Which timepiece is a man’s best “other” watch? How on Earth should you wear a suit right now? And why all the beef about flat caps? Contact us at asky@mrporter.com and we’ll do everything in our power to solve your style questions – or we’ll rope in one of the world’s foremost fashion brains to help. Welcome to Ask MR PORTER.

Our friend, the writer, photographer and editor of WM Brown magazine, Mr Matt Hranek, is often asked about watch collecting. It’s only right – after all, he wrote the book on it, literally. His A Man And His Watch is sort of the ne plus ultra in the field of men’s weird, wonderful, obsessive and romantic appreciation of their wristwear, and so it is to him we turn with your query.

“This question always starts with budget,” Mr Hranek says. “Are we talking Patek or Casio? We have the $40 to the $40,000 to choose from and there are great watches in both of those ranges – and well beyond – and I would wear a bunch from either to go fly stream fishing or to a black-tie event. (Yes, my G-Shock has gone from trout stream to cocktails.) I would say that, if anything, the second watch is not about investment, it is about love. Find your budget and buy the one you will love, always and forever. (When you know that number, DM me if you need anything more.) And good luck.”

Let us count the ways, acknowledging, of course, that autumn itself depends a bit on your geographic location. Our US Editor Mr Chris Wallace says, “As an Angeleno, I always felt a little eyerolly toward men’s magazines this time of year with their all tweed and flannel vibes, wearing, as I was, shorts and slides all day. Maybe I was honouring those Cali roots this week when I sprang for a pair of spectacularly optimistic (delusional?) TOM FORD leopard print swim shorts, as if I’m going to be swimming anytime soon.

“In New York, we are in peak lightweight jacket season – my favourite time of year, when, in normal circumstances, the city starts to look like a Nora Ephron movie and smell of chestnuts. Leather weather: for which I got this Mr P. trucker. Any further from the equator and you are in the fortunate (?) position of thinking about some real-deal layers, scarves, gloves and perhaps an overcoat you can pull over the hoodie you are wearing all day at home.

“In order to compensate, a bit, for my feeling like that guy in Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan, running around Manhattan without a proper coat, I blew the budget this year on a coat I really, really wanted – this one, from The Row – and the kind of pin dot scarf Mr Bill Nighy made look so good in Page Eight. My colleague Tom M Ford put together a list of some toothsome accessories, too, which will get you excited about the brisk air to come. If you’d like a more… cosmic sort of style advice, our own Roni Omikorede made you a style star chart – which, as a Virgo, I can say is spot on.”

Never. @ Tommy Shelby.

“Look,” says our friend, writer, comedian and host of podcast Full Court Chat Mr Dave Schilling, “if you’re sitting around your home contemplating ditching your fine tailoring, did you ever actually love it? Certain cuts and details might go out of fashion – If I ever see a thin lapel again, I might break a vase with a fireplace poker like Michael Keaton in the first Batman movie. But a well-made suit should be timeless. I still have my father’s bespoke navy pinstripe number from the dearly departed Brooks Clothiers in Spokane, Washington. Depending on how deep into quarantine I am, I can fit into it or not, but it’s not going to the donation bin under any circumstances.

“Instead of taking your sartorial ball and going home, start digging for fresher looks,” Mr Schilling says. “There are numerous fantastic brands doing quirkier things with suiting. Dries Van Noten is a personal favourite for his distinct, trademark patterns. You’re also seeing suiting in a variety of materials. I have a green terry cloth blazer and matching shorts that breathes exceptionally well in the heat of my home city of Los Angeles, which is, as we all know, not famous for its attention to tailoring. (All the more reason for me to hold onto the lapel for dear life. Menswear should never be about fitting in. Ever.)

“I also love the neo-prep looks favoured by brands like Noah, Aimé Leon Dore and Rowing Blazers. I have a patchwork Madras suit from Rowing Blazers that is, in its way, old fashioned, because Madras is a treasured, traditional prep look. But that suit breaks a huge rule (Madras jacket with Madras pants should be a no-no) and I never pair it with a dress shirt.

“But if you’d like to stay super traditional in your tailoring, I recommend trying to compliment your suits with non-traditional shirts. A graphic tee does wonders for the right kind of unconstructed blazer. Just remember that any jacket that’s boxy is always going to look businessy, but something Italian, like the blazers made by Barena or Massimo Alba, look great with a T-shirt from Our Legacy or a grandad-collared shirt from Officine Generale. (Dries also does some of the best camp-collar shirts in the world right now, which immediately make any outfit a bit more rakish and fun.)

“Don’t give up on your suits, and your suits will never give up on you.”

As good a motto as we’ve ever heard.