I have Dressing the man which is almost as good. Clothes and the man was the first book I bought on mens clothing just as I was starting out on my own 14 years ago and I am glad I did..
Flusser taught me everything I know about clothes and then some. This book is well wiritten with practical advice on how a man should dress.

I've now read several highly recommended books on men's style. This book is the best out of all of them. In my opinion 'Clothes and the Man' is a little better than Flusser's more well-known 'Dressing the Man' (seen stacked in Ralph Lauren stores). 'Clothes and the Man' delves deeper into the subject laying out specific guidelines to build season-specific wardrobes. Unfortunately the book is out of print now...fairly easy to find on the net though!

If I say that this book changed my life, I should immediately qualify that by noting that I first read it about the time I graduated from college and was really setting out on my own for the first time. It really defined my sense of classic men's style, and gave me an appreciation, previously lacking, for -- and an ability to recognize -- a truly well-dressed man.

Alan Flusser, a dandy to the core, makes a great case for his argument that men's style (as distinct from "men's fashion" -- yuck) changes little over the decades. The "look" that worked for Fred Astaire or Cary Grant still works today. Tab collars, rounded collars, suspenders, monk straps, French cuffs, handkerchiefs (aka "pocket squares") no tassel loafers with suits! ... the man who absorbs "the principles of fine men's dress" presented here will be well armed to do battle with a world where "dressing down" has become the sad and sorry norm.

If, as Oscar Wilde said, "A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life," Alan Flusser will help you take a great many paces down that road. Take that step now! It may even change your life too.

I happened to watch a re-run of Shell's Wonderful World of Golf this morning featuring a match at a country club in Belgium during the 1950's. Former King Leopold was among the thirty well-dressed people observing the play, and most of the men could have walked up Park Avenue this year and been in style.

More useful than Flusser's later book, Clothes and the Man reminds us that, ignoring the excesses of the 1970's and the general absence of style in Silicon Valley in the 90's, the well dressed man evolves slowly. We may wear driving moccasins and eschew opera pumps in the new century, but the well turned out 1920's man is recognizeable today. That's important because it's the long lives of Anderson & Sheppard suits and Cleverly shoes that makes them attainable by people of less than extraordinary means. And, at least for me, the pleasure of proper fit and great fabrics is the reason to pay attention.