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.

Man in black. In the book Zeitgeist (published by Bandecchi & Vivaldi) that collects some pieces by Giuseppe Veneziano presented in 2010 during the exhibition with the same name, there’s a chapter dedicated to Villains. Veneziano, born in 1971 and recognised by critics and specialised magazines as one of the spokespeople of italian New Pop and of the group “Italian Newbrow”, like every artist worth of respect is fascinated by the dark side. “All the evil represents a potential vitality needy of transformation”, wrote the psychoanalyst Sheldon Kopp. And the sicilian artist depicts archetypes of comic-books. But pay attention, if you want to see how Venziano depicted the quintessentially Villain, unfortunately really existed, that is Adolf Hitler, look for his Madonna of the Third Reich, that horrified so much the bishop of Lucca and the archbishop of Pisa that it was removed from the exhibition in Pietrasanta. Sgarbi proposed it again, in Salemi, few time later.

A classic is forever. When a garment or an accessory is called with the name of a brand instead of its own, is a sign that that brand has become a part of the history of fashion. The first cases are from the 70s, when even a fabric replaced the word “coat”: the “loden”. And Ray-Ban, that replaced the word sunglasses: “I’ve bought a pair of Ray-Ban”. From then on it has been a sequence of icon-brands like K-Way, Levi’s. It was “I’d like to buy a Lacoste” instead of “I’d like to buy a polo shirt”. Later, the same fate for the trench/Burberry and, in the 80s, “I’ve choosen an Armani”. These and many others, are griffes that, if not in the classic dictionary, could surely be included in a thesaurus.

Habits change. Every year, in this season, I dedicate an appointment of Schema Libero to beachwear: I looked for them, working backwards on my blog The Men Issue (you’ll find it on Style Magazine website, in the “Moda” (“Fashion”) section). In Five years I’ve always recommended to wear on the beach an appropriate, chic, maybe a bit retro attire, inspired by Marcello in La Dolce Vita. And I’ve always suggested to use swim shorts. This year I do an about face: is it for that annoying invasion of skinny guys that is accustoming us? I don’t know. Now there’s a desire of more vitality, of beautiful bodies – slim but defined – of hair whitened by dried salt, of suntan. After all, changing is beautiful. I linger only on two factors, that make me say no: coloured tank tops and slippers. Yes to flip flops, espadrilles. But no to slippers, please.

Nerd R-Evolution. If we Google “Nerd”: “A young man, who is insignificant and not attractive, that repairs his lacking attractiveness with an obsessive passion and a great tendency for new technologies”. There are several theories about the etymology of the word “nerd”: we only know that it was coined in the UK around the 50s. It was used at first with derogatory meaning. But during the decades, being a nerd has become a style. It initially was that style for brains, a bit losers, that became cool thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs. Now, the nerd look has evolved: from the minimal T-shirt, jeans and sneakers of the past, today the nerd is also a businessman dressed with formal tailored classic.