Summer remix. Summer, ready, go: last call for elegance. Be careful about fast shopping, the compulsive desire of something new and trendy is often a bad counselor. Be more thrifty! Reflect well, before buying the same old bermuda shorts, shirts, cotton trousers: you already have three or four of them, and maybe you’ve worn them twice. Look at our magazines and at the online fashion reviews without being fussy: “That’s a fashionistas’ stuff”. You’ll realize that many of those suggestions, that look too trendy at first sight, draw inspiration from a timeless style. That same charme that make you claim: “Men were so elegant in the past!”. And then, personalize your choices, don’t trust exclusively on total looks, take the shirt proposed by Tom and the trousers by Harry. Do the same thing for accessories. Choose what is more suitable for you, put the pieces together and the result won’t disappoint you. William Holden in 1939, ph. William Walling.

The exception to the rule. Timeless beauty. When elegance and charisma coexist, there’s not much to talk about, the picture talks for itself. Mr Irons, on the set for Style Magazine december 2015, was dressed really…normally: pullover, a scarf, dark jeans. The only almost clashing detail, but typical of the american taste, that belongs to the clichè of a great and a bit capricious actor: pointed boots. It’s ok. They’re ok. But you have to be tall. When I was a boy I often dressed like this, I liked it: a pullover, five-pockets in bleached denim and the above-menioned “camperos”. At eighteen you can wear almost everything. And then I was in perfect harmony with the trends. Jeremy Irons can wear almost everything because he’s a global star! Today the boots under the jeans are honestly outdated. But Irons doesn’t make fashion, he makes movies, he does it well and we like him. Total respect. But if you aren’t him, please, wear a pair of desert boots. Jeremy Irons in a picture by Brigitte Lacombe for Style Magazine.

The choice of the socks. In the last years socks have become a very important accessories in menswear, so much so that women often wear “men’s” crew socks. The reason could be that they’re the cheaper fashion accessories, or that designers have understood that the right choice of the socks is trendy, mainly if they have very peculiar colours, prints and textures. In Italy this is a very recent trend, while American, French and especially British care about the choice of the socks as they care about choosing shoes. It is not by chance that the British designer Paul Smith has been one of the first to propose and value coloured and printed socks, matching them in contrast with the trousers, or in the same shades. For example: plain coloured trousers with optical-checked socks, or beige glencheck trousers with darker glencheck socks. Picture taken from “A gentleman’s guide to Dress and Style” by Nick Clemens (Goodwood).

Sexy situation. The gestures of male sensuality are much less than those made, on purpose or not, by women. Our sexy-situations can be counted on one hand, let’s use them! First situation, the business meeting: the way we cross the legs. Of course we can’t twist them à la Parietti style; so let’s put the ankle on the knee (but pay attention not to show the sole to the person sitting beside you, especially if she’s a lady), with the hand on the calf.  Freetime situation, for example on the beach: many women think we’re more attractive bare-chested wearing a pair of jeans, than wearing a swimming suit. And don’t mind if the legs remain white. Home situations: we have two of them. The shaving: it seems that seeing us with the face full of foam, focused in front of the mirror, drives them crazy. Last but not least: the tie, wearing a tie, knotting a tie. In several movies it is done before wearing the trousers, but the risk is to have a too short, or too long, tie. Man-to-man: wear the trousers before, and then knot the tie. Ph. from the website themenissue.com

Outdoor. The parka with double hood, made of acid green cotton canvas, the round-neck sweatshirt with contrasting hems and the denim shirt. White sneakers with blue stripes and socks with a graphic pattern. An outdoor total look, perfect for the young British actor Matthew Beard (The Imitation Game, An Education) portrayed by Rankin. An alternative way of wearing colours, with a mood of fashionable free-time in contrast with the same old “jeans with grey sweatshirt”. But for the Over 30s (the maximum age allowed for such a strong menswear)? First of all, avoid the acid colours. Prefer sneakers with performing upper and non-colours, like white, black or grey. Trousers have to be mentioned apart, because there are a lot of them, but all the same and it’s easy to choose the usual chino or the denim 5pockets. But how many of them do you already have? If you’d like to buy new trousers for your free time, opt for some special details.