1. THOU SHALT ALWAYS WEAR TWEED.
No other fabric says so defiantly: I am a man of panache, savoir-faire and devil-may-care, and I will not be served Continental lager beer under any circumstances.
2. THOU SHALT NEVER NOT SMOKE.
Health and Safety “executives” and jobsworth medical practitioners keep trying to convince us that smoking is bad for the lungs/heart/skin/eyebrows, but we all know that smoking a bent apple billiard full of rich Cavendish tobacco raises one’s general sense of well-being to levels unimaginable by the aforementioned spoilsports.
3. THOU SHALT ALWAYS BE COURTEOUS TO THE LADIES.
A gentleman is never truly seated on an omnibus or railway carriage: he is merely keeping the seat warm for when a lady might need it. Those who take offence at being offered a seat are not really Ladies.
4. THOU SHALT NEVER, EVER, WEAR PANTALOONS DE NIMES.
When you have progressed beyond fondling girls in the back seats of cinemas, you can stop wearing jeans. Wear fabrics appropriate to your age, and, who knows, you might even get a quick fumble in your box at the opera.
5. THOU SHALT ALWAYS DOFF ONE’S HAT.
Alright, so you own a couple of trilbies. Good for you – but it’s hardly going to change the world. Once you start actually lifting them off your head when greeting, departing or simply saluting passers-by, then the revolution will really begin.
6. THOU SHALT NEVER FASTEN THE LOWEST BUTTON ON THY WAISTCOAT.
Look, we don’t make the rules, we simply try to keep them going. This one dates back to Edward VII, sufficient reason in itself to observe it.
7. THOU SHALT ALWAYS SPEAK PROPERLY.
It’s quite simple really. Instead of saying “Yo, wassup?”, say “How do you do?”
8. THOU SHALT NEVER WEAR PLIMSOLLS WHEN NOT DOING SPORT.
Nor even when doing sport. Which you shouldn’t be doing anyway. Except cricket.
9. THOU SHALT ALWAYS WORSHIP AT THE TROUSER PRESS.
At the end of each day, your trousers should be placed in one of Mr. Corby’s magical contraptions, and by the next morning your creases will be so sharp that they will start a riot on the high street.