Let’s be athletes. The Olympic games ate about to start. We’re going to watch some sport, I hope so, and maybe, in this precise moment, we don’t care much about the style adopted by sportsmen and sportswomen. We care about the attitude they (an we) will have to approach these Olympics one year later. We hope we’ll breathe a sigh of relief and focus our energies on the passions and emotions that the pandemic has stolen from us. Concerning my “style advice”, let the pictures talk. And may the best one win.

Three steps towards the future. A summer ago we were free to travel, have fun, go shopping. Today we are halfway (hopefully) from nightmare and the day after, (still) stuck in a bubble of uncertainty. We’re living our first summer in black and white after years of (naive) inconsciousness, at the mercy of false values, clouded by appearance and far from the essence. The cover of Style Magazine – a magazine about style, especially twice a year and this is one of those times – sends a message for the future: the location chosen by the photographer, an inspired Max Vadukul, represents the past to be demolished and contrasts with the volitive attitude of the three young actors: Laura Adriani, Matteo Oscar Giuggioli and Alberto Boubakar Malanchino. The mood of the fashion – simple, basic – suggests a timeless “menstyle”: a step back, towards a discreet, but not nostalgic, elegance. A step back to make three steps forward: towards a better future that, by now, we can only imagine. And that we have to regain and deserve.

Gentlemen, let’s mix. I think I’ve already talked about it, but these days I like to revisit it. The styling you find in men’s fashion magazines usually gives ideas for basic or classic outfits: hardly ever – especially the italian magazines – they suggest a mix of fabrics, colors and shapes that abroad (not everywhere, to be clear), instead, where different ethnicities and customs cohexist in harmony, are a rule. So that when we fly to London or New York, Paris or New Orleans, we think: “Look at that, how certain clothes suits them well”. Influences from non-western countries have such charme and personality that – if properly matched – can revive even the most normal suit. Try that. Despite every conformism.

“Too much” is trendy. What we considered “too much” in the past, now reviewed, modified and updated, is trendy. Maybe it’s not chic, but it’s fashionable. That’s why even an old picture of the frontman of the Albatros, a very young, big-haired and furry Toto Cutugno, looks like a modern one. This pic is from 1976, the period of committed songwriters on one side, and on the other the period of heartbreaking, half-spoken songs just like Volo AZ 504 by the Albatros, that the band presented at Sanremo Music Festival featuring the beautiful singer Silvia Dionisio. The highest top of this genre was reached by Patti Pravo with Incontro. But the same success was achieved by Claudia Mori with the unforgotten Buonasera dottore. Really pop.

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.