I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore

Regretfully, I must withdraw any endorsement (real or implied) I used to have of GQ magazine. The standards that it set when it first came out were excellent, but those standards have steadily slid for years, and after an abysmal summer I have to declare that I am over, done and finished with this magazine.

Apart from the still-steady Glenn O'Brien, the rest of the magazine no longer aspires to helping men find their feet sartorially and developing your own personal style. The magazine now deems itself to be an arbiter of fashion, that most ridiculous and transient of fallacies, and has descended to a mere shill for the makers of ready-to-wear clothing.

Take, for example, their list of "Rules" from earlier this summer, which included such priceless items such as:

"Buy a two button suit. It will give you a slimmer, more streamlined look, and it will better show off your shirt and tie. The days of three-button dominance are over." (I suppose your body type, height, size and weight are meaningless when it comes to how a jacket will look on your body.)

"Put toe taps on leather-soled dress shoes. They will significantly increase the shoes' life span." (Not to mention make you sound ridiculous wherever you walk. When I suggest we dress like Fred Astaire, that's not what I meant!)

"A dark, slim tie will instantly give any ensemble a younger, cooler feel. And unlike wider ties, it looks as good with a denim jacket as with a suit jacket." (Again, no regard for how you actually look. No, just follow our one-size-fits-all rules.)

"When you wear your trim two button suit, leave the belt in the closet - you don't need one. Going beltless lends the suit a clean, confident look." (And causes your trousers to fall around your ankles, too, for that clean, confident look of embarrassment. Men's waistlines change throughout the year and their lifetimes. Their trouser waists don't.)

Or their recent August edition's Editor's Picks which declared such items as motorcycle boots to be indispensible (?!). To be worn with your pinstripe trousers and shearling coat, no doubt.

In that same article, they declared the velvet blazer to be an Editor's Pick... only to declare, two months later, that the same item was now worn only by poseurs. I hope no one rushed out in August to buy a velvet blazer, only to find out that because so many people rushed out to buy it, it was now out of fashion!

In lieu of GQ, may I recommend Thomas Mahon's website, EnglishCut.com. He's a Savile Row tailor who has his own blog and his writing is extremely illuminating. More than anything else, he emphasises one of the most important rules of dressing: That style is individual, and what works for others will not work for you. Find your own style, develop it, and find a tailor who understands you. Much like life: Don't follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.