The New Laws of Fashion

26. WHEN IT COMES TO WATCHES, YOU ARE ONE OF TWO TYPES: a quartz guy or a mechanical guy. A quartz watch is eternally accurate, like an atomic clock. A mechanical watch is a tiny metal beauty with hundreds of moving parts, built by Swiss elves. Buy quartz if you simply must know exactly what time it is. Buy mechanical if you like machines. How to break it: Or emulate American presidents and go digital with a rock-solid G-Shock.

27. NEVER BE RUSHED INTO PURCHASING UNCOMFORTABLE SHOES, NO MATTER HOW SHINY THE LEATHER. Beauty is not, at least in this case, pain.

28. LEAVE THE POCKETS OF YOUR SUIT JACKET SEALED, JUST THE WAY THEY CAME. Opening them up to put in cell phones and keys is the quickest way for your suit to lose its shape.

29. WEARING THE SAME SHOES DAY IN AND DAY OUT WILL DRASTICALLY SHORTEN THEIR LIFE SPAN.

30. YOUR TIE'S TIP SHOULD JUST REACH YOUR WAISTBAND.

31. WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, LEARN TO TIE A BOW TIE.

32. THE CLASSIEST COLOR FOR BLACK TIE IS BLACK. How to break it: If you're a maverick, you can try midnight blue or dark chocolate.

33. YOUR TIE KNOT SHOULD ALWAYS CONCEAL THE COLLAR BAND BEHIND IT. If it doesn't, it's tied too loose.

34. WITH A DOUBLE-BREASTED SUIT, IT'S ACCEPTABLE TO HAVE ONLY THE LOWER-RIGHT BUTTON UNDONE. All others should be fastened. If you're wanting to relax, just take the coat off altogether.

35. NEVER BUY ANYTHING YELLOW. How to break it: Unless it's a Lamborghini.

36. OPEN BUTTONHOLES ON THE CUFF OF A SUIT USED TO BE THE SIGN OF HANDMADE QUALITY. NO LONGER. Even low-end designers are using this styling trick to make their wares look better made than they really are. We know your suit is well made, so keep cuffs buttoned up.

37. NO ONE AT THE PARTY WILL EVER NOTICE IF YOU'VE LOST ONE OF YOUR CUFF LINKS. Leave the orphaned one in.

38. POLISH YOUR MID- AND DARK-BROWN SHOES WITH BLACK SHOE POLISH. This will create darker shades near the seams and gradually deepen the patina all over.

39. A MAN SHOULD NOT SHOP FOR MORE CLOTHES; HE SHOULD SHOP FOR BETTER ONES. How do you know what's "better"? Look in your closet, decide which clothes make you walk the tallest, and then up the ante by purchasing only the threads that will have you walking even taller.

40. SOME COLORS ARE MEANT TO BE TOGETHER. SOME ARE NOT.

41. WHEN IT COMES TO BUYING A SUIT, NO MATTER ITS PRICING, CHECK THE FOUR MAJOR ZONES TO SEE IF IT FITS.

1. The hem of your pants should cover the -laces of your shoes and slope slightly downward toward the heel, stopping about an inch above the welt. The front crease of your trouser leg should "break" slightly at mid-shin. If the crease is dead straight, your pants are too short.

2. Your correct waist measurement is not at your hips, as you've been trained to believe. Nor is it at your belly button, as women have been trained to believe. It's halfway in between. While your correct waist measurement may cause initial shock, knowing it will make the suit fit better.

3. The length of your jacket should not be noticeable. Avoid overly short or long cuts. As a general rule, with your hands at your sides, the hem of the jacket should just reach your knuckles. And the sleeve should rest a half inch below your wrist bone.

4. How your jacket fits at the shoulder is the first sign of whether a man knows his size. It fits properly if there's no overhang at the shoulder pad or, conversely, your shoulder does not bulge out at the top of the sleeve. A smooth curving line should fall from sleeve head to cuff.

42. WHEN IT COMES TO PATTERN IN YOUR CLOTHING, LESS IS MORE. However, if you decide to wear more than one pattern at a time, follow this simple rule: The pattern on your tie should be bolder than the one on your shirt.

43. YOUR SHIRT COLLAR FITS PROPERLY IF YOU CAN JUST GET ONE FINGER BETWEEN IT AND YOUR NECK. Any looser and you'll look like Krusty the Clown.

45. NOTHING SAYS "JACKASS" QUITE AS WELL AS A CELL PHONE ON A BELT CLIP. You know who you are.

46. YOU DON'T NEED TO BUTTON EVERY BUTTON. On a two-button suit, button only the top button. On a three-button suit, button only the middle one. On a one-button suit, well, you don't have much choice.

47. SUNGLASSES SHOULD BE WORN ONLY AS SUNGLASSES. And never at night.

48. CHECK YOUR FLY BEFORE ANSWERING THE DOOR.

49. DESPITE THE STYLE FOLLIES OF THE '80S, THEY DID GET A FEW THINGS RIGHT, LIKE THE POLO SHIRT. While the current consensus is to disdain the collar-up approach to this preppy standby, we say flip that polo-shirt collar up as far as it'll go.

50. WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK YOUR TAILOR.

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