Il Bue Che Dice Cornuto All’asino: Italy bans Tom Ford ad because of their long tradition of high-minded, unporny public discourse. [Radar]

The Distinguished Gentleman From Milan: In related news, Santo Versace, business manager of the family label, has joined Italy’s Parliment. [WWD, 2nd item]

“Masturbation Cuts Cancer Risk”: Well, in that case, maybe we’ll try it some time. [BBC]

Slip Ons: Socks for men without shoes. [Men’s Vogue]

Ripped From the Headlines: Our very own Jared Paul Stern is set to be detonated in effigy in an upcoming episode of “Law & Order.” We couldn’t be more proud. Also, Chung-chung. [NY Daily News]

Ring of Fire: Like a ribbon ‘round your finger, this accessory will remind you of appointments or anniversaries or burn you in the process. [Uncrate]

Beggars and Choosers: A probing piece about the difficulties of funding and presenting at Fashion Week. [Papierdoll]

Monroe Doctrine: The Marilyn sex-tape fantasy goes “pop” in 1,460 words. [Defamer]

Members Only: A jacket checklist for these windbreaker months. [Refinery29]

Today, our friends at UrbanDaddy take a look at Stock, one of New York’s best vintage stores. It’s equally beloved as a source for designers, a reference point for devotees of Early American Menswear, and a secret weapon for aspiring MOTHs throughout the city. And naturally, there were more than a few items that caught our eye.

See our favorite finds»

We ran into this Thom Browne number again now that it’s in season, and it looks a lot different than it did on the runway. The sharply visible grid gives it a touch of the drafting table, which has always been part of Mr. Browne’s appeal, but it’s still pretty easy on the eyes. The gray suit is an underestimated part of any wardrobe, but we doubt anyone will underestimate this.

Plus, it should look great with a little foliage.

A little goosedown can be a godsend this time of year, but we’re of the opinion it should be felt, not seen.

This goretex-equipped jacket from WhiteMountaineering covers up the slicker surfaces with rough wool for the best of both worlds. It might look a bit puffy from afar, but it’s hard to get much warmer.

With the downturn getting serious, we knew we were going to see fewer big ticket items, but we didn’t expect to run out of places to wear a suit.

Maybe we should have. Desperate to draw in more clientele, the New York institution 21 has relaxed its dress code. In their words, “Ties are still preferred and greatly appreciated, but they are no longer a must.”

We’ve written similar words, but under very different circumstances, and despite it all, we’re sad to see the jacket-and-tie requirement go. The trad life is a noble one, and it’s worth preserving. We’re sure there are other ultra-formal restaurants in the city…but we can’t actually name another. Until now, we’ve never needed to.

At least the market for bejeweled iPhone cases is still going strong.

It’s been a while since we heard from the Parisian boutique/electropop label Kitsune, but they made it back onto the radar with this collarless Harrington jacket.

The real masterstroke here are the blue and white stripes—look close—that keep it from being just another Member’s Only knockoff…which Paris certainly doesn’t need any more of.

One of the nice thing about having a particular style is that it lets you turn old staples on their heads.

By now, Daiki Suzuki’s style is pretty well-known. Under the Engineered Garments label, he’s championed simple, trim workwear items from the beginning, and birthed a trend in the process. Now he’s taking on the traditionally bulky leather bomber jacket…and turning into a slim cotton twill jacket that looks like exactly what you’d expect from Suzuki.

Take notes; this is how brands are made.

See Suzuki’s bomber jacket up close»

The lightweight jacket usually gets passed over, but a good one can get more wear than a suit. And, as usual with outerwear, the trick is finding the right texture.

This houndstooth jacket from A.P.C. gets it just about perfect, offering a zig-zag of patterns that averages out to a neutral gray from far enough back. This being A.P.C., the collar is just about perfect, and the cut is every bit as narrow as you’d want.

It’s waterproofed too, but we’d still recommend keeping an umbrella handy.

We tend to associate Tom Ford with his ads, his suits, and his upcoming film work, but he’s developing a Paul Smith-like habit of developing fantastic, unattainably priced items seemingly out of nowhere.

Take this old-world hunting jacket, for instance. It’s part of Mr. Ford’s latest Italian pilgrimage, and the buttons are certainly reminiscent of Mr. Smith, but it also bears almost no traces of the usual Ford-ian machismo. Which could very well mean all those semi-pornographic print spots may well be a thing of the past…

Say it ain’t so, Tom.

The hunting-style spring jacket is having quite a surge these days.

We marveled over Mr. Ford’s version yesterday, but the folks at Winn Perry just pointed us towards a treated cotton version that offers a lighter hang and adds a ticket pocket in front for anything that didn’t quite fit in the others.

That makes for five total pocket flaps—more than any reasonable man should ever need—but we’re glad to see the ticket pocket outside of a suit jacket. It’s too good an idea to leave to bespoke tailors alone.

The Members Only jacket has a pretty checkered past, but it may be leaking into thte mainstream.

This Rag & Bone Tarpon Jacket is dangerously close to membership territory, but for once we don’t mind so much. A light nylon, a clever plaid lining and, yes, a few epaulettes just add up to a spring jacket, not a faux-pas.

Time heals all wounds, apparently.

One of the highlights of Britain’s current turn in the style spotlight is the steady stream of heritage brands taking their star turn. This month, it’s Baracuta, a lightweight jacket company recently been favored by a J. Crew collab, a quasi-placement in the latest Bond flick and seemingly endless supply of good press.

Of course, a history of showing up on the shoulders of everyone from Steve McQueen to Joe Strummer doesn’t hurt.

We weigh your baracuta options»

Gingham always gets pretty popular around this time of year, but there’s more to the style than just button-ups.

This Moschino jacket is a louder cousin to the standard seersucker version, but fortune favors the bold and sporting a few outer checks has a few benefits of its own. Naturally, you’ll want a more subdued shirt underneath it all—and possibly accessorize it with a mint julep or two—but then you should be ready to hit the racetrack.

We managed to snag a copy of Norsea’s latest lookbook at the (capsule) show, and the results are nothing short of exciting. For one, the khaki blazer is one northern staple we’re happy to adopt.

The rest of the line has highlights like Liberty-style mock turtlenecks and a few new takes on the denim jacket—aside from the Stamford denim blazer we saw at the show. The cleverest trick may be the styling on the Dunes jacket: The three-button blazer is worn with the bottom two buttons fastened. We wouldn’t advise trying it without a jacket that’s tailored for the purpose, but it’s one of the more daring moves we’ve seen in a lookbook recently.

See more of the line»

APC’s Fall/Winter gear arrived in their shops last week, and along with it, the latest entry in their ongoing collaboration with K-Way, the Quebecois windbreaker brand.

The design corps spiced things up with a tricolor stripe this time around, but more importantly, they opted for the pullover parka rather than the usual zip-up. That means a bit less convenience on your way out the door, but a more impermeable feeling once you get outdoors.

And the way New York weather’s been lately, you may not have to take it off all day.

The shacket has been a hipper-than-thou staple in New York circles for some time—here’s the culprit, if you were wondering—but it mostly stuck to equestrian tweed and aside from a few flagship models, there wasn’t too much variation.

Luckily, Band of Outsiders is picking up the mantle with this heavy plaid shirt, which arrived today in Blackbird. It makes sense, since you can find that quasi-Buffalo check on both overcoats and button-ups. And while you can wear it in place of a blazer, like the gentleman in the picture, in less wintry times you can also throw it on over a light t-shirt and count on the lining to protect you against any errant breezes. It’s one trend that definitely deserves its second act.

The smock is one of the more obscure items to come out of the current enthusiasm for workwear, but it’s not all that hard to wear. And while we’ve already picked out a favorite, this might be the most wearable we’ve seen.

This smock comes from the latest YMC collection, and splits the difference between an unstructured jacket and an exceedingly rugged button-up. The result is a clever item that’s ready to take the place of your spring jacket. It might not replace the hoodie just yet…but we can dream.

Little-brother brands usually specialize in cheaper, simpler versions of the flagship brand’s gear. But Rogues Gallery’s kid brother Never Sleep is starting to have a few adventures of its own.

This baseball jacket from Never Sleep is the kind of item we like best: an Americana-soaked classic given a new cut and a new color scheme to pull it into modern times. In this case, that means a high school staple that can suddenly stand alongside the more adventurous shackets in your closet. Granted, the logo over the back is a little younger and more punk than we’re used to from RG…but what else are little brothers for?

Rogues Gallery just put this season’s fall/winter gear for sale online and, as you may have guessed from the lookbooks, it’s pretty good stuff.

Their take on the button-down already has us preparing for a nautical life, but our favorite item might be this unstructured cotton jacket. Unlike a fair number of its counterparts, it looks rugged enough to spend a few hours in a cabin-bound suitcase and emerge in wearable condition. Of course, those rough seams are getting to be an RG trademark, but this might be the best use of them we’ve seen so far.

The double-breasted peacoat has been a staple since the days of the Victorian navy, so it could use an update.

This Comme des Garcons jacket keeps the basic pea coat design, but makes three very important tweaks. They raise the hem (for colder legs but a trimmer cut), they swap navy blue for electric blue, and most importantly they take the whole thing into the world of synthetic fabrics. The futuristic shift is classic CDG, but it also means the jacket should stand up to the wind a whole lot better than plain old wool.