As he could not afford to study fashion journalism at
Central Saint Martins, Porter became a researcher for
The Daily Express in the mid-1990s. He eventually became an arts reporter, as commissioning editor for
The Times and arts editor for
Esquire. Following this, Porter became an associate editor for
GQ and deputy editor for the Amsterdam-based magazine
Fantastic Man. As of 2014, Porter writes for
The Financial Times as their menswear critic. He has been described as one of the most influential fashion journalists of his time. As a representative of
The Guardian and
GQ, Porter was the journalist invited to choose the most representative looks for 2005 for the
Fashion Museum, Bath's
Dress of the Year collection. He chose a man's suit by
Thom Browne and a green faille dress by
Alber Elbaz for
Lanvin. He is openly gay. In recent years, Porter has published two nonfiction books about fashion. His book
Bring No Clothes explores the clothing choices of the
Bloomsbury Group from a philosophical perspective, while
What Artists Wear examines the clothes of various artists, including
Agnes Martin,
Jean-Michel Basquiat,
Georgia O'Keeffe,
Cindy Sherman, and
David Hammonds. His debut novel,
Nova Scotia House, was published in March 2025. ==Bibliography==