Pitti Uomo 91 – outfits

Pitti Uomo 91 – outfits

Pitti Uomo 91 is over, unfortunately. We were lucky again to be able to visit Florence during this bi-annual classic menswear fair and we enjoyed every second of the trip, even though it was only 2.5 days long. 

We decided this year to make it a short one and save some of the annual leave from work for other weekend trips or simply longer holiday. Whenever you go to Pitti on Tuesday morning and leave on Thursday evening it feels like one long day. It has been our 5th edition already, shortest yet most intense.

It is definitely fun though. Makes you feel like you really spent those 2.5 days effectively and didn’t waste any moment. Funny enough many people on our “in” flight were the same as on the “out” one. We might do the same in the summer. It saves you two days of the week which you can spend on another trip.

Enough of travel news, on to the outfits!

Day 1

Myself, Justyna and our friend Lee all were on the same flight, together with our friends from Drake’s of London and many others. We checked in to the apartment and went to pick up the Pitti Pass. It was a first chance to see the art arrangement of the area inside the Fortezza da Basso. Personally I found it funny. The theme was called “Pitti dance-off” hence the bouncy music and “jumping” mops and cleaning gloves. I appreciate there have been so many editions of Pitti Uomo already and the organizer have to come up with new theme every time but this one was not the best. I mean, it was ok, but the main purpose of it in front of the main pavilion is the background for the photos. Remember the summers version of it? Those big flags with numbers on them? It was amazing and excellent as background. This time mops didn’t work at all. 

Anyway, it was quite late when we made it to Fortezza and only spent about 1 hour inside before we decided to take at least few photos to mark day 1. I was in my B&Tailor suit made of Holland & Sherry cloth from the Crispaire bunch. It is considered by the brand to be the perfect travel fabric due to its resistance to wrinkles. Some say it is similar to fresco but it is only slightly in the way it looks. Unlike fresco, Crispaire is four season cloth and is much softer and nicer for the skin. It is also not as rough but drapes very well too. 

The double breasted overcoat is from the favourite Suitsupply. It features beautiful details of a true polo coat, half belt in the back, 6×2 buttoning and patch pockets. Also, there is a nice detail of a inverted so-called “action” pleat in the back which adds comfort and style, to be honest. It is rather difficult to find overcoats with it in todays world, only few mtm brands offer it.

The shirt is made as MTM as well by Luxire in a nice, grey wide striped fabric with soft spread collar. As it turns out wide stripes are a good balance between plain and pencil striped shirt but are difficult to find. I am not sure where exactly this cloth comes from but is surprisingly versatile. Because of its formal look though I only wear it with jacket and tie. This tie is from our Poszetka x Blue Loafers collaboration. It’s made of deep red coloured handprinted wool challis from Macclesfield. Shortly before the trip to Pitti Uomo 91 I discovered how good the combination with my brown cardigan is. Pocket square choice was quite tricky so I went for something in a shade of brown to match it, but not quite. 

After 6pm we went to the fantastic Pallazzo Budini Gatai for the best event of the fair – Plaza Uomo magazine and Simon Crompton’s Symposium. Those two merged their event this year, which originally was on two separate evenings. It made so much sense to have them together and save ourselves some time on the other day. The event was called “Retailers Symposium” and focused on menswear stores. You can read more about it on Simons blog here. The guests were from the best locations around the world: The Armoury from Hong-Kong and New York, Anderson & Sheppard from London, Brycelands from Tokyo, Skoaktiebolaget from Stockholm and Trunk Clothiers in London again. There is going to be a summary of the interesting talk soon on Permanent Style blog so check it out then.

After the event, everyone hungry, we went for a nice event to a restaurant. Florence is mostly known, as you may know, for its meat. It is quite expected then that you have a steak or even better the original Florentine bistecca. Only on the assumption that you are hungry, that is quite a portion. We spent the evening with our friends: Benedikt (from Shibumi), Wil (shirtmaker from London) and Fernando Nafria (partner at Norman Vilalta shoemakers from Barcelona). That was a lovely dinner and very enjoyable and funny company. Myself and Benedikt were wearing quite similar colours. Both in grey suits and red/burgundy ties. Well, “great minds think alike..” they say :). 

That was actually a wrap of Tuesday and our first day at Pitti Uomo 91. 

Day 2

Finally, we started early, our first and only full day at Pitti Uomo 91. Wednesday is usually the busiest day during the fair. It was nothing else this time. It was breezy but also very sunny. The morning was so lovely! I did leave the apartment myself first to have a third fitting for my bespoke sport coat from Zaremba (I will show the photos in a separate post soon). Had a quick chat with Jonathan Edwards who just finished his fitting with Maciej. 

Day 2 was really nice. We actually spent most of it with my Polish friends Szymon Jeziorko (http://alltiedup.pl/) and Łukasz Masłowski (http://www.outdersen.com/) visiting stands, having coffee in the Press Room or taking each others photos. Charging phones and downloading pics from the camera too! 

As of the outfit. I was wearing my lovely green sport coat made by Zaremba bespoke. You can read more about it here, here and here. Usually, I wear it with a denim shirt, which is my all-time favourite, and knitted tie. This time however I decided to pair it with a blue merino wool cardigan from Uniqlo, white shirt from bespoke shirtmaker Luca Avitabile for the plain background and printed wool tie from Sartoria Solito. The jacket is rather lightweight, the canvass is very subtle and nothing in the shoulders. It turns out fantastic in terms of fit, proportions and style. Level of finishing and handwork on Zaremba’s jacket is really top notch. Sloped and forward shoulders are no problem even though the arrangement of the sleeve on the front of the shoulder needs slight adjustment. There is a bit too much creasing there and the right hand side feels slightly tight. Ariston wool-cashmere cloth is very warm and feel very nice in the winter season. Lapels are 9cm wide offer a good balance between my not too wide frame and height. 

The windowpane fabric of the jacket with a clear blue check and a printed wool tie add enough interest to the look so in order to balance it a white or pale shirt is very much expected. Soft, Neapolitan collar from Luca Avitabile is really comfortable and matches Zaremba’s soft style of jacket very well. The printed wool tie is one of my latest purchases. I got it from Luigi Solito during his London trunk show sometime in December. It has been made as ‘vintage’ looking tie as a 3 fold with no lining, hand rolled tip. As an additional layer under the jacket I have chosen a think merino wool blue cardigan from Uniqlo. Makes you feel warm, adds another layer of colour and most importantly warmth. As a over the coat layer I decided to wear my beloved Barbour Bedale jacket. It has a pair of amazing side slanted pockets which are lines with soft fabric to keep your hands warm. Waxed cotton provides good protection from wind and rain but you need a scarf as the collar is short and not stiff to protect your neck.

The top of the outfit is relatively interesting and full of prints and checks. The bottom will naturally be more calm and hence the classic grey flannel trousers (made as MTM by Luxire) and useful rubber sole suede semi-brogue oxfords from Carmina. Please also note the hands in the pockets – I told you they were comfortable and warm! 

Day 3

It was our last day at Pitti Uomo 91 and again a travel day. We checked-out of the apartment for some Italian breakfast, left the luggage and headed over to Fortezza da Basso for some last-day strolling around the pavilions and catch up with friends. It felt like the coldest days yet so an overcoat was necessary. This time however I went for a simple and basic, at least from colour perspective, outfit. B&Tailor bespoke suit was the base. The moment I ordered grey Crispare suit I new I would like to wear it with denim and printed ties. Our Poszetka and Blue Loafers collaboration came out so well that those ties took the important place in my tie selection. Early September I also ordered a new bespoke shirt from Luca Avitabile – button down denim. The Albini cloth is ultra soft for denim and also rather lightweight. That makes it really well suited for winter or any season actually as the comfort on the skin is very important for me all year long. It stays soft even after the wash. The colour is quite vivid but as you wash the denim fabric it will be getting this vintage washed-out look regularly. In a year it will most likely be a shade brighter. The collar has the buttons maybe a bit too low for my liking so I left it unbuttoned. Wings look nicer then. 

I was also wearing the same blue cardigan as an additional layer. The pocket square is from R. Culturi, brand that I featured here. Usually I don’t wear those one-colour looks. This time however I decided to give it a try and choose tie, cardigan and a shirt in almost the same shade of blue. I think it came out really well.

You can see the fit of the suit on the photo below. B&tailor has its specific style and all those aspects can be seen here. Relatively wide shoulders, generous lapel, curved barchetta, drape on jacket, classic length, jetted pockets, curved gorge, classic trousers width and very high rise. All this together makes the style very consistent and characteristic for Korean bespoke tailors from Seoul. 

That would be all now. I showed you all three outfits from the Pitti Uomo 91 fair. They are not extravagant or unusual because you saw me wearing most of those things on a daily basis (looking at Instagram for example). There were however few new combinations. 

In the next post I will show you a Pitti Uomo 91 like you might not have seen it yet. Nobody shows the classic looks nowadays so that is a bit different already. Hope you enjoyed this post. Until next time!

Also, few more photos below, enjoy!