylish Man of the Year, as Voted by You.” The part after the comma is important, because at that point Styles began wearing some of the ugliest shit imaginable. Polka dots, pearls, and lime green exploded across his wardrobe as he embraced his “feminine” side.
It is a testament to his attractiveness that Styles got away with this. Only a hot person can wear ugly clothing, and be lauded for their fashion sense. It also helps when a straight man explores “androgyny,” because then everyone feels comfortable complimenting them for co-opting queer fashion.
Then came his bombing at the box office era in 2022. Both “My Policeman” and “Don’t Worry Darling” flopped, but more importantly they revealed that a decade of experience as a musician doesn’t inherently translate to acting skill. Styles’ abysmal performance in both certainly takes a knock against his hotness, since good acting makes a person hotter.
Image Credit: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com
Arguably, this is still the era Styles resides in. His viral glitter singlet/onesie/jumpsuit/thing at the Grammys in 2023 began to chip away at the love of his eccentricities. Styles is also partly to blame for the popularization of hideous moth tattoos across mens’ stomachs. Styles is rail thin, so all of his clothing choices are lauded as fashion, but even he can’t pull off that tattoo. Let it be a lesson, if a literal pop-star can’t do it, neither can your regular ass.
It seems as though Styles is trying to take on the mantle of modern David Bowie, but lacks the artistry of the new-wave icon. As a point of clarification, Styles is not devoid of artistry. His music is a huge part of his appeal, but he is simply not on the level of Bowie Yet.
Final Verdict: We’ve examined Styles through the years, and the evidence is overwhelming. Yes, Harry Styles is hot, but only to straight women and the absolute lamest gay men you know. A thin white twink with bad tattoos and style (ironic for his name) will always garner a level of thirst, but he doesn’t even scratch the 100 hottest men you can find on an Instagram Discover page.
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