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Your favorite pretend-Italian labels.

Bergdorf Goodwill

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I'm going to go ahead and pick "Giorgio V."

The "Beverly Hills Polo Club" clothing that is sold in drug stores falls under the same category of hilarity, but it's not fake-Italian.
 

AlanC

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Carlo Franco?
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(I'm sorry, Chuck--I couldn't resist.)
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Andrew V.

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I always thought that Giorgio Beverly Hills embodied the best of both worlds.
 

tdial

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What's that bespoke "Italian" shirtmaker brand called again? Is it "Kabbazzi?" I loved their description on their former shop window: "Kabbazzi. (Rhymes with 'Yahtzee.')" Remember their tagline on the radio? "You get a lot-see when you buy a Kabbazzi." The Happy Days endorsement from tv's Anson Williams didn't do too well. "Take it from Potsie--buy a Kabbazzi."
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Don't know why Kabbazzi had him wear that sweater over the $600 bespoke shirt. Maybe that's why the campaign failed...
 

JLibourel

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Wouldn't Macy's be the foremost culprit when it comes to faux-Italian names...what with "Alfani" and "Tasso Elba"? I think there are a couple of other Italianate "designers" that I have never heard of outside of the confines of a Macy's store, but their names elude me since I don't give much thought in general to most of Macy's inventory. Without singling out Macy's, Joseph Abboud has some amusing comments about this practice in his recent autobiography Threads?
 

Bergdorf Goodwill

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Alfani is hilarious because it brings to mind the image of an Italianate Alf, sweating over a sewing machine.

I've seen some Tasso Elba neckwear and it appeared to be not entirely a joke, but their legitimacy seemed questionable at best.
 

newyorker

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Alfani sounds just ... funny. Tasso Ella ... couldn't come up with a tackier name if I tried ... except for.... Macy's?.
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newyorker

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I recall an article somewhere where a shirtmaker complained that his business was being eroded by all those italian houses whose names "end with a vowel": Canali, Borrelli, Brioni, Attolini I thought it was hillarious
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Carlo

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Alan You are a bad man....

At least Carlo Franco is MADE in Italy, the really funny ones are the ones made in China with Italian names. I'm only about 1/8th Italian, at least Jill is half and gets mistaken for a native when we are in Italy.

My favorite one is "Designed in Italy"

Now what does that mean? If Jill and I are sitting at a cafe in Rome and decide to make something and then send off to Shanghai to have it produced, it is designed in Italy...

Hmmm..
 

tricket

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In Hong Kong and China, there are also funnier labels like "Inpired by Italy" or "Fabric from Europe"....
 

Demeter

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I remember one time my dad got me a tie as a present.

"I got you a nice Versace." he exclaimed, his thick Slavic accent enunciating the 'ch' sound better than any native Sicilian could ever hope to. Now my dad's a practical joker, so I should've suspected something, but my teenaged label-lust got the better of me.

I look at it and, turning it over, read the label. I laughed for a solid five minutes.

'Versatie.'
 

Carlo

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LOL, Giorgio the Armenian would be so proud of the Versatie.

Maybe they could make one with a little chain tie keeper from Briontie.

E. Zenga from Botswana perhaps?

Goochie?
Marinara ties?
Dolce & Cabana?
Alex Cabbies?
Darren B, Mann?
Ted Barker?
Robert Tallbutt?



Ooops, losing it, Roleks on my wrist says it is time to get back to work.
 

VMan

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I've come across several pieces at thrift stores by Giorgio Versani.

I also am quite fond of all those 80's Italian labels when the craze was to own anything that sounded Italian. Most all of them have either an Italian or pseudo-Italian word followed by Uomo. Moderna Uomo, Napoli Uomo, L'Uomo Uomo...you get the idea...
 

Charley

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Alan You are a bad man....

At least Carlo Franco is MADE in Italy, the really funny ones are the ones made in China with Italian names.  I'm only about 1/8th Italian, at least Jill is half and gets mistaken for a native when we are in Italy.

My favorite one is "Designed in Italy"

Now what does that mean?  If Jill and I are sitting at a cafe in Rome and decide to make something and then send off to Shanghai to have it produced, it is designed in Italy...

Hmmm..
My favorite description is "Italian influence."

I take it to mean that the designer was drunk on Chianti.
 

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