(Un)dressed to work. Countries more conscious than USA and Europe about environment and energy saving, Japan on top, impose that even in the middle of summer the temperature in offices mustn’t be lower than 26°C. What does it mean in terms of clothing? Considering the amount of men that use to wear suit and tie in offices, I’ll suggest an equally decent dress code without jacket, that allows gentlemen not to suffer for heat during working time. Let’s start from the top: no jacket, so no tie; opt for a shirt, made of popeline (better than linen), or for a (beautiful) polo shirt – please don’t lift the collar – blue, white or green. Elegant loafers with matching socks and light wool trousers. The belt is important to complete the look: avoid black leather (same thing for shoes) and prefer natural crocodile or brown napa leather. The buckle has to be discreet, otherwise without jacket it’ll be noticed for sure.

Nostalgic feeling. This stolen pic by Paolo di Paolo, a kind of ante-litteram Scott Schuman, is from 1960. The man you see in it, half-lying on the raling of the Fontana dei Fiumi in Piazza Navona, is composed in his uncomposure. He is Un-Composed. Probably the jacket is buttoned even if it’s single-breasted (that shouldn’t be buttoned), because otherwise it would dangle, adding more disorder. Probably, if this picture was set today, this man wouldn’t wear anything like this. Try to imagine: unlaced sneakers, baggy sweater, jeans or gym pants. Or shorts. And, of course, instead of the newspaper, he would hold an iPhone or iPad. Don’t you miss that ‘900 style?

Snakeskin. Edoardo Purgatori is a roman actor. He was born in 1989, from german mother and italian father (Andrea Purgatori, screenwriter and journalist). He starts his career in theatres. His debut in a tv series is in 1997, but he doesn’t give up the stage, where he acts in italian, english (The Glass Menagerie and The Shape of Things) and german. He has already acted in a dozen of movies. We’ve worked with Edoardo for several fashion shootings. He’s a sensitive, polite, determined man. He owns such a natural elegance, that he can wear a snake jacket and a pair of jeans without looking like a naff (this was the risk). But follow my advice: wear leather with finer fabrics. Not with jeans, absolutely not total leather. Unless you have the appeal of Brando (do you remember The Fugitive Kind, 1959?) or Edoardo Purgatori, indeed. The actor Edoardo Purgatori in a picture of Luigi Miano for Max (2010). 

Great men. “In this job you need to know a little bit of everything: if I make a character be punctured by a needle in the wrong part of the arm, dozens of doctors will write to me to complain”. To sum up: to be a filmmaker you have to know even about – in this case – medicine, as this quote is by Alfred Hitchcock. And do fashion designers ever think about plus-sized men? In other words, if men wearing a 52/54 size would like to be in fashion, is there any designer that creates also for them? Surely Gucci and Saint Laurent don’t. Just to mention two very popular examples of brands that emphasize slim silhouettes, and other kings of fashion surely don’t create their collections drawing inspiration from Hitchock or, so to speak, Julian Schnabel. What shall you do if the scale marks overweight? It’s not only a women’s problem. The same old tailor? Ok, but the tailor is not “in fashion”. Take a look at the clothes I suggest: I think they fit everybody. A portrait and the popular profile of the director Alfred Hitchcock.

Winter in white. White and its shades: the non-colour par excellence and its variations, that from the total purity goes to sand and white coffee. The pure white, the more manifest icon of summer outfits, in several collections of this f/w is a starting point, that designers develop a different menswear that enlight the darkest days from. White, beige, sand reminds us fabrics like linen and cotton, the atmospheres of La Dolce Vita or the stories of La lunga strada di sabbia by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Until the Eighties, who wore white in winter was considered as an eccentric (or as a vulgar) person, in effect there were only jeans and a few sweaters. Maybe a scarf. Today there’s a huge fabric availability: wool, camelhair and cashmere. All you have to do is believe, and choose the right matches. The writer and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1963 in his house in Rome.