March 6, 2012
Please Welcome Colin Marshall! I’m pleased to announce that we have a new contributor here at Put This On.  Colin Marshall hosts and produces Notebook on Cities and Culture and writes about various cultural issues on his blog. In the past, he’s hosted and produced Barely Literate, a podcast book club, as well as The Marketplace of Ideas. He will be contributing book reviews here every once in a while, and the first review, which is on Alan Flusser’s Dressing the Man, will be published later today.  Colin is a wonderful and engaging writer, and we couldn’t be happier to have him onboard! * Photo taken from JohnsNotHere

Please Welcome Colin Marshall!

I’m pleased to announce that we have a new contributor here at Put This On. 

Colin Marshall hosts and produces Notebook on Cities and Culture and writes about various cultural issues on his blog. In the past, he’s hosted and produced Barely Literate, a podcast book club, as well as The Marketplace of Ideas. He will be contributing book reviews here every once in a while, and the first review, which is on Alan Flusser’s Dressing the Man, will be published later today. 

Colin is a wonderful and engaging writer, and we couldn’t be happier to have him onboard!

* Photo taken from JohnsNotHere

Posted in Colin Marshall Books Book Reviews
February 22, 2012
A peek inside Bernhard Roetzel’s upcoming A Guy’s Guide to Style.

A peek inside Bernhard Roetzel’s upcoming A Guy’s Guide to Style.

Posted in Bernhard Roetzel A Guy's Guide to Style Books
May 23, 2011

Put This On: A Conversation with Alan Flusser

In this special micro-episode of Put This On, we present a conversation with menswear expert Alan Flusser. Flusser has written the seminal contemporary American texts on getting dressed: Style & the Man and Dressing the Man. He’s also helped create a menswear iPhone app called BeSpeak. He runs Alan Flusser Custom in Manhattan, and famously dressed Michael Douglas for the film Wall Street. While Alan’s worked as a designer of ready-to-wear and has worked closely with tailors for decades, his work at the shop is as neither a designer or a tailor - he’s more like a consiglieri, guiding men towards their best appearance.

Alan’s expertise features heavily in our next episode of Put This On, but we thought we’d take this opportunity to introduce you to one of menswear’s great treasures.

Posted in Episodes Put This On Alan Flusser Wall Street Bespoke Books
February 17, 2011
It’s On eBay Men in Style: The Golden Age of Fashion From Esquire I checked this book out of the library when I was in high school. Then I lost the damn thing. Had to pay its replacement cost. Now it’s out of print and costs $200. I lose on all counts. Amazing book, though. Buy It Now for $223.91

It’s On eBay

Men in Style: The Golden Age of Fashion From Esquire

I checked this book out of the library when I was in high school. Then I lost the damn thing. Had to pay its replacement cost. Now it’s out of print and costs $200. I lose on all counts. Amazing book, though.

Buy It Now for $223.91

Posted in It's On eBay Esquire Vintage Books
January 27, 2011
When I was researching the Q&A for episode four of Put This On, I reached for one of my favorite reference books, “Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House,” by Cheryl Mendelson. Ms. Mendelson is a true domestic goddess. The book offers practical advice and explanations of everything from laundry to vacuuming to sewing to entertaining. It’s exceptionally well-written and absolutely fascinating. The advice is consistently excellent, as well. It’s my shortcut to figuring out how to do things the Right Way. Of particular note to readers of the blog are the careful explanations of the valuable properties of various fabrics, the simple explanations of clothing repair techniques, and the rundowns on ironing and stain removal. Whether you live alone, or share home care duties with a partner, it’s essential information. The book costs less than twenty bucks, and it’s worth every penny.

When I was researching the Q&A for episode four of Put This On, I reached for one of my favorite reference books, “Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House,” by Cheryl Mendelson. Ms. Mendelson is a true domestic goddess.

The book offers practical advice and explanations of everything from laundry to vacuuming to sewing to entertaining. It’s exceptionally well-written and absolutely fascinating. The advice is consistently excellent, as well. It’s my shortcut to figuring out how to do things the Right Way.

Of particular note to readers of the blog are the careful explanations of the valuable properties of various fabrics, the simple explanations of clothing repair techniques, and the rundowns on ironing and stain removal. Whether you live alone, or share home care duties with a partner, it’s essential information.

The book costs less than twenty bucks, and it’s worth every penny.

Posted in Laundry Ironing Home Comforts Sewing Books
September 9, 2010
Q and Answer: What are the essential men’s style books? Alex writes: What are a few essential books on men’s style to help me better myself? There are some good choices out there, though none of them are absolutely perfect. For the man who knows nothing, and doesn’t wear tailored clothing most of the time, the Esquire Handbook of Style is a decent primer.  It isn’t super expensive, and the information contained within its pages is generally pretty reliable.  It also has a lot of clear illustrations, which are nice.  Allan Flusser’s Style and the Man and Dressing the Man are both excellent guides to tailored men’s clothing.  The latter is coffee table book sized, and lavishly illustrated.  It’s an excellent primer on classic men’s style - probably the single book I’d recommend most highly.  I also like Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion, by Bernhard Roetzel.  It’s also full of beautiful pictures, and is a wonderful compliment to Flusser’s works. There are a few others that are recommendable as well.  I love American Fashion Menswear, which was released by the Council of Fashion Designers of America last year.  It’s a genre-by-genre guide to the best of American style over the last hundred years or so.  It’s full of great inspiration on everything from denim jeans to flannel suits to weirdo runway looks.  The Suit has a lot of information on tailored clothing, though it’s wrapped in a perplexing “Machiavellian” structure.  Color For Men is a useful basic reference on finding color combinations that match your complexion. I guess the real question is: where’s our book deal?

Q and Answer: What are the essential men’s style books?

Alex writes: What are a few essential books on men’s style to help me better myself?

There are some good choices out there, though none of them are absolutely perfect.

For the man who knows nothing, and doesn’t wear tailored clothing most of the time, the Esquire Handbook of Style is a decent primer.  It isn’t super expensive, and the information contained within its pages is generally pretty reliable.  It also has a lot of clear illustrations, which are nice. 

Allan Flusser’s Style and the Man and Dressing the Man are both excellent guides to tailored men’s clothing.  The latter is coffee table book sized, and lavishly illustrated.  It’s an excellent primer on classic men’s style - probably the single book I’d recommend most highly.  I also like Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion, by Bernhard Roetzel.  It’s also full of beautiful pictures, and is a wonderful compliment to Flusser’s works.

There are a few others that are recommendable as well.  I love American Fashion Menswear, which was released by the Council of Fashion Designers of America last year.  It’s a genre-by-genre guide to the best of American style over the last hundred years or so.  It’s full of great inspiration on everything from denim jeans to flannel suits to weirdo runway looks.  The Suit has a lot of information on tailored clothing, though it’s wrapped in a perplexing “Machiavellian” structure.  Color For Men is a useful basic reference on finding color combinations that match your complexion.

I guess the real question is: where’s our book deal?

Posted in Q and Answer Books
September 7, 2010
“It is a commonly held view that fashion and makeup are trivial concerns: Superficial, unnecessary, and concealing by trickery what is held to be ‘real’ beneath. Fashion is surface, fad, transient. Yet time and again one uncovers moments when clothes and makeup become the things that render us human. Stubbornly, humankind resists the Puritan instinct.” —

Linda Grant, on the Powell’s Books blog, writing about writers and style.

(Thanks, Matthew)
Posted in Wisdom Books
August 25, 2010
It’s On eBay Alan Flusser’s Style and the Man This book has been partly supplanted by the much more lavishly illustrated Dressing the Man, but it remains an excellent guide to the principles of lasting men’s style.  The first style book I ever owned, and still an important part of my collection. Buy It Now for $9.33

It’s On eBay

Alan Flusser’s Style and the Man

This book has been partly supplanted by the much more lavishly illustrated Dressing the Man, but it remains an excellent guide to the principles of lasting men’s style.  The first style book I ever owned, and still an important part of my collection.

Buy It Now for $9.33

Posted in It's On EBay Books Alan Flusser
March 31, 2010
"Men in Style: The Golden Age of Fashion in Esquire" on Permanent Style

Back when I was but a 16-year-old aspiring sartorialist, I found a copy of this book at the Civic Center library in San Francisco.  I was looking for inspiration for a prom outfit, believe it or not.  The swing thing was in full force, and the inspiration was the style of the 1930s and ’40s.  I checked the book out, and forgot to return it.  I may have found it and returned it four or five years later.  I don’t have it, now.  Which is too bad, because A) it’s amazing and B) it’s going for $400+ on Amazon.

Posted in Books Esquire Vintage Permanent Style