A glossary of sartorial buzzwords to give you that je ne sais quoi.

Some of the most indelible moments in 20th-century men’s style are as French as tartiflette and waspish Parisian waiters. There’s Mr Serge Gainsbourg, owlish in pristine pinstripes and rumpled shirt, or the boyish ease of a young Mr Alain Delon. Mr Cary Grant in To Catch A Thief wouldn’t have looked nearly as debonair had his blazer and white trousers not fitted so harmoniously with the laid-back refinement of the French Riviera, while Mr Jean-Paul Belmondo’s tilted trilbys, tweed suits and Gauloise-as-accessory couldn’t be anything but le style français.

Menswear has always been in thrall to French style, which balances an officious masculinity (think of Charvet and its handsome shirts) with a renegade spirit (those Left Bank men in their leathers and reed-thin jeans). So, it’s worth mastering a few choice phrases to navigate the Gallic sartorial landscape.

01.

Not to be confused with unkempt, louche is the roguish opposite of glossy polish. It’s slightly undone but still elegant, and rarely emerges until after-hours cognacs are on the cards. A smoking jacket and an open-collared shirt, worn with an air of devilish disrepute, are your wardrobe wingmen here.

02.

Hailing from Brittany (or Bretagne), the Breton sweater began life as naval attire. The 21 blue and white stripes (one for each of Mr Napoleon Bonaparte’s conquests) were introduced to make seamen who had fallen overboard easier to spot. Since then, the round-necked top has become a byword for off-duty style.

03.

Élan is elusive. It’s a certain something, a je ne sais quoi, a potency in someone’s mannerisms, a charisma and a way of holding oneself. It’s that trace of Eau Sauvage that lingers when someone leaves the party. And if you haven’t got it, unfortunately, you never will, mon chéri. Tant pis!

04.

Don’t be put off by the #coachella contingent commandeering ombré, which translates as “shaded”, to showcase rainbow-hued hairstyles on Instagram. It began as a technique in fabric printing to graduate colour and is now used to bold effect at Paris houses such as Berluti and Lanvin to add subtle nuance and depth.

05.

Savoir-faire is the patrician elder sibling of louche, always polished, upright and finessed to within an inch of his pristine pocket square. There’s a gleam of confidence and deftness to a man with savoir-faire. His shoes are scuff free and his tie just so. Savoir-faire is up with his oeufs en cocotte with a crisp copy of Le Figaro.

06.

A casually shrugged-off blazer, a button left artfully undone, a certain hands-thrust-in-pockets pluck. The art of insouciance is all about a casual, relaxed stance. It’s about donning a suit, but not being afraid of it crumpling as you kick back in an armchair. It’s relaxing that tie at the end of the day. It is about living life.

07.

Bouclé is a kind of wool yarn in which two or more strands are doubled back on or looped over one another, or buckled to create a bobbled effect. It became the fabric of choice for Chanel’s jackets after designer Ms Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was inspired by the rugged sporting jackets worn by her lover, the Duke of Westminster.

08.

Frenchman Mr Joseph Marie Jacquard crafted the programmable loom that now bears his name in the 1800s. It is able to produce a pattern that’s part of the weave of a fabric, instead of being printed onto it. The effect is used in most men’s silk ties, as well as to create sumptuous evening jackets that are ripe for an outing at Maxims.

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