Mastering the mismatched look - in WSJ

[jt10000]

"Spezzato"

 

[Towers]

Nice tie knot, bro.

 

[jt10000]

Nice tie knot, bro.

Me or him?

Mine's a little too tight for sure...

 

[minervau]

Suit jacket or blazer + jeans = business attire? Let's not go crazy here.

 

[empirestate]

Not a bad clip. But I think for the typical American, spezzato can go very, very wrong.

 

[Viral]



Not a bad clip. But I think for the typical American, spezzato can go very, very wrong.

+ 1

The average American can't even master business casual yet, let alone Spezzato.

 

[bellyhungry]

I have seen way too many suit jacket and jeans attempts gone wrong.

I think many people should learn to dress 'by the book' before they try 'spezzato.'

 

[FidelCashflow]



I have seen way too many suit jacket and jeans attempts gone wrong.
I think many people should learn to dress 'by the book' before they try 'spezzato.'

Agreed. It can be done well, but I see it done poorly about 90% of the time - if people aren't sure which category they will fall into, it's best to just leave it alone.

My personal opinion is that an easy way to pull it off is to make sure the following elements are present

1) Dark jeans with a minimal wash/detailing - if its too embellished, it just looks weird.

2) The jacket should be a sport coat, or a suit jacket with some noticeable texture - if it's too fine a suit fabric, it just looks odd with jeans. The less "business" the jacket looks, the better

3) Everything has to be fitted - if even one item fits too loose, it just kills the whole look. Also being skinny really helps here.

4) Rock the tie with a dimple, knit ties are better because they are more casual and less business. Don't do what that guy in the video did with his tie, looks goofy (although 90% of people won't notice.)

Every now and again I see a guy wandering around with a pinstripe suit jacket that is way too big, some light blue true religion jeans - I'm pretty sure these guys think they are the height of spezzato

 

[SirGrotius]

I liked the article and especially the photos. Since I'm 5'7" I tend to avoid the whole mismatched thing, however.

 

[FidelCashflow]



I liked the article and especially the photos. Since I'm 5'7" I tend to avoid the whole mismatched thing, however.

eh? What's height got to do with it?

 

[Plestor]

I liked the article and especially the photos. Since I'm 5'7" I tend to avoid the whole mismatched thing, however.

eh? What's height got to do with it?

Horizontal lines.

 

[SloopyNoob]

Horizontal lines.

Care to elaborate further?

 

[Gus]

Nice brief clip. It certainly reflects what we have all seen in blogs for a while now and many have actually been wearing this look for decades (i.e. Ralph Lauren wearing jeans and a navy blazer since the early 70's or Ivy Leaguers in the late 60's in jeans and classic tweeds). It is just that when the Italians do it, it becomes more of a consistent style, especially in the tailoring.

 

[Plestor]

Horizontal lines.

Care to elaborate further?

It cuts you in half and exacerbates any shortness. (NB this is currently debateable in an experimental enviroment).

 

[Caustic Man]

I loved that article. The photos had some good ideas but I wasn't a fan of the dark jacket + dark green trousers look in one of the photos.