Every man should have a copy of this book.

“White linen looks and feels cool, and it conjures 1940s films of elegant spies in Istanbul, of Panama hats and cigars.  You think, hey, if this loose white linen shirt looks cool, then the addition of loose white linen trousers will look doubly cool, right?  I can look dressy and relaxed at the same time, I will look… Mediterranean.  Well, the men who do this successfully are, in fact, Mediterranean.  If you are Mediterranean, or you own a restaurant, or if you have just won the Euro Cup, or you just don’t shave very much, you may look convincingly macho in this getup.  But there is a downside to the all-white ensemble.  For onething, the overall looseness is asexual.  Many linen trousers have drawstring waists.  Combine this with the flowing shirt, and what you have is jammies.  Make it all white, and you have a particularly virginal set of jammies.  You are going to look neither Mediterranean nor macho:  what you are going to look is sleepy.”

~ Russell Smith, Men’s Style (Casual chapter).

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