The Best Ryan Gosling Movie Jackets, Definitively Ranked

Photographs: Everett Collection; Collage: Gabe Conte

Ryan Gosling loves a sick jacket. He’s as committed to wearing them as Michael Jordan was to winning, wearing one heater after another. No one in the menswear space rocks blousons better than Gosling—except for the characters Gosling portrays on the silver screen.

Throughout his career, Gosling has gravitated toward complex characters who have in common a penchant for memorable outerwear. He’s already in the onscreen-jacket pantheon thanks to a few iconic cinematic-style moments, but with his latest film, The Fall Guy, Gosling’s BJW (that stands for Banger Jackets Worn) hits a new high. David Leitch’s big-screen reimagining of the ‘80s TV series is a veritable buffet of looks. In honor of this BJW landmark, we’ve definitively ranked the best of Gosling’s many cinematic jackets.

Some rules: This list is ranked based on a proprietary formula we constructed that accounts for a few critical metrics, including overall memorability, inherent wearability, timelessness of style, and importance to the character Gosling is playing. Additionally, only one jacket per film could be considered for the final list, and we’ve limited the list to ten films overall. In short, this formula is unequivocally correct, so please do not @ us about this, as we’ve quite literally done the math.

With those ground rules aside, let’s pop our collars and get to the rankings.

10. Moto Puffer, Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine is not a movie that’s inherently rewatchable— and if you do find yourself running it back regularly, we hope you’re OK. (Maybe find somebody to talk to.) In Gosling’s first project with director Derek Cianfrance, he plays a man whose marriage to Michelle Williams is coming apart—but he’s got his outerwear game together, thanks to a slick motorcycle jacket that gets a lot of screen time. With puffer sleeves and colorful red-and-white racing-style detailing along the ribs and shoulder blades, it’s a standout, and a reminder that even a true downer of a movie can be a joy for jacket fans.

9. Plaid Shacket, Gangster Squad

Remember Gangster Squad? The second of Gosling’s three (for now) collaborations with Emma Stone, the 2013 film received mixed reviews upon arrival. One aspect of the movie that’s not up for debate is the stylishness of this mackinaw-like wool jacket. Gosling’s character opts for a blue buffalo plaid, instead of the traditional red, a more subdued approach that suits a character whose loyalty is a little questionable in the movie's early stages. It only shows up for a few moments but leaves an impression in a film that’s otherwise a lesser entry in Gosling’s body of work.

8. Electric Red Jacket, La La Land

Considering Los Angeles has so many sunny days, it’s understandable why Gosling wears so little outerwear throughout the film. However, one critical moment is his second meet-cute with Emma Stone’s character at a poolside party where he’s wearing a colorful red jacket while he plays ‘80s covers by the likes of Flock of Seagulls. Perhaps the jacket is a nod to the red shirt lead singer Mike Score wears in the video for “I Ran”; maybe Gosling’s red jacket and yellow pants are meant to mirror Stone’s red hair and yellow dress, foreshadowing their eventual connection. Or maybe it just looks cool. Either way, red’s a good color on Gosling; we haven’t seen the last of it on this list.

7. Party Jacket, The Nice Guys

If as many people who consistently talk on Twitter about how The Nice Guys deserves a sequel saw Shane Black’s Dudes Rock classic when it dropped in 2016, we’d have one by now. Thanks to costume designer Kym Barrett, the film is wall-to-wall ‘70s menswear, and Gosling’s private-detective character spends most of the film rocking wide-lapelled suits and sport shirts in Magic Eye-adjacent patterns. However, when he does throw on a jacket for some recon at a party in the Hollywood Hills, it’s a banger; the hip-length, four-button ivory (!) leather (!!) wide-collar (!!!) jacket feels like a riff on the iconic safari jacket Roger Moore has on when he shows up at Hugo Drax’s jungle pyramid in Moonraker, but on acid (a decision befitting of the film’s period setting). You could — and even should — try to hunt down a version of this to wear right now and look like one of the trendiest guys on the block.

6. Date Night Plaid Jacket, The Notebook

“I could be anything you want,” Gosling’s Noah says to Rachel McAdams’ Allie early on in the film adaptation of The Notebook. Everlasting love is a pretty aspirational thing to yearn for, but we’re being more practical here; we want to swipe the plaid jacket Noah wears to see Buster Keaton’s Li’l Abner. The material looks like wool, but the jacket features some rich leather pockets that feel like they’d be at home on a Gucci or Brunello Cucinelli jacket. Noah may seem like a simple man at first—but as this jacket demonstrates, he’s pretty sharp when it’s time to get a fit off.

5. Red Leather Jacket, The Place Beyond the Pines

It’s fitting that Gosling’s Luke wears a Metallica tee in The Place Beyond the Pines; he’s playing a motorcycle stuntman turned bank robber, but his wardrobe makes him look like a rock star. Sure, a standard leather jacket would have sufficed for the character, but the beat-to-hell red leather Firstgear moto he wears earns style points for being an atypical choice and a garment that’s otherwise pretty accessible to find. Pines designer Erin Benach told GQ that they “found that one online . . . We bought it new and beat it up.” The jacket was so worn that when the it went to auction, the tattered interior lining was removed before it sold, for an impressive $4,100.

4. Shearling Coat, Blade Runner 2049

Like its predecessor, Blade Runner 2049 trafficks in film noir's tried and true language — right down to the stunning overcoat donned by Gosling’s Agent K. A riff on the genre’s sartorial staple, the trench coat, K’s overcoat is as versatile as the elements he encounters, capable of looking like a western-style duster jacket when he visits the desert of Las Vegas, or as a warm shearling when it snows at the film’s conclusion. According to designer Renée April, “brutal” was the one word that director Denis Villeneuve provided for inspiration for the coat, which explains why it already looks so perfectly weathered. Life in the world of 2049 seems tough, sure, but that doesn’t stop us from wanting to jump to the future to snag one of these for ourselves.

3. Miami Vice Stunt Team Bomber, The Fall Guy

There’s no recency bias here; The Fall Guy is probably Gosling’s most jacket-forward movie thus far. Throughout the film, he wears several different pieces that would be a great fit in just about anyone’s wardrobe, including a windbreaker-style jacket (in red, naturally), a coach’s zip-up, a giant gold-lamé duster, and many others. However, the creme del la creme is Gosling’s Miami Vice Stunt Team jacket, which we’re already scheming to get our hands on. It looks like the perfect vintage merch you’d hunt around on eBay for or beg And After That to make a reality. And—without giving too much away—it also sets up a significant plot point. Fashionable and functional? That’s the foundation for a memorable jacket.

2. Stallone Meets Kenergy Fur Coat, Barbie

The tie-dye hoodie Gosling wears as Ken gets a lot of play, and rightfully so. But the real showstopper is the Sylvester Stallone-inspired fur that shows up in the film. Hailed by Barbie costume designer Jacqueline Durran as a “fantastic image of exuberance and fashion,” the coat quickly becomes a symbol of Ken’s newly-awakened patriarchal swagger. It’s a character all unto itself, one that’s managed to transcend the film and become a critical part of Barbie’s sartorial legacy. Hell, a replica even showed up on Saturday Night Live when Gosling recently hosted. We have a feeling that won’t be the last time we see him in a coat like this— even if he swears Ken is dead and gone.

1. The Scorpion Bomber, Drive

Was there any other option? The famed quilted-satin scorpion jacket is this generation’s most iconic or infamous piece of cinematic outerwear. Upon Drive’s initial release in 2011, it became a staple of the Halloween circuit and has never really left. Even if you haven’t seen a second of Drive, chances are you know the jacket—itself an homage to Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising, one of American underground cinema’s most pivotal jacket movies—via memes and references. The circa-2011 licensed replicas by Steady Clothing are now sought-after grails, although unofficial ones can be found everywhere online; Drive costume designer Erin Benach recently told GQ it’s the jacket she gets asked about the most. Much like the arachnid emblazoned on its back, the Drive jacket stung swiftly, cementing its place in celluloid history alongside jackets from The Wild One, Taxi Driver, and Rebel Without A Clause. A real hero (piece), indeed.

Originally Appeared on GQ