Writers don’t care about such a shallow, inconsequential thing as fashion, do they? They spend all their time holed up in defiantly unglamorous dark rooms that are littered with notes and cuttings, stubbed-out cigarettes and empty wine bottles. It is such detritus, not designer knitwear and suede jackets, that constitutes the physical effluvia of their overflowing genius. To borrow a phrase from Mr Roald Dahl: they choose books, not looks.

Or do they? Writers may be towering fleshy containers of intellect, but many of those who have gone on to become legends have also been rather adept at the art of self-promotion. And, dare we say it, such self-promotion has not only involved uttering endless witticisms, attending book signings and randomly challenging people to fist fights. It has also involved the development of a signature outfit for the press photographs. In honour of this fact and to celebrate this World Book Day, we’ve compiled a guide to aping the style of some of the 19th and 20th century’s most revered male authors. What, you thought we were going to encourage you to actually read something?

“Fashion,” wrote the great decadent novelist and playwright in 1885, “is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” Mr Oscar Wilde would be surprised, therefore, to find his penchant for velvet tailoring and shawl collars reflected in Gucci’s menswear offering in 2020, more than 100 years down the line. It’s an easy, albeit not cheap, way to steal his style, if not his genius. Pair with a white shirt and knotted silk scarf from Connolly and try to think of something clever to say.

Mr Ernest Hemingway was keen to be perceived as an intellectual with physical prowess, hence his preoccupation with boxing, bullfighting and fishing. (His particular method was to do it with a gun.) What further excuse do you need to pick up this rather tricked-out piece from visvim – a fisherman’s gilet trimmed with shearling? On the slightly more adaptable side, you might also consider this military-style shirt from Brunello Cucinelli. Just make sure, if you are going fishing, that you’re doing it from a yacht.

This one is easy. Start with the aviators. They must have smoky, golden lenses and will look most Thompson-esque with a Panama hat. Beyond that, you could go in several directions. Mr Hunter S Thompson was a fan of patchwork outerwear, shell suits and safari jackets. The most obvious choice perhaps – it’s what Mr Johnny Depp wore in the Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas movie – is a brightly printed camp-collar shirt. This one from Engineered Garments will do nicely.

Mr Samuel Beckett’s devastating theatrical prose had only one true sartorial manifestation: the black turtleneck. His fondness for this garment, in combination with his shock of white hair, made him one of the most photographable intellectuals of all time. It also makes it very easy to dress like him. Easier than sitting through Waiting For Godot, anyway.

At his best, Mr Jack Kerouac was a poster boy for 1950s casualwear, a mode that is still very much acceptable today. At some point in your life, you have probably already dressed like him. Or maybe you still do. Perhaps, then, this is the slyest tribute you can pay to the literary world today. Simply put together some denim jeans, a white T-shirt, plaid shirt and brown shoes. People may not realise you are secretly channelling the Beat Generation, but you will know it, won’t you?