Esquire combs Las Vegas for ‘Best Dressed Real Man’

By Melissa Arseniuk

Friday, April 17, 2009 | 10:56 a.m.

ZZ Top once proclaimed, “everybody’s crazy for a sharp dressed man,” and this week Esquire magazine is coming to Las Vegas in search of the sharpest of the sharp.

The fashion-forward search party will hit the Bellagio’s stylish nightspot, the Bank, on Friday in search for the “Best Dressed Real Man in America”.

“This event is for real men. Anyone who is anyone can get dressed up and come and come and get treated like a VIP,” organizer Courtney Greenberg said.

The event is the only “live” stop the magazine is making on its search for the country’s most style-savvy man. While entrants from all other cities across the country can to enter online, only Las Vegas’ best-dressed men can enter the contest in person.

The event begins at 8 p.m. and will feature a “style lounge” complete with a “grooming station” sponsored by Nivea for Men, Gentleman Jack specialty cocktails, and something that never goes out of style: free beer.

For those who are fashionably-challenged – or hoping to add to their already-en vogue wardrobe – a Kenneth Cole trunk show will also take be held.

The magazine is expecting thousands of men to enter the annual contest in hopes of clinching the $30,000 prize.

Esquire staff will narrow the field to 25 finalists later this month. From there, readers will be able to vote for their favorites to select five finalists.

The final five will be flown to New York for a photo shoot and be featured in the magazine’s “Style” issue, which will hit newsstands in August.

The winner, who will be chosen by Esquire’s ever-style-savvy team of editors, will be announced in September during an episode of NBC’s “Today Show.”

The lucky guy’s impeccable style will be awarded with a prize package worth $30,000.including a $10,000 Kenneth Cole wardrobe; two tickets to check out the couture at NY Fashion Week; a $15,000 “work smarter play harder” package from Nivea for Men; and a IWC watch.

Men of all ages are encouraged to apply, as fashionable men both young and old are eligible. One of last year’s runners-up was an 85-year-old runner up modeled after his style icon, Kerry Grant.

Interested while simultaneously stylish men unable to make it to the Bank on Friday can enter online by completing a profile questionnaire and uploading three photos.

Ed Hardy boys need not apply; judges are said to be looking for “individual style,” not just trends from the mall.

“They’re looking for a man with a unique style,” Greenberg said. “Someone who can claim their own image.”

Last year’s “Best Dressed Real Man in America” was Kenyatte Nelson, a brand manager from Cincinnati, Ohio.