Long hair, strong eyebrows, silver hoop earrings, a goatee and the occasional bandanna makes Dylan Bachelet’s style feel both unique and uncannily familiar.
Though Mr. Bachelet, a talented 20-year-old contestant on the current season of “The Great British Baking Show,” did not initially get much screen time in the series known for its convivial contestants and some cringe-inducing baking challenges, it did not take long for fans to notice him. Online forums and comment sections lit up, comparing Mr. Bachelet to all sorts of roguish characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Khal Drogo (a “Game of Thrones” chieftain played by Jason Momoa), Disney princes and romance novel cover models, to name a few.
“He’s so striking. He’s got eyes that speak to your soul and a distinctive look,” said Karmen Ledgister, a personal trainer from London, who was among the people trying to find the perfect comparison. “He reminds me of Goku from ‘Dragon Ball Z’ with his style and his stance. Of course, there’s that dark hair!”
Adding to the mythology, Mr. Bachelet joked with Noel Fielding, one of the show’s hosts, about what it means that both of them are left-handed. “You know the word sinister means left-handed?” he said to Mr. Fielding. “They used to kill us.”
While the show — known as “The Great British Bake Off” outside of the United States — is not the type of reality TV program to play on looks, even Mr. Fielding appears to be smitten, calling Mr. Bachelet “too handsome to be a chef” in Episode 3.
But Mr. Bachelet does not have the braggadocio of his fictional doppelgängers, instead seeming wide-eyed and humble thus far, with his face lighting up in surprise when he receives compliments about his baking. He also has been shown to be a bit clumsy, hitting the ground while skateboarding and falling off a stool in the baking tent.
The costume designer Cristina Spiridakis, who worked on the pilot of “The Bear” (and, yes, was responsible for putting the show’s lead actor, Jeremy Allen White, in an iconic tight white T-shirt), balks at attaching Mr. Bachelet to the rogue-chef stereotype or putting him in any particular box, as he is pulling in influences from several places.
“He has a different point of view, with his accessories and the colors he chooses to wear,” Ms. Spiridakis said in a video interview from New Mexico, where she’s working on the upcoming Netflix sci-fi show “The Boroughs.” “His clothing is a form of self-expression in the same way his baking is. He takes chances.”
To wit, while the bandanna that Mr. Bachelet wears spurred comparisons to the Dread Pirate Roberts from “The Princess Bride,” Ms. Spiridakis points out a far more practical reason for the accessory.
“There’s utility behind everything,” she said. “They’ve got, what, 16 ovens going at once? So you’re leaning over to cook, your hair is going to keep flopping in your face. You’re sweating. The bandanna is to not only keep your hair out of your face, but it’s also to manage the sweat that’s coming out of your hair and your head. And it just so happens to look cool on him. Tons of people wear bandannas and don’t look good in them.”
Mr. Bachelet pulls in influences from his travels and his heritage (his mother is Indian and his father is Japanese-Belgian, according to his show bio). A patterned sweater vest-long sleeve shirt combo Mr. Bachelet wore during “Biscuit Week” has lines that reference Japanese clothing and armor. In the same episode’s “showstopper” challenge, Mr. Bachelet’s entry, titled “Rabbit in the Moon,” was based on a Japanese fable his father would tell him as a child.
Ms. Spiridakis’s belief that Mr. Bachelet has style beyond pirate-inspired garb, proves true in Episode 4, as his newsboy cap (also known as a baker boy hat) and oversize brushed-cotton button-up shirt is more dandy than dastardly.
Of course, much of this internet fandom seems innocent enough, and is intended to be in good fun, most notably comparing Mr. Bachelet to a cat in human form. But the actual person involved can sometimes get lost in such situations.
“Presently, as a society, we love to build something up and then tear it down,” Ms. Spiridakis said. “But in this case, I do think or hope, like most things ‘Bake Off’ related, people are in it for the joy and fun.”
That’s how Sonya Bowman, an avid fan of the show, sees it. “At the beginning of the season I always try to predict who will win, and he was in my top three,” she said over Instagram DM. “Not just because I appreciate his handsome good looks, but he is a really talented bread maker. He also seems a bit shy and humble, which makes him all the more endearing.”
When considering the intense analysis of Mr. Bachelet’s look, Ms. Spiridakis concluded, “Maybe he’s just a Gen Z kid with good style.”
The post The Captain Jack Sparrow of Baking appeared first on New York Times.
