Alan Flusser

An excellent guide to menswear.

He refers to "permanent fashion" and that’s what he means. This is all about the classics with only a small portion at the end dedicated to work casual contemporary clothing. A large part of the examples he gives of great style are from the 30’s and 40’s. I think he’s correct in doing this, not only because those men (and women) obviously dressed better than most people today, but those looks are for the most part are timeless. You may not want to dress show more just like Cary Grant, but you might want to know why he looked so good doing it. The book is very conservative in approach, but helps to know the basic rules even if you’re going to break them.

The main part of the book concerns suits, what looks good on who, why things are styled the way they are, what to avoid, etc. There are some really great insights here. There are also sections on formal wear, accessories, shoes, and pretty much everything you can think of.

Flusser writes with humor, and is not shy with his opinions. I recommend it, even if you’re not planning on using it as a guide to dressing. show less

Well-written (although some find the writing overblown), carefully explained and sumptuously illustrated with a selection of original photographs and Apparel Arts/Esquire illustrations, this is an excellent and enjoyable resource for any clothing connoiseur as much as for the casual reader.

True to the Twin Pivots: Proportion and Color

As a web developer, I have recently had a run of men’s custom tailoring customers. I found myself looking for an encyclopedic source of styling details and fashion fundamentals.

In my mind the name Alan Flusser is synonymous with taste and style. This book gave me everything I needed to build websites designed to appeal to the male buyer of custom suits and shirts. Unlike the fashion buyer, Flusser believes permanent fashion starts with being show more accountable to a personal set of physical characteristics.

The custom buyer’s face's shape, neck's height, shoulder's width, arm's length and torso's structure, and the foot's size remain relatively constant. Once he relates the permanent fashion’s fundamentals to his physique and complexion, he is on his way to building a stylish, cost-effective wardrobe that will withstand fashion’s seasonable vagaries.

This book contains a large collection of photographs of stylish men. These vintage photographs illustrate the range and diversity of authentic men's fashion. Along the way, magnitude of options will equip the reader with both the vocabulary and options required to build a custom wardrobe. There is even a glossary at the end of the book to help with the journey.

My needs were unique, I admit. This book equipped me with the knowledge, detail and options required to build a website that appeals to buyers and the purveyors of custom men’s clothing. show less

This book will help you dress like an Ivy League "dandy" and that is OK as most clothing styles these days go in and out of fashion. The reader gets a good history of 20th Century men's clothing along with definitions of different types of shoes, collars, and materials. Printed in 1991, it is now a bit dated but not too bad as it teaches you the classics.