The lessons we’ve learnt from the world’s most stylish men
Last week saw the globe’s most sartorially adroit men gather en-masse in Florence to attend Pitti Uomo 90, the menswear trade show that’s launched many a street style star. Whilst many attendees and even exhibitors have taken their attire to costumed extent over recent years, there’s still a raft of new age dandyism worth taking notes from.
Check it out – suits can be bold too
(Photo: Evgen Kovalenko)
The navy and grey suits are held up as the lynchpin of men’s style; pillars of masculinity and guardians of all things dapper. Going plain monochrome, though, isn’t the only option when it comes to formality. The check suit has wriggled into reckoning in recent years and looks – on the evidence at Pitti – like it’s only getting bolder and more viable, proving, once and for all, it is indeed, hip to be square.
Don’t dismiss a double breast
(Photo: Evgen Kovalenko)
Two, as they say, is often better than one. Add a touch of flair to your style, as the men of Florence did, by breaking up the ubiquity of the single-breasted suits with something that carries a few extra buttons. Bury any preconceptions you’ve got of a double-breast being the reserve of guffawing yacht club members. Ditch the gold, anchor etched buttons for something more sophisticated, slick and slim fitting. Stick to four to six buttons, two to fasten, and avoid any evocations of less-than-stylish bygone eras with anything that buttons too low.
The Panama hat looks good off paper
(Photo: Evgen Kovalenko)
Men and headwear have a tricky relationship. In a bygone (and fondly remembered) era, it was de rigueur to don a crown; you wouldn’t have left home without a hat. Now, a number of bad examples and cheap constructions have made the hat a point of ridicule, although that’s not stopped menswear’s finest exhibiting its true potential at Pitti. A good Panama finishes a good summer suit with unabashed aplomb, if you’ve got the confidence that is.
Socklessness is still going strong
(Photo: Evgen Kovalenko)
Oft-derided as a thing “hipsters” do, the turnout in Florence proved that the no-show stock still has pride of place in the modern man of style’s armoire, notably when the sun is out, the temperature is high and the loafers are on.
You need to buy a khaki suit, immediately
(Photo: Evgen Kovalenko)
Navy, grey and black, the menswear palette is decidedly monochrome. President Obama caused a stir a few years ago when he decided to take a press conference in a khaki suit, so much so it was deemed “unpresidential”. Florence street style proved, however, that the light brown suit is very much a serious consideration when tailoring needs to get a little lighter (colour and fabric), ensure the fit is measured to perfection – lighter colours are much less forgiving when it comes to fit than something dark.
(Main & featured image: G.Falcone)
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