I Dressed Like Travis Kelce and Found the Formula for His Boyish Swag

A headline published on the official Kansas City Chiefs website put it best: “Travis Kelce is a stylish man.” Weighing 250 pounds and standing at a colossal 6’5”, the 34-year-old three-time Super Bowl champ cuts a striking figure. Yes, Kelce is conventionally attractive, with a goofy sense of humor, great taste in music, and a muscular physique. But it’s the hyper-confident way he styles himself that caught my attention.

Before 2023, I never would have paid attention to Kelce’s fashion choices. For starters, I don’t watch football. And while I’ve long admired the masculine, tailored look athletes like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have adopted, my personal style is much more fluid, heavily influenced by queer culture, pop music, and designers Stefano Pilati and Tom Ford. If asked to describe my wardrobe, I’d say it’s giving ‘70s Sleaze, but Make It Corporate, not Bro Gets a Mr. Porter Account.

And then Kelce was bit by the Taylor Swift bug, propelling him to unprecedented levels of fame. Whether on a N.Y.C. date night with his über-famous girlfriend or at Allegiant Stadium for the Big Game, Kelce has rarely missed the fashion mark lately, rotating between a uniform of highly-coveted sneakers, tailored suiting, flouncy trousers, silky button-ups, gaudy prints, and relentless swag. His aesthetic is playful, campy, oversize, and comfortable. It doesn’t take itself too seriously.

While Kelce has worked with stylists including Sasha Elina, Anastasia Walker, and Danielle Salzedo in the past, he has said he’s the mastermind behind a majority of his outfits, mixing an impressive collection of kicks with ready-to-wear pieces from design houses like Jil Sander, Marni, Amiri, Vetements, and Christian Dior. “I don’t have a stylist,” Kelce told Complex in 2021, commenting on the difference between NFL and NBA off-duty style. “I think the football world is starting to kind of come around to being [sic] that fashion-forward mentality.”

After Kelce absolutely ate in a custom Amiri set at the Super Bowl, I realized Kelce’s style is legitimately cool, so why not recreate a few of his viral looks? Could the man who unironically loves “Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic teach me, an editor at InStyle, anything about men’s fashion? Below, seven Travis Kelce-inspired looks worn by yours truly—brought to life by InStyle Fashion Director Kevin Huynh, who took the lead on the market, and the one (and only!) person I could drag out of bed to style me, my partner, John Monaco.

Corduroy? It’s a word I haven’t heard since elementary school. But for dinner with Taylor Swift at New York City’s Waverly Inn in October 2023, Kelce wore an as-yet-unidentified matching corduroy two-piece set with sneakers and a black tee. Although I care more for Swift’s Reputation-coded Jean Paul Gaultier mesh top and black leather mini-skirt, Kelce’s monochromatic moment is simply comfortable and appropriate for most occasions, save for a fancy dinner or important corporate meeting.

I chose a matching khaki UNIQLO set with rose-gold sunglasses from Amazon and Represent sneakers. I’m often afraid to go with a roomier, cozier fit, so the experience of trying on someone else’s style for size and enjoying it was enlightening. Kelce’s aesthetic is predominantly oversized and relaxed, and so wearing this outfit unearthed a new world of boxy-fitting possibility I hadn’t previously considered. Thanks, @KillaTrav.