It's not so easy to dissect Patrick Swayze's style. We recall him mostly as he looked in movies, the paparazzi not quite so ubiquitous during the height of his career in the late 1980s as they are now.

We remember him in tight T-shirts, the slightly high-waisted jeans, leather jackets -- really not even examples of good 1980s style.

But, damn, he somehow made it look cool.

The waves of hair and the toned body probably had something to do with that. So did the jawline and the smiling eyes -- yeah, he probably knew a thing or two more about life than you did. But he was pleasant and kind; your mother would like him, too.

What teenage girl in 1987 didn't dream about meeting her Johnny Castle, even if he was wearing sort of high-heeled boots?

There was a reason he was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1991. We'll miss him.

Click through the below gallery to see some of his best movie looks.