This series celebrates the Bodleian Library's acquisition of Tom Phillips's archive of over 50,000 photographic postcards dating from the first half of the twentieth century, a period in which, thanks to the ever cheaper medium of photography, 'ordinary' people could afford to own their portraits. Each title in this series is thematically assembled and designed by the artist, the covers featuring a linked painting specially created for each title from Tom Phillips's signature work, A Humument. With an illuminating foreword by Eric Musgrave, 'Menswear' presents postcards of men in all manner of outfits, whether formal, practical or casual, dating from around 1900 up to c. 1949. Most of the subjects are posing for portraits, displaying both their individual style and an interpretation of the fashions of the time. The rich variety of accessories on display includes ties, gloves, pocket squares, walking sticks, canes, boutonnieres and spats.

This book contains everything you need to know about suits, from the traditional designs of the early 1900s, to innovative contemporary variations. It was awarded Financial Times' Fashion Book of the Year. Clothes maketh the man. For millions of men across the world the common denominator that identifies them is the suit. Just three and a half metres of fabric, some internal shaping elements, lining, buttons and several metres of thread are all it takes to produce the jacket-and-trouser combination that can be seen from boardrooms to bars, wherever men gather. In Sharp Suits we examine the fascinating history and evolution of the modern suit from the late seventeenth century to date. From eighteenth-century bespoke to the mass industrialization of the twentieth century, we see how the uniform of the ruling classes became the utilitarian outfit of the worker. A series of thematic chapters also illustrate how the universal staple of a man's wardrobe can play many different roles and, chameleon-like, can mean different things in different situations. From the Duke of Windsor to The Thin White Duke, David Bowie; from James Brown to The Jamel from Guys and Dolls to The Godfather, movie stars, rock stars, heroes and villains, philanthropists, presidents and gangsters - all these men and many more have dressed to impress in a matching jacket and trousers and have found that a suit will suit them very well. `Clothes can `do a job'. A well-cut suit can make you slimmer, taller, sexier, more elegant or business-like.' Sir Paul Smith Chapters include: Convention or Fashion? The single-breasted suit A Question of Balance the Double-breasted suit Princes Among Men The striped suit The Italian Job The checked suit US Male The white suit Passion from Paris The Dormeuil suits Lost in Music The Bowie suits The Magic of the Movies