Definitive "Books on Menswear" Thread - Page 6

Dress for Success by John T. Molloy is pretty helpful, if dated.  For the most part, it's still very applicable even today, if you ignore the sections on trends and dressing for women.  The examples still look pretty tasteful and classic.  It's particularly interesting for trying to dress for specific purposes in specific geographic regions, especially if you are built nonstandard.  I personally am someone who is a visible minority with a small build in a peculiar social group as a student leader, so I need to be very careful in dressing well but appropriately.  I came up with my solutions on my own, but reading Molloy's book after-the-fact made me realize why what I chose works, and what would work for others and for myself in different circumstances.  It is also helpful for people trying to dress on a budget, which is great for those just starting to build a wardrobe.
 

I thought the suit was a great beginner book - it gives some hard and fast rules for what works for certain men in certain contexts and isnt too lengthy. Flusser on the other hand, beginning with stuff like 'colour contrasts' doesnt set down any framework. 

Can any of you recommend a good book for a casual wardrobe? particularly one that covers dress in different climates/contexts?

Textbook on Footwear Manufacture by Thorton can be downloaded as a PDF @ http://www.thehcc.org/thornton.pdf. 

No one mentioned Men's Style by Russell Smith

 

Had to create an account when I saw this. What exactly makes this book so valuable? It's been repressed a few times and it was easily available just a few years ago.

 

I personally bought a copy for 50€ or something like that, 6 or so years ago. I had no idea the book is so valuable nowadays. Or are those represses illegal bootlegs or something, and only the original 1983 editions are worth that much?

God Molloy's book for a steal too. I think my collection's about done now!

The Sartorialist: Closer-Men, is this any good? Thinking about scoring it aswell.

Good fashion magazines or books to get inspiration of is more then welcomed. Sartorialist look or something like that :)

 

Thanks!

A very down-to-earth and easy book would be The Fundamentals of Style: An Illustrated Guide to Dressing Well by James Galicho.

It may not exactly be on par with Flusser or Manton in detail and sophistication, but on the other hand it's rather permissive and more friendly to casual wear than those (and thus more useful in the everydays of the average 16-30yo man), and I think it has the fundamentals down pretty well.

Fuck Yeah Menswear. Recieved this for Christmas. Really enjoyed it. More for the entertainment value than the knowledge.

http://www.amazon.ca/Fuck-Yeah-Menswear-Knowledge-Gentleman/dp/1451672683

I just bought and read Fuck Yeah Menswear. Great fun, although a lot of the current slang and rap style poetry was sometimes a little hard for an old fart like me to comprehend.

I am not sure who exactly is the target readership for that book is, except maybe us. I mean how many readers are going to comprehend (on colleges):

"If it doesn't have a school boy at JP,
it doesn't count.
Scarves or it didn't happen."

I just put together my very own list of 100 menswear books, take a look.

FYI, I have a copy for sale. See the link below.