5 Elon Musk Outfits That Totally Missed The Mark

Silicon Valley in general seems to be more about embracing comfort over style; think Patagonia vests and hoodies, and tech CEOs haven't been known for their cutting-edge fashion. Steve Jobs of Apple always wore the same black turtleneck and jeans, and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta (Facebook's parent company) loves a grey t-shirt and jeans.

Then there's Elon Musk. Musk may be the richest man in the world, but it turns out that money can't always buy taste. He has talked about appreciating good style. At the 2022 Met Gala, Musk said, "I love fashion. ... Sometimes it's viewed as frivolous and maybe not that important, but ... beauty is very important and the style and things that move the heart," via NBC New York. He may talk a big talk when it comes to fashion, but he hasn't always followed through on that sentiment with his sartorial choices. The List has looked through photos from before Musk's Tesla fame when he looked a lot different to his appearances on the Donald Trump campaign trail in 2024, and we've found what we think are some of the CEO's worst and weirdest looks.

Elon Musk has shifted a number of his companies operations to Texas, and he has been seen seemingly trying to dress the part of a Texan by wearing a cowboy hat on occasion. One notable time was in September 2023 when he visited the Texas border in his continued engagement in U.S. politics. Footage of the visit went viral for Musk appearing to be wearing his cowboy hat backwards. He paired it with a black t-shirt and a pair of shiny aviator sunglasses. In 2018, he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), "Love the space cowboy [aesthetic]," so maybe that's what he was going for?

While some have said that he's wearing it correctly because the hat has the buckle on the left, there were far more people who thought he had it on wrong. The main issue: "The slope on the top of the hat, the way he wore it, goes down from front to back. That is backwards," one person explained on X. There was plenty of banter on social media, with netizens roasting Musk for his fashion choice.

Some found issues with the type of hat Musk was wearing. "Also, he's wearing a felt hat in straw hat season. It was 96 degrees on the border today. Texans notice these things," one X user said. Whether he was wearing it the right way or not, it does seem a bit like cosplay. Another X critic said, "You can put the boy in Texas, but you can't put Texas in the boy."

The theme for the 2022 Met Gala was "Gilded Glamour" inspired by New York's Gilded Age, per Today. Of the people whose 2022 Met Gala looks that missed the mark, Elon Musk did so by looking more like a waiter or a butler in his tuxedo and white bow tie. He was accompanied by his mother Maye Musk who was wearing a velvet dress and long strands of pearls. At an event that's all about over the top fashion, Elon looked fine. But nothing more than that. It could basically be any fancy event — there's no way of guessing that it was for the Met Gala, arguably the most prestigious fashion event in the world.

The Vogue X account posted about Elon's arrival with his mother to the red carpet. "He described his look as 'just following the dress code,'" they said. However, the outlet didn't include a photo of Elon and Maye. They also didn't tag him or his mother. Innocent slip up during a busy time? Or a hint that they weren't a fan of his outfit? People noticed. One person wrote, "I like how in a long thread of pics of the people attending, they just leave out [Elon's] pic lol."

Elon Musk and four of his children met the pope. That sounds like it could be the start of a joke, but it very much happened in 2022. What does make us laugh is the fit of Musk's suit. Musk posted a picture of himself and the pope, and his black suit pants are inexplicably puddled around his ankles. It's as though he bought the suit off the rack so it fit him at the waist, but didn't bother to get it tailored to fit his height. For the world's richest man, it seems like an odd oversight, and frankly, it looks bad.

Honored to meet @Pontifex yesterday pic.twitter.com/sLZY8mAQtd

— Kekius Maximus (@elonmusk) July 2, 2022

"You can send a rocket to Mars, but you can't send your pants to the tailor's shop," one person on X joked. "Seriously, what's going on with Elon's trousers???" another asked. There doesn't seem to be a good answer for that one.

One critic quipped, "And I thought that djt was the only person who could make a $5000 suit look like something from Men's Wearhouse." They weren't the only one who thought Musk was taking a page from Donald Trump's style playbook. Trump's suits often seem to not quite fit him properly. Whether the legs are too wide or the jackets are too long, he's certainly got a signature look.

In 2022, Elon Musk attended Heidi Klum's famous Halloween party, and he chose to wear a black and red outfit called "Devil's Champion — Leather Armor Set," per E! News. The price tag was $7,500 if Musk decided to buy it and $1,000 for a rental from the Abracadabra NYC store E! News believed the costume was from. We hope that Musk rented it because he should not be wearing that again, even for Halloween. It's got little rivets that we can only presume are to represent nipples, which by itself is a no. He wore it over what looks like a black t-shirt and black jeans held up by what seems to be a Tesla brand belt buckle. It seems like less a costume and more how Musk sees himself and wants to be seen: powerful and a bit threatening. As for the belt buckle, it is giving cowboy vibes but with none of the cowboy cred to actually back it up.

People thought that it was particularly tacky to be wearing such a pricey outfit shortly after he finalized his purchase of Twitter. "Elon Musk shows up in $7,500 suit of armor to Heidi Klum's Halloween bash as he prepares to lay off nearly 2,000 Twitter employees," one person posted on X, before lamenting further about the CEO's behavior.

Others just didn't like the vibe. "Little old for superhero cosplay aren't we?" one X user questioned. Musk also seemed to confuse some people. "What is your costume supposed to be? Otherwise I'd think you're being a lobster," one critic wrote.

Elon Musk spent millions on Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, and he made a number of appearances at Trump rallies, including enthusiastically (and oddly) jumping on stage, which made for one of Trump's weirdest campaign moments in Pennsylvania. Then in a solo appearance in support of Trump in Folsom, Pennsylvania in October 2024, Musk was seen wearing a gold MAGA hat. He put it on while he was on stage, and he did take a second to try and adjust it, but it still just doesn't fit well on his head. And yet he kept it on. "Elon is so cringe & uncomfortable ..." one person wrote about the look. Another person on X had a theory as to why the hat just looked wrong: "It's because he wears it like he wears a cowboy hat. Ball caps are meant to hug the head not sit on top of it." 

Then there were those who think he has to wear a big hat to protect his hair. "Can't be too tight on those plugs, they're fragile," one person wrote on X. Musk hasn't been able to avoid plastic surgery speculation with at least one hair transplant procedure being one of the top contenders for the work he's had done.