It’s 6pm on a spring Wednesday evening: office hours are about to end, the cities are teeming with life and evenging appointments are coming. On these convivial occasions, the office look could be too rigorous and “formal” to adapt to the new location.
There are, however, some tricks that allow you to transform a business day look into a modern and evening ensemble, thanks to the insertion of casual accessories or variations on light and unstructured fabrics.
Let’s discover together the style advice of Luisa, our Store Manager of the atelier in Milan, the capital of Italian business.
Let’s start with a great classic of the men’s business world: the blue suit in Merino wool. How would you interpret it for the office and then for an after work cocktail?
The classic suit in solid color remains the best seller in the business world, followed by designs such as Prince of Wales and pinstripes. For those clients more passionate about tailoring, more fanciful designs such as the pied de poule or the solaro effect are very appreciated.
The variations on the theme not only concern the combinations themselves, but also involve the infinite possible configurations (pockets, buttons, shoulder), which make a suit more or less formal.
As an impactful example of great classic I would suggest the Iconic suit in Prince of Wales, a 4-season fabric in 100% Merino wool from the Successori Reda wool mill. Light, breathable and resistant to creases, enriched by the tone-on-tone Prince of Wales pattern, with a light blue stripe that enlivens the dress.
Paired with a white cotton shirt, a white pocket square and a brushed black Oxford lace-up, this suit represents the quintessence of formal office elegance and will make you impeccable every time you wear it.
Then, if I had to think about an after-work commitment, in this case I would play with tone-on-tone blues, replacing the shirt with a navy knit polo or a blue crew-neck sweater in organic cotton, and, on summer days, even a basic midnight blue t-shirt.
What other versions of business clothing would you suggest reviewing in a free time key?
With the arrival of summer, the beige suit always makes a comeback among business outfits.
An interesting proposal for a summer business suit is the beige pinstripe stretch cotton suit by Lanificio Subalpino. Thanks to its composition, it is comfortable and versatile, ideal for those who travel and move between work appointments on sunny spring-summer days.
In the classic version you can combine it with a light blue cotton shirt, a contrasting silk pocket square and a brown double buckle shoe with matching socks. For a more colorful formal look, choose as a shirt a solid pastel pink one.
After 6pm, simply swap your shirt for a knit polo or white linen shirt, and change your shoes for a suede tassel loafer without socks.
How do you imagine a versatile office look for the warmer season?
In the hottest months of the year it is always difficult to juggle work commitments, maintaining elegance until the end of the day. It is precisely in these circumstances that the linen suit becomes the absolute protagonist: fresh and light, thanks to the characteristic structure of the fiber, it lends itself to being worn with a moccasin, with or without socks depending on the context and the use of the tie.
If I had to choose a shade that differs from the classic beige, I would suggest a formal but at the same time lighter color, like the light blue that recalls the sea, in 100% linen by Manifatture Tessili Vittoria.
Combined with a red silk tie with blue details and a white cotton shirt, it creates the perfect formal outfit for the summer.
To transform it into an evening aperitif or weekend getaway look, I would replace the suit trousers with a nice beige cotton chino by Solbiati. Alternatively, keep a total look in linen but broken with white trousers in 100% linen.
In general, the advice we would like to give you is to choose garments that can represent your personality and that put you at ease, to go through more formal occasions to informal ones.
For any doubt or support, you can book a style consultation with our Style advisors. With their help, formal clothing will have no more secrets and thanks to their suggestions and the wide selection of fabrics available, you will always look impeccable.