Menswear connoisseurs know the term spezzato in reference to the inimitable way Italian men split up a suit, wearing the trousers from one and the jacket from another with seemingly effortless style. But since executing it well can be challenging, here are some reflections on what spezzato means and some of its do’s and don’ts, so that you can split up your suits with style!
- What Does Spezzato Mean?
- How to Pull Off Spezzato Successfully: 1. Avoid Formal Suiting Looks
- 2. Choose Compatible Fabrics
- 3. Choose Similar Fits
- 4. Create Enough Contrast
- 5. Use a Unifying Color to Tie Pieces Together
- 6. Realize that Spezzato is Meant to be Casual
- Advanced Spezzato Techniques: 1. Using Three Pieces
- 2. Not Recommended: Wearing Casual Pants with a Suit Jacket
- Conclusion: What Spezzato is All About
- Outfit Rundown
What Does Spezzato Mean?
The Italian term spezzato–not to be confused with the other Italian “s-words” in menswear, sprezzatura and scorpacciata–literally means “broken,” and the same word is used for a broken heart or a broken arm, suggesting the risk involved. Spezzato is an advanced sartorial technique that involves mixing the jacket (and perhaps a matching vest) from one suit with the pants of another.
Although there isn’t a formal distinction, there are really two approaches to doing this. One, which is more difficult to pull off, boldly flaunts the idea that you are mismatching two suits and makes this a strong style statement.
The other, which is more subtle and therefore easier to do, disguises the parts of two suits to make it look like you’re wearing a sport coat and odd trousers. Looking online, you’ll sometimes see outfits labeled #spezzato that are really just a sport coat and pants.
While we could say that anytime you do this you are creating a “broken” look, strictly speaking, you’d have to be using pieces from two different suits. So, a distinction should be made between the two.
Both may be done to expand a small wardrobe, which is desirable for those who are just starting out in the world of tailoring. So, if you only have three suits–navy, gray and brown, for example–you could potentially make six combinations, such as navy with gray pants, gray with navy pants, brown with navy pants, and so on.
Either approach accomplishes this, with the difference being how obvious you want to make the spezzato effect.
Lately, however, the meaning of spezzato has expanded to include a third concept: wearing the accouterments of a suit on top, including tie and optional waistcoat (two pieces of a three-piece), with something casual on the bottom—jeans, cargo pants, or (brace yourself!) shorts.
This expanded definition is not surprising since it’s an even more extreme form of intentional mismatching, so the label “broken” is especially apropos.
How to Pull Off Spezzato Successfully: 1. Avoid Formal Suiting Looks
More formal suit jackets–those that are structured, with padded shoulders, peak lapels, full canvassing, or flap pockets–don’t usually look good with another color of pants. They immediately shout “suit,” so splitting them just looks wrong unless you want to call attention to the use of spezzato, in which case it doesn’t matter.
In terms of materials, worsted wool can also be difficult for the same reason. You can combine the parts from two solids, but a patterned worsted, like a glen check, is tricky because once separated, the pieces will look orphaned.
A chalk stripe is best worn as a full suit. A pinstripe suit is particularly difficult to split up, first because stripes are so well known as part of a power suit and rarely seen on odd jackets except for regatta blazers. Secondly, stripes, especially smaller ones, look best when they run head to toe without interruption.
The top half of windowpane or houndstooth suits, on the other hand, are great candidates for spezzato since there are many sport coats out there in these patterns, and they don’t emphasize vertical lines.
The best suit jackets for dividing are therefore those that look like sport coats, bearing patch pockets and unstructured “natural” shoulders, appropriate patterns, and perhaps some texture.
2. Choose Compatible Fabrics
The next key to mixing and matching parts of two suits, besides making sure you have colors that coordinate, is choosing materials that work together.
Seasonality is an obvious consideration–you wouldn’t mix a summer wool-silk-linen jacket with moleskin pants. Instead, combine jackets and pants of roughly the same weight. The safest bet is the same sort of fabric, which you can sometimes find as “suit separates.”
For instance, if your jacket and trousers are both the classic worsted of a business suit, you can pair them up, but mixing worsted with flannel may be less successful, and linen pants with worsted even less so. In fact, worsted tends only to look good with worsted because of the expectations that this fabric will be part of a suit.
On the other hand, if you want to go for a sport coat and pants look, you can do more fabric mixing, since you would normally combine a linen sport coat with cotton pants, not another linen, to give just one example.
3. Choose Similar Fits
We tend to think of suit fits in terms of slim or classic fits. For a successful spezzato it’s essential that you not mix the two, for instance by wearing a fitted jacket with pants that have wider legs or a jacket that is full in the chest with narrow-leg trousers. The result would be a sense of imbalance, making you look either more slight or more top-heavy.
4. Create Enough Contrast
Once again, use the principles of how you would pair a sport coat and odd trousers: if you do spezzato, you don’t want to mix two hues that are too similar. It shouldn’t look like you were trying to match but failed. Make it obvious that top and bottom are separated.
Usually, you would do this with coordinating colors, like the aforementioned brown and blue, but you can also do it with tones from the same color family like the full range of browns and tans or shades of gray.
Many men find wearing the darker tone on top to be easier (brown jacket with beige pants), but with something like charcoal and light gray you can go either way, and with navy and sky blue, more often than not you’d go with the navy for your pants. To increase contrast even further, use an appropriately patterned suit jacket with solid trousers.
5. Use a Unifying Color to Tie Pieces Together
One way to integrate the whole of your look while using parts of two suits is to choose one piece that has the color of the other. Usually, this would mean solid pants with a suit jacket containing a pattern in the same color as the pants, such as blue trousers with a gray jacket that contains a blue windowpane.
The inclusion of the pants color in the jacket visually binds the top and bottom halves. You can do it the opposite way too, but patterned pants are rarer.
6. Realize that Spezzato is Meant to be Casual
Your goal in using the spezzato technique is always making a suit more casual. As soon as you break up the uniformity of a suit, it is less formal, just as a sport coat and pants are less formal. If you do the very modern thing of casual pants with a suit jacket, this is even more obvious.
Given the emphasis on dressing down, the rest of your outfit can go along with this idea by including monk straps or loafers instead of oxford shoes, a denim or OCBD shirt or other elements of sprezzatura.
On the other hand, if you are in a professional environment or going for a job interview, realize that dressing for the occasion means wearing a standard suit rather than experimenting with breaking it up. Remember, there is a place and time for everything.
Advanced Spezzato Techniques: 1. Using Three Pieces
Spezzato is already an advanced technique, but there are a couple of ways to break up a suit that push the envelope of classic style even further.
When the vest from a three-piece suit is involved, there are several options for mixing, both of which make it impossible to avoid the impression that you have divided a suit. The first method is to wear the vest and pants of a suit with the jacket from another suit. This is an interesting look that gives you a uniform appearance “up the middle.”
The second is to wear a jacket and vest from the same suit with different pants. The sense of division between top and bottom is strongly emphasized here, especially if you wear two different textures.
Lastly, you can take spezzato to what may be its furthest extreme by mixing and matching the pieces from three different suits: a jacket from one, a vest from another, and pants from a third.
This gives you the most stylistic flexibility and can generate looks that are quite complex, but, similar to matching multiple patterns in an outfit, it has a high risk of failure, requiring a sophisticated eye for what looks good and a willingness to stand out boldly.
2. Not Recommended: Wearing Casual Pants with a Suit Jacket
A common practice when breaking up a suit is one that also breaks with classic style by wearing casual pants with a suit jacket, usually a pair of chinos or jeans. Many Gentleman’s Gazette readers will scorn the idea, but we’ve included it for the sake of complete coverage.
At any shopping mall on the weekend, you’re likely to see at least one guy wearing a longer, structured suit jacket with blue denim badly. If you want to do this well, it’s crucial that you wear a jacket that looks like a casual sport coat to avoid the harsh contrast. Needless to say, things like sweatpants and shorts with suit jackets are fashion, not traditional menswear.
Conclusion: What Spezzato is All About
Spezzato is really about experimenting and having fun, as well as getting the most out of your wardrobe. It’s a game to see what sorts of combinations you can pull off with the limits being your personal taste and how much you want to be noticed.
For some, stretching the possibilities of a small tailored wardrobe is the motivation, and the goal is simply to transform suits into sport-coat-and-trouser looks. This approach breaks up a suit while still maintaining a balance in the sum of the parts, but others want to put the “broken” aspect front and center.
The next time you buy a suit, you may think about whether the halves can be worn as separates, so you will have multiple looks instead of only one. If you have only stuck to formal suits so far, the possibilities of spezzato may inspire you to try some more casual versions with less structure.
Outfit Rundown
I’m wearing elements of two different suits from my own wardrobe in what is, effectively, one of the advanced spezzato techniques we outlined earlier.
Most of the suits I have in my own wardrobe are solids and in fairly neutral colors. So, I’ve attempted to pair the trousers and waistcoat of my charcoal grey suit with the jacket of my royal blue suit, hoping that there’s enough contrast between the slightly lighter jacket and the trousers and waistcoat than there would be if the jacket were in a darker navy blue.
My shirt features a microgrid pattern of pink and blue on a white ground. And I’ve used similar warm color elements in my Fort Belvedere shadow-striped socks of pink and gray as well as my dark oxblood penny loafers, which, again, bring out that warm color feel. The blue in the checked pattern of the shirt helps to tie into the blue color of my jacket.
The loafers also reinforce the casual feel of the outfit. Along with my socks other Fort Belvedere accessories I’m wearing today include my cufflinks, which are our platinum-plated sterling silver eagle claw models, featuring blue lapis lazuli as the stone, my pocket square, which is in cerulean blue and an art deco Egyptian scarab design with other colors including burnt orange, magenta, black, and an orange contrast edge, and my boutonniere, which is a relatively new addition to our range.
It’s a pale pink mini carnation with just a bit of purple detailing at the edges of the petals. A vintage bow tie from J. Press rounds out the look. It’s in a dark red color featuring a small geometric pattern in blue and gray to harmonize with other elements of my outfit including the jacket, waistcoat, and trousers and the loafers as well.
And, of course, for all of the Fort Belvedere accessories, you can take a look at the Fort Belvedere shop.
Another great article!
For business travel, I typically pack a medium blue and a medium gray suit with several shirts, ties and pocket squares. I’ll wear casual pants, a button down shirt and navy blazer on the plane. This gives me two suits and six business casual combinations (shirts, ties and pocket squares not included). When I mix up jackets and pants, it’s for less formal after work events, so no tie.
Keep up the good work.
Thank you for sharing!
Agreed, another great article. Seems that I have been practicing the art of Spezzato and didn’t even know it!
With six suites I don’t have an extensive suite wardrobe, but have found the ability to mix the jackets, pants, vests and pocket squares without much effort. The style guidelines mentioned you in the piece have allowed me to increase my suit wardrobe exponentially.
I have been applying many of the techniques from the videos and articles from GG and they have actually taken my style to a completely different level.
Many Thanks….
It is our pleasure!
Let’s be clear here. This look is simply an expanded but typical sports jacket and odd trousers look. The difference is that it becomes comical as the boundaries are pushed. Some of these combos look like something Curly of the Three Stooges would have worn. The worst of course the ratty jeans with black shoes, waistcoat and jacket and I hate to say Sven Raphael’s attempt with the yellow trousers. Pedro Mendes does it right as does the Hogtiwn Rake. It’s fun to be creative but there are limits and some of these looks are atrocious.
And Ralph Lauren manages the impossible by looking more ridiculous than his female companion.
Some of these get-togethers, if not all of them look set for the divorce courts sooner rather than later. Just too much going on.
Ah. The joys of a flexible wardrobe! I have also been doing this for years. I can achieve an Ivy League look by combining different suit pieces which works well as I have a limited number of suits available. A nice button down shirt and loafers completes the outfit. I wear these combinations for business and pleasure. A brilliant article as always…
As with any look, the personality of the wearer plays a role. Artists and poets have always been able to get away with unusual outfits because their personalities are in the forefront. A stand-up comedian, or comedic actor can get away with almost anything. Nothing looks worse – no matter how carefully an outfit is coordinated – than someone looking completely uncomfortable in what they’re wearing.
Hello. Thank you for the article. I am about to have a charcoal brown birdseye wool suit made and I’m thinking about getting it with patch pockets. What do you think? I don’t have the obligation to be very formal at work and I like the looks, maybe it will help wearing it as separates.
Very nice as always. I would simply add that, in terms of pairing fit, it can be very nice to juxtapose a fitted jacket with fuller trousers, which very much was the style in the 30s, 40s and 50s, as shown in your nice drawing of plaid jackets and solid trousers.
Very nice as always. I would simply add that, in terms of pairing fit, it can be very nice to juxtapose a fitted jacket with fuller trousers, which very much was the style in the 30s, 40s and 50s, as shown in your nice drawing of plaid jackets and solid trousers.
The boy with shorts reminded me, once a newsreader confessed, he doesn’t wear a complete suit on the tv, under the table he wears jeans, shorts, etc.
The equivalent today would be meetings on Skype.
Over the course of decades, I have found:
1) Yes, it does make a small wardrobe more versatile, and creates almost unlimited possibilities in a larger wardrobe.
2) I usually go with one piece as a solid and another with a subdued pattern, in order to not call too much attention, since I have a fondness for striped shirts and all manner of bow ties. For example, today I am wearing a black & grey micro check coat with a pair of solid black trousers.
3) Yes, casual is the direction, but if done right as a refinement of the jacket-with-odd-trousers, you can, and I do, wear a bow tie with my spezzato to work every day when a traditional 2-piece suit is not required for the day.
4) Yes, you are right. On this point, the Italians do have it mastered. So the jackets and trousers I spezzato are also Italian double-breasted.
5) My favorite fall before too cold and spring before too warm outfit for truly casual – including outdoor events – is a double-breasted medium blue jacket that has the faintest of light blue pinstripes 1/2 inch apart with a pair of newer jeans, navy belt and shoes.
6) Finally, yes, it took me years to break the mould that only a navy blazer or harris tweed could be the only odd jackets.
Thanks again,
Words fail me
Great article which in many examples remind us of what we all do. If we are reading this blog we are all of the fraternity of wearing classic clothes. As the parts of our ensembles become torn, stained, threadbare and 50 years old..they get discarded. Of course we become inventive because the ‘the good half’ is still wearable. I love entertaining my grandchildren with some of these inventions. I must laugh at the young man in shorts and slippers. Mugged and robbed, then left by the muggers.
Sven’s outfit is a total, EPIC FAIL, top to bottom. Yellow pants??? With “high water” 3 inch cuffs??? And no crease!
Part of the problem is that he has the jacket open and so you see all this orange up to the high waisted pants. The outfit would look a lot better if the jacket was closed.
The problem with this outfit with yellow pants is it is atrocious from head to toe. Closing jacket doesn’t help, and the purpose of leaving it open is to show off the double-breasted vest. I would not wear a single article of this outfit, ever!
Ha – you really don’t like this outfit, do you!
Put your hand over the pants and the top half looks ok to me. Each to his own I guess…
This looks pretty good, but I presonally like classic full suit the most, because it´s simple and elegant at the same time. It´s sad, that people take it as a formal clothing nowadays, which you can find only in some companies. To me it´s nonsense, because I don´t believe in words like casual and formal. Those are just words made up by people in general to excuse their sloppiness and laziness. Either you are dressed up, a little bit dressed down or sloppy. Of course you can look good in a so called casual settings, but it´s never as good looking as in a suit. We just should be honest about it ! I wear a pair of chinos with a blazer as well, but don´t feel as good as in a suit. I just don´t like broken things. Uniformity is best for me, but people nowadays look at it like it is somekind of plague. That´s because people have been brainwashed into thinking, that suits are only for business and specific events, which is bullshit. I just don´t buy it. Casual only means, that people don´t take seriously anything and act like small children without any manners. You can see that everywhere. Of course in old times, when people used to wear suits on a daily basis, a lot of them didn´t have manners either, but it was still so different compared to the world nowadays. The better you are dressed, the better your behaviour is and think differently. Well maybe I am delusional, but it works for me that way. If I dress down, I feel cheap in a way like I don´t care. Well I care and want to have professional attitude to life in general, but it´s just me and a lot of people will think, that I am crazy. Maybe I am, but in a good way and I like it.
I want to thank Mr. Schneider for another great article.
Have a nice day people
Oscar
“I just don´t like broken things. Uniformity is best for me, but people nowadays look at it like it is some kind of plague.”
Oscar, I agree. The suit was developed to emulate classical statues, which gives it its beauty. In the postmodern world we live in, uniformity has been replaced by fragmentation. Look at art since the mid-20th century or the dissonant music of Schoenberg as examples.
“The suit was developed to emulate classical statues”
It was?
I’ve never heard that before.
In what way does it emulate classical statues?
Originally, Beau Brummell’s changes to men’s style called for clothes that fit closely to the body whilst idealizing the wearer, which, in an age that promoted Enlightenment and neoclassicism, was done in imitation of Greek statuary. Additionally, the really tight-fitting trousers of Regency men were worn in light colors that were meant to create the impression that the man wearing it was nude, like a Greek statue. In women’s fashion of the time, the same trend toward looking like classical sculpture can be seen in Regency gauze–a lot of white draped dresses that also clung closely to the body. The suit continued what Brummell started (close fitting, idealizing the male form) but added a further dimension of uniformity, head to toe. If you’re interested, I recommend Ian Kelly’s excellent 2006(?) biography of Brummell, which has a chapter on it related to the start of contemporary menswear as does Sex and Suits by fashion historian Anne Hollander, which talks about the actual suit.
Very interesting. Thank you.
I do this from time to time and enjoy it. The article is right on about contrast and fabrics. Perhaps the most important ingredient is confidence. You have to “own” it . Good Article.
While I hugely enjoy this site and the articles, the funny thing is that while nice clothes are of course nice, it’s all leather and prunella (to quote Pope). People grow into their faces and if I am wearing a grotty T-Shirt people will still call me Sir based on how I look and speak.
Splitting up a suit is blasphemy! I would never split up a suit. Don’t be lazy and cheap. Go out and buy a blazer and slacks. A suit is a suit; not mix and match.
I have to disagree. I’ve been living in Milano for the past few years, this style is so common here that I didn’t even knew it had a name, I just assumed it was “how Italians dress” . Properly done, the spezzato looks amazing, elegant, and allows to step down a bit on the formality and make the outfits appropriate for any occasion. Of course there are situations that call for a full suit, but give the spezzato a chance!
I completely agree with MLS. There is a reason a suit is called a suit. Since most of the comments on this article are from 2018, I believe this to be a recirculated piece. Perhaps, albeit briefly, this “technique” gained some cache in 2018, and mercifully I remained totally unaware of it then, there is no justification for it, as there was none in 2018. It sounds like something WalMart would attempt to pawn as a trend.
I almost wholeheartedly agree. I don’t spend money specifically to get a nice suit only to turn it into pants and a jacket. I give the “technique” a TINY bit more leash when it comes to super-casual suits in seersucker, linen, tweed, etc. My rule for my own suits is this: If the jacket already looks like a sport coat (that just happens to have matching trousers), and vice versa, I will SOMETIMES wear the pieces separately (though not with pieces of another suit). I’ll also get 3-piece suits and occasionally wear the waistcoat with other suits. For anything else, it is bought as a suit and is worn as a suit.
Great article on what seems to be a somewhat controversial topic after reading the various comments already posted. The first image has promise, however afterward, there seems to be a decline in quality of examples.
You have stated clearly that spezzato is a casualising influence and it is exactly for this reason that I use it in the course of my work, which involves practice and teaching, in addition to wearing traditional suit and professional attire.
A small suggestion to Dr Lee- perhaps consider wearing a suitable hat to complete your future forays into spezzato.
Thank you again for another well researched and eloquently presented article.
NB. please consult an Italian-English dictionary on the definition of scorpacciata.
I also wasn’t very impressed by some of the examples. But as someone that has been living in Milano for some years and work in the central area of the city and see italians doing this pretty much everyday, I can say, when well done (and the italians seen to have a 6th sense on how to do it) looks really good
Great article. I have occasionally used this technique through the years as a way to keep my look fresh and my wardrobe from overrunning my closet space. The idea that it is an Italian style appeals to me greatly since that is the style I am most drawn to. As with all mens fashion, it is not for everyone, and each must forge his own sense of what does and does not fit his own personal style. To me this is an occasionally useful tool, not an outright statement for my wardrobe and this article gave me somethings that are to me new to consider when I do use this technique.
As Bruce Lee once said, “Keep what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own”. If the notion of spezzato appeals to you and you have found a way to bend it to your will, rock it and be content that you look better than most of the dudes around you.
This is a great article and my dad uses this technique occasionally to keep his look fresh and his wardrobe from overrunning his closet space. I think it is an occasionally useful tool, not an outright statement for any wardrobe.
Los hombres con contraste medio, bronceados con pelo oscuro, necesitan colores medios como el verde oliva, los hombres de bajo contraste, con piel blanca y pelo claro, necesitan tonos menos intensos, como los pasteles o el off white, para evitar que la camisa se robe toda la atención, y los hombres con piel oscura se ven mejor con contrastes altos.
Las mangas de la camisa nunca deben cubrir tus manos, eso hace que te veas como un niño que entró al clóset de su papá o de su hermano mayor y se disfrazó con su ropa.
Hi,
Very high-quality article. Always impressive!
I live in a hot country. So I have some wool-silk or wool-linen jacket, and some lightweight worsted suits.
And the embarrassing thing is that these worsted fabrics have obvious texture(but less obvious than wool-silk, linen or whatever fabrics),
so I don’t know if I should break them and mix with wool-silk or linen. Does anyone have similar troubles?
Sincerely
Lee