Back to reality. Objective beauty exists, indeed, even in fashion photography. Quality and beauty live despite of the clothes: a look can be average or can be too much, but if the picture that depicts it is beautiful, the value of that image will remain untouched during the years. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to explain why today we still appreciate the pictures of the great photographers of the past. Wind of change is blowing, encouraging a photographic realism inspired by the masters and, as like as in many other fields, fashion notices the change and often anticipates it.

Signature Pinstripe. Alfred Hitchcok filmed Suspicion in 1941, almost half a century before the invention of the technologies that today allow to create the glorified special effects. There’s a very famous scene, full of suspense, with Cary Grant bringing a glass of milk up the stairs to his wife – interpreted by Joan Fontaine. I leave in doubt who hasn’t watched the movie: the milk could be poisoned. And that glass, declared the filmmaker to Francois Truffaut in a book-interview, had the role of “illuminating the scene”; to obtain the effect he wanted, he used a very simple but effective trick: the glass contained a light bulb. The other stage lighting and the setting create a very fascinating play of geometries and symmetries: the stairs, the paintings, the column, the stripes and the lapels of Grant’s suit, the skylight’s structure that projects a cage-shaped shadow on the wall. An unmissable classic of one of the most famous and less appreciated by americans (at that time) angloamerican directors.

The bridge dedicated to PPP. Ariola is a district of Gerocarne, in the province of Vibo Valentia, in Calabria, with 500 inhabitants in 1960. That year, a certain writer and director that made history arrived thereabouts: Pier Paolo Pasolini. He started the research for the location of “The Gospel according to St. Matthew”, 4 years before the first action. At that time, Ariola could be reached only with a mule track: Pasolini promised to contribute to the building of a bridge, in order to make the life of the inhabitants easier (today they’re around two hundred). The bridge was built and the director kept in touch with a family living there through letters: that, unfortunately, were lost during the emigrations in the following years. In that small town there are four workshops of ceramists that, probably, wouldn’t have existed without that bridge. 57 years later- maybe a little too late- in march, the bridge was dedicated to Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Preppy comes back in fashion. Colours and patterns of preppy style are a foundation of menswear, that sometimes comes back in collections, with marked references to sportswear and – obviously – to colleges and british style. It’s so timeless that we find it in a movie of 1965, Break Up by Marco Ferreri, in a period – the Sixties – dominated by plain colours and Beatles-Suit mania. The movie was cut (due to a controversial commercial procedure) by the producer Carlo Ponti and included as a 30 min. episode in the movie Oggi, domani e dopodomani, with two other episodes directed by Luciano Salce and Eduardo De Filippo. To make a preppy look convincing, it has to be worn by the right man: don’t be cheated by the mediterranean and refined look of Mastroianni (that reminds to Marriage Italian Style and Il bell’Antonio): it works only worn by very anglo guys.

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.