Luciano Barbera is a menswear icon for many reasons. However, for me, the most important thing is that she always emphasized dressing comfortably, appropriately and understated.
Dressing well means avoiding the tight suits or blinding shoes that still plague certain areas of menswear. Dressing modestly means avoiding the extremes of fashion. And dressing appropriately means many things, but one of them is not cosplaying – not trying to force a three-piece suit into an inappropriate time, place or occasion.
“The most powerful statement is an understatement. Everything I do is a philosophy,” he once said.
These are all powerful, real things to remember – and I think they should remind us that even if we wear less tailoring than we did 10 years ago, there is still a lot to learn from those Italian icons, which can include the likes of Simone Righi, Mariano Rubinacci, Sergio Loro Piana or Matteo Marzotto.
But today we’re here to talk about Barbera, and there are a few specific and sewing-related things I think readers can learn from her style.
1. Try to compare shoes
Barbera was a big fan of red colored shoes, and took every opportunity to wear them. Most of the time that was noticeable because his suits were lighter in color, and the shoes were darker than the suit material.
But he also wore black shoes with dark gray pants, doing somethingwe talked last yearto wear shoes a little lighter than pants, to affect visual interest. (For anyone who still doesn’t understand why that’s unusual, read the article.)
I suggest that readers can take this from Barbera, even if they never wear ties, hanks or other formal items.
2. Wear a very soft hat
God knows, fringed hats are hard to wear. But if there is one thing that makes them easy, they are soft and wearable. Barbera always looked as if he had been sitting in them for half an hour, and because of that he often retreated.
How do you get that kind of hat? Well, you buy with a soft, unencumbered feeling and treat it like garbage. One of theLocking rolling capsit will look very fast – all that needs to be done is to fold it a few times. And a strong feeling will look like that in time if it is not born. You can also submerge the intensity you feel in water, but I admit I’ve never had the courage to do that.
3. Or beer
Barbera also wore a flat cap, even a beanie or baseball cap, as alternatives to the trilby. But a flat cap always made him look old and unstylish to me, while a baseball cap looked ridiculous. On the other hand, the beanie gave her a cheeky look that just adds to the appeal.
The cap may have been a joke for all we know, or at least some kind of commercial. But it’s nice to see how a little wool beanie can flatter such a handsome figure.
4. Learn color combinations
Barbera was a master of color pairing. It helped him to wear rural ones – greens, beiges, browns – which were easy to wear with other bright colors, but he was very successful. My three favorites are shown above, in order: yellow and medium dark; red and green; cerice and dark brown.
All of these are combinations that you can work into your wardrobe in different ways than those shown: a yellow scarf with a medium-brown suit; a red striped shirt under a green coat; cerise woven with a dark brown coat. You don’t have to wear a suit and tie to be inspired by these outfits.
5. Have fun with mixed patterns
We have to go back almost 20 years to find outfirst mention of pattern densityin PS, but it hasn’t lost any of its appeal. There’s something about seeing a tie, shirt, jacket and handkerchief in different patterns – yet all working together – that still stirs the soul of a seamstress.
The secretof course, keeping the density of neighboring patterns sufficiently different from each other. A large check on a jacket, a small stripe on a shirt, a club diagonal on a tie, and so on. You can also deliberately flirt with the edges of this; I like a striped shirt with my striped DB suit, for example, but then keep the item to a black, solid,tie anchorin the middle.
I don’t often wear a patterned scarf these days, but I like to play with this combination of suit, shirt and tie patterns. It’s a great way to add interest without using a bold pattern or color.
I have also learned over the years, that the color of Barbera glasses only works on ruddier people or more tanned Italian people. It took me a long time to make peace with that – just like youyou can see here.
Like all famous dressers, Barbera never seems to struggle with style in any way. It helped that he dressed within the narrow confines of classic menswear, but still.
He’s the one I usually refer people to when they misuse the word ‘sprezzatura’. It means the opposite of what they think: “It literally means separation, but a better way to think of it is quiet confidence or a low-key style,” he said. “Style is making people see you without struggling to do so.”
Whenever I read Barbera’s interviews and quotes, he inspires me to take a closer look at the fabric. The fabric was her heritage of course, and she often talks about her hatred of ‘flat’ fabrics, those without character – and how natural fibers are perfect for that. You make me want to feel the fabric on my fingers, rather than click on the internet.
Below are a few of my favorite Barbera photos. Remember, it only takes one thing to be motivated. The point is not to compliment the overall look. It never was, really.