Travis Kelce Is Dressing For The ‘Joe Dirt Gaze’ In His GQ Cover Shoot
It’s a very busy week for powerhouse couple Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. He’s on the cover of GQ today (8/12), and the Chiefs’ ESPN documentary is dropping this Thursday. But before then, Swift is making her first appearance on his and his brother Jason’s podcast, “New Heights”, to speak exclusively about her latest album, which she officially announced at 12:12 a.m. this morning.
So much for over exposure…
This context matters when we look at Kelce’s GQ photoshoot because the concepts of “less is more”, being subdued, relatable, or down-to-earth are nowhere to be seen. It’s just full-throttle, in your face, over-the-top, “I’m not sure I (or anyone) asked (or needed) to see this” madness for sixteen straight editorial images.
There are no outliers and no respite for this visual overstimulation—every look warrants it’s own “Huh?”, “Why?”, “Who approved this?”, or “Miranda Priestly would never.”
I’m all for people expressing themselves through fashion, and will be the first to admit that my own wardrobe choices are not for everyone, but when it comes to being a public figure, and one who is in the middle of a massive media blitz with their even more famous significant other, I don’t know, it’s maybe a good time to read the room? And by room, I of course mean the internet and its current celebrity trends.
Everyone from TikTok influencers to journalists are talking about how to dress for the “gaze”. There’s the “male gaze”, which has pretty much been the Hollywood standard for forever, and the “female gaze” which is the buzzword being tied to the 1950s – 1960s style resurgence better know as “things your grandpa would wear”. And finally there’s just the “gays” which is the giant umbrella encompassing everything from Anne Hathaway worship to Timothée Chalamet taking lesbian fashion trends to the mainstream.
In essence, famous people, or people trying to be famous, are always dressing for someone, and yet, Kelce’s photoshoot doesn’t fit neatly into any of these categories. You can’t convince me this is meant to get straight women hot and bothered (like the Bad Bunny Calvin Klein photoshoot), or tap into the wallets of straight men by convincing them this is what “cool” looks like now. And while some of the styling could have worked on a Pride Parade “bears” float (the image below is also one mask short of being a furry suit), I don’t think this is meant for the gays either. This photoshoot dares tread where only one man has before—it’s trying to make “Joe Dirt Gaze” a thing.
Beyond owning a condo in Florida, the Ohio born and bred tight end has no clear connection to the Everglades-inspired theme tying each look together, which in and of itself, still feels very incoherent. The croc, the airboat, the Britney Spears snake moment, the wife-beater tank, the Duck Dynasty camo, we all get, but why is there so much fur? Is a fringed leather jacket really “on-brand” for South Florida? Why is he wearing a fluorescent construction vest in the middle of the ocean? Did no one flag that the grey felt coat and shirt combo feels very “I fought on the wrong side of the Civil War”? And are we really supposed to find Kelce in his boxers and a fur-lined quilted vest on a flyboard attractive?
It all just feels like a side-show fun-house nightmare we’re dying to wake up from. We know he just shot a movie with Adam Sandler, but this Bobby Boucher “swamp chic” look cannot be on the “Cerulean sweater” trajectory to a Target near me or you. At least we’re praying to the fashion gods it’s not.
