The Brummell Rules: 25 Rules of Dress for the Modern Man

I left London in 1816 owing money to half of it, and died in Caen in 1840 owing it to the rest. I had assumed that would be the end of the matter. Then I saw your trousers.

In my day I persuaded the best-dressed men in England to give up peacock silk in favour of a dark coat, clean linen and a properly tied cravat. The lesson was simple: cut, fit, and restraint. It seems the lesson did not keep. You have more clothes than any men in history and fewer that fit.

So I have returned, against my better judgement and now armed with a telephone. What follows are the rules. They are not suggestions. They are not trends. They are simply correct.

1. Fit first. Everything else second.
A $3,000 suit that doesn't fit is a $3,000 apology. A $300 suit that does fit makes a statement.

2. The shoulder is the suit.
A tailor can take in a waist and shorten a sleeve. A bad shoulder he can only mourn. Buy for the shoulder and alter the rest.

3. Show a sliver of cuff.
About a quarter to half an inch of shirt beyond the jacket sleeve. If you show none, you are hiding something. If you show more, you are waving.

4. Trousers should meet the shoe, not drown in it.
A slight break, or none. Fabric pooling at the ankle is a puddle, not a style.

5. Tight is not tailored.
If the button pulls the cloth into an X, the jacket is too small. Slim is a cut. Strained is a confession.

6. Never button the bottom button.
The custom is usually credited to Edward VII, who as Prince of Wales left his lowest waistcoat button undone, and polite society followed. On a two-button jacket, fasten the top button. On a three-button, fasten the middle and perhaps the top, never the bottom.

7. Button when you stand. Unbutton when you sit.
Standing, a jacket hangs as it was cut. Seated, fastening it does it no favours. The motion should be as automatic as breathing.

8. Cut the basting stitches.
The X-stitch on the vent and the label on the sleeve are there for the shop, not for you. Leaving them on tells everyone the receipt is still in your pocket.

9. Navy and charcoal before anything clever.
Two plain suits will carry you through every interview, wedding and funeral you will ever attend. Your third suit may have opinions.

10. Know what a tuxedo is, and where it got its name.
It is named after Tuxedo Park, New York, where American society took up the tailless dinner jacket in the 1880s. Black tie means a black bow tie and a white shirt. It does not mean a black shirt with a black necktie.

11. Spend on shoes, then keep them in cedar trees.
Buy welted shoes, brush them, polish them and have them resoled. They will outlast the fashions that mocked them.

12. Match your leathers.
Belt and shoes come from the same family: brown with brown, black with black. Your watch strap is welcome to join them.

13. Brown shoes in town are no crime. Scuffed ones are.
The colour was settled long ago. Neglect is still being decided, one unpolished toe at a time.

14. Accessorise in a whisper.
A watch, a wedding band, perhaps a pocket square. Anything beyond that is a costume.

15. Sunglasses go on your face or in your pocket.
Not on the back of your head, not hooked on your collar, and never indoors. You are not a lifeguard.

16. Bathe.
I caused a minor scandal by washing every day. It remains the cheapest luxury available to man.

17. Scent should be discovered, not announced.
One or two sprays. If a room smells you before it sees you, you have failed.

18. Get the haircut before you need it.
Every three to four weeks. A good haircut grown out is just an ordinary one.

19. Decide about the beard.
Stubble is a choice the first time. After that it is neglect. Groom the beard or remove it.

20. Your hands are read before your shoes.
Keep your nails clean, short and filed. People shake your hand before they look at your feet.

21. When in doubt, stick to beer.
At someone else's party, the man who orders a six-ingredient cocktail has announced his priorities. Beer is quick, unpretentious and almost impossible to get wrong.

22. At the bar: know your order, pay, tip, step aside.
The bar is a thoroughfare, not a lounge. Decide before you arrive, and leave the next man room to do the same.

23. Keep the telephone off the table.
Face down is acceptable. Better still, keep it in your pocket. Whoever you are dining with outranks whoever is messaging you.

24. Dress for the host, not the algorithm.
Slightly overdressed is a compliment to the host. Underdressed is a comment on them.

25. Restraint is the whole point.
The finest compliment is "You look well," not "Nice shirt." If they remember the outfit and not the man, start again. Fashions come and go; bad taste is timeless.

Menswear has spent a decade lurching from logo-heavy streetwear to "quiet luxury" sold at noisy prices. The more durable proposition sits between them: well-cut, well-made clothes bought less often and worn far longer. In an era of fast fashion and fast regret, restraint is not only good taste but a sound cost-per-wear strategy, and increasingly a brand position.

Until next week,

B.

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Forward this to a man who still wears his sunglasses on the back of his head.