Legwear + heels = sensual
Ankle socks and pumps: how to do it like a pro.
Tailored men: trend-spotting at Pitti fall 2014
It is not the usual trade show, Pitti Uomo is where you spot the trends for the season to come (just watch closely).
Pitti Immagine is a state of mind, I don’t know if I read it somewhere. I most probably made it up because I believe in it.
Imagine having an automatic teller randomly dispensing gorgeous men impeccably tailored and formidably dressed for three consecutive days . Unabridged, like a dictionary, un-interrupted and thoughtfully edited.
No Milan, New York or London compares. Maybe Paris for Couture, but you have to be in the street and venue hopping. In Florence it all happens in the magic of the Fortezza da Basso. And here comes my being Tuscan and growing up with Florence in my pores, but maybe that is one intrinsic reasons why Pitti is Pitti and the best showdown of that sophisticated European sensibility.
La Fortezza, the ‘barn’ where the Medici used to keep their horses for pleasure and for war during the florentine renaissance, opens up for Pitti Uomo (not to confuse it with Palazzo Pitti, another historical Palazzo where another piece of fashion history was made when Italian fashion was born in 1952). It is a Pandora’s Box that opens up to centuries of history, battles, the Renaissance period, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, the arts, the culture and everything that the dynasty of the Medici family left for the world. There, not in any other frescoed palazzo Strozzi, in the barn, is the background for the showcase of men fashion for the next season.
Here’s an example of what happens through those graveled alleys. It is not the usual trade show, Pitti Uomo is where you spot the trends for the season to come (just watch closely).
Tailoring and pinstripes. Casentino, an exclusive fabric produced in small quantities nel Casentino, is coming back. When we were kids it was orange or green, now it comes in all shades of grey = a man wearing Casentino knows his chicness and exquisite shit.
Prince of Wales and houndstooth
Devils in details: beard (well groomed), bracelets and the perfect touch of color in an otherwise wintery mise.
When a man knows how to mix patterns is marriage material (I said it).
What are the lessons we can get from a man closet that would make us wear man clothing and still be feminine and chic?
On to the next post peeps and if you have ideas, by all means, come along!
La classe non e' acqua
Pillow box + pearls
been reading this DV Diana Vreeland chapter on Mlle Coco Chanel and ‘superb style’ is all I have in mind today #laclassenoneacqua #chicfb #cocochanel #chanelisalwaysagoodidea #sophisticated #unique #exquisite
Kate
Ever thought of how to be the Queen on your birthday?
how to be your own #birthday #rockstar Happy Birthday to the muse of all the muses #KateMoss
#NYwish
Put a stole on it
A #nywish a day January x 12 months to become real
#chic is a state of mind #chicfbdoesnewyear #chicfb #elegant #refined #lavish #wecanthelpit #putastoleonit
Net-a-Porter sent me a gift for my birthday
That time I won a contest
It’s all in the #sparkle.
Thank you @netaporter & @ryanstorer for the fantastic ear cuff #agirlsbestfriend #theNETset #luckywinner #myfirstwin
Pitti and London Collections and you will never look at the Men Collections the same
In January, Fashion season begins smoothly and silently with the chicness of a high speed train arriving on the track.
This year the Men shows of Florence and London are contemporary, we’ll see what happens.
Here’s what yours truly has in mind.
As a good Italian from Tuscany and one expat in the US, I have a bias infatuation for Pitti Immagine.
La Fortezza has been the first backdrop of my fashion life, back when Pitti was Uomo and Donna.
Nerd fact: La Sala Bianca in Palazzo Pitti glamorously hosted the first exhibition that signed the birth of Italian Fashion, in 1952.
Forgive me the namedropping, but Guccio Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and Emilio Pucci are from Tuscany and they are one of the reasons why fashion reigns in our pores the same as a good Chianti wine and olive trees.
And here it begins.
PITTI IMMAGINE 85
It kicks off on the 7th, just because January 6 is a celebrated holiday (that one that puts all decorations down and brings us back to reality).
My pre-Miami Beach life was determined and catalogued by the seasons opening at Pitti followed by Milan and Paris.
In a flashback, the Christmas holidays were abruptly interrupted by il Pitti.
The looks lined up by day on the bed, just to make sure all was cohesive and coordinated. ‘it’s going to snow, bring the puffer jacket with your crepe blue dress’ Looks involved those spring pieces you had been collecting since the last sample sale. No matter blazing winds or freezing temperatures, you had to endure a spring wardrobe.
'I will see you at the Luisa Via Roma party', oh that was the highlight where, if you had spent New Years in Malindi, it was your moment to shine out of that non-artificial tan (no smartphones or social media then).
(image from The Bespoke Dudes)
Now, I can only be a remote and melancholic audience member [here’s what I went home with last year]. I count on WWD, Style.com and The Sartorialist to see pop on screen my friends working alla Fortezza, reading about the trends and the runways in magnificent palazzo and antique venues where the Medici used to live.
At the same time, if you are brave, gotta face the Brady bunch of bloggers meeting at Villa Cora and parading for 3 to 4 days for the #Firenze4ever organized by Luisa. That’s when Suzy Menkes her ‘fashion circus’ comes handy and couldn’t be more au curant.
Things have changed and clearly not for the better: the path that the Fashion paraphernalia has taken is not as classic and chic as the Carrousel and Rivoire in Piazza Repubblica. Still Florence remains an undiscussed hostess to the mostest with her breathtaking scenarios.
What to expect
On a more mundane and remotely not related wave, Eataly and Laduree are some of the exquisite delicatessen spots where to refresh your palate (as if Procacci wouldn’t be sufficient). If we want to talk about proposals and fashion tradition, aristocracy, heritage, utilitarian, experimental, ‘eclectic tailoring’, rigueur, excellent Italian workmanship, slimmer and closer to the body suits.
LONDON COLLECTIONS: MEN
#LCM has begun.
London has been facing a few hurdles which the British Fashion Council has tried to adjust. London is known for that contradiction of being inspirational and fertile for new talents and
You can interpret it as the right place to debut for a new talent as there are not big houses overshadowing, however the bigs add weight to a presence that should be taken into account.
Longevity vs. trends is the debate that in London is reinforced by that Savile Row tradition that balances innovation and current fashion.
Overall, some of the most iconic pieces of a Gentleman’s wardrobe claim their birth place in British sole: wellingtons, the three piece suit, the trench coat, the boiler hat to name a few. Is there any doubt why London self proclaimed itself the home of menswear? [grab a copy of History & Heritage].
In London you can find this
or this
What to expect.
That sartorial, bespoke, rigorous, undiscussed, decadent, sharp, impeccable British men style and a refreshing of a Gentleman wardrobe.
Trends (by yours truly)
Short pants, I mean seriously short hemmed pants,
no more peek-a-boo socks but I-need-you-to-see-my-legwear striped
patterned socks and well groomed long beard which we find very Bohemian and sexy.
Editors, journalists and buyers have already landed.
Cheers & salute, see you at the shows.
Chic
effortless
A #nywish a day for January x 12 months to come #true #ease #feminine #sleek #chic #chicfbdoesnewyears #newyear