Men's Style: The Thinking Man's Guide to Dress [Hardcover]

Russell Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312361653 | ISBN-13: 978-0312361655 | Publication Date: April 3, 2007 | Edition: First Edition

Guys don't wear wolf pelts anymore, but not much else has changed in the world of men's clothes: the right suit, or tie, or shirt, or shoes still projects mystery, erotic potential, and power. And to negotiate these hurdles with style and confidence, Men's Style is indispensable---a valuable source of practical advice for how to dress in a world of conflicting fashion imperatives, and a witty guide to the history, trends, codes, and conventions of men's attire.
 
In chapters and amusing sidebars on shoes, suits, shirts and ties, formal and casual wear, underwear and swimsuits, cufflinks and watches, coats, hats, and scarves, Russell Smith steers a confident course between the twin hazards of blandness and vulgarity to articulate a philosophy of dress that can take you anywhere.
 
Here you'll find the rules for looking the part at the office, a formal function, or the hippest party---and learn when you can toss those rules aside. And you'll find level answers to all of your questions. What color suit should a man buy first? Should socks match the belt, pants, or shoes? What tuxedos are always in, and which aren't ever? And what's required of ambiguous social situations like "dress casual" and "black-tie optional"? The answers are here, in a book that's full of trivia, history, and guidance---finally, the perfect guide for brothers, fathers, sons, and selves.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Most public library collections should include a current book on men's clothing style, and this one is an excellent candidate. Smith, an experienced men's fashion writer, submits his comprehensive guide as not simply a gathering of illustrations with minimal accompanying text but much more. He opens with a discussion of male sartorial history and then shares his thoughts on men's traditional fear of being fashionable; his advocacy of style is underscored by his very serious sentiment that "privilege of the natural over the artificial is philosophically unjustified . . . for there is nothing inherently morally impure about the artificial." His intended audience is the man at the beginning stages of assembling a wardrobe. The analysis Smith so spiritedly and professionally dispenses, concerning the kinds of shoes, shirts, ties, jackets, and other necessary items that are available, as well as his pointers on how to wear these wardrobe ingredients well, leads his readers to an understanding that "fashion is what is out there for you to choose from; style is what you choose." Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Praise for Men's Style:
 
A Globe and Mail Best Book

 

"Witty and informed manual of male dress sense...Mr. Smith provides detailed tips, with illustrations, on myriad points of male attire, from tweed selection to shirt-tucking to watches and Y-fronts, along with helpful overviews of big-picture manly clothing dilemmas."--The New York Times

 "His restless intellectualism, his muscular prose, and his signature wit make him the auteur de mode for the club crowd and fashion literati alike. Men's Style abounds with captivating and original insights. Both a practical guide for the elegant man and a cultural survey of fashion and trends. It is even more entertaining as a collection of Smith's seductive prose and his often hilarious observations about the urban landscape."--The Globe and Mail

 

"Flippantly brilliant."--Flare

 

"A lively, witty yet sensible primer."--Vancouver Sun

 

"Personal, knowledgeable, and full of tasteful advice."--Weekly Scoop

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (April 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312361653
• ISBN-13: 978-0312361655
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #509,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for men's style, January 2, 2008

By 

Jeremy Schultz "design and illustration for p... (West Des Moines, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Men's Style: The Thinking Man's Guide to Dress (Hardcover)

I read the local library's copy and just purchased a copy to keep. I read through several men's style books a couple months ago and I found this one to be the best. It covers all parts of the man's wardrobe (shoes, suits, shirts, ties, coats, etc.) and it's very well-versed on the history of men's style and where conventions of dress originated. It's not just a history lesson though, it has a lot to say about how to dress, how to look for quality, and what a man needs to build a versatile and tasteful wardrobe.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One's personal taste does not equal universal wisdom, October 16, 2009

By 

Reader "monk24" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Men's Style: The Thinking Man's Guide to Dress (Hardcover)

The interesting bits (and the reasons for the second star) is the technical information on the construction of shirts, shoes and suits. The irritating part is the patronising tone. The list of this Mr Smith disapproves of, disdains or despises is long and includes button down collars, fraternities, boat shoes, "newspaper men" and hats (yes, all hats) and he gets vitriolic on these. The list of things he likes is shorter: pocket squares and spread collars, British style in general and that of Prince Charles in particular. This is fine as an opinion, as a personal taste, but don't present it as universal wisdom.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can I at least take the exam?, March 28, 2009

By 

Andrew S. Rogers (Stamford, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Men's Style: The Thinking Man's Guide to Dress (Hardcover)

Before reading this book, I would have flattered myself that I belonged in what Russell Smith calls the "Advanced Class" -- men who know enough about the basics of men's style to be able to bend the rules a little in order to display more personality, yet not transgress the bounds of elegance, masculinity, and taste. Having read Mr. Smith's entertaining, intelligent, and opinionated book, though, now I'm not so sure. After all, one of the author's standing jokes is about men who wear double-breasted green suits. I have one in my closet, not far from shirts with button-down collars and/or monograms on the sleeve, all of which he dislikes. He believes fedoras (which I've recently taken to) are usually a bad idea, and cowboy boots (I own two pairs -- I'm from Texas), always one.

So while the author might not grade my style too highly, I am happy to give his a high grade indeed. "Men's Style" is a very well-written and argued book. It makes the case for taking style and how you present yourself seriously (which in fact is one of the best and most useful things about this book, since so many men do not seem to agree), while maintaining the sense of humor and eye for the personal that keeps the well-dressed man from coming off as soulless and corporate. It's a very fine line to walk, but "Men's Style" maintains this balance better than any such primer I've come across in some time.

Like those other guides, "Men's Style" goes into detail on fabrics for suits and shirts, how to polish your shoes, what tie knots to wear when, and all the other things books like this need to cover. But as I've said, this one stands apart not only for the author's distinctive prose, but also because he fits all these things into a confident and articulate intellectual case for not being afraid to take aesthetics seriously. Because this book is more opinionated than most of those other guides (I particularly liked his reminder that "button-down shirt" refers to a certain type of collar, not to shirts that button down the front, which are known as ... "shirts"), you'll probably find more to disagree with here than you would in, say, something by Alan Flusser. But as either an introductory guide or a refresher course for true members of the Advanced Class, "Men's Style" deserves to take its place in the fraternity of the best writing on men's clothing.