The older you get the better you should dress. All my life I’ve been fascinated by men’s fashion. In truth, the interest has gone hand-in-hand with my interest in rock music, and. in particularly, British rock music, starting with the Beatles. Not only was their music fresh and exciting but their overall visual style was as well. From the beginning I associated clothes with music.

It may go back even earlier. My Mom was something of a fashionista and she used to dress my sister and I in the same kinds of clothes worn by the Kennedy kids. Ever since then, I’ve enjoyed dressing up.

I think it probably helps to have grown up during the 1960s and 1970s. Of course, the Beatles went through a stylistic evolution from the monochrome days of their early years to the technicolor psychedelia of the later ones and beyond but I traveled along the long and winding road with them. Other style icons came, Sean Connery in the early James Bond movies, Steve McQueen in “The Thomas Crown Affair”,  Patrick McNee in “The Avengers” (nobody has rocked a bowler hat and brolly in quite the same way before or since).

Glam and punk rock were huge for me. And not just because I could relate to the music. The first time I saw the early Roxy Music, David Bowie and Marc Bolan, I thought they looked like they descended from another planet. The next thought was “where can I cop Bryan Ferry’s tiger skin jacket?” Similarly, the Sex Pistols, with their artfully placed rips and safety pins, and the Jackson Pollack influenced paint splatters and sloganeering of the early “Uniforms” worn by the Clash had an effect on an unformed mind.

Once I was old enough to understand where these clothes were coming from I started to appreciate the designers behind them, most of them, perhaps not coincidently, British. My favorites include Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, and more recently labels like Pretty Green, Ben Sherman, and Ted Baker. Another favorite is Christophe Lemaire (okay he’s French and designs for a Japanese fast fashion brand, Uniqlo, in addition to his own line but the exception proves the rule right?).

I’ve always drawn a distinction between fashion (trends that come and go) and style. My style has remained relatively consistent though I did go through a period in my 20s where I only wore black. I’m more settled now than I was then, happier, and more willing to experiment with my style.

For me clothes aren’t so much about fitting in as standing out. Clothes are a means of self-expression. They are armor (sometimes literally) in an increasingly harsh world. You’ll also find The Modernist Style on Instagram and Pinterest where the content will be tailored (see what I did there?) to the particular social channel. Next time, I’ll tell you the story of getting fitted for a suit by James Bond’s tailor in a flat once rented by both Ringo Starr and Jimi Hendrix. I hope you’ll join me on my fashion adventures.