Hot Weather Italian Style [0:00:00]
So, back in college, I had a friend who went to Italy for the summer to study art history.
Now, Liz was from the Midwest, hadn’t travelled outside the United States and went over there
on a full scholarship.
So, she was going to be very focused in on the mission at hand, right?
Not exactly.
You see, she came back not just in love with the country, but in love with the country’s
men.
She talked again and again about how the Italians were the best-dressed guys she had ever seen
in her life.
And as a student of classic men’s style, I have to agree with her assessment.
Now, understand Italian style is very different from English style, from French style, definitely
from American style.
And what these guys really get right is their ability to dress sharp in a hot weather.
[Music] The first lesson on our list, master wearing
the casual sports jacket.
And I get it, this off-white jacket here, maybe a little bit too much for some of you.
Then, start with a gray or light tan.
What I like about colors like these, you can dress them up you can dress them down.
And jackets in general as the Italians understand build up the shoulders.
They just make you a step above when it comes to your style.
You stand out from the crowd.
Wearing these with jeans, wearing them with chinos, wearing these with linen trousers,
all of a sudden, you are looking better than most of the guys out there.
Now, immediately the objection for most guys is it’s too hot, it’s uncomfortable.
Here’s a secret to wearing a jacket.
First up, make sure it’s made from the right material.
This one’s made from linen, it’s going to be breathable.
In addition, let’s talk about unlined jackets.
These are jackets that are not fully lined on the inside.
So, they just have this thin layer of linen, again, which is incredibly breathable.
They’ve got some lining up here at the top, so it makes it really easy to be able to slip
your shoulder in and out.
But, jackets built like this, lightweight, are made for the summer and are going to be
just the air is going to flow right through.
They are much cooler than they look.
Also, when looking at a summer jacket, don’t forget to pay attention to the color.
In general, lighter colors are where it’s at.
They’re going to reflect more light.
Darker colors absorbed light, therefore they’re going to be hotter.
Now, this color right here, again, maybe over the top for some of you guys, but look for
grays, look for greens.
There are variations that are going to be lighter in color, anything that’s in the
pastels, maybe a little bit too strong for some of you guys.
But, again, try the jacket on, see how it makes you look.
Jackets, again, build up the shoulders, they slim up the silhouette.
In general, they make you look more stylish.
The second tip to dressing like an Italian is to put in the work, but make it look like
it was effortless.
This is called sprezzatura.
And it’s a word that actually derives I think it was from Machiavelli, even he talked
about this in The Prince.
Imagine, you know, you look at a duck on the surface of a pond.
It is smoothly moving to the water.
What you don’t see are those little feet, you know, just move – quickly moving, you
know.
It basically would mess up the whole image and Italians understand this.
That whenever you see them put together, yes, it looks like they didn’t even try, just
something they threw together.
But, Italians understand that, no, you do need to put the time and effort into that
outfit even if it looks like that outfit was just thrown together effortlessly.
No, there was a lot of thought and process.
That’s why you want to have a uniform, you want to have clothing that you know fits you.
Clothing that you know that when you put it on, it looks good, it works together.
I love the interchangeable wardrobe.
The idea that you can match things together without even having to look at them because
when you make sure you buy them and you put them in your closet, you know that they are
going to match they’re going to work effortlessly.
The next summer style secret to steal from the Italians, be comfortable in your own skin.
Seriously, whenever you put on an outfit, you should have practiced wearing it.
This isn’t the first time when you see a great looking Italian that he’s worn that
outfit.
He’s probably put that combination together or variations of it.
He has a uniform, he has a look, he knows what works for him and he’s practiced wearing
it.
Whenever you have been practiced wearing something, all of a sudden you’re unsure uncertain,
maybe you’re self-conscious and it shows.
You want to be able to wear clothing, again, that’s incredibly comfortable, clothing
that looks good.
And speaking of comfort, let’s talk about today’s sponsor, Collar & Co.
So, guys, one thing I don’t like about dress shirts, long sleeve dress shirts, not very
breathable especially during the summer wearing them under a sports jacket.
But here is the thing, Collar & Co. took the polo shirt, they perfected it and then they
improved the collar.
We’re talking you’ve got a dress shirt collar here.
They’ve got different collar styles, so if you want something that’s more of a wider
angle, you want something that’s more of a point collar, you want a spread collar,
they’ve got you covered.
You’ve got the four-button front.
And the material, silky, just incredibly comfortable, so you’ve got great comfort and you’ve
got that structured collar that makes your outfit pop.
Seriously, gents, you can wear these shirts alone as a polo or better yet, you can combine
them, again, with your favorite sports jacket with any type of sweater and you’ve got
a combination that’s going to be more comfortable is going to keep you cooler, still look good
with that structured collar.
It’s going to help you dress up during the summer, look good, but you don’t have to
deal with all the hassle that come with long sleeve shirts.
And the fabric, I absolutely love it.
It’s lightweight, it’s moisture-wicking, and it has a four-way stretch.
[0:04:55] And let’s talk about options.
So, when it comes to colors, they’ve got all base colors that you’re going to need.
If you need white, if you need something dark navy, if you want a black, if you want a pink.
They’re going to have a variety of patterns.
You want a light blue.
Again, gents, I want to stress I love the feel, I love the fit of these polos right
here.
And, again, I love how they paid attention to the most important aspect, the collar and
right here, this front placket.
Having structured or having something that’s going to stand up whenever you layered it
up, whenever you put the sports jacket over this is so key because I’ve had so many
polos that just don’t work.
They look good when you first get them, but then you wash them and, yeah, the collars
fall apart.
They get that, you know, all wrinkly baking kind of look.
These collars stand up through the wash and, again, they keep their structure, which is
key if you want to look good during the hot times of the summer.
All right, gents, just change up the look.
What do you think pink with the green?
A lot of guys aren’t into color.
I’ll talk about that here in a second.
But, guys, if you want to get the best deal on Collar & Co., use that link in the description
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Look at all the option, guys.
You’re going to be surprised how good of a deal these guys are offering you.
And, yeah, go check them out, awesome company.
So now, let’s talk about that splash of color.
I just brought in pink, I could have had more fun with the pocket square probably.
But, point being is most American men are afraid to bring in color.
I mean, how many guys do you know that for some reason they think pink is a woman’s
color?
[sound effect] If you know your history, pink was actually
a young man’s color for the longest time and actually works with great with darker
skin tones.
It makes them really pop.
But here is the thing is a lot of guys just we have this false association.
Believe me, the ladies do not care.
If it looks good on you, you’re going to get compliments and you are going to stand
out from the crowd.
So, don’t be afraid to bring in and maybe it’s not going to be a shirt, maybe it’s
going to be an accessory, maybe it’s going to be your trousers.
Again, an area where most men neglect actually bringing in color, but I’ve seen men were
popping with red trousers, maybe with a navy blazer.
You just are, you know, navy polo.
Right there, we’re drawing attention to the trousers, it looks good, and you stand
out
from
the crowd.
The next summer style secret to steal from the Italians, guys, know your shoes.
So, us Americans, we just default it seems like to running shoes, maybe you’ve got
some sandals, yeah.
But, let’s talk about loafers.
This is where the Italians really get it and you could start with something simple and
clean.
What I like about loafers like this is they got a really short vamp.
So, that’s the front top of the shoe right here.
And they’re incredibly cool.
They’re also made from a very lightweight pliable leather that’s going to be incredibly
comfortable.
Believe me, I’ve walked throughout New York City in a pair of shoes like this, incredibly
comfortable and it just steps up the entire outfit.
But, gents, there is more.
Simply take that same style, change up the material.
Here I’ve gone with the green suede.
You wear that with a gray pair of light wool trousers, maybe like a light white shirt,
but it’s the shoes that are going to stand out.
But, what if it’s incredibly hot?
You want something that’s even cooler.
Guys, look for perforated leather style shoes.
What I love about this is air literally go in and out, you’ve got small holes.
These are incredibly breathable and, again, so much more stylish than just wearing running
shoes.
Seriously, I like that style so much, I even picked up a pair in blue suede.
Now, if you want something with a little bit more flash, maybe a little bit more design,
don’t be afraid of a tassel loafer.
And, of course, how can we forget the iconic horsebit loafer made popular by the designer,
Gucci.
And let’s not forget the Italians also understand the importance of smelling good.
Now, during the summer, you’re going to want to go with lighter fragrances.
And what we mean by that were fragrances that aren’t heavy and overpowering, nothing overly
sweet unless you’re going to the club.
And maybe look for something that’s going to have more, you know, aquatic notes to it.
It’s going to maybe have a little bit of aromatic to it, something that’s going to
have a little bit of citrus at the top.
Whenever you put this on, it’s going to be refreshing.
That being said, powdery fragrances, fragrances that have a little bit of a, you know, floral
to them, maybe a little bit of an aromatic, those can work as well.
But, you know, again, just look for something that’s geared towards the summer.
I find that there are tons of options out there especially for the guy just starting
off.
That being said, there is a drawback to a lot of summer fragrances and that is they
don’t last that long compared to the heavier winter fragrances.
That being said, don’t worry about that because when you put this on and it’s 100
degrees outside and you’re sweating, it will last long enough.
And if you really want to smell more of it, then just reapply.
Now, what about shorts?
And don’t get me wrong, I love shorts.
When the temperature hits 35 degrees here in Wisconsin, everybody is out wearing their
shorts and their white legs are blinding you.
But, seriously, shorts in general are a bit overplayed in my opinion because most men
in hot weather don’t think tropical weight wool trousers, they don’t think chinos and
going with a variety of options.
The thing is shorts are really going to dress down any outfit.
Nothing wrong with that if the, you know, situation calls for that.
If you’re going to the beach if you’re just going to be out going for a walk around
town and it’s really hot, I get it, totally fine.
But, I do think wearing the right type of shorts and maybe looking at could tropical
weight wool trousers actually fill in a void, so I’m going to come off as more stylish.
And be just as cool in fact protect my legs from the, you know, from the sun.
[0:09:58] But, guys, let’s actually go to a whole
video on shorts in which I talk about this very topic.
I go into the length, I go into a lot of details on how to pull shorts off and look good.
Again, covered in this video right here.
Click it, you’ll magically go over there and be amazed.
Yeah, it’s good video.
[0:10:15] End of audio