Photo: Dolce VitaConsider the contrast between style icon Luca di Montezemolo and a man I believe is Kimi Räikkönen, one of the Ferrari Formula 1 team drivers. The two wear clothes of comparable color and cost but that is as far as the similarities go.
Next to Montezemolo, the other man's aggressively patterned suit, flashy shoes and trousers puddling on his shoe tops finish a distant second.
Slow and steady wins the race.
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The man is Michael Shumacher (not shoemaker :-))
Wikipedia: "According to the official Formula One website, he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen.""
...And one of the worst dressed.
He is Michael Shumacher, one of the best F1 drivers of all time. And a notorious tacky dresser. Please, look at this photograph of him in the Prince of Asturias Awards presentation ceremony. A very "particular" idea of formal dress: http://www.20minutos.es/galeria/3200/0/1/
Nowhere is the contrast between the two better demonstrated, IMO, than in the choice of footwear. Those pointed things on the guy on the right are simply awful.
It would be too much to say that I regret my pinstripe purchases, even though my most aggressive is far more muted than the one shown here, but it is also true that I view them as harder to pull off than they seemed when I acquired them.
I remember from my adolescence the pinstripe and the wingtip as the epitome of conservative male fashion. Now I seem them as a worker's uniform, and think of conservative as being different from elegant.
Maybe pinstripes are pretentious. I don't mind at all the look of a glen plaid or a windowpane pattern, for example.
Any thoughts, Will?
As an aside, that is a surprisingly well-dressed Scumacher you are seeing here.
Notable for a lack of sartorial elegance, it is not uncommon to see him in leather trousers and a open white blouses - think eighties rock and roll and you're not far off!
Still, being 7 times F1 World Champion I suppose allows one to behave as one pleases...
Hi all,
First off the name is Schumacher (starting with Sch and not Sh). But that's off topic.
As to the guys shoes: Sadly in Europe it is very hard right now to get a decent pair of shoes. Most of them have a shape reminiscent of the style worn by court jesters.
So short of going with bespoke or at least handmade made to measure, he is doing the best possible. And that is really sad!
However the only explanation for the outfit he is wearing (trousers too long, suit too loud, shirt open too wide by at least 1 button, ...) that he has no sense of style whatever.
This is not surprising considering what he is. He is a gas guzzling nitwit that probably never has had a coherent thought in his life. By talent and luck he picked a good manager and then did what he did best: Drink gasoline and drive fast.
In reality the fault for this picture lies with Montezemolo for ever putting the man on a stage when not in his racing gear.
Now that's a contrast! Yes, apart from bad fit, the shoes are the primary culprit.
But, in all fairness to poor Mr. Schumacher, it's not exactly easy to stand next Luca di Montezemolo in a suit.
Given the purchasing power parity between the two, their ages and their cultures are different:
Italians have a slight edge over the Germans in dress, but Germans know how to make their trains run on time!
Montezemolo: Nice suit. Questionable shoes. Needs haricut.
But a good comparison none the less.
While Mr. Schumacher undoubtedly looks awful, I think the blame needs to be placed on the shoes and tailoring [both the excessive break and the 3-button cut of his jacket, as well as the awkwardly sewn seams on he trousers' inner leg]. While the pattern is aggressive, I'm not sure it's a lot more so than many other pin and chalk striped suits that have been presented as "dos" rather than "don'ts" in other posts on this blog [which I completely enjoy, fwiw]. Putting nearly anyone next to Mr. Montezemolo is going invite critical comparisons - however, if M.S. is to be judged fairly, I think he would not be doing too badly if he bought a good pair of shoes, had someone trustworthy make the alterations to that suit [which I assume is OTR] and put on a decent tie. All of which is maybe to damn him that much more as there was not all that much he had to do differently had he the sense or guidance.
I like the texture and the stripe of Mr. Schumacher's suit. 'Nough of that. Adding to what others mentioned, the sleeves of Mr. Schumacher's jacketare too long.
Great driver, but who can be all things to all people.
Tim, questionable shoes? Those are black oxfords...
Say what you will about the clothing, "Slow and Steady" in F1 (or any other motor race) will put you firmly back amongst the losers, most of whom drove a "slow and steady" race.
He dresses like a lot of younger and middle-aged men here in Japan trying to look cool.
Please pardon the amateurish question, but isn't style icon di Montezemolo supposed to button the top button instead of (or in addition to) the lower one? I don't know if this passes as sprezzatura, but it results in an awkward fold on the right front of the jacket, which takes away some of the otherwise impeccable elegance.
Most DBs are cut to be buttoned at either button, and closing only the lower gives the jacket a longer line. Any pulling likely has something to do with the hand Montezemolo has stuffed in his pocket.
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