Effortless Style: The Art Of Sprezzatura
"A flower is not a flower if it withers / A hat is not
a hat until it is bowed / You have or you don't have style", as Frank
Sinatra and Dean Martin sang in "Robin and the seven hoods". This is
perhaps the most popular type of stitch in Italy, where the idea of "sprezzatura"
was born five centuries ago. Simply defined, it is a kind of casual attitude
towards clothing; a certain plume or style died out. And Frank and Dino were
right: you either have the eye you need or you don't. It is not something that
an advice column can provide.
But this unfortunate news does not mean that the path of
sprezzatura is not worth taking.
It can be the
difference between an average outfit and standing out, and not in a flashy way.
One thing that is not sprezzatura is dandyism: it is not about ostentation or
caricature in the choice of cut or fabric; it's less about what you wear and
more about how you wear it. It is subtle, more the bed companion of another
Italian phrase, the beautiful figure, or "the beautiful image", a
delight in the small details of the dress that make you an individual without
any accompanying fanfare. As Beau Brummell pointed out, a man whose dress draws
attention to himself is not well dressed.
Nor is it a new idea. When Italian courtier and political
adviser Baldessare Castiglione wrote The Courter's Book in 1528, he established
what he called the "universal rule in all human affairs":
sprezzatura, a facade of indifference that masks the art needed to meet
challenges with poise. , seen even then as romantic and deceptive to almost the
same extent.
But it was an idea that caught on and grew. In the 18th
century,
wealthy travelers on
their Grand Tour in Italy commented on how even peasants dressed. It's an idea
that has endured as well, possibly helping Italian menswear define our ideas of
style for most of the second half of the 20th century. Perhaps this is also why
Italian men are among the most famous examples of sprezzatura throughout
history: the revolutionary Gabrielle D'Annunzio, the actor Marcello
Mastrioanni, the industrialist Gianni Agnelli.
Gianni agnelli
Agnelli, in fact, is perhaps the ultimate example of
sprezzatura's demand that you do things your way: he wore the watch on his
cuff; if he wore a button-down shirt, he left the collar buttons unbuttoned;
he, too, would wear his double-breasted suit jacket unbuttoned; And, in the
strangest way about him, he wouldn't think of donning a pair of hiking boots
with a suit. These examples suggest how the shape of sprezzatura down to the
smallest detail can make a difference; they also show how something that at
first glance may appear to be an affectation or simply unattractive may, in
fact, be a deliberate act of style.
The trick is not to overdo it. If it's too obvious, put
it aside. If there are too many stylistic tips, remove most of them.
Less is more. The thing is, these sprezzatura traits should,
on some level, be interpreted by the uninitiated as true dress errors, as if,
if you were Gianni Agnelli, you were wearing the watch just as I was running
out the door and there wasn't any time to adjust your bracelet; as if you
forgot to fasten your neck; as if you don't know the "correct" way to
close a double-breasted suit; like all of a sudden you can't find your shoes
and then decide your boots would do. It is negligence in the wardrobe, even if
it is studied. It's being effortless carefree, like you really don't care about
your clothes. It is more opportune than being naked.
James Dean embodied the idea of not wearisome too hard
when dressing
Sure, on another level, it all sounds a bit silly, because
there's a fine line between sprezzatura and, well, the perfectly acceptable
position of not caring about your clothes. After all, part of sprezzatura is
talking through a dress code with other like-minded men: what it means to a
few; For those who don't know or appreciate the code, the way you wear it
likely feels like a break from dress etiquette, rather than sticking to it. The
man with sprezzatura knows, of course, he doesn't care. Not that he proves it
anyway.
As Baldessarini pointed out, the sprezzatura was more
about attitude,
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