For most people who live outside the fashion world, there's something undeniably silly about the looks you see on the catwalks from "edgier" designers. Take Thom Browne, he of the shrunken, skinny grey suit, who very rarely disappoints in this department. This season he’s sent out what looks like a fusion of boys' and girls' school uniforms to the catwalks.

Is he making a serious point about the multifaceted, changing nature of masculinity in 2017? Or is he just having a bit of fun? Whatever you think, Thom Browne has had a huge impact on your wardrobe. He single-handedly created the trend for sockless ankle flashing, and he was key to the revival of Fifties and Sixties American style, buoyed by TV programmes like Mad Men.

At the other end of the masculinity spectrum we have MMA fighter Conor McGregor in a suit, which has "F*** You" instead of pinstripes running down it. This will forever be known as the "Conor McGregor F*** You Suit" and is perhaps 2017’s dumbest style moment so far, almost as dumb as his decision to fight Floyd "Money" Mayweather.

One of the suited looks from Thom Browne's SS/18 collection © Indigital

While this suit hogs all the headlines, tailoring as we know it is undergoing one of its periodic sea-changes. For most men, the art-school mindset represented by the Thom Browne's boy-girl mish-mash is the kind of thing that puts them off fashion. This ideological divide between fashion vs style says that the former is frivolous, fleeting, and an eye watering waste of money. "You’re just paying for a brand and the marketing - you fools!", runs the argument. "Fashion", in this context, is also seen as the preserve of gay men and criticism of it more often than not carries with it the unmistakable whiff of homophobia. Fashion is not for "real" men, whatever that means.

Style, on the other hand, is seen by society as timeless and staunchly heterosexual. We’re encouraged to make "investments" in this mythical, unchanging word. While fashion is all camp flourishes and theatrics, style is an art form of subtlety and detail. It has rules which must be followed and Gods who must be worshipped. These Gods are invariably dead white men: see Steve McQueen, Cary Grant and the Duke of Windsor.

The suits retain their essential sensuality, sex appeal and cool understatement

Nowhere is the fashion vs style argument waged more fiercely than in the realm of the suit. In one corner we have the Savile Row old guard and their Italian cousins in Naples and Florence with their unbending traditions and rules. In the other, we have Thom Browne, Vetements, Gucci and Comme Des Garçons sending eccentric tailoring experiments down the catwalk with little or no regard for that peculiar turn of phrase "wearability", which is reserved for their diffusion lines.

There is, however, a "third way" to getting dressed in 2017. A lot of men, especially those aged above 30, want the sex appeal and elegance of tailored clothing without looking too buttoned-up, formal or old fashioned.

Look closely: Conor McGregor's pinstripe suit spells out "F*** you" © Splash News

This softening, loosening and subtle "fashionification" of classic menswear arguably began with Stefano Pilati’s first few collections for Zegna starting in 2014.

Other Italian brands such Barena and The Gigi (Boglioli’s younger line) propose a similarly casual and dégagé form of elegance. In Paris, Christophe Lemaire has been playing with the proportions of tailored clothing in a sensitive and intelligent manner. This new school of tailoring is loose and louche, not tight and restrictive. The suits retain their essential sensuality, sex appeal and cool understatement. Any detailing is there for a purpose, the shapes and proportions flattering. The overall effect is modern, without descending into high fashion sillywear or retro pastiche.

And in 2017 that’s what men want more than ever. Not "f*** you suits", surely?

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