The Fast, The Furious, and The Sleeveless

The Fast & Furious franchise is about three things. The first two are obvious: family, and American muscle. The third emerges over the course of nine films and 20 years: sleevelessness. No other movies invite you to the gun show quite this often, nor this consistently. The Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes have a strict loyalty to one-size-too-small Under Armour shirts. The DC Extended Universe let Aquaman and Superman be shirtless. But only the Fast series seems to encourage its characters to buy shirts—whether they be chambray or waffle-knit, vintage T-shirts or denim jackets—for the express purpose of cutting the sleeves off.

This fashion mentality is shared by all the heroic men and women in these movies, and perhaps—to answer a question posed by Tyrese Gibson’s Roman Pearce in this weekend’s F9: The Fast Saga—sleevelessness might be what has kept the team together (and profitable) for so long.

To confirm Tyrese’s thesis, GQ has assembled a definitive collection of the best sleeveless looks in each of the main Fast & Furious films.

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (2001)

The first film introduced us to Dom’s uniform: his mechanic’s shirt with his name embroidered on it, sleeves ripped off. This, we learned, was his comfort blanket, always worn when he felt at ease with those around him. There are not a lot of sleeves to be found here. Vince (Matt Schulze) sports three different mesh tank tops over the course of the movie, while neither Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty nor Jordana Brewster’s Mia seem to own a full-length shirt. But the film’s most important outfit is worn by Dom at the first street race: black tank top, the silver cross that is his second-most-important family heirloom, baggy jeans, and chunky boots. This is the definitive Dom Toretto outfit when he’s going to work, and variations of it will pop up over and over again in the films to come.

And of course the tragically fated Jesse (Chad Lindberg), the mad scientist who emulates Dom’s every move, is dressed like him at the race with his own gray tank top. The only real difference in their looks is Jesse’s nail polish, but Dom’s distinctive look inspiring a bevy of imitators would continue throughout the franchise.

2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (2003)

John Singleton brought unapologetic splashiness with this second installment, which is a lot better than you may remember. That comes through in the fashion, too. As the Dom stand-in in this movie, Tyrese’s Roman ends up in a lot of Toretto-like outfits: a chambray cut-off shirt, wide leg jeans, and brown boots; a white tank top and bandana while hanging out on a boat; a blue plaid shirt with its sleeves cut off that is emulated in another Roman outfit in Fast Five. Roman is hungry—excuse me, hongry—for attention and respect, an attitude comes through in the film’s best outfit: an all-red coordinated number that includes a red sleeveless button-down, a red bandana, and a red crochet beanie. A knit beanie! In Miami! Roman was not going to be ignored, and he backed up all that gab with this in-your-face ensemble.

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT (2006)

Tokyo Drift was the series’ attempt to reset. Naturally, Brian Tee’s villain Takashi, or the Drift King (D.K.), and his henchman Morimoto (Leonardo Nam) use sleevelessness for evil. D.K. races in black and white tank tops and attacks Lucas Black’s Sean in a gray one, while Morimoto bullies Shad “Bow Wow” Moss’s Twinkie in a Japanese streetwear tank top and star-decorated suspenders.

Meanwhile, the people with real power in the film, in particular cowboy hero Han (Sung Kang) and D.K.’s Yakuza Uncle Kamata (Shin'ichi Chiba), are comfortable enough with themselves to pack on the layers. Han wears half-zips and sweatshirts, velvet blazers and track jackets, and is always effortlessly cool. A rare win for sleeves.

FAST & FURIOUS (2009)

The gang is back together, and sleeves are restored to their proper symbolic position. Five years after Brian O’Conner’s undercover assignment blew up the Toretto family, Dom and Letty are pulling Robin Hood jobs around Latin America, and the film’s opening in the Dominican Republic communicates Dom’s ease in this world. The man is sure enough of himself to pull off the heist of an 18-wheel gas tanker while wearing a crisply white denim vest turned into a shirt. Dom doesn’t care about the threat of getting petroleum on his outfit. Stains are afraid of Dom, not the other way around!

Fast & Furious might be Dom’s most sleeveless film, if only because he’s doing the most varied work yet: familial reintegration, investigation and vengeance, and mending his relationship with Brian. After sneaking back into the United States to get to the bottom of Letty’s murder, he wears a cutoff shirt while talking to Mia about the accident, while working on his beloved 1970 Dodge Charger, and while bargaining with drug dealer Braga (John Ortiz).

FAST FIVE (2011)

Fast Five is when the Fast & Furious franchise realized that “people driving cars fast” could be adapted to other genres, and the result is the series’ best, a heist movie that pulls the entire team together.

Not coincidentally, it also features Dom’s two best looks ever. Both of them are familiar outfits, but at this point so tied to Dom’s identity that they’re impossible to imagine on anyone else in the crew. First is Dom’s “Let’s burn some money!” outfit, which is also his most consistent “at work” uniform: black tank top, black pants, black boots. He wears a version of this ensemble earlier while pulling off the train heist (plus black driving gloves), and the reinforced message is this: Dom’s not hiding, and if he wants to set $10 million ablaze to prove a point, he will.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Dom lighter, looser, and in his element at a Brazilian street race, one that most of the family purposefully attends to draw out intermittent adversary Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). This lighter-colored outfit—white tank top, white jeans, and sand-colored Timbs—is the kind of thing Dom wears on his off day, and it signals a shit-eating-grin kind of ease. “This is Brazil!” he yells, claiming solidarity with drivers all around the world (and doing a little bit of retconning regarding the Torettos’ ethnic identity). This is the beginning of a (sleeveless) new era.

FAST & FURIOUS 6 (2013)

Fast & Furious 6 pulls off the franchise’s first character resuscitation with the return of Rodriguez’s Letty, who died (“died”) two films back. As Letty struggles to regain her memory, Fast & Furious 6 communicates her centrality to this narrative by dressing her like Dom: a color palette of mostly black, white, and gray double-layered tank tops, along with an array of leather jackets. When Fast & Furious 6 ends with the team pardoned by the U.S. government and living again at the Toretto family home—Letty’s outfit cements her Toretto status: Bared arms and a Corona are practically the family crest.

FURIOUS 7 (2015)

James Wan replaced Justin Lin in the director’s seat for Furious 7, while Paul Walker’s death near the end of the film’s production cast a tragic shadow. Given all that, fashion takes a bit of a backseat in Furious 7, aside from two moments: one scene features Johnson’s tank top-clad Hobbs going full The Rock as he flexes out of his arm cast, while a flashback to Dom and Letty’s wedding in the Dominican Republic reveals that Dom got married in a tank top. Nothing could be more right for Dom than giving his “This is Brazil!” outfit a soft spin by also wearing it to his wedding.

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017)

Did Charlize Theron’s addition to the Fast & Furious franchise inspire costume designers Sanja Milkovic Hays and Marlene Stewart to get a little Mad Max: Fury Road with their designs? Letty’s Havana outfit, with its bandana and black leather over-the-knee boots, and Dom’s gone-rogue ensemble, both point to yes. To be sure, Dark Dom looks like a Mad Max and Heat mashup, but let’s also be real about another thing: He’s probably wearing a black tank top under there.

But this isn’t a tank top-free zone: the happy family scene, during which a newly vulnerable, comfortable Dom introduces little Brian, is a high-water mark.

F9: THE FAST SAGA (2021)

The theatrical release of F9 promises a return to normalcy—which is exactly what F9 offers in its costume design for Dom. Narratively, F9 invents a whole-new backstory for the Toretto family, but to ground us in familiarity, F9 offers up two outfits we’ll recognize. Who do we trust more than Dominic Toretto in his mechanic’s shirt, ready to defend his family? OK, maybe Dominic Toretto in a black tank top.