The Boys of Hughes: John Hughes style

I love me some Jezebel.com, but those girls have really outdone themselves with this post on "The Ups And Downs of Having a John Hughes Boyfriend" rating the boys of John Hughes' movies in the '80s. They're all there: Duckie, Stef, Jake Ryan, Farmer Ted, John Bender, and Ferris Bueller. I've seen these films more times I can count, so I figured there's not better time than the present to look at the iconic fashions they inspired.


This is classic, quirky Duckie Dale (played by Jon Cryer in 1986's Pretty in Pink): Bright sportcoat with the sleeves rolled up, a brooch on his lapel, a contrasting vest worn over a shirt and bolo tie, and rolled up pants to reveal colorful striped socks. There's a lot going on here, but one thing's for sure: This dude had STYLE. And the hair! Best with a bowler cap worn far back on the crown as seen here:

And you can't forget the classic Duckie loafer.

Let's move onto the Duckman's nemesis, Steff.

A pampered rich boy with a thing for white powder, Steff (played by the incomparable James Spader) was the only guy who could pull off wearing a white suit to high school, sans t-shirt and socks of course. And that lean, with the cigarette coming out of the mouth, that feathered hair - who else could ever inspire equal amounts of lust and hate?

Next up: The boys of 1984's Sixteen Candles. On one hand, you have the swoon-worthy Jake Ryan, who was a good example of classic '80s prep.

Though he wears either a Fair Isle sweater vest over a white shirt or a basic plaid shirt throughout the entirety of the film, Jake Ryan (played by Michael Schoeffling) is largely associated with the popped-collar polo shirt. Check out those boat shoes!

On the other, Farmer Ted (Anthony Michael Hall), the self-described "King of the Dipshits":

In both Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Weird Science, Anthony Michael Hall was the poster child for geeks in the '80s. His clothing is actually pretty basic: In Candles he wore a casual but fitted button-down shirt, cuffed jeans and white Chuck Taylors. But it was his way of having a cocky swagger one second and awkward charm the next that gave the guy his style. Oh, and he appreciates a girl in a hat, calling it "so Vogue."

Somehow the Jezebel girls left out a great potential boyfriend, Long Duck Dong:

He immediately scored with the tall chick at school, parties super hard, and crashed his host father's car. Pretty much an awesome guy to have at a party, despite the cringe-inducing racial sterotype he embodied.

In 1985's Breakfast Club, John Bender (Judd Hirsch) was the bad dude all the good girls hated to love and loved to hate.

The cut-off plaid shirt, fingerless leather gloves, untied combat boots, and ubiquitous cigarette were archetypal signatures of the aimless, angry rocker dude.

Finally, there's Ferris Bueller (of 1986's Ferris Bueller's Day Off) - super-cool, swoon-worthy, and clever, Bueller seems to somehow mesh the quirkiness of Duckie with the cool confidence of Steff.

Only Bueller could pull off the seemingly tacky leopard-print vest, which has since inspired a pair of Nike Dunks. The white shoes are also very Duckie-esque, but the cool lean and snapping finger are oh-so-Steff.