HQ Sharp Suits: A celebration of men's tailoring

Si te gusta la historia de la moda masculina este es un libro que seguro te va a parecer entretenido lleno de bellas fotografías de personajes que marcaron tendencia y dejaron huella

Sharp Suits is a beautiful book with lots of photos and descriptions of the wearer, explaining the history and background of men’s clothing, especially the gorgeous suits and styles displayed in the book. Unfortunately, men have moved away from wearing really beautiful suits these days. Maybe they’ll come around again, because to see a man in a good suit is just so nice!

I pre-ordered this book because I can never get enough books celebrating the suit. The book is a feast for the eyes that easily surpases "Gentleman: A Timeless Fashion" by Bernhard Roetze in its beauty (a difficult feat.  Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion (Lifestyle) Roetze's book is one of my favorites although its focus is not just on the suit.) This book reminded me of "100 Years of menswear" by Cally Blackman One Hundred Years of Menswear . Both books feature a photograph of David Bowie wearing an iconic yellow suit with a shawl collar (SS has a nice selection of Bowie's experimental suits.) That book was fantastic with, practically, the entire story of men's clothing told in photograph captions. The pictures were the focus of the book but the captions were so good that it elevated the book above a mere picture book. "Sharp Suits," has quality captions as well but it seems to focus the narative more in actual texts, exploring various themes over many pages. The book covers quite a lot about suits. It is not quite as exhaustive as Esquire's "Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's"  Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashions  or "The Fairchild Encyclopedia of Menswear,"  The Fairchild Encyclopedia of Menswear  but it still gets 98% of the information that most will be interested in about the suit. This book is also different than than those two reference works in that Sharp suits is more narative. It differs from Alan Flusser's work in that Mr. Flusser's work is much less illustrated (and especially less photographed, sadly) and somewhat more prescriptive (I don't mean this in a negative way. What I am trying to relay is that I think you read Mr. Flusser's books  Clothes and the Man: The Principles of Fine Men's Dress  to learn how to dress. He explains how to do this based on one's physical characteristics among other things.) Sharp Suits gets into the proportions of the suit but one probably doesn't go to this book to learn how to dress so much as to learn about the whole history and the mystique and vibe of the suit. This is a pleasure read more than a learning experience (even though I have enjoyed Flusser's books and found this one very educational as well.) The structure of the book is arbitrary, making it a poor go to reference unless your obscure query happens to be a section title. All in all, this is a must have for anyone who takes pleasure in reading about, or more importantly, looking at men's suits through the ages and as interpreted by various gifted and not so gifted practitioners of fashion. It is pretty enough to serve as a coffee table book but has enough content to allow you to hunker down for several hours of enjoyable reading.Smart and pretty!! A must have for those who enjoy a beautiful book about suits. 5 stars. Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion (Lifestyle)One Hundred Years of MenswearEsquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's FashionsThe Fairchild Encyclopedia of MenswearClothes and the Man: The Principles of Fine Men's Dress

A compelling read about the history of the suit and how it has adapted (or not, as the case may be) over the years. Accompanied by an excellent narrative and sumptuous photographs, this is definitely one to grace the coffee tables of the sartorially inclined.

Fabulous! This book took me back to my childhood and took me on a venture to the present. Well done. It's a fun book if you like remembering the pass and viewing the changes that has taken place in men's fashion over the years and how they've stayed the same in some aspects. It is well laid out and makes the read go fairly quickly. Well worth the wait.