The 12 Days of Fieri: A Salute to Guy’s Irrepressible Style

Guy Fieri’s outsized personality and big heart have made him an indispensable part of the food TV landscape. He’s recognized by fans across the country for celebrating the everyday American restaurant. But even if you don’t count yourself among the legion of diehard Triple D-heads, surely everyone can appreciate one thing about Guy Fieri: That guy has some serious style. And on this, the eighth day of The 12 Days of Guy Fieri, it’s time to pay tribute to the dude’s sartorial flair.

Turning Flavortown Into Fashiontown

Fieri’s fierce look is perhaps not the type of style that lands you on a best-dressed list. In fact, after casually perusing several best-dressed lists for chefs (a very weird metric for rating a food personality, by the way), Eater can confirm that there’s no mention of the Guy’s Grocery Games host anywhere. His allegiance to mirrored sunglasses and flame shirts has neither the polish of Marcus Samuelsson’s bright scarf and tailored blazer combo, nor the quirky librarian quality of Alton Brown’s bowtie and thick-rimmed glasses duo. He may never moonlight as a model like Danny Bowien. But damn if Fieri doesn’t make a statement.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Vegas Uncork’d by Bon Appetit

Fieri has maintained those frosted tips for well over a decade. (The exact moment of conception of Fieri’s flair hair is difficult to pinpoint, but we can at least can confirm that in the year 2000, he was still rocking a mullet.) His look — the button-up bowling shirts, two-toned goatee, chain necklaces, and full sleeve of tattoos — is the timeless external expression of his entire out-of-bounds presonality. It’s the type of look that inspires excellent SNL impressions, cake nightmares, psychedelic home decor, Halloween costume perfection, and actual runway looks. (Don’t worry. He’s cool with these interpretations.)

The Platinum Prince is, simply put, not a man of fashion, but a man of style in the whimsical spirit of someone like Bjork. You don’t mess with a work of art. Strip away those accents and the founder of Flavortown becomes a mere mortal — a regular dude, a total dad. In the same vein as Hawaiian shirt-wearing beach lifestyle tycoon Jimmy Buffett, Fieri has smartly embraced the outlandishness of his particular persona and spun his distinctive look into a whole brand identity. The Triple D host has done jewelry collaborations so fans can imitate his fondness for bulky accessories, and on social media, he regularly sports a Knuckle Sandwich T-shirt, which is sold in his Guy Fieri online store.

The Donkey Sauce dealer is, of course, completely aware that his pale spikes, trucker hats, and wispy soul patches aren’t for everyone. His wife, Lori, has even asked him to change it on occasion. Sometimes the feedback makes him feel self conscious. Still, as all true style icons do, he’s staying true to his passion. The Food Network chef told Success in 2016:

If I probably didn’t have tattoos, or if I probably didn’t bleach my hair, or if I probably didn’t wear blue jeans and a T-shirt to fancy things, if I didn’t do things that make me look like someone who’s whacked out of their mind, it’d probably be different. But then again, that’s how I wanna dress. And I like my tattoos. And I like my haircut the way it is.

As anyone who's ever bleached their hair regularly knows, it’s not a fun process and it takes serious commitment. Even if the leather jackets, Oakland Raiders gear, colorful bandanas, and pinky rings are lost on you, you’ve still got to respect that kind of dedication to style.