It's a style question that haunts most men over the age of 40 - when should I start acting my age? It's a thin line that separates the men from the boys, but in the world of male fashion, it's a gaping chasm few are able to breach successfully.
With his mullet-styled blond hair and leather trousers, Peter Stringfellow is the epitomy of poor taste in the middle-aged man. And it's a double whammy for the 65-year-old British nightclub-owner, lacking as he does both youth and style. Add to this his D-list celebrity status - an important factor to consider for the mature man eyeing the racks of T-shirts and jeans at Diesel, Chrome Hearts or Carhartt - and it's no surprise the self-styled Peter Pan of table-dancing venues came 18th in a Channel Four television poll on 100 worst Britons.
Meanwhile, at the top of the A-list, Brad Pitt, 42, thinks nothing of donning ripped jeans, a baggy T-shirt or a denim jacket topped with a crocheted tam-o'-shanter.
A lithe Mick Jagger, 62, prances confidently across the stage in midriff-exposing T-shirt, while fellow band member and similarly aged Keith Richards is happy to resemble a bag of dirty washing. Yet all three manage to carry off their respective images with aplomb.
'If I saw Mick Jagger walking down the street in a tight tee and low-slung drain-pipe jeans, I'd think, 'Wow', but if it was just some 60-year-old regular guy, I'd probably laugh,' says one devoted Rolling Stones fan, 33.
Celebrity status, occupation and sexual orientation are key indicators of what should be occupying the rails of the middle-aged wardrobe. Rock stars and wrestlers can wear bandanas; white 'wife-beater' T-shirts are for models; while only a Hollywood superstar can get away with cargo pants at 40 plus. That's not to say a 50-year-old insurance broker with a beer belly and family can't wear hip-hop jeans, baggy T-shirt, hooded sweatshirt and trilby. It's more a question of should they?
Freelance stylist David Roden says there are also rules for that ageless fashion no-no for men, the ponytail. His list of those permitted to sport such a hairstyle includes 'anyone in the music industry, unless it's an awards ceremony, creative people, old dinosaurs in the advertising industry and Carlos Santana'.
