In a thread a week or two ago, I mentioned a book called Things a Man Should Know... ..About Style. This book is one that I think every man who cares at all about his appearance should own. It's witty, entertaining, a quick read, and gives you a lot of great advice on how to appear well-dressed without looking fussy or like a girly man. It deals with classic style, not trends. If you're not a man, think about buying it for your significant other.
It is published by Esquire, which now has a series of these books, dealing with business etiquette, relationships, sex, money...
So here's the deal: every once in awhile, I'm going to bump this thread, with excerpts from the book. Read it if you want, ignore it if you want. Make fun of it if you want. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, and maybe some of you ****ing hillbillies will glean an item or two that will actually help you in your daily life.
As Esquire's Editor in Chief says in the introduction,
So here we go, my gift to you, my fellow posters on the SO:...while there are surely many endeavors about which you are a genuine expert - brilliant, even, at the absolute tip-top of your game, yessir - surely a man as assured as yourself would be the first to admit that there are certain areas about which you do not, as they say, know jack. This is true of all men.
When it comes to, say, 200-thread-count sheets or glass-blowing or piano bars, this ignorance is not only trivial,it's to be admired. But when it comes to dressing well and comporting yourself with style, it is a problem, and you know it. It can cost you jobs, women, and friends; it can cause you to be scorned by a maitre d', ignored by an airline-ticket agent, passed up by a taxi driver and - perhaps worst of all - mocked behind your back by people who actually do know how to match a sock to a shoe to a suit. It can cause you to feel like less of a man than you are, and life is too short to feel like that.