What are some of your favourite Sartorial Books?

[hectorm]

what I am looking for are backgrounds, details and subtleties of 'classic' dress of European gentlemen. There must be a wealth of info out there, beyond the language 'barrier'.

Pssst,
what about Secrets de l'élégance à la française by Frédérique Veysset?
I suspect that you must be looking for something very specific because the last time I visited fnac there were many books (in French) on the topic.

[Sir Royston]

Yes.. think i have just about everything thats been published in the last 30 year.. but Gentleman A Timeless fashion is pretty good

[onepiece22]

Men of color : fashion, history, fundamentals by Lloyd Boston and The suit : a Machiavellian approach to men's style by Nicholas Antongiavanni are both quite good.

[Pssst]

what I am looking for are backgrounds, details and subtleties of 'classic' dress of European gentlemen. There must be a wealth of info out there, beyond the language 'barrier'.

Pssst,
what about Secrets de l'élégance à la française by Frédérique Veysset?
I suspect that you must be looking for something very specific because the last time I visited fnac there were many books (in French) on the topic.

Jup, I am looking for old stuff preferably pre 1990s. You know: patronizing, conservative (meta)analysis, by wise, stuffy, old bullies like Hardy Amies that will constantly remind you that all your attempts at individualism, twisting the 'rules' und so weiter are beyond pathetic.




70s goodness, Egon suggesting wearing used ties as belts like Astaire, tight white speedos, the book is full of (sometimes not so) subtle homoeroticism. Very Tom Ford.



More 70s goodness, mirrored ceilings, again very Tom Ford. See it IRL in the Tom Ford shops.

[hectorm]

I am looking for old stuff preferably pre 1990s. You know: patronizing, conservative (meta)analysis, by wise, stuffy, old bullies like Hardy Amies that will constantly remind you that all your attempts at individualism, twisting the 'rules' und so weiter are beyond pathetic.

I believe that Bert Bacharach´s Book for Men might fit in that category. It´s from 1953 but you can get a used copy from several sources.
And something tells me that you would also utterly enjoy the classic "Traité de la vié élègant" by Honoré de Balzac.

[VRaivio]

I'd like to add The Englishman's Suit by Hardy Amies to this short list of great books on men's style. I just finished this out of print publication from 1994, it's a very short but insightful history on the origins, development and details of the English suit. Amies comes across like the dinosaur he was, what with all that nonsense about suit-wearers signifying their approval for primogeniture and the British class system. I was most surprised to see his predictions for the next development in cut; his studio presents four and five button suits with miniscule lapels (or revers, as the man likes to write) for the 1994 season. How wrong he was. I will write a presentation for my site on this book during the following weeks.

[lxlloyd]

I haven't actually read this, I just thought it required a comment.

http://www.amazon.com/Fuck-Yeah-Menswea ... 1451672683

[hectorm]

Dear Alexandra,
I try to read everything that falls on my lap regarding matters sartorial.
I already read this one, and either I´ve gotten too old to appreciate it or it´s just that this "book" is simply a bunch of crap hastily put together in the hope of making an easy buck.
I suspect that someone hip and under thirty could have a different perspective.

[theoldesouth]

I'll add 'I Am Dandy: The Return of the Elegant Gentleman' by Nathaniel Adams.

A fun read.