Marcello, that liar. Cannes, May 1987: 31 years ago Oci Ciornie won the Palme d’Or. The movie by Nikita Michalkov, inspired by some novels by Anton Cechov, is not so well known: it is never broadcasted on TV and it is hard to still find a copy. I’m lucky to have one, and I had the great fortune of being that year at the Festival, watching the premiere of the movie and participating at the award ceremony. The story is interpreted by Mastroianni and Elena Safonova, with the special appearance by an extraordinary Silvana Mangano that, even if she was already gravely ill, accepted to join the cast of the Michalkov masterpiece. It was her last movie, she died in Madrid two years later, only 59 years old. I remember one line of Elisa, her character, that she says to her husband in one of the last scenes: “Romano, once in your life, tell the truth”. Yes, because the role played by the great Marcello is that of an incurable liar, looking for a new woman that he finally finds in Russia. The movie is set at the beginning of the 20th century, many scenes are filmed on a cruise ship where Mastroianni shows off several suits designed by the costumers Larisa Lebedeva and Carlo Diappi and made by Sartoria Tirelli.

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.

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.

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.

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.