21/09 Dressing for the stage: a musicians wardrobe pt3

This time we'll explore, how the Memphis clothing store Lansky Brothers shaped the early rockabilly aesthetic and how Elvis' borrowed and adapted his own clothing choices from African-American artists and performers. Remember 1980's Stray Cats Guitar wizard Brian Setzer’s orangy slacks on the back cover of their 1983 LP “Rant N’Rave”? Or have you seen…

21/08: Dressing for the stage: a musicians wardrobe pt2

How Elvis shaped the young rebellious image of a male sex symbol through his audacious choice of stage clothes: Bill Haley and Elvis Presley: Buddies but not in style (Elvis Presley, Orbis, 1992) Elvis’ musical repertoire in the early years was something very daring for a young white boy from the south. He basically covered…

21/07 Dressing for the stage: a musicians wardrobe pt1

Charlie Porters work ‘What Artists Wear’ (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314590/what-artists-wear/9780141991252) is an essential read. Not just for those interested in artists biographies and their relationship with the clothes they wear while pursuing their art, but also to understand how they used their clothes to communicate their artistic views, as a visual statement of their vision, as a direct…

21/06 The male model: evolution of a silhouette pt5

Evolution of a silhouette Hello and welcome to the fifth and conclusive part in the series about the male model, the evolution of a silhouette. Dressing is and has always been a political act. Our presence as human beings is a political act and how we dress is a political statement. Like a pendulum the…

21/05 The male model: evolution of a silhouette pt4

Daniel Hechter, 1981, unstructured jacket Hello and welcome to the fourth part in the series about the male model. Nick Wooster mentioned in the interview with Nick Johannessen (https://podcasts.apple.com/it/podcast/garmology/id1514623447?l=en&i=1000524291923), that it’s the constant change in the proportions ultimately, what makes us buy new clothes. In the 1970is the change in the proportions affected the menswear…

21/04 The male model: evolution of a silhouette pt3

Duilio Loi 1960 Hello and welcome to the third part in the series about the male model. Let’s take a look at how the Sartoria Brioni, the menswear defining House of the Alta Moda, accomplished to change, some might say ‘modernize’, the male silhouette. In the last episode we left Angelo Vitucci walking the runway…

21/03 The male model: evolution of a silhouette pt2

Angelo Vitucci on the runway undated Being honest to oneself, I think, is one of the key elements to develop personal style. In our first part on the male model’s silhouette, we quoted mr. Nick Wooster mentioning this aspect, while talking about the inclination towards clothes that fit a special type of silhouette more than…

21/02 The male model: evolution of a silhouette pt1

Not an NFT How do we know what clothes to wear? Who shows us what’s right or wrong? Where do we get inspired by or driven to a certain style? When did we feel the need to get dressed appropriately? What's the point with having taste, flair? To answer some of these questions I would…

21/01 The Latin Lover, a translation process of planned obsolescence

Rudolph Valentino 53 years separate La Dolce Vita and La Grande Bellezza, the film by Paolo Sorrentino, that is said to have been largely inspired by Fellini’s masterpiece. Both films tell the ups and downs of a man prowling through the eternal city, meandering from place to place, caressing casual acquaintances, daydreaming of a different…

21/0 Saved by Translation

The day was cold but the sun made it into a sunny winter day. A welcome break from a few days of heavy snow fall. It turned out, it was the last day before an upcoming period of idyllic grayish winter days. It was a good day for a walk after the Christmas festivities. And…