The weekend is here and the weather is warm. Taking some inspiration from our Italian brethren, I decided to pull together an all cotton look. Once again while surfing the web, I saw a picture of an Italian guy wearing a similar look. The only difference from our outfits is that he was wearing a perfectly tailored double breasted tan linen blazer (put that on your summer style list).
I was in route to friendly meeting with a great friend, Ontario Armstrong, one half of the www.ArmstrongandWilson.com pocket square company and I wanted to keep the semi-business look of the weekend and channel some of that Italian “sprezzatura”. “Sprezzatura is an Italian word originating from Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier, where it is defined by the author as “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprezzatura)”.
Adding some minor details is a great way to spruce up your look. I like to add my own twist on most outfits, so you will often see me rocking silk knots in my lapel hole (usually designated for a flower) and my watch band, if leather, will be consistent with the leather coloring of my shoes.
IMO Style Guide: Silk knots are great for French cuff shirts and add a great hint of color in the lapel hole. There are a lot of companies that sell them and you can usually pick them up cheap at Macy’s by Clubroom. If you take a look at any pictures from the Sartorialist or Tommy Ton of their street style for men, you will see lots of men with flowers in their lapel as they were originally intended. Make your own style tweaks and move forward with your day.
Cotton blazers and chinos will wrinkle at times because they are made of a very moveable fabric. During the summer and the spring these wrinkle will fall right out of cotton due to the humidity in the air. It is great to still have a business look with the light weight of the cotton so that when you are out and about you are not over heating. It’s the weekend so you can keep it casual with the “sans socks” look with a freshly shined paired of leather loafers.
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Keep it fresh this weekend.
Bests,
Sabir M. Peele
