What makes a stylish man? Is it the immaculate cut of his suit on the red carpet, or the way he carries off sharp fashion on the street?

Gore Vidal once said that great style is an attitude; about knowing who you are and what you want. Or, in other words, not giving a damn.

This kind of chutzpah explains why men such as Jared Leto, Nickelson Wooster and Fred Astaire are placed near the top of the list whenever the question of style is floated.

Mitchell Oakley-Smith, editor at menswear magazine Manuscript, says the most stylish man in the room is often the one who is the most simply dressed.

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"Sometimes there's nothing more stylish than a navy blazer or a white button-down shirt or a grey suit," Oakley-Smith says.

"But putting it together well, having it well cut and made and pressed – those sorts of details elevate a fairly traditional and common garment to something innately stylish."

All about attitude

You see, whether it was Astaire's off-beat accessories, Wooster's penchant for tailored jackets with shorts, or Leto's ambiguous androgyny, what makes these men stand out is not so much what they wore but rather how they wore it.

So with that in mind, we've created what we believe is a definitive list of the most stylish men from the past 70 years.

While some have made a name for themselves thanks to their reputation for the unconventional (think Andre 3000), others (like Javier Bardem and George Clooney) make the cut thanks to their unwavering good taste.

From the timeless taste of Cary Grant to the novel prints favoured by Hunter S. Thompson, these men have led the way when it comes to sartorial expression.

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