Cynics tend to dismiss politicans who talk about “change” as old candidates dressed up in new clothes. Judging by the Italian prime ministerial elections taking place on Sunday, however, they may actually have a point.
The contest pits Walter Veltroni, ex-mayor of Rome and one-time deputy to former prime minister Romano Prodi, against ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who lost his job when Prodi narrowly defeated him in 2006. It also represents a conflict of male civic styles. For Veltroni, a son of the capital, v Berlusconi, read Roma v Milano.
According to Geoffrey Kent, founder of the luxury travel company, Abercrombie & Kent, the two cities’ sartorial styles are as different as their methods of cucina(the Milanese use butter) and architecture (few skyscrapers in Rome). Furthermore, says Kent, “The Milanese are seen as more hard-working and efficient – possibly because they are close to Swiss and French neighbours – compared to the Roman Mediterranean personality with its southern Italian influences.”
Indeed, Roberto Girombelli of Duca Sartoria, the tailor whose flagship atelier is in the heart of Milan, says Berlusconi’s wardrobe is particularly evocative of Milanese male style as also represented by Beppe Modenese, founder of Milan’s fashion week, and Pirelli’s president, Marco Tronchetti Provera.
Berlusconi’s preference for dark grey and blue double-breasted suits corresponds to the primary colours for formal wear in Milan. Combined shades of camel and beige, blue and sky blue, brown and sky blue comprise a more casual look.
“Formal dress makes the local businessman feel safe in his field,” says Girombelli. “In Milan, the preference is for made-to-measure three-button or double-breasted suits with light stripes, a sky blue shirt and tie.”
By contrast, in Rome, “we recommend nothing unconventional in the cut of a suit and always suggest a tie,” says Tommy Caraceni, of the eponymous Roman tailor founded by his family in 1913. “Lapels are always quite narrow and trousers are traditionally cut. We only occasionally use brown fabrics.”
Carlo Marini, whose family company has been making bespoke shoes for Romans almost as long as the Caraceni clan, agrees that, along with clothes, the classic shoes of mayor Veltroni’s Rome have not changed over the decades – witness Roman dressers Paulo Bulgari, chairman of the Bulgari group, and the late Gianni Agnelli, the former president of Fiat (who was born in Turin and later moved to Rome).
Berlusconi’s taste for Cuban heels, on the other hand, reflects the Milanese appetite for “trendy, new and different” styles, says Marini. “In Milan there is currently a taste for dark brown shoes worn with dark blue or black trousers,” he continues.
In Rome, anyone dressing formally would be expected to wear black shoes; in the evening, there is no room for flexibility. “Always, always wear black,” says Marini.
Girombelli says the Milanese distinguish between formal and informal dress (for the latter see his favourite cotton pants and half zip cashmere knit with matching striped shirt).
Also favoured is the use of detail to differentiate one’s style from that of others – especially in cities such as Rome. “For example, a colour for your suit lining, up to six internal pockets, working button holes, and embroidered names or initials,” suggests Girombelli.
Perhaps inevitably, however – remember the bandana – Berlusconi has developed his own hybrid formal/informal combination. He has, reportedly on the advice of his 23-year-old daughter Barbara, taken to wearing his shirt open-necked with a double-breasted suit. “Dear Silvio,” Girombelli sighs.
According to Kent there is some common ground in the wardrobes of Berlusconi and Veltroni: “Sunglasses, even on the rainiest of days.”
In other words, whatever the weather, Sunday’s winner will be carrying shades.
Marini, tel: +39 06 6793858
Caraceni, tel: +39 06 42744023
www.ducasartoria.com
www.abercrombiekent.com