The National have been America’s best band since they released Alligator in 2005. That’s fifteen years! Good for them. More importantly, the National have always looked cool. We could learn a lot from Matt, Aaron, Bryce, Bryan, and Scott. Once again, it’s time for us to visit the style archive.
This is the oldest picture of the National I could find. The year is 1999, and the band is about a year old. They’re still two years away from releasing their debut. It’s hard to glean much from the picture, except that the boys have a long way to go haircut-wise.
Another early press photo. Look at these babies. They’ll figure things out eventually. For now, the Dessners are cheesing for the camera, happy knowing they’re the geniuses who who will eventually write “Mistaken for Strangers.”
I’ll come right out and say it: Scott is the National’s best dressed member.
The Dessners didn’t get the memo to wear black or gray. Matt’s pissed. Come on guys, stop practicing guitar and read my memos. I also hate to see a big ol’ floppy collar popping out from under a sweater.
I don’t know what Scott’s thinking with this gray jacket, but his glasses are fire. He’s worn aviators before, and he will wear them again.
This must be the Alligator era. The guys haven’t become suit guys yet. Their early style trappings are still on display. Scott’s look is the obvious highlight here. Perfect crewneck, perfect glasses, and of course, a perfect gold chain. If you saw this guy on a Zoom call, you’d be pleased and perhaps turned on. We’ll deal with Scott’s brother Bryan in a little bit, and I’m still waiting for Matt to make a statement with his clothes. Bryce’s navy crewneck is great.
I was the most fanatical about the National between 2008 and 2010, culminating in the release of High Violet. I gleefully lapped up every drop of National content I could find, and this photo is seared into my memory. I thought it was so flipping cool. Now I’m not so sure. Matt and Aaron’s vests-of-many-buttons have not aged well, and although I like Bryan’s casual look on its own, he clashes with his bandmates. Scott is, as usual, the most dialed in. Just chilling in front of some Tower of Terror elevators.
It does seem like Matt’s getting married and these are his four groomsmen.
Matt’s getting married again. That was fast. Wow. Anyway, congratulations. Same groomsmen as before.
Because most men don’t wear suits or even dress shirts on a regular basis, you’ve got to wonder what musicians are thinking when they dress in formal or semiformal attire. The National’s sartorial choices never really threw me. Their upscale look melds perfectly with the upscale music they make. Matt’s characters would dress like that. When he sings about–oh, I dunno–an insurance salesman who wishes he were pursuing an MFA in painting, that guy probably has a closet full of similar clothes.
The National have taken some enormous strides recently. Trouble Will Find Me (2013) and Sleep Well Beast (2017) are underrated entries in their catalog. I’d even go so far as to call them “classics.”
Every National fan knows the group’s secret weapon is its drummer Bryan. He’s just so good at drumming. Boxer is probably my favorite album ever, and it’s definitely my favorite drumming record. Bryan’s the star of the show in this picture for sure. Long hair looks great on him, as does a pair of roughed up sneakers. Is that a mock neck turtleneck? I approve.
It’s easy to forget that Bryan is 6’ 6” when he’s seated behind a drum kit or relegated to the background of a press photo. And now a short list (heh) of other notable members of the 6’ 6” club:
- Michael Jordan (basketball player)
- Kobe Bryant (basketball player)
- Charles Barkley (basketball player)
- Vince Carter (basketball player)
- Roald Dahl (author of Matilda)
- Rachmaninoff (Richter’s Rach 1 is the Rach 1 for me)
- Peter Steele (I don’t have to tell you who he is)
This may very well be my favorite picture of the National. Their wedding days are over. It’s shorts season. Shorts! I love shorts. So do Aaron and Bryan, apparently. Cutoff jean shorts are still the move, and that will never change. Matt’s long hair was a thing of tremendous beauty, and that vest isn’t awful like the last one. In fact, it’s good. A good vest, imagine that. Also, El Vy: underrated.
We’re finally at the end. The National are no longer striving to dress in a homogenous way. No more “wear a suit to the shoot” memos, in other words. Each guy is doing his own thing. Matt’s an impeccably dressed emcee who comes undone as the night wears on. Bryce has wisely started wearing Dries Van Noten. (More photo evidence if you don’t believe me.) Aaron dresses “normal” but in an elevated (read: tailored) way. Bryan dresses like the Midwesterner he is: flannels, old t-shirts, even headbands. During the Sleep Well Beast cycle, he was often spotted wearing a neon trucker hat. Good stuff. Last but not least, Scott continues to reign as the king of National style. This particular look is his best yet. Its got all the hallmarks of a great Scott fit: tan military-inspired jacket, shirt with a badass print, and tinted aviators.
Style-wise, I don’t see the National changing too much in the next couple years, but maybe they’ll surprise me. Maybe Matt will start wearing basketball jerseys. Maybe they’ll go through a tuxedo phase. For me, the National’s incremental shifts have always resonated in a seismic way. If Scott started wearing kilts, I’d probably buy one myself.