How to Wear 70s Menswear Now, Without the Fancy Dress

Men had a good 1970s. They got brown suits, big collars and trousers with some width in them, and nobody asked them to apologise. The decade is about to get a lot of screen time, because The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens on 20 November and its costume designer, Bina Daigeler, told Bustle the references were "the '60s and '70s". I'm hoping some of it escapes the cinema.

I like dressing men in this decade because it's one of the few where their clothes were allowed texture, colour and a bit of vanity at once. The trick now is to take it apart. A 70s outfit has a collar, a leg and a jacket. Pick one of those to make a fuss of, keep the other two ordinary, and you've got a man with good taste. Do all three and he's booked for a wedding reception as Slade.

The easiest 70s outfit in the film

Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy

Haymitch's worn leather jacket

Haymitch wears a beaten-up dark leather jacket with ribbed cuffs, a grey top and brown corduroy trousers. You could walk into any pub in Cardiff in that and nobody would mention Panem. It works because nothing is new-looking and nothing matches too well. A leather jacket also gets better the worse you treat it, which suits most of the men I know.

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Style this look with our stylist

Black and dark brown leather jackets

70s shirts and knitwear

The knitted polo is the cleverest piece here, because it reads as 70s to anyone who's looking and as a nice jumper to everyone else. Wear it buttoned or open, under a jacket, tucked in if your trousers have a proper waist. A roll neck does the same job with less effort. Retro print shirts are the loud option. They're short-sleeved, so in November they belong open over a plain T-shirt or under something warm.

Trousers with some width

Proper flares are hard to find for men right now, with only a handful in the catalogue, and I wouldn't lose sleep over it. On most people a flare needs a tall frame and a lot of confidence. The wearable version is width all the way down. Corduroy in brown or dark green does the most for the least, and a pleated wide-leg trouser gives you the shape if you'd rather look like you own a record shop than work in one.

Suede jackets and Chelsea boots

If you buy one thing, I'd make it a suede jacket in tan or brown. It goes over a T-shirt and jeans and instantly looks considered, and it's the piece people will ask about. Real suede and faux both turn up below, so check the listing if it matters to you, and don't take either out in a Welsh downpour. Underneath, a suede Chelsea boot finishes the job (there's more on shapes in our men's winter boots guide).

70s tailoring: the waistcoat and the brown suit

For a party this December, a brown suit is the bravest sensible thing a man can wear, since everyone else will be in navy. A velvet blazer is the lower-commitment way to get there, and it goes straight over jeans.

If you're seeing the film on opening weekend, one brown jacket is plenty of a nod. Prices and sizes on these rails change, so if something's right, don't sit on it.