Aristotle Onassis’s Style, From Double-Breasted Suits and Dark Glasses to Riviera Casual

Aristotle Onassis (1906 to 1975) was a Greek shipowner whose clothes were photographed for decades on the French Riviera, in Monte Carlo and aboard his yacht.

The look those photographs record is simple: double-breasted suits, white or pale shirts, dark ties, a folded white pocket square and thick-framed glasses with tinted lenses.

This guide describes what he was photographed wearing and how to build a similar wardrobe today, with classic dress shoes and Riviera-style casual clothes.

His story is sometimes filed under Old Money style, but his fortune was self-made, which is a useful reminder that the label describes clothes rather than anyone’s background.

Our guide to Old Money and New Money style explains how the two labels are used.

He is often compared with his brother-in-law and business rival Stavros Niarchos, and with men associated with British aristocratic dress.

In Buenos Aires he worked as a night-shift switchboard operator and built a tobacco-importing business during the day.

Early portraits show him in conventional tailoring of the time: a dark suit or jacket, a white shirt and a tie.

In 1932 he bought his first six freight ships, and shipping became the basis of his fortune.

From 1957 to 1974 he also owned Olympic Airways, the Greek national airline.

Like many businessmen of his era, he wore a suit and tie for most public appearances, and his tailoring followed the broad double-breasted cut that was common at the time.

For the history of that cut, see our guides to classic men’s style and Savile Row tailoring.

Shirts such as the Oxford button-down belong to the American preppy tradition, while Onassis’s photographed shirts are mostly plain white or pale dress shirts closer to French classic dressing.

In one 1953 photograph at Cannes he wears a pale double-breasted suit, a dark tie, dark glasses and two-tone shoes.

At the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc the same year he wears a dark double-breasted suit with a white pocket square and an open-collared shirt.

For evenings, Quinn photographed him in a dinner suit with a black bow tie at a Monte Carlo ballet gala in 1960.

The photographs on this page repeat the same pattern: navy, grey or chalk-stripe double-breasted suits, a white shirt, a dark tie and a folded white pocket square.

A double-breasted jacket fastened across the body gives a clean, continuous front, which is one reason it suits a man who wants a tidy, consistent look.

Whether it works for you depends on fit through the shoulders and chest more than on any rule about height or build.

Published accounts differ on which tailors made his suits, so this guide does not name one; the double-breasted cut itself is a staple of Italian classic tailoring as well as English.

Shirts from makers such as Turnbull & Asser and shoes from makers such as John Lobb are often suggested for this kind of wardrobe, but no maker is needed to recreate it.

Thick-framed glasses with smoked lenses are the detail most people remember, and The Rake described them in 2017 as “thick framed with a smoked-out lens”.

Several photographs here show two-tone lace-up shoes with pale suits, a detail that also appears in Quinn’s 1953 Cannes photograph.

A white pocket square folded straight is present in almost every suit photograph, and it is the easiest Onassis detail to copy.

Quinn photographed cocktail parties on board in 1954, with guests in white and black dinner jackets.

On deck in daytime, the photographs on this page show Onassis in a dark knitted polo shirt with white trousers.

In 1953 Onassis bought a controlling interest in the Société des Bains de Mer, which runs the casino and the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo, and he kept offices in the principality.

Quinn photographed him in front of the Hôtel de Paris in 1953 and at galas in Monte Carlo in 1959 and 1960 in dinner suits and black bow ties.

Away from business he was photographed in white shirts and white or cream trousers, sometimes still with a dark tie, and in short-sleeved knitted polo shirts.

For a relaxed version, our guide to polo shirt styling shows how a knitted polo can sit with tailored trousers.

Formal day wear: wear a navy or grey double-breasted suit in worsted wool, a white shirt with a moderate spread collar, a dark knitted or plain silk tie, a white pocket square in a straight fold and black oxford shoes.

Find a tailor who can give the jacket a clean chest and a waist that is shaped without being tight; this matters more than lapel width or any brand.

Evening: wear a black or midnight blue dinner suit, a white dress shirt, a black bow tie and black oxford shoes, as Onassis did at Monte Carlo galas.

Riviera casual: wear white or cream linen or cotton trousers, a knitted polo shirt in navy or white, brown horsebit loafers or other loafers, and thick-framed sunglasses.

The clearest lesson from the photographs is consistency: he wore a small range of suits, shirts and ties, so his look was recognisable wherever he went.

A navy or grey double-breasted suit, white shirts, dark ties, white pocket squares and one distinctive pair of glasses is a compact wardrobe that is easy to copy.

The same colours carry into casual wear, with navy and white polo shirts and pale trousers.

A simple watch and well-kept shoes complete the look, and our modern classic style guide shows how to keep it current.

Like other icons associated with sprezzatura, he looked at ease in his clothes, which comes from fit and familiarity rather than from price.