I think I’ve written about the concept of sprezzatura on the blog before. It came back into my mind recently, as I’ve been thinking about style inspiration. To recap, the term was coined by Baldassare Castiglione in his 1528 Book of the Courtier, who defined it as “[a] certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without thought.” It originally described the attitude of an ideal courtier who could display “an easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions which hides the conscious effort that went into them.” The Oxford English dictionary defines sprezzatura as “studied carelessness”. Sprezzatura was not originally about fashion, but it’s now most commonly used in that context in North America – and, specifically, primarily men’s fashion.
Some general rules of sprezzatura have been promulgated, including wearing of clothes that are visibly well-worn or a bit shabby, wearing vintage clothing, and combining casual and formal dress. I also found this quote instructive:
Theorists and purists believe sprezzatura is an ever-evolving concept of always but carefully going against the grain. When others keep their shirts buttoned all the way up to the collar, the daringly sophisticated man, for instance, always leaves one or two undone. These days, though, with the undone collar being the accepted casual norm, the sprezzatura-inspired guy would find pleasure in the specific formality of an up-to-the-collar buttoned shirt …
But if you search for sprezzatura inspiration online, its popular definition seems to be flattened to what is, basically, a type of dandyism. More annoyingly, from my perspective, sprezzatura as applied to women’s fashion seems to be equated to effecting menswear-inspired looks. While I am a fan of dandy fashion (and its femme equivalent), I feel like this approach misses the point and the potential of sprezzatura. I want to see outfits that embody “studied nonchalance” without resorting to a waistcoat or tie. Searching key terms online hasn’t been very fruitful.
After giving up on Google, I pondered what sprezzatura might look like in women’s fashion. Prairie skirts and combats boots? Satin slip dresses and leather jackets? Tulle skirts and traditional wool blazers? I think juxtapositions can definitely be an illustration of sprezzatura. Mixing vintage and contemporary pieces, or wearing vintage pieces with decidedly contemporary styling, too. I think, for me, the key would be for the outfit to be just shy of “perfectly finished”. The look can be maximalist and accessorized to the max, but not pat. It must have the faintest hint of rebellion, of deconstruction of the expectations which the outfit itself creates.
Now, most of my outfits probably do not achieve sprezzatura and if they do, it’s entirely by accident. Which is ironic. But revisiting this concept at this time has made me want to give more considered thought to how I build my outfits and, specifically, how I can incorporate an element of subversion (that going against the grain) into them. I don’t have answers, but I am inspired.
I would love to hear your thoughts on what sprezzatura means to you.
Coming from an acting background, what I think “sprezzatura” misses in the fashion conversation, is the real-time physicality of the wearer, made up of attitude, intent, and active energy. Without these physical elements, you won’t quite manage sprezzatura.
There is this balance of discipline and relaxation, and when you look at where this word came from – the courtier standing in the presence of the monarch, vying for attention. This brings in the “cool” factor. I recently came across an interesting quote, “If you let them see how hungry you are, you won’t get to eat”. There is an energy present, an active interest and involvement, but also detachment – you’re not letting it involve you personally. You make the monarch come to you. You’re actually the cool rockstar everyone wants to meet.
I also think sprezzatura has a sparkling overtone of “clashing”, but in a way that is amusing and intriguing. Words like “succinct” and “crisp” laid over with “careless” and “casual manner”.
So everything you’ve described in this sentence: “Prairie skirts and combats boots? Satin slip dresses and leather jackets? Tulle skirts and traditional wool blazers?”… is exactly what Ralph Lauren and style bloggers have been doing for ages, but has rarely read sprezzatura for me, because it’s too relaxed. It’s missing either discipline or crispness or lively sparkle.
When I think of people who are real-life sprezzatura, one is an Italian architect acquaintance, who wears crisp button-down shirts open at the collar, with pressed jeans, and nice-looking leather shoes or sneakers. But it’s his grooming, his manners, his crisp eloquence, and his attitude that makes it truly have that magical quality. There’s a sort of leadership and self-possession, but overlaid with casual and approachable. He’s friendly, but reserved, and everybody wants a piece of his attention.
Blake Lively, in my opinion, frequently captures sprezzatura.
I, on the other hand, rarely capture the quality. Womp, womp.
This was very interesting – thank you for sharing. I enjoyed seeing this from a different perspective with acting. I agree that attitude plays a big part but sometimes it’s hard to capture in a still photo.
I do have to politely disagree with you on Blair Lively because I find her styling to be the definition of obvious effort but that’s the beauty of fashion – we can all have different opinions and still not be wrong 🙂
Interesting concept, sprezzatura. I think for me the term embodies unstudied elegance. I picture a beautiful soft cashmere wrap over a very casual outfit of jeans and tee shirt. Or a leather moto over a bias slip dress… like you mentioned- a juxtaposition of style…
Ooh, that cashmere outfit you just described … yes!
I just learned this term recently and was dismayed to find it applies mostly to menswear! In applying it to my own style, I tend to interpret it as something left a bit undone — tousled hair, or an untucked shirt, or rolled up sleeves. Or just an unexpected detail, something that deliberately breaks “the rules” and says: I’m not aiming at perfection here, people. (Even if I am, of course :))
Now that you mentioned it — tousled hair for me is a new thing (now that I have longer hair). I always associate it with French style (think Charlotte Gainsbourg) which I’ve been indoctrinated to think of as effortless. So I’ve been playing around with leaving my hair unstyled and seeing how that feels and what, if anything, it adds to my outfits. An ongoing experiment …
I’m surprised to learn how old this concept is, when it seems to define so many things about current life. Taking it out of clothing, has there ever been a more apt description of social media? Show your perfect life but hide all the effort that went into it. Look effortlessly cool but never show that you also have to take out the trash. Who knew that went back to 1528?! You I guess! I’m going to guess it goes back further, just without the word. Some caveman said “oh, this old fur? I just threw it on. My hair? Nothing, I just woke up like this”. And all the other cavemen were impressed and made him the boss.
Hahahahaha! Thank you for the laugh, I needed that.
“I’m not a regular caveman, I am a cool caveman”