![This vision of soft-shoulder, narrow lapeled, two buttoned, smokey glory is Marcello Mastroianni in La Dolce Vita (1960).
What you see draped over that drop-dead handsome Italian is called the Continental style which gained popularity in the midcentury thanks to movies like Roman Holiday and Vita.
As we have established through wild eyed adoration of Gregory Peck and Cary Grant that by 1962 the smaller suits, with flatter trouser, and thinner ties were considered standard but modern dress for the upwardly mobile man in Manhattan (this will be on the test, people!). But the truly daring man, the fashionable, trendseeking man, could have verged towards the Continental style made popular through the Brioni shop.
Brioni was an Italian designer who outfitted the olive tanned men of Europe and, most importantly for our purposes, tailored the suits for American movie stars wore whenever they appeared in an Roman romp (Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Rock Hudson).
The Brioni/Continental style suits have an even slimmer silhouette to their American counter parts, slanting pockets, without patterns or pins, double cuffs, looser collar and usually comes in cool colors (Brussels blues and Geneva greys), and the general aloofness that comes with riding scooters by 800 year old fountains.
Now think back to that dreadful number Don wore when he and Betty played their little game of pick up in Rome. He was wearing a bright blue sack suit! No wonder Betty called him ugly. Only in a place as hip as Rome could Don be a square.
Related links:
History of Brioni Style [A Modernist]
Ivy League Jazz Style [RL Magazine]
Iconic fountain scene [Youtube]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5i2tdzm6e1qzlum5o1_400.jpg)
This vision of soft-shoulder, narrow lapeled, two buttoned, smokey glory is Marcello Mastroianni in La Dolce Vita (1960).
What you see draped over that drop-dead handsome Italian is called the Continental style which gained popularity in the midcentury thanks to movies like Roman Holiday and Vita.
As we have established through wild eyed adoration of Gregory Peck and Cary Grant that by 1962 the smaller suits, with flatter trouser, and thinner ties were considered standard but modern dress for the upwardly mobile man in Manhattan (this will be on the test, people!). But the truly daring man, the fashionable, trendseeking man, could have verged towards the Continental style made popular through the Brioni shop.
Brioni was an Italian designer who outfitted the olive tanned men of Europe and, most importantly for our purposes, tailored the suits for American movie stars wore whenever they appeared in an Roman romp (Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Rock Hudson).
The Brioni/Continental style suits have an even slimmer silhouette to their American counter parts, slanting pockets, without patterns or pins, double cuffs, looser collar and usually comes in cool colors (Brussels blues and Geneva greys), and the general aloofness that comes with riding scooters by 800 year old fountains.
Now think back to that dreadful number Don wore when he and Betty played their little game of pick up in Rome. He was wearing a bright blue sack suit! No wonder Betty called him ugly. Only in a place as hip as Rome could Don be a square.
Related links:
History of Brioni Style [A Modernist]
Ivy League Jazz Style [RL Magazine]
Iconic fountain scene [Youtube]
