Bring the pocket square back into the fold

‘POCKET handkerchiefs are optional,’ said the singer Frank Sinatra, ‘but I always wear one’. And very dapper he looked, too.

After decades of smart-casual dressing, isn’t it high time we revived the gentleman’s pocket square?

A new book certainly thinks so. The Pocket Square: 22 Essential Folds by A.C. Phillips (£9.95, Thames & Hudson) makes the case for folded handkerchiefs. But it’s no good just stuffing a silk square into your breast pocket. The trick is to master origami-like styles such as the ‘Presidential’ and ‘Bouquet’. And for a dandyish dash, try the ‘Puff’ fold — which makes your handkerchief look like a lotus flower.

You’ll be in good company. Cary Grant, Oscar Wilde, Fred Astaire, John F. Kennedy, the Duke of Windsor and Yves Saint Laurent were all pocket-square men.