Pitti Uomo has a strong collection of high-end ready-to-wear and made-to-measure. The firms apply many techniques from traditional tailoring, however the suits and jackets are made in a factory, not a real workshop. The most famous of those firms are perhaps Kiton, Brioni and Attolini.

Sciamat, run by the brothers Valentino and Nicola Ricci, is a new player in the category. The do real bespoke as well but ready-to-wear and made-to-measure are the core business.  I mean, you don’t show up at Pitti Uomo, if your main activity is true bespoke.

Both Valentino and Nicola are very good at dressing. I know many find their puffed jacket shoulders silly, yet in terms of colours, cuts, textures, and patterns they always strike a great balance.

Orazio Luciano is another old friend in Pitti Uomo. The Napoli firm makes very fine ready-to-wear and made-to-measure suits, mostly for the American and Eastern markets, I suppose. With prices over 3000 euros for a suit Orazio Luciano charge the same or even more than many bespoke tailors in Italy. Their advantage in relation to classic bespoke is accessibility and speed. Many busy well-off men in suits appreciate that type of service nowadays.

Photos: The Journal of Style

Solaro brown herringbone suit, white shirt, paisley tie, tall crown panamahat, and lapel pin.

Andrea Luparelli from Satoria Ripense in Rome in a lightbrown gabardine mohair suit. On the left, the business parter of Neapolitan tailor Gennaro Annunziata.

Notice the silk neckerchief.

Yes, women can dress in the same colours. The cut is different, of course.

Speaking about women. Two more shots from Florence and the Pitti Uomo event …

Photo: The Journal of Style

There’s a fine line between retro style men and classic style men. Both love the univers of suit, shirt and tie, however they approach it differently.

The former are less serious in regards to clothing. They play with clothing, they are not afraid to stand out. Retro style men like bespoke clothing but will not spend a fortune, so they buy it second hand.  Retro style men are very interested in accessories, colours and patterns.

Classic style men, on the other hand, are obsessed with fit. Moreover, they feel they are continuing a way of dressing, which has never deceased. Classic style men will shy away from items, which they feel are outdated. You will not see classic style men in plus fours and spats.

To use a few terms that a tiresome, you can say that retro style men are postmodernists, wheras classic style men are modernists.

Bueno, is the Pitti Uomo gentleman above a postmodern retro style man or a classic style man?

I’m tempted to put him in the former camp, perhaps due to the panama hat, the outer jacket pockets, the collar pin and the beard. On the other hand, he hasn’t left the classic style tradition entirely. In fact I could confuse him with a classic style man on his way to a garden party on a warm summer’s day.

Photo: The Journal of Style