Welcome to The Substance of Style

Greetings loyal readers! You've stumbled upon a resource that will teach you how to:

a. Look good.
b. Feel good.
c. Spend your money on style wisely.

You're going to get a lot of rules. You're going to get a lot of categorical imperatives.

I'm not going to fool you into thinking you can look good for pennies on the dollar. That's not this site. But I am going to guide you how to spend your money wisely.

How much money have you spent on clothes that you never wear, that don't fit properly. that are out of fashion, that you simply bought because they were "a good deal." Great clothes that fit well will last for years. Tight Abercrombie polo shirts won't last you until next season.

In the sake of full disclosure, much of the advice proffered in this blog will be my evaluation, distillation, and reinterpretation of ideas discussed in two recent landmark books in men's style, The Suit by Niccolo Antongiovanni and Dressing the Man by Alan Flusser. Both these books are indispensable. It will also be heavily annotated and amended with my own opinions on the topic and objections to ideas raised by those two gentlemen.

Unlike those two authors, I'll also discuss how you can dress truly casually yet timelessly. Anyone can make a suit look timeless. But how about dressing for the gym?

From studying this blog you will learn to:

a. Always wear a wristwatch.
b. Never (ever) wear polyester in lieu of wool.
c. Never (ever) wear anything but cotton (and maybe a tiny bit of spandex) in a dress shirt
d. Learn to consult your tailor.

Let's begin.