Style
What to wear, when, and why it works. Less about trends than about the small decisions that make an outfit look considered rather than assembled - the break of a trouser, whether a jacket can leave the suit it came with, how much of a shirt cuff should show. Practical answers for people who want to dress well without thinking about it every morning.
Rules, and when to ignore them
Most menswear advice is stated with far more certainty than it deserves. Never button the bottom button. Socks must match the trousers. Brown in town is a crime. Some of this is genuinely useful convention; a good deal of it is Edwardian etiquette that survived because it sounds authoritative.
The test that actually works is simpler. Does it fit, is it appropriate to where you are going, and does it look like you thought about it for slightly less time than you did. Everything in this section is written against that standard rather than a list of prohibitions.
Common questions
How many suits does a man actually need?
Two, for most people. A charcoal or mid-grey that goes anywhere, and a navy that is slightly less formal. Add a third only when you know how you actually use the first two. Buying five at once is how people end up with four they never wear.
What colour should a first suit be?
Mid-grey. It suits nearly every complexion, works for interviews, weddings and funerals alike, and the jacket separates more convincingly than navy. Black is the common first choice and the wrong one - outside formal evening wear and funerals, it reads as a uniform.
Can a suit jacket be worn as a blazer?
Sometimes, and less often than people hope. Worsted suit cloth has a smoothness that reads as an orphaned suit jacket the moment it is separated from its trousers. Textured cloths - flannel, hopsack, tweed - carry it off. If you want a jacket that works alone, buy one made to work alone.
How should a jacket fit in the shoulders?
The seam should sit where your shoulder ends, with no divot below it and no overhang beyond it. This is the one measurement that cannot be altered afterwards, because the shoulder is where the garment is built. Everything else - waist, sleeve, length - is adjustable.