Pitti Uomo this year felt busier than last, but that was a little deceptive – two of the big buildings were still closed for lack of exhibitors, and more squeezed into the main pavilion. The show’s future still feels a little uncertain.
My time was evenly split between fittings with several tailors – including two that were over from Korea so we could finish those commissions – and seeing suppliers. Although there too, there are fewer of interest than pre-Covid.
On the plus side, there were plenty of outfits to interest and stimulate. Not as big a contingent of Japanese buyers still, which is a real lack, but plenty of tourists and others. The parties seem to get bigger almost in proportion to the reduction in makers.
Here are a few of my favourites, with notes and thoughts. If anyone wants the specific brands shown, let me know and I’ll get them from the people featured. My outfits will be built into separate upcoming articles, as per usual.
Jamie Ferguson
I think it’s fair to say Jamie sometimes dresses more simply than he used to, and I really love the combinations where the interest is all in the details.
A Fair Isle cardigan is never an easy thing to wear, given the strong patterns and colours, but this is a great way to do it – a simple background of white shirt, beige chinos and brown belt, with everything worn in a very relaxed manner (rolled sleeves, undone buttons).
The interesting details are the western touches on the shirt (snaps, pockets) and the double knees on the Carhartt chinos. Of course, as with all these outfits, it’s easy to make the outfit more everyday by just going for a regular shirt and chinos.
Chad Park
Chad from B&Tailor wears quite a lot of pale tailoring combinations, which look good on him but can be a little much for me. There are often colours in there I like the look of together and want to emulate though.
Here I wouldn’t necessarily wear the pale suit, beige coat and white rollneck together, but I love the mint green scarf with it, and the black accessories. I have a similarly coloured knit from Rubato I might try with those colours.
Jack Collins
Jack is a reader and attendee at PS events, and I liked this shot of him because it illustrates something I’ve always said about corduroy: that grey works so much better than navy.
It’s understandable to think navy would be the most versatile option for a cord suit if you don’t want the country colours of brown or green. But navy can look a little dusty, a little old and tired. Grey, on the other hand, always has something sophisticated about it.
Oliver Dannefalk
Oliver from Rubato is a good one to watch for ‘casual chic’ forms of dressing, given he rarely wears tailoring but always looks well-dressed – as could be said to be the Rubato philosophy.
Here that’s pale chinos, a navy V-neck, a white T-shirt and a navy DB coat. But interestingly, also a little scarf tucked into the V, which is something I never really do, usually preferring a crewneck. This outfit made me reconsider, as the scarf is both a little easier to keep tucked into a V-neck, and stops that nineties V-neck/T-shirt combination from being boring.
Buzz Tang
Buzz always does eveningwear well – I tend to prefer his outfits in smarter tailoring than more casual ones. And an interesting question he often tackles is what jackets can double up as both a dinner jacket and a regular sports jacket. It’s a good money-saving idea for those that don’t really want to buy a high-quality dinner jacket only to wear it once a year.
A black-and-white houndstooth jacket like this is a good option. It wouldn’t be the quietest of sports jackets, but it could be worn with a denim shirt and flannels, and looks perfectly at home with a tuxedo shirt, bow tie and trousers.
Alex Natt
We really need to do a ‘How to dress like’ article on Alex some time. He’s so thoughtful about clothing, and while he wears practical photography gear most of the time, he’s also started wearing more tailoring, very much in his own style.
This outfit demonstrates the kind of thing he does very well. Good jeans in a good, straight cut; quality shoes in subtle styles; then a really short vintage jacket for a bit of character. Without the short jacket it would all be a little ordinary for menswear, but a reader could easily emulate everything else and not go quite so short on the jacket – classic rather than cropped. The nutty colour of the shetland underneath is lovely too.
Gustav Vikander
Here I was taken with the combination of browns and beige. A brown polo shirt is surprisingly nice to wear – good with greys, with black, with beige and cream, even dark navy. But it’s particularly nice in this combination because it is the less classic, the less expected colour – white or blue or grey would be more standard.
As with many combinations, it makes me think how the colour would work if reversed as well, for example if I wore my Mueser straw-coloured jacket but with brown trousers and a cream shirt.
Robert Weng
Robert is a good one to watch for tips on working tailoring into casual outfits. And while some accessories or styling points will not be for some PS readers, the foundations are always worth noting.
Here I can imagine most not wearing the hat or necklace, but the colours are great, and most importantly, it’s a good illustration of how to wear a down jacket over a tailored jacket. Unfortunately this works best on shorter guys (I’ve found) where the down and the tailoring are naturally of similar lengths.
All photos courtesy of The Anthology
