Get ahead on head gear, make your house a (stylish) home and upgrade your suede.

Home is where you hang your hat, so they say. But what does your home – and your choice of hat – say about you? You can tell a lot about a man from both. The same can be said about the level of care a man takes in looking after his delicate clothes, such as suede jackets. We cover all three topics in this week’s Q&A.

We continue to invite you to submit your questions via our @mrporterlive Instagram page, from which we pick three to answer each Friday. If you prefer, you can send them directly to me at @danrookwood or dan.rookwood@mrporter.com

How can I reflect my style and aesthetic in my living spaces, especially the bedroom and other living areas?

@onenewton, via Twitter

You can pick up a great deal of information about someone from the look and feel of their home, from the art on the wall, the grooming products in the bathroom cabinet, the watch and glasses on the bedside table, the photography books on the coffee table.

Sometimes our homes are reflections of the people we’d like to be. We may have bookcases lined with classic novels we’ve never read, for example. But even that says something about us. (That we’re all pretentious fraudsters.)

MR PORTER specialises in apparel, obviously, but in recent years we have extended into the home because style is about more than just what you’re wearing. You only have to look at our Instagram feed to get a sense of our ideal interior design aesthetic. Tweaked via a filter or two, of course. A good place to start is in the bathroom. Ask yourself: if someone you were trying to impress came around to your house, what would you not want that person to see? Switch out those things first. Consider upgrading some of your products. Swap your pharmacy-brand toothpaste for Marvis, perhaps, together with a matching toothbrush. Consider Sisley – Paris skincare products, or for a more democratically priced range try Lab Series. Byredo’s fragrances are amazing – I wear Mister Marvelous. Refresh your towels. And put some Aesop hand soap and hand cream by the sink, although almost every restaurant bathroom in London and New York seems to smell of Aesop. To avoid confusion, you might want to try something else by Byredo instead.

Moving into the living room, what about a framed print of Mr Frank Sinatra from Sonic Editions? Only if you’re a fan, mind. If you can’t name at least a couple of his albums, you might find yourself in some awkward conversations. This B&O Play wireless speaker looks very cool, as do these Master & Dynamic headphones. How about some scented candles for the window sill? Prop out your bookshelf with some items that reflect your interests in a tasteful way – this leather football from Shinola, for example (alas, British football fans, we don’t yet stock any of the spherical variety), or a retro-style Polaroid camera from Impossible Project.

As for the bedroom, try this cashmere throw from Soho Home for the bed, and no bedside table is quite complete without a copy of this. But we are biased, I suppose.

When is it appropriate to wear a fedora?

kielkittleson, via Instagram

I quite like the idea of hats. I think they look great on some people. But on me? Not so much. Part of the reason is because I was brought up to believe that wearing a hat indoors – including a baseball cap – is bad manners, but then taking it off leaves you with “hat head”. However, mainly it’s because I think hats such as fedoras and trilbies can look a little try-hard, especially on a younger man.

To wear a hat well, you need to do so with confidence. Wear the hat, don’t let the hat wear you. That buffalo hat that Mr Pharrell Williams wore non-stop a few years back for about six months was frankly bonkers, but he owned it. And Mr Williams demonstrates how, with casual clothing, you can wear a fedora in a directional way. By contrast, if you wear your fedora with tailoring, the effect will be more classic and old fashioned. Think: Mr Gay Talese. Using these two templates, you could, in theory, wear a fedora in pretty much any situation – if you’re bold enough. But do remember to take it off indoors.

To appear comfortable in a fedora, you need to commit. You needn’t wear one every day, but wear the hat once, it’s novel. People will comment on it. “Oh you’re wearing a hat!” Wear it twice, it’s memorable. “Oh you’re wearing your hat again!” Three times, and it becomes your signature.

Whether a hat is appropriate or not also depends on context. There’s a great picture of Mr Tom Ford on the set of his movie Nocturnal Animals in the Mojave Desert. He’s wearing a Stetson and he looks great. But if he wore that in London or New York, it would look ludicrous.

You also need to factor in your frame and choose your headwear accordingly. Hats are not one size fits all. A wide-brimmed fedora on a small man could drown him.

I also think a hat is a bit like a leather bag or a velvet jacket in that it often looks better with age, a little beaten up and bent out of shape. It might cover a man’s head, but it reveals his character.

What’s the best way to look after a suede jacket?

Mr Jay Vyas, via email

The first thing you should do with anything suede is to take it outside, or at least somewhere well ventilated, and spray it liberally with a suede protector spray such as Jason Markk’s Repel Spray. Wait for it to dry and then give it another coat. This will act as a barrier to protect from water and stains. Then get into the habit of regularly brushing the jacket with a suede brush to get rid of dust and stop the nap from hardening.

If the jacket has picked up any stains, you can try rubbing them out with a suede eraser and then brushing the fibres with a soft-bristled brush, both of which make up Jason Markk’s Suede Cleaning Kit. A colourless pencil eraser can also do the trick.

Should the marks persist, it is best to take it to a professional dry cleaner. Ask around to find one that specialises in leather and suede. It’s worth paying that little bit more to get it done right.