Italian's Insight to Travel Italy: Armani – Italian Men’s Fashion Spring Summer 2007

The spring is one of my favorite times to change a suit, add a couple of ties, and maybe update my dress shirts. My first review of the spring and summer men’s fashion left me a bit disturbed and I am not the type to run around in Bermuda shorts, kaki pants, or surfer attire. My idea about clothes has always been buy what you like, what expresses your style. Sometimes that will take you into the high end of the price range. In these cases I buy fewer pieces but I always get what I like. This year means that I will be buying a few things from Armani, Valentino, and Canali. Ties obviously will be Versace and perhaps a casual chic shirt or pullover from Trussardi.

In the fray of really eccentric men’s summer fashion Armani’s traditional values of style and grace flow into his designs. Sure there are the shoes with no socks, the jackets that are one size too small and tight knit pullover shirts underneath a gray, pen striped, suit but they do not distract from the underlying quality of materials, clean designs and interesting fabrics. Since my budget will be limited I have divided the designs into the various ways they would be used.

This first group would be great for evening drinks or perhaps those occasions where the dress is casual but you are just not into the kaki lifestyle. The jackets give just a bit of formality and are always a great compliment.

For the casual day, perhaps with a younger crowd, the slacks and pullover are clean looks while not moving standing out as too formal.

Beach bumming or a day on the sailboat with the right crowd could be the opportunity to wear these things. Personally this is not my case. When I go sailing I like to spend times with friends and would never wear anything I had to worry about getting dumped into the water.

When jeans are the choice of the day these slacks with jacket combinations are great. They can easily match with light colored boat shoes or even some low top tennis shoes. Perhaps you want to be the most exclusive at the tennis or soccer match. This is the look for you.

These are my choice for the season. I wear suits just about every day of the year so most of my clothing budget goes toward suits or slacks/jacket combinations. The ladies are also a nice accessory. I wonder of they come with the purchase.