• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Milan: Brief Thoughts (also now featuring Naples reports)

unbelragazzo

Jewfro
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
8,762
Reaction score
5,597
Just spent a few days in Milan, and figured I would offer some brief observations on the jacket-wearing men (of the younger guys wearing tight loud t-shirts and louder footwear I will not speak):

- overall, quality of fits is pretty good. better than new york, i would say.
- "sins" frequently committed: jacket sleeves too long (this quite often, and sometimes egregiously), pants too long, loafers with suits (this ALL the time - I'm tempted to say almost half the suits I saw were worn with loafers)
- lots o' linen, worn wrinkled. in my experience it's somewhat rare to see someone wearing a linen suit or even SC in new york, here it is very common. I saw one elderly gentlemen in an absolutely amazing straw/mustard double-breasted linen suit with some linen/calf spectators absolutely killin' it.
- in general, nice fabrics and some interesting patterns - more patterns than you would see in nyc, but not much variation in color. pretty much everyone sticks to the menswear classics of blue/navy, tan, brown. you do see a lot of what some people call "blogger blue". but i don't recall seeing anyone wearing a very loud or crazy-looking tie.
- not many pocket squares.
- lots of black shoes, compared to what i was expecting, given all the talk of italians and brown shoes. there are plenty of black shoes worn here.
- everyone has nice shoes. or at least, there are no absolutely hideous shoes, which you see frequently in the us. nothing i saw looked like it could have come from aldo or kc.
- all shirts are spread collar, many quite widely spread. once i noticed this i started looking for point collars, and ended up finally spotting one, but they are very very rare here.
- not very much in the way of the tight, short suits. this partly because most of the suit-wearing population is older (much older than the age distribution of suit-wearers in new york, i would say). also for the under-appreciated but awesome fact that many suit-wearers get around on bicycle or vespa. maybe someday i will be cool enough to ride a bike around milan in a suit, these guys look fantastic doing it. but i'd imagine it would be pretty tough in a skinny suit.
- italian women: :nodding:
- italian women on vespas: :drool:

that's about all i can think of for now...
 
Last edited:

dfoverdx

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Messages
261
Reaction score
67
Hi, thanks for sharing. I will go to Milan in a couple of weeks as well. Which shops do you recommend to visit there ?
 

unbelragazzo

Jewfro
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
8,762
Reaction score
5,597
I was hanging out with friends the whole time and didn't really get to shop that much, unfortunately. Also I'm going to Naples this weekend and wanted to save shopping time and funds for that. I know it's not an SF favorite, but one store that did look really cool from the outside (was closed when I walked by) is the Prada store in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. My friend told me that it's the first Prada store, and I have no reason not to believe her. I walked through Rinascente, which is a big Italian department store, and which incidentally gave Armani his first job in the fashion industry, but didn't really see anything inspiring there.

Unrelated to style, but I highly highly recommend that you go to La Scala if you have any interest in music or architecture at all. Really a fantastic experience. It's quite expensive, but it's something you won't forget any time soon. My friend and I at La Scala (sorry for ****** picture):

 

unbelragazzo

Jewfro
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
8,762
Reaction score
5,597
I'll have little to say about Bologna and Rome, Bologna because it's not much of a sartorial city in my view, Rome because I was only there for a day and it was so swarmed with tourists in shorts there wasn't much Italian style to see. I've been in Naples the last couple of days, although so far I my crappy iPhone camera has taken no pictures :embar: However there are plenty of pictures out there of all of these places, so I hope you won't be too disappointed.

I have, however, done quite a bit of damage at the stores. First, it's very possible that I'm just even dumber than I had previously considered, but stuff is hard to find in Naples. Usually even when I'm in a new city I'll just look at a map at my hotel for a general idea of where I'm going and then head off, sure of finding my destination eventually without too much trouble. Not so in Naples. There are at least a couple of reasons for this - one, the streets are winding so that you may start out going east and end up going south without realizing it, two the place you're looking for may well be in an interior courtyard without an obvious storefront on the street (or may be closed at a time when you might not think it would be closed, and therefore with the storefront basically covered. So first, I give you what might be the most useful information in this thread, which is what I think is the easiest way to find that hidden jewel, the E.G. Cappelli store. I literally spent almost a half hour trying to get here, and it's right beside my hotel. Ok here goes*:

Start at Rubinacci, with your back to the front door, so to your right is Via Chiaia, and to your left the street becomes Via dei Mille. Go to your left on Via dei Mille. On your right across the street you'll see Banco di Napoli. At the first crossroads you'll have a menswear store called Spada on your left. Turn left here and the road dead-ends immediately. At the dead-end, there's a double staircase. Go down the right-hand side, which leads into a courtyard. On the other side of the courtyard is Cappelli's store.

(*): This is actually the "back way" to get to the store. There is also a gate to the courtyard on Via Cavallerizza. I think this back way is easier to find, and also doesn't involve trying to get through the gate, which isn't too hard since you can just follow someone in, or I'm sure also buzz the Cappelli store. But if you want to do this way instead, it's right after Via Nicola Nisco as you're walking away from Hotel Majestic towards Piazza dei Martiri, on your left. It's #37, across the street from #26 (confusing, I know). There's no sign or anything, look for Cappelli on the buzzer (it's #017).

Stay tuned for reports on trips to Rubinacci, Cappelli, Marinella, and NsM, none of them resulting in me leaving empty-handed. Una cravatta molto particolare da Cappelli. Una pochette che mi ha offerto Maurizio Marinella stesso. Ancora piu' cravatte da Rubinacci. Tante belle cose e, forse piu' importante, una bellissima serata con Mina e Dino.
 
Last edited:

ShayaEXQT

Affiliate Vendor
Affiliate Vendor
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Messages
6,150
Reaction score
618
but stuff is hard to find in Naples. - TRUE!
I'm sure also buzz the Cappelli store. - This works.
Una cravatta molto particolare da Cappelli. Una pochette che mi ha offerto Maurizio Marinella stesso. Ancora piu' cravatte da Rubinacci. Tante belle cose e, forse piu' importante, una bellissima serata con Mina e Dino. - Nice Italian! I don't speak a word.
 

unbelragazzo

Jewfro
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
8,762
Reaction score
5,597

Una cravatta molto particolare da Cappelli. Una pochette che mi ha offerto Maurizio Marinella stesso. Ancora piu' cravatte da Rubinacci. Tante belle cose e, forse piu' importante, una bellissima serata con Mina e Dino.


To whet the appetites of English-speakers: "A very unique tie from Cappelli. A pocket square given to me by Maurizio Marinella himself. Still more ties from Rubinacci. Many beautiful things and, perhaps more important, a wonderful evening with Mina and Dino."
 

dopey

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
15,054
Reaction score
2,487

I'll have little to say about Bologna and Rome, Bologna because it's not much of a sartorial city in my view, Rome because I was only there for a day and it was so swarmed with tourists in shorts there wasn't much Italian style to see. . . .

This is mostly true in the main tourist areas, but inter-piazza, there is plenty to see. Some of the best dressed people I saw were in the area north and northeast of Via Veneto. There are a lot of tourists in Rome (I will be one again shortly), but the Romans are there too until mid July/August.
 

Gus

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Messages
18,576
Reaction score
8,072

I'm not Italian, but I lived and studied in Bologna for a year during college.


My wife and I spent some time in Bologna last year. I love the energy that all the students add to the community while surrounded by classic, old-world Italian charm. It may not be the most fashion forward place in Italy but it does have a relaxed style compared to Milan or Florence that I find appealing.

So many people take the train from Milan to Florence and miss this gem. I highly recommend it. While there, be sure to tour the countryside. We visited cheese, wine and balsamic makers.
 

unbelragazzo

Jewfro
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
8,762
Reaction score
5,597

My wife and I spent some time in Bologna last year. I love the energy that all the students add to the community while surrounded by classic, old-world Italian charm. It may not be the most fashion forward place in Italy but it does have a relaxed style compared to Milan or Florence that I find appealing.
So many people take the train from Milan to Florence and miss this gem. I highly recommend it. While there, be sure to tour the countryside. We visited cheese, wine and balsamic makers.


Massive +1 - skipping Bologna is a mistake. Among other things, it is one of the many cities that claims to be the culinary capital of Italy, in no small part due to the wine, balsamic, cheese, and also prosciutto and mortadella makers in the area. If you go, I highly recommend Da Fabio in Via del Cestello, as well as the Sorbetteria right across from it in Via Castiglione.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,174
Messages
10,579,195
Members
223,888
Latest member
LisaAtkinsu
Top