Macron’s unbuttoned shirt begs the question: how low can you go?

Should Emmanuel Macron find himself in need of a new job when the results of France’s presidential election are announced, I have an idea. Put out a calendar. He’s certainly got 12 months’ worth of imagery.

There’s the infamous Action Macron look, a Volodymyr Zelensky-like hoodie teamed with stubble you could strike a match off, and Relaxed Macron in a leather jacket for a walk on the beach. And, of course, there’s the latest addition, which his official photographer Soazig de la Moissonnière just posted to her Instagram.

The shot — let’s call it Presidential Pin-Up — depicts Macron leaning back on a leather sofa with his shirt unbuttoned daringly low to reveal some surprisingly lustrous chest hair. Part 1970s playboy, part middle manager at the office party just one drink away from doing the limbo. Quite an Eiffel, indeed.

Perhaps Macron was just feeling hot, in the meteorological sense, given that he was in Marseille? He laughed off the image on French TV, saying that he approved the images in haste — but the way politicians dress (or undress) is always charged with meaning. Perhaps it’s a literal reference to his “Jupiterian” view of the presidency — after all, the Roman king of the Gods liked to go shirtless to show off his six-pack.

Three buttons is pushing it, a bit Tom Jones — and if you’re hirsute, it’s a bit in your face. Can you imagine Boris Johnson in a similar pose?’

Macron could be anxious to appear more of a macho everyman, to offset a perception of him as aloof and a “president of the rich”, or to seem cool and relaxed, all the better to appeal to younger voters. The image got a mixed response in France: “Soon this president will be posing in his underpants” lamented one commentator on the website of French newspaper Le Figaro.

Whatever Macron was thinking, it raised a style conundrum. In our age of relaxed dress codes, how far can men unbutton their shirts, whether at work or off duty? Successful exponents of the look include French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, Robert Redford (in the 1970s) and Sean Connery as James Bond — but there’s a risk of looking like a ballroom dancer.

Over in France, Nicolas Gabard, founder of hip tailoring label Husbands Paris, urges caution: “In the 1970s you had a lot of English, French and Italian actors who would unbutton their shirts quite far and it was really cool. Or maybe if you are a sexy guy, walking in a menswear show, or an actor. But when you are over 40 years old and the French president, that’s quite risky and tacky. I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

On this side of the Channel, Steven Quin at shirtmakers Turnbull & Asser says that the British “tend to show restraint in the workplace. The collar button undone would be acceptable, two is going a little bit too far for some people. Three is pushing it, a bit Tom Jones, and when you are hirsute it’s a bit more in your face. I don’t think it’s appropriate for work. Can you imagine Boris Johnson in a similar pose?” I’m going to try very hard not to.

When trying to appear dynamic, Johnson tends to opt for rolling up the sleeves of his shirt rather than unbuttoning it, perhaps because his chest isn’t going to land him a cameo in a Magic Mike sequel. Rishi Sunak’s special adviser Liam Booth-Smith may have worn an open shirt with a leather jacket, but the chancellor himself rarely undoes more than the collar button.

Once they’ve left office, politicians can loosen up a bit: a few months after he stepped down, Barack Obama caused a small stir when he was pictured onstage at a summit looking laid-back with a shirt wide open at the neck. Tony Blair has been known to undo two buttons, with a look that’s somewhere between international statesman and small-town nightclub owner. Perhaps it’s a sartorial throwback to his days in 1970s band Ugly Rumours.

Turnbull & Asser’s Quin says there’s an ongoing debate among his customers over how many buttons to undo and their placement on a shirt. He explains that if the first button (not counting the collar button) is 2¾ inches to three inches below the collar, then undoing it will give “a nice spread to the collar” but not reveal too much chest.

Gabard believes that the declining popularity of the tie has helped to ignite the conversation around unbuttoning. “Now men are obliged to open the first button, or it can look weird, but that’s usually enough, and it also depends if you are really hairy,” he says. “If you are on holiday, everything is allowed, but it’s not the same in the city. On the right person, undoing a second button can look good, and with a suit jacket, it can bring something different. Undoing three puts you in a dangerous field. You could be ridiculous, too ‘look at me’.”

GQ France’s dapper head of editorial content Pierre A M’Pele agrees that it’s all about context and is clear that when it comes to corporate environments, “nobody should be subjected to a man’s furry chest”. However, as he works for a fashion magazine, M’Pele says he allows himself “the eccentricity of up to three undone buttons in the office”. Although, during a meeting, “I tend to only go for one or two buttons undone — wearing a shirt [buttoned up] to my neck feels anachronistic . . . I’m still in my twenties. When in doubt, I always ask myself ‘what would Tom Ford do?’”

More broadly, he believes the “1970s unbuttoned look is making a comeback. I see it in the streets of Paris or London, but mostly on Instagram.” It seems that Macron is actually au courant with his déshabillé chic: Harry Styles frequently favours chest-baring tops, and Timothée Chalamet wore a tuxedo jacket with nothing underneath at last month’s Oscars.

Should you want to channel Macron’s louche look — perhaps at a party rather than on the campaign trail — M’Pele suggests “a silk unbuttoned shirt with slightly flared trousers and a handkerchief elegantly tied around the neck. Throw on a good pair of Cuban heels, and even a cool hat. It’s a very attractive look as it denotes total confidence — it’s all about sex appeal.” Liberté, égalité, sensualité.

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