heroandvillainstyle.com may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post via affiliate partnerships.
Portrayed by Robert Downey Jr, one of the main figureheads of the Marvel property is Iron Man – many know him for being effortlessly cool, which may leave you wondering ‘how to dress like Tony Stark’?
You will want to wear youthful, but classic, clothing, in both casual and formal situations. Casually, wear a well fitted jacket over a dark t-shit, dark wash denim, and classic sneakers. Formally, wear bold tailoring, such as striped suits, and wider ties. Complete your look with signature glasses, and a sports watch.
The rest of this article will take a closer look at Robert Downey Jr’s clothing from the Iron Man films and how to dress like Tony Stark, where you can get similar items, and what you can learn from his outfits to help improve your wardrobe:
(Click the link to fast travel!)
How to Dress like Tony Stark
Throughout the films, Tony is seen in both casual and formal outfits, appropriately changing things up accordingly, and dressing for the situation.
In both circumstances, he is generally well put together, and leans towards timeless clothing items, such as classic suits, and casual jackets.
However, given his eccentric nature, especially in the early films, he sometimes appears scruffy and overly relaxed, even when wearing formal outfits.
To add to this, given the wide timespan of his appearances in Marvel films, Tony Stark’s clothing moves with real world fashion preferences and trends, and with his character development in the story.
For example, his clothing is looser and less professional in the first few films, but becomes more tailored and mature as time progresses, as he gains experience in his role as the Iron Man.
For formal looks, you’ll want to look towards wearing:
- A dark coloured grey suit with some form of pattern, such as a pinstripe, or windowpane.
- Long sleeve dress shirt, in white or sky blue.
- A subtle geometrically patterned tie.
- Black formal shoes, presumably Oxfords.
For casual looks, he started by wearing:
- Dark to medium wash, straight cut denim.
- Dark, chunky work boots.
- Long sleeve t-shirts.
Though, as his style developed, he started leaning towards:
- Tailored leather jackets
- Bomber jackets.
- Slimmer jeans.
- Boots with a slimmer silhouette, and smarter sneakers.
Let’s get into more specific outfits and clothing choices.
Tony Stark’s Casual Style
Robert Downey Jr’s casual selection changes drastically throughout the series. As aforementioned, it starts off as quite basic and ‘childish’, and translates into something more mature, and tailored.
However, despite the changes, there are certain styles and looks that he gravitates towards:
T-Shirts & Henleys
Tony Stark frequently wears a mixture of short and long sleeve tees, in varying dark colours.
On top of this, some of his shirts feature graphical elements, such as the logo of the rock band ‘Black Sabbath’, though he moves away from these towards the end of the films.
If not wearing a single long sleeve t-shirt, he sometimes layers a short sleeve tee over a long sleeve shirt or thermal of a different colour, like pictured above.
In some cases, he brings in a light coloured Henley shirt, which is categorised by buttons along the front of the shirt.
What To Take From This
- These shirts look best on him when he truly ‘becomes’ Iron Man after the first film, and packs on some muscle – t-shirts look best on a slightly more built up and muscular body types.
- I feel he looks best when wearing block colours, with no layering; avoid graphic tees and laying t-shirts on top of longer shirts, and stick to block, classic colours.
Specific Products
Specifically, taken from the above montage of all looks pulled from the films, he’s seen wearing:
- Grey Bruce Lee DJ dragon t-shirt (picture 1), over a light grey long sleeve t-shirt. I’ve found a similar t-shirt on Amazon, which can be accessed below. However, it’s in ‘heather grey’, which may be one shade too light compared to the one Stark is wearing, though it may just be the dark lighting.
- A navy short sleeve t shirt featuring artwork from Black Sabbath’s 1978 US tour (picture 2), over what looks to be a long sleeve airforce blue t-shirt. I’ve found a similar Black Sabbath t-shirt on Amazon, which can also be accessed below! Again, it’s in black, which is still versatile enough to wear, in my opinion.
- A simple navy t shirt (picture 3), over what looks like some sort of compression vest. Many people recommend Uniqlo as the best place to pick up affordable t-shirts, that are high quality. But if you’re on a budget, I’m sure these navy t-shirts from Amazon essentials will do just the trick. The colour on them actually looks quite good, and if they fit (here’s where I recommend you read the reviews), then it could be a great bargain.
- A light grey henley (picture 4).
Just to note, I have not personally tested any of the above products.
Hoodies
One of the first items of clothing you might have thought of when it comes to Tony Stark’s style is a hoodie. Interestingly, he doesn’t wear too many of them throughout the films.
However, with exception to his one in Infinity War (pictured left), they’re all in dark block colours, and work well with the block t-shirts he wears them with. This is a great casual look and combination, in my opinion, for all ages, which he usually finishes off with denim.
Some may consider this too youthful and casual, though in the technology industry that he works in, it is the norm, and accepted.
What To Take From This
- Wear a dark hoodie with a block t-shirt for a classic combination, which, depending on your circumstances, can be great for many casual indoors situations.
- Focus in on the fit – that is the thing that will make you either look put together, or a slob.
Other Shirts
Throughout the series, more notably towards the beginning, we see Iron Man wear a variety of different casual shirts, ranging from a plaid flannel (left), to a fitted navy polo (middle), and an army green art shirt (right).
The diverse choices of colour here is great, as the navy and green tones work well with his skin complexion and hair colour.
Most of these styles are, again, awesome and super classic, especially the navy polo, which is one of James Bond’s favourite pieces. In fact, I’ve written a guide to Bond’s clothing, if you’re digging the polo in them middle, and enjoy that sort of aesthetic.
However, I feel the art shirt looks a bit dated, and the flannel would look more mature if it were worn by itself, and not layered on top of a tee.
What To Take From This
- Introduce casual polos into your wardrobe.
- Focus in on colours that work with your skin tone. To help with this, I’ve created an ultimate guide on how to dress for your skin tone, which makes understanding what colours work for you super easy, and hassle free.
- Again, ensure the fit of your clothing is on point – all of these items would look terrible if they were too big.
Tony Stark’s Shoes
Due to the nature of filmmaking, we don’t see a lot of Tony Stark’s shoes throughout the films.
However, from the shots we do get, we see that casually he wears:
- Chunky work boots
- Running sneakers
- Suede Chukka Boots
These Suede Chukkas especially are a really great smart-casual and more mature footwear choice, and were a staple of the legend Steve McQueen’s style.
His work boots, though practical, I feel are too chunky to be aesthetically pleasing – and, it’s a similar story with the running sneakers which, again, while practical, are too casual for serious outfits, and should be kept to the track.
Tony Stark’s Leather Jackets
One clothing choice that I can get behind, which is seen most notably towards the end of his tenure, are his leather jackets; a good leather jacket helps you stand out, without ‘standing out’.
He sticks to a slim fit and dark colours, which works with the rest of his aesthetic. This philosophy works especially well with his outfit in Endgame (as pictured on the right), which introduces an absolutely killer brown suede trucker jacket and black t-shirt combo.
Consequently, he was worn the following leather jacket styles:
- Black biker jacket.
- Black bomber jacket.
- Dark brown suede trucker jacket.
All of these leather jacket styles are timeless, masculine, and versatile, and seriously upgrade Tony’s look.
In all cases, he wears them with block t-shirts, usually in back, and with dark wash denim.
What To Take From This
- Introduce leather jackets into your wardrobe.
- Make sure they fit properly.
- Experiment with different styles – you might prefer one more over the others.
Knitwear
At certain points, Iron Man is seen to rock knitwear such as:
- Zip necks
- Shawl Collar Cardigans
- Knitted Blazers
Despite the stigma around knitwear being typically ‘feminine’, with a great fit, a masculine colour and styling options, knitwear allows you to stand out from the crowd, build up your frame, and introduce some uncommon items into your rotation.
Again, the shawl collar cardigan is a staple of both Daniel Craig’s and Steve McQueen’s style, so there’s no doubt that it’s effortlessly cool, and worth stepping outside of your comfort zone for.
Jackets and Coats
Finally, let’s take a quick look at the various coats that Robert Downey Jr wears while playing Tony Stark.
At a couple of points, he is seen wearing longer fitted overcoats, usually with unconventional combinations, such as with joggers and a t-shirt. Personally, I would stay away from this combination, but introduce the overcoat as an elegant and more formal addition to your wardrobe.
On top of this, in one instance, he is seen wearing a dark navy bomber jacket over a t-shirt, which has a camouflage pattern.
Especially taking into account the camouflage t-shirt, this look appears more youthful, so I would recommend this one only for you younger guys.
However, replacing the camo shirt with a lighter white t-shirt would make the outfit more mature, wearable, and timeless.
What To Take From This
- Introduce different types of coats and jackets into your rotation, such as overcoats, and bomber jackets.
- If in doubt, pair everything with classic, timeless and versatile items, such as a white button down or t-shirt.
How to Dress Like Tony Stark Casually
Overall, Iron Man’s casual selection is generally pretty good. Picking out the good points of his style specifically, to dress like Tony Stark, I would personally focus on:
- Bringing in darker t-shirts as a base layer.
- Introducing a variety of jackets in dark colours. This could be leather jackets of varying styles, hoodies, overcoats, or bomber jackets.
- For trousers, stick with dark denim.
- For shoes, try suede Chukka boots.
- Wearing a darker colour pallet in general.
However, there are many pitfalls that prevent him from reaching legendary status:
- Avoid graphic tees.
- His clothing in the first few films had a slightly more relaxed, and almost ‘baggy’ fit – ensure that your clothing follows the curves of your body closely, but not too tightly.
- Make sure you are wearing appropriate and mature footwear – it’s the base of an outfit, and grounds your look. Though it’s not visible in most of the films, Tony wears some previously mentioned chunky work boots, which aren’t flattering at all.
Tony Stark’s Formal Style
Robert Downey Jr also wears a fair share of formal clothing throughout the Iron Man films.
Like his casual attire, it also evolves as time goes on, though sticks more closely to a set of general principles; Tony sticks to classical styling choices, such as a tailored fit, light coloured shirts, and striped ties – however, there are exceptions.
The Tony Stark Suit
The first suits we see Iron Man wear all utilise darker colours, feature either a pin or chalk stripe, and have notched lapels.
On top of this, in these first appearances, he forgoes a pocket square, and instead focuses on brining in these, in some cases, outdated striped and patterned ties.
However, he sticks to generally classically styled shirts, which feature either a pointed or cutaway collar, and classic colours, such as sky blue. Sometimes, his shirts bring in repeated patterns.
As time progressed, he started to introduce slightly lighter coloured suits. Though these suits didn’t all feature a pattern, most of them maintained a subtle stripe or texture.
Complementing the lighter suits, he also became more liberal with colours in his accessories, and is seen below bringing in pink, yellow, green, and silver shirts, ties and pocket squares.
In this phase, has also starts to introduce shirts with shadow stripes, another classic pattern.
As we get further along, the fit of Tony’s suits gets slightly tighter, with the styling and accessories less flamboyant, making his look more formal. This is likely reflecting the fact that he’s no longer the star of the show, and is instead operating in a team where everyone are equally as important.
At this stage, he introduces a waistcoat, making his suits three piece.
These suits also feature a peaked lapel, and, though more subtle, continues the trend of having a check pattern.
There’s a great article that looks at this specific suit in greater detail, and how it was incorrectly identified as being made by Tom Ford in the film.
Continuing the trend of muting his look back, he is seen wearing unassuming white and lilac shirts with cutaway collars.
Alternative Suits
On a few occasions, Tony Stark is seen wearing tailoring with less typical combinations, such as with dark, navy or black shirts, or with casual polos.
His formal monochromatic looks all work well for him due to his dark hair, which provides balance to the completely dark palette introduced.
Adding to this, though I feel it doesn’t look too bad in these outfits, I would stay away from wearing most types of polo shirts with a suit, as it is very difficult to get correct, and just a lot easier to wear them with a formal dress shirt.
Tony Stark’s Blazers
On a couple of occasions, Tony Stark wears blazers and other smart-casual jackets to establish a more formal ensemble.
In this first example from 2012’s ‘The Avengers’, he wears a dark patterned tie with a navy shirt, and pulls everything together with casual cotton field-esque jacket.
This sort of smart-casual jacket is a great alternative for when a suit isn’t required, but you still want to look polished, presentable, and in charge.
Alternatively, at the end of Iron Man three, he is seen wearing a navy blazer and light grey shirt, with grey dark wash denim, and the aforementioned suede Chukka boots.
This is less versatile then the above field jacket, but is the optimal and perfect piece to allow you to concretely establish a smart-casual outfit.
All in all, both of these jackets have great versatility, and deserve a place in your wardrobe.
What To Take From This
- Look into purchasing a field jacket, for great versatile smart and casual use.
- Look into a acquiring a well fitted classic two buttoned navy blazer, for killer smart-casual outfits.
Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man Tuxedo
In ‘Iron Man’, Tony Stark wears a classic black tuxedo, which features a black material, satin peaked lapels, and a slim fit.
He accessorises with a butterfly style bow tie, and wears a tuxedo shirt with a covered, hidden placket. Though this shirt actually looks great in this outfit, there are other tuxedo shirt styles; I’ve written a guide that covers all you need to know about which one you should wear, and why!
Moving on, unfortunately, he forges a silk pocket square, as is typical of this dress code.
How to Dress Like Tony Stark Formally
So, now we’ve seen all of Tony Stark’s formal clothing, let’s recap.
- Tony Stark most frequently wears suits in a grey tone. This is a really easy suit colour to bring into tailoring, as it is a completely neutral base piece, and allows your accessories to shine.
- Don’t be afraid to bring in lighter combinations, such as medium and light grey suits, and lighter accessories, such as pink shirts, ties and pocket squares.
- As your second or third suit, look at introducing a pattern into the fabric, such as a stripe, or check.
- Stick to classic shirt colours, such as sky blue and white.
- If your complexion and hair allows, experiment with introducing a monochromatic tailoring look, such as wearing all black items.
- When it comes to dressing up a more casual outfit, all it can take is the right jacket – for this, look at a blazer, or field jacket.
- When wearing a tuxedo, always tend towards classic styling options, and follow the rules.
Conclusion – Tony Stark Style and Clothing
So, now you know how to dress like Tony Stark.
Unfortunately, by itself, it won’t make you a super successful and intelligent millionaire playboy. But, these things are all about perception – by paying attention to your personal image, you can Tony’s clothing as a weapon to reach your objectives, and become the protagonist of your life.
