Despite the usual emphasis on women’s love of fashion, men have, throughout the centuries, selected their attire with concern and precision. What men wore could express political position, social status or personality - men’s clothing has its own equally important and fascinating history. Looking at the high end of the social scale, this lecture traces the history of men’s dress from the introduction of the basic elements of the suit under Charles II in the 1660s. The eighteenth century saw the flamboyance of dress for the dandies and court peacocks balanced by the sombre form of dress worn on the country estate – the frock coat. This would come to form the essence of gentlemanly dignity and give Savile Row international fame. The turn of the nineteenth century saw the dramatic transition to wearing black. The dark suit continued to dominate and the etiquette of correct dressing escalated. In the twentieth century leaders of aristocratic fashion such as Edward VII and Edward VIII continued to uphold and refine standards of gentlemanly attire.