Look 1

THE LOOK: If colour finally shouldered its way into men's wardrobes last summer, then it is a well-established resident this time round. Amid the reds and apple greens, don't underestimate yellow, it goes perfectly with navy and you can man-it-up with a hard edged Breton stripe and - because you're a grown-up - you will keep the shoes simple with white canvas.

TIP: Think about your fit and keep your bottom half slightly fitted so that when you roll the hem, your trousers don't swing out six inches away from your calf.

PLAY: Rio, by Duran Duran, the 80s video was the ultimate in yacht porn and when you're wearing summer Bretons that's exactly what you need.

Look 2

THE LOOK: Proof that you can wear shorts without letting your sartorial standards slip one inch, this is a harmonious combination that looks loose and louche and yet somehow tailored. The bookend echo of the straw trilby and leather shoes adds a considered air that recalls Death on the Nile style gentlemanliness without going all period drama on your cotton clad heiny.

TIP: Match white and blue with natural shades - the straw boater and leather deck shoes are the perfect foil for the classic man palette of blue and white.

PLAY: Get more sophisticated than your peers by whacking on Brahms' Sommerabend for a few hundred balmy seconds.

Look 3

THE LOOK: Think geographically when summer comes. What's the look you're going for? It's probably best to swerve the tiny trunked Brazilian beach god look unless your confidence is higher than a squirrel up a Sequoia; and "off-duty Californian rock star" takes just too many tattoos for most of us. Even buttoned-up English dandy takes a pernickety approach that we can't always be bothered with when the mercury is that high... So take a tip from the European and wear a summer weight blazer with coloured chinos. You'll look smart without any effort at all.

TIP: Take a colour and wear it in a sunbleached shade - it's gentler than a bright and more manly than a pastel - note how this subtly washed down chino is easy to wear.

PLAY: Aquarelo do Brasil by Ary Barroso. Just because the beach-footballer look isn't apt, doesn't mean you can't indulge in a caipirinha and a samba at the right moment.

Look 4

THE LOOK: OK, look, the word "timeless" is an overused weapon in the style writer's arsenal and technically speaking, it's inaccurate (will we really still be tweed-clad when we live on the smaller moons of Titan in the year two-hundred thousand?) but this is close as you're ever going to get when it comes to summer style: chino shorts and a lightweight cotton madras check shirt. We give it at least another two thousand years on trend.

TIP: Finish it off without socks and the finest leather your feet can endure and that dress down backpack for ultimate Ivy Leagueness.

PLAY: There are two types of summer soundtrack - the ones that move you and the ones that soothe you: this one's made for soothing old school style. Crack out PM Dawn's Set Adrift on Memory Bliss.

Look 5

THE LOOK: Prints and patterns are - much like colour was last summer - the new thing for menswear this season and there's little barrier to getting involved when they are this sophisticated. A paean to crumpled cotton, this is all about teaming plain separates with that one patterned piece.

TIP: It's not what you wear, it's the way that you wear it - when smoothed and buttoned up this look is genteel enough for a summer business lunch, but once it's relaxed, untucked and unfastened it gets seriously Byronic. (Warning: you may need to memorise a few poems if caught reading alone in the park in this one.)

PLAY: The oft-covered Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay, but get the original Otis Redding vinyl under the needle and learn how to do nothing in true style. Now open that book and drift away...

Look 6

THE LOOK: Weekends deserve just the same attention as the weekday and by teaming up a few casual favourites, you can create a layered look that will be breezy, without ever getting cheesy. The updates are crucial: the illustrated print replaces the old school plaid and the pale blush chino replaces the classic stone.

TIP: If the open shirt thing is not quite your style, then a simple crew neck T-shirt evokes the mood of the 1950s - this summer's top retro reference.

PLAY: Summertime Blues. Eddie Cochrane's rock 'n' roll classic may have some pretty furious lyrics but the mood is pure upbeat. Press play and feel like a fevered teenager all over agin...