I love this photo of Francesco Smalto. Like his contemporaries Tommy Nutter and Edward Sexton, Smalto was known for combining high fashion with the highest standards of tailoring in the 1970s. His jackets had bold prints and odd details (sometimes coming without revers), but as he got older, his personal sense of style became a little more conservative. Still expressive, but just a little more toned down. In this picture, he’s wearing a mid-blue suit with a yellow and blue striped shirt, while a magenta pocket square spills out of his breast pocket. As I recently posted at Put This On, this is a great example of how to walk the fine line between conservative business dress and the sort of unbridled dandyism you see at Pitti Uomo.
The nice thing about summer is that it’s not terribly difficult to be a little bolder with your clothing choices. In fact, the season almost demands it. A good place to start is to brighten up your colors. The Armoury, for example, has a range of mid-blue jackets from Ring Jacket, which range from royal blue to French blue. Sid Mashburn also has a few mid-blue sport coats worth looking into, while Ralph Lauren has something they call their Morgan basketweave. At a more affordable price point, check out Suitsupply.
For bespoke, Minnis Fresco’s 520 is an easy choice. It’s a shade lighter than navy, and although it looks dark indoors, it becomes a nice mid-blue once you’re in the sun. I also recently picked up a jacket’s length of Delfino’s 1937, which is a hemp and wool blend with a nice mix of blue, black, and white yarns. No Man Walks Alone made some jackets this season from the slightly brighter shade of 1936, although it’s been long sold out. Interested customers might want to keep an eye on the store’s group-made-to-order runs, where customers can pull together and vote on which fabrics they’d like to see next.
Whatever you do, be careful not to go too bright. Our Mystery Man in the last photo below looks good, but on lesser men, you risk looking like Seth MacFarlane in that Steve Harvey Makeover sketch.
(photos via Voxsartoria, Ethan Newton, The Armoury, Beijing1980, Musella Dembach, Napolisumisura, The Sartorialist, Tommy Ton, Shibumi, and Journal of Style)
