Epochal choices. Today we talk about the importance and added value of accessories, that dignify (or mortify) the look. Shirts, ties, and then shoes, socks, watches, bags, briefcases, hats. Everything can, if matched in the proper way with the outerwear, make us look a little more special. Today is very easy, due to the extraordinary supply of products. But at the same time it’s easier to make mistakes, exactly because the supply is really wide. The “decades of elegance”, like the 30s or the 40s, had rules about shapes and lenghts, fabrics and collars, and everything else: so it was hard to fail. Today, while enhancing the individual personality, there could be the possibility of provoking confusion (and making a mess of bad matchings). The secret stays in coherence. Dandy, eccentric, conformist, traditionalist, pop, unconventional: everything is permitted, as long as you are focused on the style you decide to adopt. Right, a 1935 adv of Arrow shirts.

Nothing under the sweater. It seems that the Schema Libero of some weeks ago has been really appreciated – I’ve made a list of the behaviours and the garments that make us sexy in women’s eyes. Leafing through an old issue of Slurp magazine, I found this picture of David Gandy – one of the most desired men in the world – wearing the classic braided pullover on the bare skin. I realized that I had to add this in the hit of the men’s sexiest behaviours in accordance with women’s tastes. And not only women’s. And I don’t mean Gandy, but the image and the feeling of the fabric on skin. If you wear neither a shirt nor a T-shirt, the hand slides under the sweater and the contact with the body is immediate: it suggests also – if I can dare – a rather explicit fantasy. You take off the sweater and you’re (almost) ready for…Okay, I won’t go beyond. The model David Gandy in a picture of Massimo Pamparana (2010)

Deep V. Amedeo Modigliani: the picture is from the early years of the 1900s, but it looks like current. Yes, this is a timeless style, that can’t be placed in a particular era. This is the style of simplicity: bare but fascinating, incorruptible, beyond the trends. To sum up, this is always a trendy style. How to give it a more stylish and creative taste? It’s easy: keep the V neck of the pullover, opting for a plunging one, and play with contrasts between plain colours/prints. Invert them for the shirt: one colour if the sweater is printed and vice-versa. Wear the pullover inside the trousers, that have to be baggy: this will keep the retro mood of the look. Trousers must be plain and the fabric has to be thick and woven, like the cotton canvas or coarse-grained wool. The bohemian artist Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)

The top of style. Sporty and classy: in the mountains with style. The technological development of the fashion industry has often favoured comfort at the expense of appearance. Bright down jacket with a reflective effect, stuffed trousers, absurd boots, which are waterproof but also horrific. Luckily there’s a U-turn from this season on: waterproof garments and accessories that are also warm, comfortable and windproof, now become more fashionable and, above all, more appealing. Store your synthetic fluo jackets in mothballs and opt for neutral colors and wool fabric. Store your down mittens and buy a pair of gloves made of waterproof leather; wear a turtleneck instead of the sweatshirt and velvet trousers. Finally, free yourself of those old laced boots and try to imagine the coolness of a pair of leather shoes with non-slip sole and snowproof upper.

Autumn/Winter 1994: the “second half” of the campaign, in the advertising language. The outerwear style was still very similar to the 80s one with its big volumes, so far from the tight-fitting one that came along with the new decade and changed completely the men wardarobe. Same goes for trousers, shirts and ties. And of course the waistcoat which used to dominate the fashion scene: knitted, deconstructed or made of fabric but always loose-fitting and never tight. Shooting locations were basically non existent, neutral backgrounds and quite natural lighting. The main peculiarity has been the models attitude: intimist, thoughtful, reflective. Sometimes photographed with the eyes closed, like the top model Werner, (on top) shot by Mario Sorrenti for Dolce&Gabbana. Photographer Max Vudukul, shooting for Romeo Gigli (another waistcoat fan), has been aiming for the melancholic feeling expressed by the model’s eyes, staring beyond the horizon…