MFMYes, we’re looking at you guys, for five days a week, you’ve dedicated yourself to a SPW uniform, so let’s think about upgrading your downtime with an Italian approach to off-duty dressing. We British, for all its freewheeling individuality, have certainly evolved out of their love of uniforms. Is there another country that has such strict rules about uniform policies?
The Italian way of dressing is glamour, sex appeal and individuality, British tailoring was meant to signify class and profession, and maybe, perhaps, some British men, when free to wear whatever they want at the weekend, away from work colleagues, look terrible, uniformly.
The great british country-casual way of looking is probably another style mashup at a big lunch on a Sunday, really where for a long time the default clothing of hipsters, and let’s be frank, it can become boring and uninspirational. While it can look effortless when you see a guy wearing a great outfit, the look probably requires much more thought than pairing random items from your wardrobe, the key is the tones and the materials – the basic rule being that you keep all the materials the same, cotton with cotton, wool with wool, etc; and that if you want that a bolder colour then it should be paired-up with more neutral shades of grey and beige. Your choice of making yourself stand out will be your ability to look and keep cool wherever you are. This is down to a carefully selected choice of breathable clothing and even your choice of outerwear and if you need any convincing in the winter weather, that is to expand your current collection, it can make or break a look.
Italians are, unsurprisingly, rather good at the weekend at clothes. They’re Italian clothing brands that offer a modern take on the clothes you see on many fine gentlemen. Their softly tailored checked jackets in flannel and even cashmere, narrow-wale corduroy trousers, loose fitting grandad shirts in chambray and oxford cotton, fine gauge linen and narrow-wale corduroy trousers ooze mediterranean sensuality whether they are walking down the street or taking coffee in a café in Florence.
What else would you expect from the country that gave us the classic weekend smart white jeans combo all years round?