Spezzato: adj. /spe’tːsato/ Broken / Origin: Italy

Spezzato is an advanced dressing technique for the stylish men all over the world. It has been around for a long time but has been acknowledged as a fine art and used by more and more gentlemen only recently.
In this blog, we will not only take you through the concept but also offer you some tips on how to make this Italian idea work for you.

We all know that a two-piece suit comprises a coat and dress trousers. If we add a waistcoat to it, it becomes a three piece. The usual way of getting a suit tailored is to get all these two or three pieces from the same fabric 
(click the link to know more about suits and what works for you).

Spezzato breaks this very rule of conventional dressing and allows mixing of colors and fabric-weaves to create a non-monotonous suit ensemble. 

Some of the advantages of Spezzato are the following:

By way of mixing, one can make four combinations from just two suits. This means just doubling your suit wardrobe by spending carefully. The best example to demonstrate this is mixing navy suit pieces with the pieces of an ash grey suit.
It breaks the monotony of a regular dress code and offers a creative expression.
It saves the hassles if one of the pieces (usually it is the trousers) wears out faster. The other piece can still be utilized with the appropriate complimenting piece.
Unlike a classic single color/pattern suit, Spezzato suits offer a look which is more dandy, unstudied and relaxed. This can open many doors, provided the combination is chosen carefully.

​So what are some ground rules of Spezzato

Fabric Weave & Design

It is important to have the weave and the fineness of the material of the combination pieces almost the same.  A heavy weave pattern or a coarser jacket material as compared to the trousers material is also well accepted but the reverse may have to be planned with a lot of caution. 

Another vital point is to choose the fabric mix very carefully if both the pieces have to be of different cloth. One can’t wear linen trousers, which is strictly a summer material, with a wool jacket or for that matter a formal wool jacket with cotton trousers. 
Pinstripes and herringbone patterns are normally kept out of Spezzato. They look good only when they run from the top collar of the jacket to the trousers hem. 


​Contrast works best

A safe Spezzato is when the colors and the patterns of the jacket and trousers are a complete contrast to each other. For instance dark colored jacket and light-colored trousers or check pattern jacket and solid plain trousers. Normally jacket is the one which carries the bolder pattern.
 
Fit

When a regular suit is made, the fitting of the coat and the trousers are made to suit each other whether it is a slim fit or a relaxed one. While forming a Spezzato combination one should be careful not to mix two different fits as it will clearly look like an imbalanced mismatch. Always combine garments of similar fit for the purpose.
 
Three Piece

A three-piece Spezzeto suit offers even more possible combinations. So if you apply a little creativity and caution, you can have so many options:

Jacket & Trousers-Color/Pattern A & Waistcoat-Color/Pattern B

Jacket & WaistCoat – Color/Pattern A & Trousers – Color/Pattern B

Jacket – Color/Pattern A, WaistCoat & Trousers – Color/Pattern B

Jacket – Color/Pattern A, WaistCoat- Color/Pattern B & Trousers –
Color/Pattern C

What should you avoid

Pairing a formal jacket with denim lowers or casual cotton chinos. Use coarser threads like tweed or cotton, corduroy etc to work with such lowers. 

Pairing a comfortable fit jacket with slim fit denim or vice versa

Trying to match jacket and trousers of completely different color family or of colors who are too close to each other.


Last Word

Spezzato is a great concept which every gentleman should apply to manage his wardrobe but with a lot of planning. It improves the return on investment and also brings out a stylish flair in one’s personality. However if done carelessly, it has a power to turn an otherwise nice jacket into a part of a shabby ensemble.

While the couple was taken aback by our revelation, We thought it was an important matter which should be written about & highlighted.


Was this the only store selling fake “Italian” fabric?

Is it something which can’t be caught? Well the answers are below:

This is a very common problem, not only in India but world over, be it Hong Kong, Europe or the US. Shops are flooded with counterfeit fabric & it is very difficult for the buyers to really separate wheat from the chaff. We had a similar experience dealing with a Hong Kong tailor who tried to convince us that they get Reda fabric at less than USD20 per meter in HK. The lab test of their sample showed that it was 70/30 Wool/PV fabric which was being passed off as Reda super 110s 100% wool. A lot of such fabric travels to the world market through China where there are high quality (in producing fake fabric) factories churning out counterfeit fabrics. Since there are no visible checkpoints and it is next to impossible to ascertain the authenticity of the fabric just by looking or touching it, this business is thriving.


So how to avoid falling into this pitfall?
​

First and foremost, buy the fabric or the tailored suit only from a trusted seller. It would have been better if the rates of these fake fabric were lower than those of the authentic ones. At least there would have been a consolation that you paid lesser than what one would have paid for the original. However that is not the case, fake fabrics are being sold at a price which is the same if not higher than the quality suit material. So it’s a double whammy.
There is one way of identifying the original product though this is also not 100% fool proof. All the prestigious mills, be it Raymond, in India or Drago, from Italy, have a selvedge which essentially is continuous running branding at the border of the fabric. It not only mentions the brand name but also the counts and other details. Always check for that. In the incident quoted above, there were just two plain white stitch lines without any brand name which was a giveaway. In case of buying fabric from a tailor, you can check for the selvedge during the first fitting session when the lining is still not sewed (generally selvedge comes on the back, from inside).

There are some top mills, which offer their fabric swatches in their special branded booklets & provide labels along with the fabric which genuine tailors then put on the suit on the inside. While we have seen these two elements too being copied but at least there is something to latch on to than nothing. 

Is it really that important to be so particular?
​
​Yes, there are three reasons

1: You should get what you pay for. If you have paid for superfine, high count Italian fabric, shouldn’t you get that? Why would you like to be swindled? Why should anyone pay for the finest wool fabric & get a cheap polyester?

2: Normally not many people understand fabric. So they go by the suggestion and pitch of the seller. However it can become very embarrassing if the realization comes later in front of others. We keep seeing this happening.

3: Purpose of a suit, more than any other piece of garment, is to enhance your stature. A fake product will show its color in one way or another. Suit being an expensive clothing in anyone’s wardrobe, one wouldn’t like to be at the receiving end more so when one has actually paid top dollars.

We hope you find this information useful. Do let us know what would you like us to write about. You can also ask us any questions if you have or check Quora where Neeraj answers many queries regularly.

Need our help in figuring out your style? We have prepared a thorough guide to help you put your best foot forward. Click the below image to let us know about you and get it absolutely free!

​65% of working professionals travel for work at least once a quarter, average duration of such travels being two days and one night. But there are professionals like marketers, sales people, CEOs, Consultants, Buyers etc. who have to be on the road (or in the sky) for at-least 10 days in a month.  All of these travel on purpose. Not to laze around, not to meet childhood friends but to win. Win deals, Win their target, win the approvals of their clients, seniors, juniors, business partners and what have you. In my long sales & top management career, spanning various corporations, I noticed that every person, whether it was a wholesaler, an agent, a small retailer partner or colleagues, would take note of how the company (or HO or regional office) representatives dressed. They may not make adverse comments on the sloppy dressers (well, sometime they do) but they definitely respect those who dress well. Of course, there are many studies which indicate a direct correlation between success & a well-groomed personality. Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful by Dr. Daniel Hamermesh being one such work. However the big challenge is how to handle this when one has to get up at 5 in the morning to take the first flight out of the city, maybe cover two cities in a day. Well, there can be many tricks and tips to do that successfully, we are going to restrict the scope of this post to traveling stylishly for business.
Assuming that the travel is for 3 days and two nights & a 12-14 hours long work day (applicable more for the cities with tropical climate like Mumbai or Singapore), the theme of dressing up should be around comfort but without losing focus on winning (more attractive=more successful). Lot of people tend to weigh one (comfort) over another (looks) or the other way round, but believe me when I say this, the key to professional success lies in establishing the right balance of the two.
So let’s start with what kind of clothes you should carry.

If your job requires you to be in the field, meeting retailers, agents etc. Two chinos (blue and khaki) are a good idea. If you have some important meeting lined up in a formal setting, one formal trouser (deep blue or black) in wool rich blend should be good. No pure polyester, shiny fabric please.
Keeping a pair of denims is always a good idea. It can be used in the evenings or while in transit. However, these denim too should be of a smart cut. No clingy fits or those baggy ones, hanging from the hips.

For stylish men, not for the ordinary travelers, one business blazer is must. Doesn’t matter if it is summers (carry a summer jacket) or monsoons. A business jacket not only makes you look good, it increases your bargaining power significantly. For the market visits, a polo with a business jacket exudes more authority than what a formal shirt would do.  Don’t carry it in your suitcase. Wear it while in transit. Who knows, this may even get you an upgrade! At least I got, a couple of times.
Business Suit: It depends on your role, purpose of traveling. It is not really a must if the tour is just a market visit unless you are the top boss. However if there are meetings, conferences lined up in the office or in any other formal setting, and if it is to do with winning a deal or a sales account, not wearing a suit is a sure-shot harakiri. Don’t commit it. No harm in wearing one than not doing so.
If you are carrying a suit, then you don’t need to carry an extra jacket. You can avoid one pair of trousers as well. The Golden rule of travel holds always: Travel light

​Number: 4-5
These are small items and don’t take much space. Carrying a few extra pairs doesn’t hurt but it definitely will keep your feet dry and non-smelling. You should change it twice a day if your day extends beyond 8 hours. ​

Number: Four pair, two showers each day

One toiletry kit (chapstick, shaving, oral hygiene & perfume travel packs), One electronic accessory bag (chargers, cords, power bank, USB etc), One metal or leather strapped watch & a nice standard leather belt in shoe matching color (you can carry one more sports belt to be worn with the loafers, it doesn’t take much space).

​Keep in mind that your travel suitcase is like a capsule wardrobe for you. A read up of10 essential items in a man’s wardrobe may help you further. 

THROW THEM AWAY. Even though fashion does turn a full cycle and returns, square toes are not going to be fashionable soon, maybe ever. They don’t impress anyone. They don’t even look old school fashion. These boxy pair looks as ugly as torn shoes. It is moronic to even own them.

There are some bonus tips here: Do’s & Don’ts of men’s dressing. Do read up these as well. Avoid being a rookie dresser whether you are dressing up into a suit for business or for wedding.

​All those pieces which got more than one ‘no’ are the ones which certainly have to be thrown out right away. The single ‘no’ pieces too are a waste of space but I would leave that to your judgment. You have to weigh your emotions attached to these pieces with that of practicality and decide.
Once you have created enough free space, you are all set to focus on the right things.
Remember, rebuilding your wardrobe can really be rebuilding your life, your outlook and your approach to many things including your professional decisions.
Just focus on basics but by keeping style in mind. By style I don’t mean fad, what’s-in. What I mean is universality, versatility and everlasting properties. Styles, which last for considerably longer and have flexibility. You may like to read Top 10 essentials garment pieces in every man's wardrobe which provides a quick download on the essentials. Well this one is for the gentlemen. We have something for the ladies too. Refer to this piece: Top 10 essentials garment pieces in every woman's wardrobe 
This exercise should take half of your day but will make your life so simple. You will know exactly what you need to buy, whenever you do so. And when it comes to wearing, you will have just the right options.
Well, seems simple? It is simple. However it requires a dispassionate eye and maybe some qualified view on fashion and dressing. If you have that, wonderful. What remains is the will to act. If you don’t know anyone who can help you with this, you can write to us. We can figure that out for you.
Turn over a new leaf this New Year.

.​The expectation of our customers is to provide them with dressing solutions for their specific needs, instead of just a suit or a shirt or a trouser. Many a times, this need is well articulated, say when they have an invite to a particular function specifying the dress code. More often than not, it is deeply embedded and comes out only when we start interacting & probing.
At TailorWear, we take special pride in putting ourselves in customers’ shoes and thinking for them, rather than just pushing another fabric or cut from our stable.
While the value of a one-on-one interaction can be understood and appreciated only when one experiences this interaction, for the benefit of our blog readers, we are capturing some of the broad categories in terms of the needs and respective pointers on dressing for them.

Even subtle style elements don’t work. Stick to the classic styles.
3 button suits are out of fashion and so are broad lapel suits.
Always get one jacket and two trousers made whenever you buy a suit.
Bring variations in the dressing outlook through shirts, ties & shoes
You should have 4-6 suits (build it over a period of time) in the wardrobe and keep replenishing them. If your organization permits (from culture point-of-view), one jacket-trousers combination can add a lot of depth & versatility to your dressing.

​Should be the most conservative, exclusive and classy dressers
A classic suit is 2 button, regular lapel, comfort fitted & well made (take cue from here) in plain or subtle patterned weave.
Avoid wearing blended fabrics and stick to 100% superfine woolen fabrics
Stick to light plain colored shirts and sophisticated tie patterns
Wear French cuffs on your shirts
Its ok to take off your jacket once in the office, but do be seen in a suit whenever you can.
Should have 4-6 suits minimum

Suits (Jackets) enhance the stature tremendously and make people take you seriously. Look at the picture above and decide for yourself

Have your jackets well designed and get elements which you don’t find in regular off-the-shelf jackets and blazers.

You can go for ankle showing trouser length to classic turn-ups.
​
Should have two to three suits and three jacket options in your wardrobe.

Key point: You represent your organization/your role in your organization

Stick to darker colors, preferably navy, black or grey suit in two buttons and notch lapel.

It is better to merge in the crowd than stand out like a sore thumb.
Avoid shiny polyester fabric material as well as three buttons or a single button construction. Peak lapels too don’t suit the occasion.

Comfortable fitting is more important than relatively snug fit (unless you are used to wearing tight-fitted suits and your profession allows that) since such events can be in a crowded place and can get extended to dinner and cocktail. You wouldn’t want to be seen sweating, adjusting your tie time and again or struggling to extend your hands for a shake.
​
On the other hand it looks pretty clumsy seeing men dragging their feet in an over-sized suit which looks more like a cloak, pulling their trousers up from the waist while they talk to others or when they get up from their chairs or while having their dinner.

​Very clearly it is a classic tuxedo event. A classic tuxedo is only black in color. You can get variations in the lapel types but the whole combination has to be all black with a white shirt. Tie or a bow-tie also has to be black. Remember, it’s a black tie event.

​Moving from formalwear to casual wear.
Choose dark colors & subtle patterns.
One can afford to be creative in opting from many styling details. Choose just a few and execute them well.
Fitting is paramount. Smart fit should be opted for rather than too loosely fitted one.
Accessorize creatively with pocket square, boutonniere, belts, shoes and ties
Can wear stylish patterns on shirt but always put the total combination in mind rather than focusing on individual pieces.

Having gone through the above article, it is also important to see that the suit you buy is not a substandard one technically. Checklist for a good suit will give you a quick insight into this aspect. 
You may also want to read this post if you are going to buy your first suit.

I have been in the business of selling formal wear especially suits, be it ready to wear, tailored or made to measure, for quite some time now. And I make it a point to attend to our customers very regularly.

All this has given me a deep insight on the customers' needs, some well articulated and some unexpressed. Given this, I propose that the current way of buying suits leaves a lot to improve upon . What's more, many of our customers, after experiencing "the new way" agree with me.

So lets first see, what the traditional way is:

It is about going to a store,
choosing a ready-made suit or a fabric,
If it is fabric, then getting measured,
revisiting for fitting session (s) &
then collecting the final ready piece.

Seems simple and straight forward, happens all over the world. Well lot of things had been happening in a particular way, for so many years till someone introduced a change. Sometime fast or sometimes very gradually, people did respond to this change & the traditional way of doing things got replaced with newer process or technology.

Coming back to buying suits, one doesn't wear suit as a standalone piece. Instead one would like to coordinate it with the existing shirts, shoes & ties in the wardrobe.

So when one enters into a suit store, one has to remember all the colors and the patterns of the shirts, ankle length & toe style of all the shoes& existing suits collection so that the decision sits well and doesn't disturb the wardrobe continuity

The second important point is that shopping is considered to be a leisure activity & customers prefer to be in their casual attire, shorts, sandals etc. when they are out in the market. This constrains the trial process because the attire cannot be completed. 

These two points make the decision making process, in the traditional way of shopping, extremely limiting.

On the other hand, we have noticed that customers are able to think and decide comprehensively when We visit their homes.

Access to their wardrobe helps us consult them better & creates a perspective based dialogue as against a unidirectional sales pitch which happens in a store setting.

When at home (or even hotels), customers bring out all their shirts to match with the suit fabric.

They bring out their existing suits to discuss issues or good points in them. This gives us better understanding of their requirements and helps us serve them better.

During the trial session, they wear their multiple shoes to see if the length goes well with them, ditto for the jacket sleeves and their shirts.

All this is just not possible in a store environment.

​Suit being an expensive purchase, it is important that a decision is made considering as many points as possible. and that is why one needs to change the way one buys suits.

                                                                                                         -- Neeraj Joshi

In order to make a summer suit or a jacket, lining is planned and stitched in a way that it provides least interference between the outer fabric (which generally is either very fine wool or summer fabrics like cotton or linen) & the body. 
Such suits have either half lining or no lining. This makes the jacket ultra light and allows far higher degree of air and moisture ventilation.  

Unlined or half-lined jackets usually are more expensive than the fully lined ones. It is because the absence of lining exposes all the seams and trims. So it becomes important that the finishing of those is done in a far more detailed and robust manner.

Now you know what exactly is a Summer Suit. 
So go for one or maybe two. these will brighten your wardrobe and make your summers equally sophisticated as your winters are... 

People are always in the lookout for hacks that help them achieve their objective without stressing too much.
A question on this was asked on Quora & Neeraj’s answer got him 5.6K upvotes till the last count. Now that’s fantastic! It’s amazing not because of the quantum of upvotes but because the suggestions were fairly basic but people really loved it! This shows how great the need to know some serious dressing hacks is. So we are expanding that short response on Quora to get you a more detailed “hacklist”. Here we go:

 Step1: After your undergarments, wear socks
Step 2: Wear your shirt
Step 3: Wear your trouser
Why? Just try this once and you will know why. Its the smoothest way of wearing your clothes

​Collars are like photo frames with your face as the picture. So unless the picture is so beautiful that the viewer doesn’t care about the frame and the rest of the packaging, avoid limp collars. Get a bespoke shirt made or buy shirts which have collar bone provision, if the collars are already not stiff.

Always sit when you try a new shirt (after buttoning it up and tucking it in) or a trouser. Lot of trial rooms don’t offer seating facility. But you come out and look for a seat before making any decision.

On the shoes front, build your shoe wardrobe in this order:
​Shoe Number 1: Classic dress shoes in black leather
Shoe Number 2: Classic boat shoes (with a heal) dominated by tan or black color
Shoe Number 3: Classic dress shoes in tan leather

This will give you a lot of flexibility without compromising on your style quotient

Last but not the least, learn layering. That was explained in the last post.