Saturday, March 6, 2010

Simone Righi Is Legend

Simone Righi, Director of Florence shop Tie Your Tie, may be a leading candidate for most stylish guy on the face of the earth.  Everything about his look is meticulously well-tailored and thoroughly Italian.  There's really not a whole lot new to break down here, but Simone is a great example of just how far attention to tailoring and personal details can take you - it's really not all that difficult if you take the time to focus on what's actually important.  Lots of people think the name on the label or the figure on the price tag is what it's all about and they couldn't be more wrong (though I would suspect Simone's clothes aint cheap).  As a side note, if anyone can bring back pleats it's this guy...

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
 

[Pictures Courtesy of Tie Your Tie and The Sartorialist.]

-L.A.S

14 comments:

  1. This is one of my favourites of him
    http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-streetsimone-at-sunset-florence.html

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  2. You're half right but I would venture to say that labels actually count for a lot - particularly when they're of southern Italian origin as it denotes a specific cut, shoulder, etc. If I'm not mistaken, Simone's suiting is all made by Cesare Attolini, which is arguably the best label a man can have on the inside of his jacket.

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  3. Antonio- Touche. The point I was trying to make was that it's not just about about labels, which mean alot, but often too much to too many folks. Attention to detail, personal touches and swagger are always > labels in my book.

    I'm not near the authority on gear like you are, but I think you are indeed correct on the Cesare Attolini call.

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  4. Pleats never went out except for those that slavishly follow the latest lurch of fashion.

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  5. damn. buddy is a savage with the fashion, eh? i love it!

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  6. "which is arguably the best label a man can have on the inside of his jacket."

    A&S probably wouldn't agree but conceptually you're right of course labels matter....but Attolini (and A&S) are the Yankees of menswear....most people who aren't either wealthy and interested in clothes or in the fashion business just don't function at this level....Righi is a style icon and the best that most people can do is pick up a few ideas from him and apply them to their own circumstances.

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  7. When pleats fit, you usually can't tell that they're pleats in the first place. Where flat-fronts can look okay (still not great) when they're not tailored, pleats almost always call attention to your hips when they're not tailored. Point is, flat-front is popular now, but well fitting pants are always fashionable.

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  8. BJ - That's why I said arguably. At that level it comes down to what you are looking for. I've always found the neapolitan style tailored clothing to be much less structured and easier to wear than the english. I think Valentino Ricci's line to Jeremy Hackett sums it all up quite nicely: "to hide your shoulder is to hide who you really are." Neapolian style makes a man a better version of himself by glorifying his figure, English style hides imperfections to create an idealized man. Personally, I would rather be myself...

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  9. Enzo - as you know the root of most of the great English tailors (thus English style) is military (and military tailoring).

    In that regard their aim would have been to standardise rather than hide.

    Two sides of the same coin yes but one side has more integrity.

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  10. Enzo:"Neapolian style makes a man a better version of himself by glorifying his figure, English style hides imperfections to create an idealized man."

    .....the problem is that middle aged men with the means to purchase $6000 suits usually have a few imperfections of the figure....I'm not knocking Italian clothing, I love it and have purchased it from the cheap to the uber expensive....I just try to relate it to real life not stylistic purism.

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  11. At the risk of being verbally thrashed by the many admirers of Signore Righi who have posted their laudatory comments above, let me remark that his two-sizes-too-small jackets and his supercilious posing are nothing but comical from a Trad/Ivy perspective.

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  12. OldSchool said..."his two-sizes-too-small jackets"

    .....They're not two sizes too small.....just very snugly tailored around waist, chest and sleeve....too snug for me but they look great on 28 year old Italian gigolos I've seen hanging out in Milan, Rome, Florence etc (I'm jealous of course!)

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  13. BJ,

    I tried my best to avoid using the word "gigolo".
    Thanks for indirectly speaking my mind.

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  14. OldSchool said... "Thanks for indirectly speaking my mind."

    .....Sounds like you're jealous too!!

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