Sprezzatura in the age of Bill Gates

[Corinthian]

How does one maintain sprezzatura amongst peers who rarely dress well?

There is a nice passage on sprezzatura on The Materialist from Baldesar Castiglione and I borrow part of it here for the benefit of this discussion:


Sprezzatura is most simply translated as nonchalance. I first encounted the word in this passage from G. Bruce Boyer's Eminently Suitable:

Sprezzatura encompasses that purposefully disordered style, that cultivated recklessness, that seeming unconcern of the man who turns up his jacket collar, the collar of that English custom-made hacking jacket he wears with his ten-year-old faded khakis and an old school tie for a belt. The man whose one sleeve button is left undone and whose flannels have just a few well-placed wrinkles.
[http://www.thematerialist.net/sprezzatura.html]


Open sleeve buttons aside... In a world that sees jeans in the office, lounge suits worn as "formal" and where what many here on SF would consider everyday dress is seen as "dressing up" my most, the concepts of "˜dressing well' and "˜maintaining sprezzatura' seem contradictory. When dressing well seems like an affectation to many, how can one both dress well and appear nonchalant?

I am not suggesting it cannot be done. Rather opening it up for what I hope will be interesting discussion.

 

[lakewolf]

Simply,

don't overthink about clothes or style.

Better yet,

don't even think about clothes or style.


Your sprezzatura then will flow outside naturally

 

[Corinthian]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. What I mean here is not "how do I achieve sprezzatura" rather "where does sprezzatura exist in a world where the majority of people do not seem to think about their clothes or style at all?"

 

[mink31]

Originally Posted by Corinthian

What I mean here is not "how do I achieve sprezzatura" rather "where does sprezzatura exist in a world where the majority of people do not seem to think about their clothes or style at all?"

It's not too hard, really. Don't spend >30 s on your hair, leave (any) button unbuttoned, slightly roll up a sleeve, leave your tie a bit askew, etc. Hell, even wearing some worn-in thrifting finds can qualify

.

 

[lee_44106]

The key here is FIT.

If the clothing fit well, even if the dresser is careless about what is put on, than it appears very non-chalant, ergo sprezzatura.

If the clothing fits badly, the dresser looks sloppy.

 

[james_timothy]

Michael Bastian seems to do it well. At least in the Sartorialist images, like
this one:

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Corinthian

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

What I mean here is not "how do I achieve sprezzatura" rather "where does sprezzatura exist in a world where the majority of people do not seem to think about their clothes or style at all?"

I'd say these things have gotten way more important than they were in the mythical past you're alluding to.

 

[oscarthewild]

How about this (originally posted by Manton)

Or maybe that is more POWER dressing?

 

[Tomasso]

A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care, and then forgotten all about them - Hardy Amies

This is my personal take on sprezzatura; any contrivance beyond this seems an affectation.

 

[s4usea]

Originally Posted by lee_44106

The key here is FIT.



Actually the key here is context.

The term comes from Castiglione's 16th century work "The Book of the Courtier" and in context it means casual without being casual. A perfect example of someone with their spezz on are the guys I'd see in Italy who would stick their ties in their brest pocket, unbutton their collars and pull the stays out. When I think of spezz I think of Luciano Barbera wearing his watch over his cuff. Fit has nothing to do with it, as it's more of an attitude than a look.

 

[Gus]

I don't think your "business casual" friends will ever appreciate your style. They just won't get it. They are in another world. You just have to be yourself and every now and then you will meet those who appreciate your style.

 

[itsstillmatt]

I've never heard the word "sprezzatura" in Italy. Only on clothing forums and at Wilkes Bashford.

 

[lee_44106]

Originally Posted by s4usea

Actually the key here is context.

The term comes from Castiglione's 16th century work "The Book of the Courtier" and in context it means casual without being casual. A perfect example of someone with their spezz on are the guys I'd see in Italy who would stick their ties in their brest pocket, unbutton their collars and pull the stays out. When I think of spezz I think of Luciano Barbera wearing his watch over his cuff. Fit has nothing to do with it, as it's more of an attitude than a look.

These Italian guys and certainly Mr. Barbera are all attired in well-fitting clothes. If it does not fit first, no amount of contextual manipulation can sprezzatura make.

 

[Eustace Tilley]

Originally Posted by iammatt

I've never heard the word "sprezzatura" in Italy. Only on clothing forums and at Wilkes Bashford.

And Men's Vogue articles.

 

[epa]

Originally Posted by Corinthian

Sprezzatura encompasses that purposefully disordered style, that cultivated recklessness, that seeming unconcern of the man who turns up his jacket collar, the collar of that English custom-made hacking jacket he wears with his ten-year-old faded khakis and an old school tie for a belt. The man whose one sleeve button is left undone and whose flannels have just a few well-placed wrinkles.
[http://www.thematerialist.net/sprezzatura.html]

Frankly speaking, the custom jacket with worn-out khakis is not what I understand with sprezzatura, it is just one more example of this behaviour often shown by these pop-or-football-stars wearing expensive brand jackets with ripped brand jeans: showing that you are rich and actually rich enough to dress as a slob and get away with it (I once remember eating in a "fancy" restaurant where tie was mandatory: at the next table, a Spanish movie star dressed down in ripped jeans and dirty sneakers. He got away with it for being famous. I will not return to that resaurant. And in any case, the food was not good).
Sprezzatura is something different: elegance but with something relaxed about it. Casual, but not in the way "casual clothing" is often understood today. Wearing a tie as a belt is far to "studied" to qualify, IMO.