HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT BALANCE?

QUESTION:
I often find myself caught between the desire to be a bon vivant, and wanting to lead a more balanced, wholesome lifestyle. My question is: how does one go about striking a balance between these two inclinations, and can one truly enjoy life to its fullest without surrendering one’s health or looks?
– Mr. TRAVIS [...]

DRY CLEAN CONUNDRUM

QUESTION: When a designer garment says it’s “dry clean only”, is it really dry clean only? When a high-street garment says it’s dry clean only, is it just to cover the store’s back? Has anyone risked washing a dry clean only garment and lived to tell the tale? Has anyone ruined something precious? Stories and [...]

SHOULD SEASONS AFFECT DRESS?

QUESTION: Recently a member of the FANTASTIC MAN staff wore his light blue seersucker jacket to a dinner when he was told off by somebody saying: “Oh, really? Seersucker before Easter?” Now, does menswear need rules like that? Or can it be free for all and can one wear snowflake jumpers in August, chinos for Christmas, [...]

THE USE OF CUFFLINKS

QUESTION:
Is there any item more useless in modern life than the cufflink?
— Mr. RICHARD SALMON, LONDON
ANSWER:
The editors of FANTASTIC MAN are reticent to be prescriptive on matters of style, however it should be known that the cufflink is an item that is absent from both the pages of the magazine and in the office of [...]

PLAID IN 2010

QUESTION:
Plaid shirts seem to be ubiquitous on the high street, and have been for a couple of years, but they are starting to feel incredibly last decade to me. I think I’m getting sick of plaid. What are some good alternatives? Or is plaid still stylish?
— Mr. BURKE BENJAMIN, LONDON
ANSWER:
Plaid shirts are indeed everywhere, as [...]

THE FUTURE OF STYLE

QUESTION:
A new decade is upon us, and it behooves us to think beyond the season and even the year to the future of style for men. With that, we open the floor to our readers: what direction should menswear be going? What radical new styles and garments do we hope or expect to see emerging [...]

HEADACHE OVER HEADGEAR

QUESTION:
Now that December has begun, I want to keep the heat from leaving my increasingly bald pate. Yet I have such a fear of looking purposefully childish in a bobble hat, or worryingly “bloke”ish in a flat cap. What would you suggest?
— Mr. STEPHEN BURNS, LIVERPOOL
ANSWER:
Finding an appropriate form of head protection is indeed a [...]

THE TIE CLIP CONUNDRUM

QUESTION:
I have a vintage CHRISTIAN DIOR tie clip. But are tie bars and tie clips permissible accessories for the under-50 gentleman?
— Mr. KIRK RADER, OHIO
ANSWER:
The FANTASTIC MAN office is curious about the reader’s opinions but the consensus is that Mr. THOM BROWNE is the only human being alive and under 50 who gets away [...]

THINNING HAIR

QUESTION:
As a slowly-but-surely balding young man with dark hair, I was wondering what alternatives I have to shaving my head? It’s so obvious to do that. Is there really no other option?
— Mr. WALD-LASOWSKI
ANSWER:
Dear Mr. WALD-LASOWSKI, as we’ve already told you in the current issue of FANTASTIC MAN this entirely depends on the speed [...]

JEANS WITH SUIT JACKETS

QUESTION:
Is wearing jeans with a suit jacket an elegant look or Sussudio-era PHIL COLLINS?
— Mr. TOM MORTON, London
ANSWER:
Dear TOM, the immediate and quite insistent instinct to this is that you should avoid this look at all times. However with further thought some possibilities emerge which suggest it is not quite so black and white. Perhaps [...]