Flusser's Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion. Book review

Alan Flusser's Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion.

Long time men's clothing designer Alan Flusser, designed the suit wardrobe for Gordon Gecko in the memorable 1980's film Wall Street. Flusser has designed clothing for other films and maintains a custom suit shop in NY. Dressing the Man is my favorite guide to proper business dress.

All the subtle techniques of dressing well were known to men like my father and grandfather. I, on the other hand, ignored the codes of business dress until long after my college days.

Flusser's guide starts with how to determine what colors will complement you best. He then reveals what basics are needed to have a suitable wardrobe of suits, shirts and shoes. The ancient mysteries of formal wear are uncovered, which saves you from looking like a damn fool when you have to go to an awards dinner, a charity event, or your company's holiday dinner.

This thorough how-to guide for choosing and wearing ties, cuff links and business casual, will pay for itself many times over as you learn how to find and purchase quality clothing. I learned a great deal from the numerous illustrations of men who exemplify good business clothing choices with out falling for trendy fad clothing.

The most valuable part of Flusser's sartorial education is learning how to choose clothing that will always complement your look, regardless of the wild fluctuations of so-called "fashion". The illustrations of men who followed the principles outlined here, prove that wise clothing choices still look good, even after many years.

Flusser's writing style is entertaining and revealing. I enjoyed the book immensely. Try it.

A Tale of Two Shirts - Designer shirt review

With a price of $65 and up, you would expect designer shirts such as the Ralph Lauren Polo Yarmouth to fit well. You will be disappointed. Here's a review of men's shirts by America's Ivy / Prep influenced designer.

The Yarmouth shirt, shown in the top photo, is made of reasonably good fabric, available in a good variety of patterns and colors, yet lacks essential elements of a really good shirt. As one of the less expensive RL shirts, it sports the Polo horse logo, which can't make up for the shirt's failings of fit.

The Yarmouth will last a long time, which will give you time to wonder why you purchased a shirt that seems to vary widely in the accuracy of the neck and sleeve length measurements. I have observed some variation in the actual size of similarly marked shirts. But the worst failing is the huge amount of cloth around the mid section of this shirt. If you find your middle expanding as you age, this will be a blessing. If you are tall and lean, like myself, you will find the shirt to have excess cloth hanging over your belt. This causes the fit to be regrettable.

The Ralph Lauren Regent shirt, the dark blue plaid in the second picture, lacks the silly horse logo, and compared to the Yarmouth is a better shirt. The Regent seems to fit the lean body type and lacks the excess cloth around the torso. The spread collar of the Regent is well done and fits the neck well. The Regent shirt copies custom shirts by having two small shoulder pleats, instead of a big central box pleat in the middle of the shirt back. While not as nice as a custom shirt, the Regent seems to be durable and is a better value for the dollar compared to the Yarmouth model.

Ralph Lauren Polo also sells other shirts models labeled as Lowell, Estate and Curham. These models are cut to fit as well as the Regent model shirt. They all have a spread collar, which looks dressier, and have a better fit in the body of the shirt. Some of these models are available with button cuffs or with french cuffs, allowing you to show off your cuff links.

The lesson here is that designer shirts are not really that much better than other ready to wear shirts. Take the time to try different shirts by the same designer for proper fit, before spending more money for a designer's name. Only buy what fits you well. A good fit makes for a better appearance.