Worst-Dressed U.S. Cities

Sprawl is so last season. GQ ranks the "most sartorially-challenged metropolises in the greater United States" based solely on the five-letter S-word rarely mentioned in planning: Style.

1 minute read

July 16, 2011, 5:00 AM PDT

By Jeff Jamawat


Owning up to the axiom that the dapper world of fashion places high premium on vanity, the 40-city list is as insightful as it is buoyant.

Coming in last at No. 40 is Boulder, Colo. Nurit Zuger writes: "[O]f Boulder's 100,000 people, about 30,000 are students, some 99.9% are blonde, and all of them in better shape than you. This town is always obnoxiously flaunting its 'fittest-place-in-the-country' awards, and you will be hard-pressed to find one person here, including your 85-year-old grandmother, without a six-pack."

Runner-up L.A. is "a city never known for its subtlety or restraint, why expect anything different from its residents? Why should we expect Angelenos to ever recover from the aesthetic thrill of Ed Hardy? It's smart if you think about it, why actually get a full body tattoo when you can buy the sartorial equivalent of one, with rhinestones?," quips Maxandra Short.

The least stylish city, according to GQ? Boston, Mass.

Monday, July 11, 2011 in GQ

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