Can You Pull Off ‘The Lone Ranger’ Look?

Can You Pull Off
‘The Lone Ranger’ Look?

When the original Lone Ranger made his television debut in 1949, his white hat and red neckerchief made him a style icon for a generation of kids. With the series reboot starring Armie Hammer as the eponymous hero and Johnny Depp as Tonto, the masked man’s style has also gotten a makeover. While he still has the broad-brimmed hat, low-slung belt and boots made for walking the desert, he shed the red, white and blue color scheme in favor of suit dressing in neutrals – and of course his trademark mask. 

While it’s probably not a good idea to copy his eye wear, maybe replace the mask with Randolph USA aviator sunglasses from Glasses UK, everything else the Lone Ranger wears in the 2013 film translates surprisingly well to modern style. Tonto’s topper, on the other hand, is probably best saved for Halloween. To get the look in street-ready styles, take a few tips from the film’s lead costume designer, Penny Rose. 

Can You Pull Off
‘The Lone Ranger’ Look?

Start at the Top

One of the Lone Ranger’s most distinctive pieces of gear is his hat, but finding the right one presented Rose with a challenge. The actor playing the lawman is 6 feet 6 inches tall, so Rose needed to find a hat that would balance his height without making his head look disproportionately small, she said in an interview with Gregory E. Miller of the New York Post. A tall man can carry a hat with a broader brim, but too much breadth can make the wearer’s face look narrow. Rose eventually chose a hat from Stetson, the original cowboy hat manufacturer, and had it custom-blocked to fit Hammer’s face and physique. 

When choosing your hat, look for a crown shape that works with your jawline. A tapered crown suits you best if you have a narrow face. If you’re fuller in the lower face and jaw, look for a crown that has some height and fullness to balance it. Armie Hammer’s regular features and symmetrical face carry the Lone Ranger’s full-crowned hat well. 

The Lone Ranger is the definition of a white-hat character, but don’t feel the need to copy his style too precisely. You can still be a good guy even if you opt for gray, brown or black. Like any other white accessory, a pale hat is tough to keep clean if you don’t have a film crew supplying replacements every time you get dusty. Think in terms of warm and cool colors. Charcoal, navy and black hats coordinate well with other cool tones. Pick bone, tan or brown to stay with warm colors. 

A Different Take on the Three-Piece Suit

Can You Pull Off
‘The Lone Ranger’ Look?

If three-piece suits make you think of bankers or the hapless Lane Pryce from the sixth season of “Mad Men,” you might be surprised to see the Lone Ranger wearing a dark vest and jacket in the movie’s posters. Instead of Clayton Moore’s dusty blue chambray shirt with its costume laces and western-style shoulder yoke, Rose put Hammer in black with a simple white shirt open at the front. In a nod to period design, his vest buttons higher on the chest than the suit vests you’re used to seeing, so if you’re going for western style, look for a higher line on your vest. 

For the screen, Rose picked simple broadcloth that resembled what men wore in the Old West. To modern eyes, the Lone Ranger’s jacket might look a little rumpled, but the natural fibers and simple tailoring of the era didn’t lend themselves to crisp looks. Since you probably won’t be riding horses or wrangling with bad guys, stick to practical fabrics for your jackets. And if you are following Rose’s vision for the film, skip the shiny sharkskin suits that have had a brief style flash lately. 

Putting the star of the movie in a solid, somber color throughout the film wouldn’t work visually, so Rose mixed black with brown accents for contrast. Brown and black was once considered a fashion faux pas, but the rules are more relaxed today. Making this sometimes tricky color combination work is a matter of proportion; one color should predominate with the other used as an accent. In the Lone Ranger’s case, his black vest, coat and boots create contrast with his dark brown pants. A plain white shirt pulls the look together for the screen, and it can do the same for your wardrobe as well. 

Can You Pull Off
‘The Lone Ranger’ Look?

Big Boots to Fill

The original cowboy boots weren’t made for comfort; the earliest pairs didn’t draw a distinction between left and right feet. Their pointed toes slipped into stirrups easily, and their high arches helped riders stay mounted. By the time the movie takes place, most cowboy boots, including the masked man’s, would have had a left and a right. Hammer’s Lone Ranger wears a low-heeled pair with moderately pointed tips throughout most of the movie. If you’re aiming for this look, pick a pair that doesn’t have fancy stitching or unusual leathers. 

From his boots to his hat, everything Hammer wears in the latest Lone Ranger redo has a lived-in look that’s the opposite of the early 1980’s “Urban Cowboy” western styles. While you don’t have to distress your new boots by wearing them across a desert, you shouldn’t polish them either. A few scuffs and scrapes are fine. After all, you can’t be a hero if you’re too busy worrying about keeping your white hat clean.

By David Soto

The author likes to write about dressing well for work and looking good on the weekends.

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