http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24019737

By all means wear what you want, but I personally hate the look of quilted jackets...

Anyway, fashion's patently ridiculous. And it's even worse when blokes attempt it.

I wear what feels comfortable. That said, I like the Black Line from Eterna, some very strong colours and a light sheen.

Tradition is very strong here, women seem to like wearing dirndls and most men seem to like that...

Rules are meant to be broken. Having said that a lot of the rules make sense. More eccentric and brave people tend to break them more, especiallythe ones about wearing patterns. Helena Bonham Carter springs to mind. She always looks good to me and it suits her because that's her style but I would not feel comfortable wearing what she does.

My Mum lived by the rule of matching bag and shoes but then her heyday was the 50s and 60s and it was different times then.

Rules (for blokes anyway) are simple

1st its what ever your mum says you must wear
2nd its what ever your other half says you must wear

The only fashion rule I remember is you cannot wear white after Labor Day. Blame Serial Mom for that!

There are, or at least were, plenty of rules of etiquette as to how a gentleman should dress that survived even post world war 2. 'No brown in town' was one I remember being told, which referred to the fact a gentleman in town (as oppose to the country) would be wearing a dark suit in grey or blue, so wearing brown shoes with that suit was considered a mistake and you would always wear black shoes, presumably freshly polished by one's gentleman's gentleman.

It is also obviously true that these rules only ever applied to the wealthy. The working classes were lucky to have more than one pair of shoes to wear full stop.

Unless they are these four townies

A man can own ripped jeans, but he cannot buy ripped jeans.

That does not extend to when his fat arse rips them.

When I was given clothes as a kid, I'm sure my mother had no sense of style. I hated wearing a hooded coat. I hated wearing brown trousers. At one point, my sense of style was so bad, I wore a blue suit jacket with light brown trousers, a purple shirt and a yellow (Bart Simpson) tie. Thankfully this was that tumultuous time of the teens when I was in sixth form.

By the time I was at uni, I had become much more conservative and remain so. It was in my first year that I realised that brown shoes don't go with black trousers, and that blue trainers don't really go with black jeans. Thankfully, I never wore white socks with a suit - one of my friends did and he looked like a muppet but didn't care.

Now I will only ever wear jackets, coats, shoes, trainers, belts, socks, boxers, scarves, gloves etc if they're in black. Colour is reserved for tops - jumpers, t-shirts and shirt. Even these were initially conservative - blues, whites, greys and blacks. My bedclothes remain in these colours. My work clothes will feature a shirt from Hawes & Curtis, and my trousers will be black but might be plain, or varying pinstripe designs.

I am worried about getting old - there's a point at which you can't pull off wearing so much black. It just looks odd.

Because you look like you're always on your way to a funeral?

No. Because it looks like you're trying to look young. I'll never forget the 70 year old who had a black leather jacket and an awesome combover. He was bald with a wreath of hair that he had grown long and styled forwards into a 50s/60s style hairdo.

He'd probably been wearing that since it was new then.
Why should he stop wearing it if that's his style?

Rules for me now.
Fire resistant overalls, hard hat, steel toe capped boots, gloves, safety glass and ear plugs.

I think clothing should be appropriate for the situation, even if it leads to having a weekday wardrobe and a weekend one. It shows your care about your job and it doesn't mean clothes have to be soulless. I wear 40s utility jeans to work or 50s dresses in bright colours and that's never been an issue.