DO THE SUMMER LIKE THE LOCALS DO: FIRENZE & PITTI EPISODE

I attended another Pitti.

For many it's still a dream that hasn’t happened, especially since it became the man/main event par excellence, “peacocking” included. I explain the whole story about it in the book, in the “Borrow from the Boys” chapter and I will not be repetitive.

From 1992 it evolved, changed, expanded, went online, expatriated, cancelled the woman, added a small woman representation, now cancelled it again. My “relatore” the person that introduces you and kinda mentors you through the extenuating preparation of the final thesis in university was Luigi Settembrini, the then communication director and creative consultant of Pitti.

Florence is the place where in 1957 Italian fashion was born with a defile’ in the Sala Bianca in Palazzo Pitti, where Gianfranco Ferre’ made his man collection debut, where the men socks Gallo were launched. Guccio Gucci and Marquis Pucci were home buddies. Firenze is where you breathe history, culture and fashion like nowhere else in the world, it’s the noble of the family of the fashion capitals.

This seemed the perfect backdrop to hold a workshop on how to feel empowered by maintaining your own style in the world of fashion. Part of the job of #luxuryisastateofmind and making all look effortless chic was done by the J.K. Place and its director, Claudio Meli.

What to do like an Italian, or, in other words, how not to look like a tourist.

·         Don’t confuse Pitti Immagine with Palazzo Pitti, Santa Maria Novella the train station, the basilica or the farmacia;

It's ok to walk the streets with that feeling that Caterina de' Medici will show up around the corner with one hell of a damask gown and a cascade of emeralds: it happens to the veterans

·         Scudieri is for the orange zest dipped in dark chocolate, winter or summer;

·         Ice cream is at Perche’ no

·         Don’t be stars truck, play it cool; They are all peacocks, some are fake, the real ones don’t hang out at the entrance of the Fortezza;

·         Be aware, you may find your friend from 20 years ago

·         Go local, like follow Claudio Meli’s footsteps, hang out at the J.K. Place and make yourself acquainted with "the other Florence" the artists and artesans of the sublime.

·         Don’t wear logos, branding or, for that, any cheap Zara knockoffs of logos and brands

The Cheat Sheet of Italian Style // Book is still found HERE and HERE (if you live in the UK or prefer using the Pound). 

Forget Sophia Loren: Italian style dished out

It’s ok to connect Sophia Loren and Anita Eckberg in the Fontana di Trevi when thinking of Italian style. That was la dolce vita, Cinecitta’ and the luxurious and extravagant lives of the first paparazzi-ed movie stars.

a screenshot for the movie "Made in Italy" of my new obsession channel M2M

That’s a good starting point, when thinking of “the Italian way”, it’s sweet, retro and glamorous. But, and here you have to trust me, we kinda moved from Sophia. She grew, evolved and became an Hollywood icon of Italian beauty, but Italians don’t recognize themselves in her anymore, we think she is the glory of our past, we are somehow proud of her, yet she belongs to a collective imaginary that is not modern anymore

Style however has evolved, and her stance may lead to the misconception that Italian style means expensive clothing, glamorous wardrobes, custom made shoes and lavish lives. Ennio Flaiano said: Fashion is the self-portrait of a society. 

Virna Lisi, Anna Magnani, Monica Vitti are more of the icons we look up to, because they kept it real, with irony, sense of humor, wit, elegance, simplicity, frugality, sensuality …

Eva Geraldine Fontanelli, one of the coolest editors, stylist, chic Italians  photo from Style du Monde

• Coffee
• Fresh flowers
• Your own perfume (chapter 7 has the whole shenanigans about it)
• Put a smile on it
• Sneakers and leggings belong to the gym
• Comb your hair, polish your shoes, because “you never know”
• Don’t take yourself too seriously
• Your grandmother’s armoire is where you go first
• No garlic powder or canned grated Parmesan cheese wannabe
• You fight for the best part of the fish, the cheek
• Sunday long lunches almost always end with an animated discussion about soccer or politics
• But the above mentioned Sunday lunches also are for fresh pastries from the local pasticceria
• Seamstress and cobbler are preciously kept numbers
• Coffeecoffee: expresso shot, no powder creamer or foam container
• Big pants and big watches

pic. from collegevintage.com

• Aperol spritz before dinner, summer time
• Pasta
• Frugally curate the closet
• Intangible quality of chic
• Don’t buy a size smaller

“there’s nothing more feminine, sensual, elegant, yet unconventionally pretty than alluding to a woman’s body instead of flaunting it shamelessly”

— There's no shuch thing as pretty - Ch.10

• Domestic goddessing, like Pandora Sykes calls it, is part of your life whether you are a man or a woman.
• Flats or heels
• Black is fine, but navy!
• Don’t keep the good stuff for Sunday

sabot + socks 

I learned from the movie that it's been said that "Italy is not a country, but a state of mind, a point of view, a way of understanding the world."

The crash of the Fashion Blogger Inc.

It happened and from the lips and the fast typing keyboards of the most commercial and ad-driven of fashion magazines, Vogue US. I'll leave this commentary of why I have this opinion on the magazine for later, because the point here is that through an article on The Guardian I have found out the news and the drama that ensued.

4 US Vogue fashion editors (who I follow on IG and admire, because honestly I have always wanted to be working at Vogue, overall) during Milan fashion week, called out fashion bloggers as:

pathetic
trolling
desperate
heralding the death of style
get yourself another business
sad women in borrowed clothes
distressing

#sorrynotsorry

But first, some factors cannot be ignored. 

There's always the generalization that hurts, because it's like "if you want to cook Italian, just add garlic to everything" because hell, no.
There are girls (and the Brian Boy guy) that have built empires and they have worked hard at it, and they pay taxes, and have collections of shoes or whatever under their name.
It must be taken into account that those same fashion editors have been flown into exotic destinations, invited to scrumptious dinners, gotten discounted runway looks. 

HOWEVER, these guys are all stylist, influencers, YouTubers, TV personalities, designers, in other words, the gods of fashion's Olympus. I can't help but wonder, if there have been different professional figures in the business for ages, now all of a sudden some social media fashionista can do it all? 
This needs a little bit of inside knowledge, but, to use the equestrian world as an example, the farrier is not the polo player and although they work together, the farrier will not even be considered to substitute a jockey, or a nurse a plastic surgeon. 

They appear as a swarm, sit front row, snap selfies, Snapchat (used as verb here), post Instastories of the entire runway to show they are indeed frow-ers, get out causing pandemonium, get snapped by the street-style photographer, change and 1) do it allover again if they are the top; 2) go home because they were only lucky to get one account. 

L e t m e a s k y o u "where's the style here?"

The collections are presented not for the crowd in front  of the venue, but to give inspiration of the moods of the next season. 

Do they even read the notes of the designer, like fashion editors do?

Are they obliged by contract to uhhh and ahhh no matter what or they'll be without a job?

Do they have an opinion, know how to formulate one and read through the looks, like fashion editors do?

I barely see a blogger at a re-see, which is when the day after you go to the showroom and get a close encounter with the whole collection, look by look on mannequins, so to hear it from the words of the artistic director, to touch and feel the fabrics, the details, the nuances, the accessories, the story. Like fashion editors do. 

OPINION: MY OWN

1. It's a practice that brought to consumerism and conesquently the polluting and un-ethical plague of fast fashion;
2. Lack of self esteem:  they all look flawless, impeccable, thin and invisible size and you are pushed to look like them;
3. they don't have their own style, they wear what they are either paid to wear, post and bring engagement up on or are gifted in exchange of posting and bringing engagement up, double perks if they are snapped by street photogs;
4. they have brought ridicule to the world of fashion, degrading the work of the designers to the It bag or It shoe;
5. they are the reason why I never introduced myself as "fashion blogger" although I blog about fashion and style, I am far away from all of THAT

Where would you find this topic in THE CHEAT SHEET OF ITALIAN STYLE? Everywhere ... but if you want me to be specific, I'd start from Chapter 1 - "The Four Keys to the Italian Way"