Dress as you eat. Tell me how you eat and I’ll tell you how you dress. Vegan = fundalist minimalist. The 100% sustainable denim is ok, but a big no to animal leather. No to chicks, butterflies and tigers prints. Yes to fabric shoes, like espadrilles, and to a general, strong preference for neutral colors. The final effect is, often, a surprising mess, difficult to define: which is better, cause I hate labels. So do vegans. Vegetarians = rigorous creative. It seems like an oxymoron but it’s not. Bright colors matched with extreme care, slim fit or, if the weight doesn’t allow it due to an excessive carbs intake, the vegetarian opts for a vibrant melting pot of silhouettes and a mix of fabrics, from mohair to linen. Omnivorous = serial consumer. Heterogeneous in terms of food and style. Luxurious, empirical, showy. Generous. Everything and the opposite of everything is worth, only self confidence matters. And it’c cyclical: parka and turtle neck all winter long, printed shirt and beige trousers for the summer. The year after: camelhair coat and jacket…? I don’t know, still have to buy them.

The elegance of mixing. Softness, romance and disorder, three keywords that depict a man that’s inclined to handle his own look, and to take the risk of not being completely in line with the codes of traditional menswear. In this column I’ve already written about what I think in terms of a more contemporary attitude, but I understand that mixing genres could be not so accepted by the Italian general public. Elsewhere this mix has been legitimized for quite a long time. But, you know: we’re one of the most conservative countries in Europe. But don’t say that Tony Musante doesn’t embody a universal and traditional masculine aesthetics. And yet, the “frilly” accessory doesn’t jar. This week’s picture portrays him in the backstage of Anonimo Veneziano, directed by Enrico Maria Salerno, out in 1970, one of the first (Italian) movies that focused on the hypocrisies of traditional family. Upstream and nonconformist, indeed.

Triumphant Milan. “This book is not only an itinerary through some of the most beautiful entryways of Milan’s buildings, but also an emotional journey where the sense of chic lies in the balance between color and minimalist splendor”. This is the beginning of the book Entryways of Milan (Taschen), edited by the german art director Karl Kolbitz, with a writing of the fashion designer Stefano Pilati, that in his collections for Yves Saint Laurent and Zegna has always proved that he knows how to conciliate with balance colors and shapes. The entryways photographed, no less than 144, have been built from the 30s to the end of the 60s in areas that until 20 years ago where considered adjacent to the historical centre but not central. Now that Milan is one of the most interesting cities in Europe again, the suburbs are an integral part of a metropolis that lives of tourism, thanks also to art and design. Talking of fashion: today brands look for a futuristic placement, releasing from past references, apart from some intrusions in the 70s and 80s. And the 30s.

Marcello, that liar. Cannes, May 1987: 31 years ago Oci Ciornie won the Palme d’Or. The movie by Nikita Michalkov, inspired by some novels by Anton Cechov, is not so well known: it is never broadcasted on TV and it is hard to still find a copy. I’m lucky to have one, and I had the great fortune of being that year at the Festival, watching the premiere of the movie and participating at the award ceremony. The story is interpreted by Mastroianni and Elena Safonova, with the special appearance by an extraordinary Silvana Mangano that, even if she was already gravely ill, accepted to join the cast of the Michalkov masterpiece. It was her last movie, she died in Madrid two years later, only 59 years old. I remember one line of Elisa, her character, that she says to her husband in one of the last scenes: “Romano, once in your life, tell the truth”. Yes, because the role played by the great Marcello is that of an incurable liar, looking for a new woman that he finally finds in Russia. The movie is set at the beginning of the 20th century, many scenes are filmed on a cruise ship where Mastroianni shows off several suits designed by the costumers Larisa Lebedeva and Carlo Diappi and made by Sartoria Tirelli.

The Good Taste. There are rules to be respected, and mainly some basic behaviours to be considered in order to be defined as “good taste person”.  The Galateo of Monsignor Della Casa has been written almost five centuries ago, and there is no need to review the key points, because the rules of good taste have been handed down from one generation to another. Today there’s a kind of intellectual creativity – only for very few people- that makes the flaws and the “intentional oversights” an added value. But this is valid only for clothing. We can’t excape from kindness, elegance of speaking and good manners. Standing up to shake the hand of a woman even if she’s young, don’t kiss on the hand if outside, taking off the sunglasses while talking with anyone. Well, we can forgive a smiling and kind person if he/she is not properly dressed, but if the attire is elegant, much better. And of you are worried of making mistakes, don’t add details and details trying to look like a dandy from old times. Simple is better.