We pride ourselves on lauding the men who exemplify the top of the men’s style world, be they actors, musicians, or the occasional athlete And while we are happy to shine a light on the men of today who remain above the fray of trends and keep their style timeless, it sometimes helps for us to look back on the pioneers of men’s style. The trailblazers who laid the path for decades to come for the men who follow them, indelibly inking their places in history and resulting in their enshrining into the Pantheon of style gods, forever.

Yet many men today look to gaudy hotdogs of ill repute, idolizing the flavors of the month at their own perils, and need to be reminded of what class and style really are. This seems to be most acute here in the United States, where we, as a nation, have very short memories and tend to either scoff at anything more than ten years old, or dismiss entirely. So it is incumbent upon us to share with you the men who, during the Twentieth Century, became not only famous and wealthy, but became the Vanguard for class and style, if not also rakishness. if you don’t already know about these men and of their…exploits…now is the time and we urge you to use this article as an excuse to learn more. about them.

Porfirio Rubirosa

If you haven’t heard of Rubirosa, then you’re already behind. “Ruby” was probably the closest thing to a real-life James Bond that we’ll ever have, with the litany of sexual conquests to boot. It didn’t hurt that Rubirosa’s mos notable trait, in addition to his impeccable style and incomparable charm, was his legendary endowment, said to be “like the end of a Louisville Slugger.” For more, check out the biography The Last Playboy.

Gunher Sachs

Author. Photographer. industrialist. Husband of Bridget Bardot. The man lived. And when he was slowly and agonizingly dying from Alzheimer’s, he decided that life without control of your own mind was not worth living, and he ended the life of who could perhaps be the actual “Most Interesting Man in the World.”

Terence Stamp

One of the greatest and most underrated actors of all time, Stamp was the David Bowie of the film industry: androgynous, stylish, and handsome. It’s not easy to play a man who sleeps with all the members of a family, a tycoon in Wall Street and also a villain in a Superman movie, but the enigmatic Stamp does it…easily.

Marcello Mastroianni

Maybe the greatest Italian film star in history, Matroianni was Italian cinema in the mid-20th Century. He was George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and bit of Cary Grant, mixed with European je ne sais quoi and you have one of the most stylish men of all time and an archetype of European style. If you haven’t seen the Italian New Wave films Otto e Mezzo or La Dolce Vita, do it now and copy every outfit you see Mastroianni in.