A man should look as if he has bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care—and then forgotten all about them. Such gems of sartorial wisdom are the hallmark of legendary British clothier Sir Hardy Amies’ 1965 classic ABC of Men’s Fashion—regrettably long out of print. Until now, that is. It’s just been re-issued thanks to a major new fashion exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, and men everywhere can benefit from such a stylish lexicon.

Every facet of the well-dressed fellow’s wardrobe is represented, together with a few acid remarks (see Fat Men and Short Men). Hell, Sir Hardy earned a bit of stuffiness; the dashing designer was a British secret agent before setting up shop at 14 Savile Row in 1946, and he went on to design costumes for both Stanley Kubrick and the Queen of England.

—J.P.S.

In American Gangster, Denzel Washington’s up-and-coming Harlem druglord character Frank Lucas eschews the pimp aesthetic in favor of some very sharp suits. On his journey from bumpkin to kingpin, Lucas learns some important sartorial lessons; the quiet, understated elegance of his clothing allows him to pass as a respectable businessman while flashier rivals get picked off by the cops.

—J.P.S.

After a close shave with obsolescence, things are looking up for Savile Row. Ozwald Boateng’s new 6,800-sq.ft. store opening there next month heralds the beginning of what many hope will be a new era for the beleaguered “bespoke couturiers,” who have banded together with local government and landlords to keep the spiritual home of British tailoring alive, Time magazine reports.

Read more about the grand plan…

Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

Being married to Madonna must be no picnic, even for a rough and tumble type like Guy Ritchie. He started out as your average yob, then she got him involved in all that quasi-religious claptrap in L.A. and he had to trail around after her in white velour tracksuits carrying the Kabbalah Water.

Since moving back to his native British countryside, however…

Photography: Patrick McMullan

Curiously-coiffed Vanity Fair editor E. Graydon Carter has finally revealed the secret to Spy magazine’s success—and no, it wasn’t the invention of snark.

As we might have guessed, the key lay in looking the part. “Because we were small and because we were scrappy, I made a very conscious effort to wear a suit and tie to work every day,” Carter tells the London Guardian in a just-published profile. “You can get away with a lot more if you look like a junior part of the establishment than if you look like a renegade.”

Good advice for all you would-be rebels out there »

Usually when someone uses the phrase “old school,” they don’t have a specific place in mind, but when it comes to tailoring you can pin it down to a single street. Savile Row in London has been the go-to spot for bespokery since the days of the empire, and anywhere you happen to be fitted—even in Hong Kong or Dubai—it’s likely that most of your suit’s flourishes started out in the West End.

Of course, just like the empire, the Row has had some hard times lately»

Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

He creeped us out in Match Point and modeled for Versace and Hugo Boss before embarking on his latest role—a kind of priapic, po-mo Henry VIII in The Tudors—but Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers has always won full marks for his stylish attire.

At the Tudors premiere the other night, he sported an ensemble that had an almost Rockabilly look to it: a midnight blue dress suit with satin piping on the lapels—custom-tailored by John Galliano—and a superskinny leather tie by Camilla Staerk.

More on Mr. Rhys Meyers»

Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

Ask, and ye shall receive: an extra helping of MOTH star Waris Ahluwalia for your viewing pleasure, that is. Our favorite beturbaned member of the bon ton is pictured here with gal-about-town Jessica Joffe at a Theory party for artist David Ellis the other night.

More on Waris and Jessica»

Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

A few months ago we appealed to Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter—in an avuncular fashion—to discard the double-breasted suits which added an unflattering layer to his majestic midsection; the wrong kind of camouflage, if you will.

He has apparently taken our advice to heart»

Savile Row is rightly known as the world center of tailoring, but too often the attention falls on the expert cuts—which you can get a good-enough approximation of in Hong Kong or New York—rather than the heirloom fabrics that usually don’t travel farther than one shop.

Luckily, the internet comes to us all. And apparently so does tweed»

Brit music and style icon Bryan Ferry, one of the world’s best-dressed men, wants to try his hand at designing clothes—and why the hell not? Surely being such a lifelong sartorial savant qualifies him more than most. As the man himself tells the London Times, “If P. Diddy can do it, why can’t I?” A private label is “something I would really like to do,” Ferry says, noting, “I should have done it years ago.”

After all, last year’s Burberry men’s collection was basically an homage to the Roxy Music frontman’s signature haute-lounge lizard look, and he did once collaborate on a collection for Brit retailer Topman. So what would a Bryan Ferry collection look like? Well, he’s partial to bespoke dress shirts from Dunhill these days and suits from Richard Anderson of Savile Row, so that might give you an idea.

Yoga Flame!: Olivia Munn makes good Halloween choices. [Complex]

Tailor the Storm: Don’t weep for Savile Row…they’ve seen worse times. [Luxist]

Un-Donnish Behavior: Our beloved Don Cornelius has been taken in on domestic assault charges. If the soul train led you to this point, what good was it? [Gawker]

The Haters Are Always With Us: Bond faces his most diabolical enemy yet: early reviewers. [BlackBook]

An American Blogger in Tokyo: A Continous Lean continues to make us jealous with their Japanese/American swag. [A Continuous Lean]

Everyone’s a Critic: Early web reviews of Quantum trickle in from Condé Nast. Maybe they expected more one-button suits. [Men.Style]

Midtown’s Finest: British tailors seek refuge in midtown. [A Suitable Wardrobe]

Meeting Across the River: J. Crew is opening up another version of its famous men’s shop in New Jersey. It should be more or less the same, but with a lot more tracksuits. [Racked]

Collaborations between classic masters and younger brands are thick on the ground these days—yes, Moscot, we’re looking at you—but there aren’t many as well suited as Duckie Brown and Florsheim.

Duckie Brown has been mining Savile Row-style classicism for a while now, so it’s no surprise they finally brought some real cobblers on board. The real surprise here is the subtle shifts they bring in, like adding blues and greens to the leather-dyeing palate, matching the sole rubber to the color of the shoe, and putting out a whole line of cap-toes fastened with metal studs.

Best of all, they’re pricing the bulk of the line at $295, as a gesture to modern times.

See the shoes up close»

Where Americans have the Polar Bear Plunge, Britons have the Tweed Run, which saw hundreds of fully-tweeded patriots taking to Savile Row last Saturday on fixed gear bicycles. (We assume their Penny-Farthings were in the shop.)

It’s hard to find a good cobbler this side of Florence…but maybe we just haven’t been looking hard enough.

Our old friends at Michael Andrews Bespoke are starting up an eponymous cobbling line, with 30 styles, 50 leathers and a fit molded to the unique shape of your hoof. It’s the kind of service that’s a lot easier to find in Savile Row and Hong Kong, but surprisingly thin on the ground in the states. It’s also a lot easier to find if you’re willing to drop a few thousand dollars, but this time around the damage is limited to six to eight hundred dollars, especially useful if you’re a banker with a new budget.

Get the address here»

In general, the world of custom tailoring is small enough that there isn’t room for big ticket items. But if you come across the right materials, it can be hard to resist…

Luckily, Vicuna wool may well be the most valuable fabric on earth, and the Savile Row firm Holland & Sherry is feeling inspired. A vicuna can only be shorn every three years, so harvesting a usable amount of wool took a solid five years, combined with a year and a half to develop the cloth into a usable worsted pattern. So far, they’re charging $50,000 a piece, and they should have enough cloth for 18 suits—provided there aren’t any sumo wrestlers out there with a taste for bespokery.

Look, Book: Theodora Richards lounges around. [Refinery29]

Merry Olde England: In times like these, even Savile Row has to resort to sample sales. [The Moment]

A Close Shave: More tips on the perfect shave. Cold water, anyone? [She Knows Best]

Grilled: Diamond-studded teeth are suddenly looking like a pretty good investment. [Luxist]

Formalwear has a lot of unspoken rules, and as you get into the thorny, European end, they can get downright confusing. For instance, blue suits and brown shoes are now entirely acceptable—provided you’re outside of Germany. Just so you know…

For a guide, we suggest a tome called Gentleman, which recently received a new cover and a revised edition. It’s got a few hefty predecessors, but it’s definitely worth a look. A few other insights contained within: if your tie lifts your collar tips off your shirt, it’s time to change ties, and if you’re wearing a club tie around London high society, you’d better belong to the club.

Here’s a quick primer in international relations, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal: The U. S. bails out banks, and France bails out tailors. We’re not going to say which we prefer…

Motivated by a sartorial sense of culture and the rising tide of ready-to-wear fashion, France’s prime minister is currently pondering sending a little aid to the ailing fashion houses of France. Most of them specialize in extremely specialized womenswear, so we won’t see any of our favorite brands on the dole, but if it catches on, it may mean good things for Savile Row.

Unfortunately for the old fabric houses (and the old tailors), style has moved on from the times when well-heeled customers spent their wardrobe money on a few personalized big ticket items. Bringing a little government cheese into the mix isn’t going to make them any more up-to-date…but that might not be such a bad thing. Like Savile Row, they’ll end up frozen in a particular moment—probably around the time they were stitching up ball gowns for Grace Kelly. It’s a museum piece, but a pretty good one.

And maybe Carla can get a few new dresses in the bargain.