If you accept the premise of TV’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” you probably won’t like this essay. If you’re like me, however, and find the show trite, hackneyed and stereotypical, you’re my kind of reader. The notion that you have to be sexually inverted to have a taste for the finer things in life is political correctness gone haywire.

Steve Brinkman’s new book, “The Men’s Clothing Guide,” reveals a straight guy with a sharp eye for men’s fashion and one who logged more than 150,000 miles visiting men’s stores all over America to prove it. The Guide is the result of his travels.

The subtitle “How and Where to Buy the Best Men’s Clothing in America” is what it’s about. His mantra – repeated throughout the book – however, applies equally to men and women: More combinations=more versatility=better value for your clothing dollar. Who would argue with that?

I found it an easy read and a great reference book. If you’re a casual workplace geek and don’t really know what to wear and when, this is a great primer and an even better handbook.

I have only two complaints.

First, I think he could have personalized some of his Brick-and-Mortar Shopping Guide section by getting some comments and quotes, especially from some of the independent clothiers. I’d like to hear some of the fashion philosophies of the professionals in the trenches and what they hear most from their patrons about the basic concepts of haberdashery and dressing over the years.

He does however, a comprehensive job covering online shopping, factory outlet malls, department stores and independent menswear stores. His glossary of terms is invaluable for fashion neophytes.

Second, (and he admits he’s being controversial) that the only sport coat one really needs should be solid black. I don’t know about you but the only times I’ve ever seen anyone wearing a black sport coat was in the East Village in New York (where all is, has been and forever will be black), on a southern preacher and on morticians.

As I’ve written elsewhere a blue blazer is the bible of all wardrobes, the mother of all closets. Black is too, well, funereal. And just the thought of wearing black on a hot, sunny day makes me perspire under my Panama. Blue is just as adaptable and so much more regal and cooler (both literally and figuratively).

Otherwise, Brinkman is mostly on the mark. Nowhere more so than when he writes of the Fairfield Clothiers and Naresh Mansukhani: “A truly delightful destination store. Mr. Mansukhani is cheerful and knowledgeable. I received perhaps the best customer service at Fairfield Clothiers during all of my travels researching this book.”

Hear, hear!

If you want a sampling of Brinkman’s work, you can check out his Web site at www.MensSpecialtyRetail.com.

As Brinkman says, “I firmly believe the average man likes to dress well and wants to develop his own sense of style rather than wear clothes someone else has selected for him.”

Queer eye my ….

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