Simplex Munditiis, Gentlemen takes its title from Horace’s praise of elegant simplicity and offers guidance on tasteful masculine dress and deportment. The book counsels the gentleman toward understated refinement, treating restraint and propriety as the marks of true style.
Reflecting early twentieth-century ideals of masculine elegance, it ties correct dress to character and good breeding. De Lannoy’s advice favors quiet good taste over display. A genteel guide to the well-dressed gentleman, it is available here as a free EPUB download. In its quiet preference for propriety over fashion’s excess, the book offers a window onto the ideals of the well-bred man of its day and the enduring appeal of understated style.