welcome back to the gentleman's Gazette today's video is all about sprezzatura.
This kind of casual elegance that has become the Holy Grail for many style-conscious men
around the world.
We'll discuss what sprezzatura is, who that is what the history is behind it and the risks
of pursuing it as well as what you can do to pull it off graceful ly.
first of all let's define what sprezzatura is.
it is an Italian term and meets as much as casual elegance that looks effortless and
nonchalant.
even though it's not a term that was super popular 10 or 15 years ago, it actually has
quite a bit of history.
In fact it was first used in Castiliogne's book of the Courtier which is a classic of
Italian Renaissance literature.
the goal of sprezzatura was to teach noblemen on how to cultivate an elegant lifestyle while
appearing natural and unrehearsed about it.
he called it a certain nonchalance so as to conceal design and make whatever one does
or says appeared to be without effort and almost without thought.
several centuries later, the infamous Beau Brummell picked
up that concept of effortlessness in sprezzatura and applied it to his cravat, he spent hours
tying it in a way so it looked as if he had just thrown unto his neck. for him avoiding
affectation in favor of sprezzatura was the single most important rule of being a gentleman.
as with many things sprezzatura has evolved over time.
in the last half a century it has mostly become an idea of imperfection.
one person that's very closely connected to sprezzatura is the Italian industrialist Gianni
Agnelli.
we talked about Agnelli style in depth in our gentleman of style part
about him which you can check out here. he had a lot of money but also style and he obviously
broke traditional style rules, for example, he wore his wristwatch on top of the shirt
cuff rather than underneath.
also the back blade of his tie was often longer than the front and sometimes it was also tucked
into his pants.
If you go to Pitti uomo today you'll see the majority of men will either have a tie that
is tucked in or one blade especially the back blade is longer than the front.
If you want to check out several streets el outfits from Pitti Uomo please check out this
section in our website here.
Agnello really finds sprezzatura in a way that he cultivated what would otherwise look
as a bold style error.
it emphasized his rakish personality because he was a man who could have bought any kind
of custom shirt in the world yet he often opted for off-the-rack shirts with a soft
button-down collar from Brooks Brothers in the u.s.
the cons of sprezzatura is very popular today not just in Italy but around the world with
very style conscious classically influenced men.
even though you can see older gentleman following the concepts of sprezzatura it's mostly the
young men who are really into it just look at all these pictures I snapped at Pitti Uomo
in the last couple of years.
ideally all of them want to come across as effortlessly stylish rather than forced.
unfortunately it doesn't always work that way a lot of outfits are simply overdone because
they over accessorize and they bring the nonchalance casualness over the top so
the core concept of being effortless is really converted into an outfit full of effort.
one could argue that this sprezzatura movement represents rebellion against stodgy classic
menswear rules that are liberating to young men at the same time it's quite ironic they
spend a considerable amount of time money and thought just to look effortlessly
stylish another famous character of this sprezzatura lifestyle is Lino Leluzzi from Al Bazar in
Milan we also profiled him and he often likes to
wear his monk strap buckles undone he likes double-breasted coats often
unbuttoned he likes ties or pocket squares that are really popped out as
well as shirt cuffs that are unbuttoned paired with a tan rakish hair and of
course sunglasses and cigarettes it's supposed to look all very effortless and
natural.
I think for him it works because he truly lives it and it's part
of his personality but most other people would simply look over the top if they
would do the exact same thing.
Another funny side note at the winter Pitti uomo
in Florence's that men really like to wear a lot of layers and heavy overcoats
but it's really not that cold there so they actually end up throwing most of their
coats over their shoulders so you can see all the layers underneath so what
are the risks of pursuing sprezzatura?
obviously the look can quickly look contrived and not effortless at all
sprezzatura is sometimes also mistaken as something that's overly flamboyant
for example look atLapo Elkan, he just wears very bold colors maybe a
tuxedo jacket with shorts and in my opinion this is not sprezzatura
anymore but simply peacocking and it's not something I would suggest you do or
anyone should do for that matter ironically Lapo is the grandson of
Gianni Agnelli who really tastefully knew how to pull things up in my opinion
he's just over the top funnily some people also get called out on their
calculated sprezzaturas for example there was this picture of mr.
Wang who runs the Brio menswear store in China and he had a collar that was actually
popped up over his jacket now most people thought it was intentional he
claimed it wasn't but ultimately it was kind of a subculture where people went
back and forth about it and if you go to Pitti Uomo, those would be discussions
you'd probably encounter in as well another risk that you'll incur
especially today is that nothing is truly original anymore with the internet
and platforms like Instagram where many men share all kinds of things all the time
chances that someone else has already done what you think is unique and
original are pretty high.
to better navigate the waters of sprezzatura, here
are some do's and don'ts.
first of all don't pursue this sprezzatura lifestyle if
you're not comfortable being different or being judged do only attempt to
incorporate sprezzatura into your outfits if you know and have mastered
the classic style rules well don't confuse flamboyant and over-the-top
dressing with sprezzatura they're not the same do start small but something
subtle such as unbuttoning the cuffs of your shirt maybe or having a pocket
square that's particularly carelessly put into your pocket don't go overboard
at wristbands no-show socks and a button-down collar that is not
buttoned-down because it's simply too much don't copy the exact looks of others one
by one sprezzatura should be original so pick up things get inspired and then
make it your own if you're into it do save sprezzatura
for certain occasions for Pitti uomo it's totally fine if you're in a casual
environment in a summer resort it's totally fine it's not okay at the
Queen's garden party at a formal business meeting or at a wedding don't
overload an outfit with too many accessories and attempts of sprezzatura it
will fail do concerned primarily with yourself and what you won't wear
and like not so much what would others think of you or in what way they push
the envelope after all you should dress to suit and
express yourself now if you don't know where to start here are 7 ways that you
may want to incorporate to get started 1 leave buttons or buckles undone during
the summer months it can be actually quite refreshing for your wrists to have
your barrel cuffs unbuttoned I suggest not to do it with French cuffs because
just looks weird and it dangles very heavily however you can do it with
barrel cuffs or button cuffs alternatively you can leave one or more
cuff buttons on your jacket sleeve undone traditionally that was something
that you could only do want to bespoke garment and so some people did to show
off today even jackets from H&M have that feature because of that personally
I'm not a huge fan of it but it's certainly something that you can
experiment with if you have a button-down collar shirt some people also
like to unbutton that especially if they have a tie on to me that is not quite the
concept of sprezzatura because you see yourself in the mirror when you tie your tie
so there's no way you ever miss that the collar tip is not buttoned down if you wear
monk straps you can leave either one buckle or
even both buckles unbuckled now the shoe has to fit quite well otherwise you will
slip out of it to me personally both buckles undone is way too much
one can be okay if it works for your outfit but it's not something you should
ever have with a more formal ensemble two play around with your necktie first of
all you can have different tie knots but more importantly, you can go with
longer ties have the back blade being longer or maybe tucked in or have the
front plate being tucked in alternatively, you can also change the
knot in a sense where the back of the tie comes forward or it's visible front
and back you don't use the keeper in the back so both show when you wear your
jacket open so these are all things that you can try to use to come up with a
look that works for you some also loosen the knot in general which to
me just looks sloppy but at the end of the day is each to his own the third thing
you can experiment with is to wear your
belts quite long that works really well with like woven belts because they're
more casual not so well with a box calf belt and usually just dangles casually
down you could also try to use maybe ties that you use as a belt and have
them hang down just figure out what works for you
4 you can mix casual and formal elements for example Agnelli famously
wear work boots with a suit you could for example blend a fine worsted suit with
a shantung silk tie or a double-breasted very formal jacket paired with a pair of
jeans or maybe you want the double-breasted jacket which was
traditionally formal with patch pockets which are less formal as long as
you stay in a realm of classic men's clothing this can all work I urge you to
stay away from any kind of gym attire tennis shoes sneakers Air Jordans or
anything of that kind because usually it clashes with suits and classic menswear
looks bad five choose materials and styles that are more relaxed right now
the neapolitan jackets are popular it has an
unstructured shoulder it has little folds it is often imperfect and you
can really see the hand stitches but it's just part of the southern Italian
style you could also go with a soft roll button-down collar rather than a
traditional shirt collar or rather than going with a classic repp stripe tie you
can may be opt for a shantung silk stripe tied or a mohair wool grenadine striped
tie for sport coats you can go with linen or silk blends maybe cotton that wrinkle
in a more effortless way that a traditional wool suit would also you
want more texture in your fabric of your garments as well as your accessories
such as knit ties which are very coarse and just look different than even a
grenadien tie 6 don't use elaborate pocketsquare folds at Pitti uomo i've
seen many men wearing pocket squares that really pop out of their pocket and it
never looks relaxed and effortless it always looks like you're crying for
attention instead a simple fold even a puff fold will look different every time
and it has a certain nonchalance and elegance that looks not too forced 7
think about relaxing your grooming no I don't mean you should look like a
caveman but maybe get a different haircut in my
case it would mean using less product going with more curly waves of my hair
more natural volume maybe getting a more extreme undercut or maybe grow a beard
that creates more texture that makes me look different which is more in line
with the nonchalant look so what's my philosophy of sprezzatura you guessed it
I'm not the biggest fan of it however a big believer in authenticity and for me
dressing the way I am and I feel is very important because that way I appear more
confident than I would if I would wear something that was just a costume to me
throwing overcoats over my shoulders or having ties that are too long
or going with a sockless look is simply not of Who I am and that's why I simply
don't wear it I would say that I personally don't add deliberately ssprezzatura
things to my outfit however if I think about it maybe others would see
certain elements for example during the warmer months
I don't always iron my casual shirts I also like to wear my shirt cuff buttons
undone I also polish my shoes not very often anymore and there is a certain
shine there's also a little patina and it works with my look as a conclusion
sprezzatura is not something that works for everybody it should never be taken
as an excuse for sloppiness or trying to go over the top with outfits by breaking
excessive classic style rules it should also never be mere imitation you should
strive for something that is original that is authentic and works with your
style and you should try to incorporate as few items as possible in today's
video wearing a very summery outfit that could be loaded with sprezzatura first of
all I'm wearing a double-breasted linen
blend summer jacket which is unusual because double-breasted is usually
warmer so in the summer it makes less sense than a single breasted jacket my
shirt is a Oxford cloth button-down shirt so I could unbutton all the
buttons on my cuffs as well as my collar but I rather choose not
to because it would be too much my tie is a wool challis tie that picks up tones
of the jacket at the same time it provides a contrast because of the
orange diamonds it also works well with my light blue boutonniere which is
slightly contrasting but not over-the-top neither in size nor in
color you can find that as well as a tie in our shop here my pants are light blue
cotton chinos that are solid so they work with a coat for my socks I wear a
light gray blue shadow striped socks which work well with my olive green
shoes which are picked up with my olive green belts and the border of the pocket
square so everything is tied together in