Photo: James AllenLike his mentor Giavanni Agnelli, Luca di Montezemolo, seen here expressing his opinion about the dismal state of Formula One racing, wears buttondown collared shirts with some frequency. The question of course is why he likes them, since he does not wear them buttoned.
A button collared shirt was originally sportswear and it is usually made from a more casual cloth like oxford or chambray. The advantage of the style is that it keeps the collar in place when worn under a sweater or without a necktie under an odd jacket.
In my opinion most of Agnelli's expressions, like the watch worn over the shirt sleeve or pairing a buttondown collar with a double breasted suit, struck the viewer as unusual rather than unattractive. Flapping collars on the other hand look awkward.
Perhaps wearing them is simply an easy form of sprezzatura to remember in the morning.
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11 comments:
Clothing in Italy is another league, spending an disproportionate amount of your income on one item is not exceptional at all.
Rolling up your trouser to show off your shoes, wearing your watch outside your cuff are both parts of that.
Leaving your collar buttons undone - studied nonchalance.
As you say, sprezzatura and, although not my style, a good contribution to the overall style spectrum.
We went to an Open House at our museum a few weeks back and I dressed my husband in a new white button down oxford shirt, new cuffed khaki trousers, his better black loafters and belt, a navy summer blazer. I decided against the tie. It was an open cash bar, several lectures, open exhibits, run of the place type of thing. I thought he looked pretty darn good and blended in well.
This look is too contrived for me. It goes in the Mickey Rourke category for me. Sloppy is Sloppy.
Dear Lynn,
Please allow your husband to dress himself.
Even if he looks 'better' under your direction he will inherently lack style.
Hear, hear, Youngin. Sloppy remains sloppy, even if studied and nonchalant. Maybe he tried to blend in with the chaos in his environment.
Gant sells buttondown shirts in traditional casual oxford, Etro (Milan) sells all kinds of buttowndowns including a white striped satin one (which I bought day before yesterday). You can button or you can not use the buttons. So what? It's up to you.
He would wear that cardigan sweater. I'm trying to get him into a sport coat.
Lynn - What sort of a man are you married to? Let him alone for god's sake!
Richard - I would not define "chaos" as a press conference. If you choose to, I hope you do not pass along your views to major corporate heads or diplomats... I certainly do not want to turn my TV on to a sea of flailing shirt collars.
Youngin, I agree completely, and it was not meant to excuse the flailing collars; they look sloppy in any environment.
I really don't think this is sprezzatura. If you ask me it's really 1970s as it looks as if he's wearing a dress shirt with a really wide collar out over the lapels. It looks too much 70s disco to me, the quality of his navy suit notwithstanding.
MHampton
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