Barack Obama Is Figuring This Whole Menswear Thing Out

Since exiting the Oval Office, Barack Obama has tried his hand at a number of post-presidency gigs—author, Richard Branson’s hangout buddy, and Netflix producer among them. But a picture taken in Malaysia in mid-December that resurfaced over the weekend suggests something more exciting (for us) than all that. It seems Obama couldn’t wait for his presidency to be over so he could really start dressing.

Obama was never going to be mistaken for a fashion plate. By his own admission, he simply didn’t care. “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” he told Vanity Fair in 2012. And his non-suiting looks often featured dad jeans at their most dadliest—faded and ill-fitting and ready to embarrass you during a sleepover. But this most recent picture, taken some three years out of office, suggests that Obama is really starting to give a shit about his clothes.

The fit breakdown: Adidas Stan Smith sneakers, peekaboo ankles revealed by the rolled cuffs of his slim-fit military-green chinos, and a tucked white polo. He looks like a J.Crew catalogue exploded him on. This is the sort of image people might look back on 50 years from now the same way they now gaze at those dreamy pictures of John F. Kennedy on a sloop wearing, well, a polo, white sneakers, and pants cropped enough to occasionally reveal a bit of calf. This is the stuff presidential style icons are made of.

It’s worth noting that Obama’s style has really thrived in casual settings. He’s not going to win any MVP awards for getting dressed, but he at least has to be in the conversation for Most Improved Player. Leather jackets, like the ones he wore to a D.C. museum or a Toronto Raptors game, have played an outsized role in these mellower Seinfeldian outfits. Obama also famously wore a bomber jacket embroidered with “44” from downtown New York brand Rag & Bone. After Zion Williamson went down in the game’s opening seconds, the outfit quickly became the story of the night: a president looking this good and stylish felt like a cold glass of water as we careen through the wasteland of Trump fashion. And even during post-presidential speaking engagements that have called for suits, 44 has toyed with the dress code. In 2017, he turned up in Italy for the Seed & Chips Global Food Innovation Summit and did as the Romans do: unbuttoned his shirt to Fabio levels of undress.

You can almost see the former president grazing over the past decade in menswear—catching up on things now that he’s got a little more free time. He discovered no-show socks and found a pair of slim-fit chinos that work for him. They are evidence of a 58-year-old can-we-call-him-retired? dad trying to look nice. If this were 2012, the outfit would be one double-breasted blazer away from the height of menswear.

The outfit brings us back to an era when going to the mall with your boys to check out the latest at Club Monaco and J.Crew was still a surefire way to find a great outfit. We’ve since moved on to churning through a more wild flavor of clothing—apparel that often purposefully defies the idea of good taste—to better reflect our current age of dysfunction. But, maybe, in Obama’s head (or at least his closet), it’s still the early ‘10s. There really is no more beautiful thought than that.

Originally Appeared on GQ