Outside the box. Mastroianni, Paul Newman, Anthony Perkins. In the 50s white socks were a menswear’s classic. They’ve been usually worn for almost four decades. 80s: Michael Jackson brings them back into fashion, followed up by George Michael and even by Loredana Bertè and Donatella Rettore. But from the early 90s , here’s the death foretold of off white socks, and the accessory disappears. Actually, it’s banned and pointed out as trash. But the doubt remains: why were they ok for James Dean, Steve McQueen, Duran Duran and are not for us? But now, that fashion shootings have revaluated the “prohibited” accessory, things have changed. Let’s be outsiders, according to your personality. And use fashion to convey a sign of rebellion against conformism.

We’re so formal. Do we have to expect a back to formal? Yes, we do. The codes will be different, but the suit will be a trend of f/w 2019; so we can say that the most loved style – the classic, indeed – is coming back, again. To understand how fashion is a countinuous series of quotes of itself, we need a quick review: what happened in the 80s? From the street style of the 70s, all about denim, fringes and fitted shirts, the silhouette was redesigned by padded shoulders and lots of colors, lots of excess. Maybe too much. Ten years later the new diktats avoid color and prefer the total black, and slim volumes for jackets, trousers and also ties, that passes from 12cms wide to 4. What happens today: we’re coming from an extreme street-style. Well, now we’re starting to aim for more tidiness and rigor. The first signals? The blazers with visible stitching and a lot of black. Is time to wipe the suit agin. Or to buy a new one.

Forever pinstripe. If it’s true that rules are made to be broken, it’s also true that the suit is the basis of menswear. Into reasonable limits, elegance of the past remains an unavoidable reference. Basing on many and different suggestions of fashion, we can opt for our favourite reference, avoiding others. Pinstripe is a classic: the picture I’ve chosen for this week has a cinematographic mood, inspired by Il Padrino. Not to highlight the vintage glamour of the pinstriped suit, choose a jacket with very wide lapels and add a rock touch, like the silver rings. And a clean grooming: no to long and blow-dried hair, no to pomade, yes to a military cut. But the last word is, as always, yours.

Tartan Mania. Tartan is the typical checked fabric born in Scottish Highlands. Americans call it “plaid” (that for us is the blanket we use at home, on the knees, laying on the sofa, that, indeed, – often – has a checked pattern…). Whatever its origin may be, though Sean Connery and Ewan McGregor wear the kilt in official events, differently to Peter Sellers that wore it even out of the etiquette, after its coming and going on the catwalks, now it’s one of this season’s most fashionable fabrics. In other words, whether in form of a shirt or a jacket, this winter tartan is a must. It is not by chance that it’s one of the eight trends selected for Style Dress Code (above, on the left) the new Style Magazine’s spin-off.

Degrees of separation. Rod Stewart’s shoes in this picture of 1965 with Long John Baldry (singer and guitarist of The British Blues) correspond with the short white socks of Marlon Brando in a portrait that has made history, with him crouched on a chair at Actors Studio. Yes, because if the “error” (or “horror”) comes from a remote past, and besides made by a celebrity, is cool; if it’s made by you, you are a chav. But fashion designers try to surprise us in many ways, with eccentric ideas on the borderline of good taste, so why does a guy today deserve to be called a person of bad taste? White socks are in fashion, for example. We must ask ourselves which is (and if there is) a degree of separation from good and bad. There are different kinds of fashion: conventional doesn’t admit mistakes, while fashion created on purpose, following our personality without worries and obligations, does. The history of Miuccia Prada menswear collections teaches us that oversights and imperfections are (or can be) a sign of personality that makes the difference. My advice: follow your instinct and, if you’re sure you can dare, do it. And if you dare, do it completely.