Five best: books about fashion

Woody Hochswender, a former features editor of Harper's Bazaar and style reporter for the New York Times, is the author of The Buddha in Your Rearview Mirror. He selected a five best list of books about fashion for Opinion Journal.

One title on his list:

Dressing the Man by Alan Flusser

Men are creatures (and sometimes victims) of fashion, too. While teaching how to select and wear clothes is Alan Flusser's mission in "Dressing the Man," this handsome book's subtitle reflects its subversive philosophy: "Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion." We tend to think of fashion and permanence as mutually exclusive. But Flusser makes a strong case for certain enduring principles of dress, based on the correct proportions and colors for your frame and face. He offers some of the most detailed how-to's imaginable and illustrates his points by using various paragons of fashion (Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, the Duke of Windsor). This is the one indispensable book on men's fashion. Personal architecture -- that is the starting point of style.

Read more about Hochswender's list.

--Marshal Zeringue