Chetmiles - thank you for the Italian update. I haven't been since my week in Tuscany in July and I'm missing it so much. Trips to Sardinia and Turin lined up for first half of 2009. I have witnessed greatness across the whole of the holy peninsula but above all in Bologna where I discovered a city rich in those glorious Italian contradictions - traditional but dynamic, conservative but socialist, untouched by mass tourism and so assured of its own way of doing things. One of the most intense religious experiences of my life (faith : modernist) occured just off of Piazza Maggiore where a group of men in their 30s chatted animatedly in a way Anglo-Saxon men struggle to do even with the assistance of alcohol. The clothes were just fine, the body language and the way they occupied the city space were intoxicating. As I gazed on there was a chorus of ciaos and one of the group climbed onto his scooter. I thought - this is it, the mod thing, where it came from, and where it is a natural part of everyday life : an elevated, eminently more sophisticated and positive model of how to be, particularly for men, who so often struggle to escape suffocating notions of assertive, aggressive masculinity in this often wretched country of ours. On recent trips to Italy I have seen elegance on an everyday basis across the classes and across the regions. I have stumbled upon little clothes shops all over the country selling beautiful things made with fantastic fabrics, expertly cut and beautifully displayed. J.Simons is the best shop in the UK by a mile. Absolutely no competition. But this is such a sad thing because it reflects the lack of any interest out there in London and the rest of the UK in dressing with any sense of knowledge, style or awareness. Men are so lacking in visual awareness it's just awful. Whilst Italy may not have a retailer servicing a niche interest as JS does, it offers instead a plethora of greatness to all the people through a network of little independent shops all doing their thing, all understanding that they can sell a jacket with a soft shoulder in a lovely shade of blue, or a great pair of Made in Italy desert boots for 50 euros, or beautiful ties and socks. It's not self-consciously Ivy League, but more a distillation of the best of Italian-English-American dress, using traditional silhouettes and colour combinations that inform virtually everything they offer. God I love Italy.

Last edited by Alex Roest (2008-10-31 15:23:08)

On the theme of Italian style in general, I was very disappointed in what I saw in the film 'Gomorrah' about the Neapolitan mafia - the Camorra.

It is not an Italian 'Goodfellas'. Everyone, apart from a dodgy politician, is wearing crap clothes. They are mostly overweight in a way that makes the Sopranos seem classy.

The apartment blocks are truly dreadful.

Maybe it is the effect of the drug problem. I saw no sign of pride in appearance or even criminals living the high life on the proceeds. The only pride in tailoring was the Italian dressmaker passing on trade secrets to Chinese rivals.