Happy Friday. It’s the beginning of LFW and I’m looking at the third working weekend in a row. Not that I’m complaining. This weekend sees the publication of our menswear issue, invariably one of my favourites of the year. This season we’re unpicking the many codes of modern masculinity as we explore Old School, New Rules. Associated as we are with the most robust traditions of the Square Mile, HTSI will always have a weakness for the City boy. We look at double-breasted suits, the tie and the colour mustard, among other things, to examine the new deportment – is it louche, loungey, relaxed, subversive or even more traditional than perhaps it first appears?

Our cover story by Kingsley Ifill and Tony Irvine sets classic tailoring against some of London’s greatest landmarks. Who doesn’t love a tux with Tower Bridge? Still wondering why top hats, tails and great coats have survived the onslaught of streetwear in recent decades? It’s because they look so good. As Conner Ives, the American designer and this week’s Aesthete, observes of men’s formal dress, “it’s really erotic and sexy; it’s so set in its ways”. The trick is to play with its conventions rather than let them overwhelm you. Ives is an excellent advocate for the cummerbund and the dress sock, worn with one’s trousers tucked in so as to show off one’s ankles, naturally. 

Also sexy: our guide to bespoke shoemakers, compiled by Sara Semic, who asks our footwear specialists to nominate their experts of the last and stay. Would you wait 18 months to have shoes made to your exact measurements? If so, then this feature is for you.

Think of Spanish masculinity, writes Igor Ramírez García-Peralta, and one is generally confronted by two poles. “At one end stands Don Quixote, noble to the point of absurdity,” he writes. “At the other is Javier Bardem in Bigas Luna’s 1992 film Jamón jamón: all swagger, erotic confidence and appetite.” His essay was prompted by a trove of images by the late Ramón Masats (1931-2024), a self-taught, Barcelona-born artist who helped redefine Spanish documentary photography. 

Masats’ work enshrines the image of the powerful Latin male but, as Igor reflects, “It would be naïve to mistake these images for evidence of a better past.” The pictures contribute to an interesting meditation on masculinity the world over in which the pursuit of Bardem-like physical perfection remains ever present, even while the roles of men have significantly changed.

On which subject, one of the most obvious trends I’ve noticed in the past year is how much thinner (and more handsome) so many of my male friends, family and colleagues have become. While Ozempic was considered niche, exclusive and exotic in 2017, its use has since become quite commonplace. Likewise, the conversation around it has become more open and transparent – but even so we rarely hear stories about men and GLP-1s. Being among the minority of users, their experience was something I was curious to hear more about. Women are somewhat conditioned to talk about their bodies: for good or ill, men are usually absent from that exchange.

Louis Wise has gathered a group of men to talk about body image, confidence and weight loss. The results are endearing, funny and brutally honest. Kudos to Bryan, who perfectly articulates the issues around his choice: “There’s a bombardment of moral outrage from all sides when it comes to taking weight-loss treatments… But if you don’t know what it’s like to open a fridge and not just get out a bit of food, as opposed to eating the whole fridge, then I really don’t want to hear your opinion.” Enjoy! 

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THREE MORE STORIES TO READ THIS WEEK

Schostal, the store keeping the stars in pyjamas When in Rome, head to the 155-year-old haberdashery  Conner Ives talks taste The American designer loves dress socks, Halston and heated conversations