Marcello Mastroianni in 8½ (1963)
Vitals
Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, disillusioned Italian film director
Rome, Summer 1962
Film: 8½
(Italian title: Otto e mezzo)
Release Date: February 13, 1963
Director: Federico Fellini
Costume Designer: Piero Gherardi
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Italian screen and style icon Marcello Mastroianni was born 100 years ago today on September 28, 1924. A five-time winner of the David di Donatello Award for Best Actor and three-time Oscar nominee, Mastroianni may be best known for co-starring opposite Sophia Loren eight times and his half-dozen collaborations with director Federico Fellini, beginning with La Dolce Vita (1960) and including Fellini’s quasi-autobiographical 8½ (1963).
After cycling through a few titles more relevant to the fantastic chaos depicted on screen, Fellini reinforced the metafictional aspects with a title referring to the fact that this would be his eighth-and-a-half film—including six features, two shorts, and his 1951 directorial debut Luci del varietà, co-directed with Alberto Lattuada.
Often considered one of the best movies of all time by sources like the British Film Institute and director Martin Scorsese, 8½ centers around Guido Anselmi, an Italian filmmaker struggling with creative block amidst his romantic turmoil. Mastroianni was transformed for Guido to resemble Fellini himself, from his mannerisms and gait to his appearance with graying hair under that distinctive hat.
Marcello Mastroianni sits with Federico Fellini on the set of 8½, as photographed by Paul Ronald.
What’d He Wear?
“America might have had Cary Grant, but Italy had Marcello Mastroianni, and there was not a more magnetic star in the world in the 1960s,” describes GQ in a July 2012 feature outlining the 25 most stylish films of all time. “In Fellini’s 8½, it’s clear whom Mastroianni modeled his character after. ‘He dressed as Federico,’ the film’s assistant costume designer Orietta Nasalli Rocca says of the Italian star. Any uncertainty felt by Mastroianni’s character (a film director undergoing a creative breakdown) is hidden beneath a sharp, sure figura—a confident black suit, white shirt, and black tie, all from Brioni. The black wraparound shades—which Mastroianni dons sparingly—are his crowning touch.”
Nominated for five Academy Awards, 8½ won Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design (black-and-white). Piero Gherardi accepted the award for the latter, two years after also winning the Oscar for Best Costume Design for La Dolce Vita, his previous collaboration with Fellini that also frequently dressed Mastroianni in a black suit, white shirt, and tie—evidently a look much appreciated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Though unlike his varied wardrobe in La Dolce Vita, Mastroianni spends most of 8½ dressed exclusively in his black suit, aside from a few scenes in his pajamas.
How do we know it’s a black suit? Even though black is an unconventional choice for business tailoring, Paul Ronald’s color photographs from the production reveal the exact shades of Guido’s wardrobe. Notably, all of his clothing is either black, white, or gray, so it would have appeared in real life just as it did on screen via Gianni Di Venanzo’s elegant black-and-white cinematography.
Marcello Mastroianni in 8½, as photographed by Paul Ronald.
I’ve never read any confirmation of who actually made the iconic black silk suit in 8½, though some—including the GQ entry quoted above—have suggested that it was made by Italian fashion house Brioni. While that’s undoubtedly true of his tailoring in La Dolce Vita, Mastroianni’s screen-worn suit in 8½ reflects more contemporary hallmarks of softer Neapolitan tailoring than the squared and structured Roman profile favored by Brioni.
This is particularly evident in the single-breasted suit jacket’s soft and unpadded “spalla a camicia” (shirt sleeve) shoulders, specifically the “con rollino” style (with a roll), similar to the roped sleeve-heads of English tailoring, raising the sleeve-heads for a cleaner drape through the body. Each sleeve is finished with three cuff-buttons and are cut slightly shorter in the Neapolitan fashion of presenting the link-adorned shirt cuffs.
The ventless back and 3/2-roll front are also characteristic of Neapolitan tailoring, as Guido’s notch lapels roll over the top button to be properly fastened at the center button only. The left lapel features the almond-shaped “occhiello” buttonhole, through which Guido wears a T-bar fob connected to the open-faced pocket watch he drops into the welted breast pocket—which follows the Neapolitan curved “barchetta” (little boat) shape. Rather than the traditionally Neapolitan “a pignata” pot-shaped patch pockets over the hips, Guido’s jacket has the straight jetted hip pockets more widely associated with general Italian tailoring.
Guido’s single reverse-pleated suit trousers have a more relaxed medium rise in contrast to the prevailing English trousers of the era, with a loose fit through the thighs that slightly tapers through the legs down to the bottoms, finished with wide turn-ups (cuffs). I can’t discern if the trousers have back pockets, but they definitely have on-seam side pockets.
Though the trousers are rigged with belt loops, Guido instead holds them up with a set of narrow black cloth suspenders (braces) that have small silver clips to attach to his trouser waistband. Clips are a decidedly less elegant system than braces that connect to buttons along the trouser waistband, but they also create a more insouciant appearance which could align with the nonchalant sartorial attitude of sprezzatura.
Guido wears a trim white cotton shirt with a starched point collar, plain button-up front, and squared double (French) cuffs that he fastens with mother-of-pearl cuff links set on a round gold base with gold toggles.
His soft black matte cotton tie is typically knotted in a neat four-in-hand though he occasionally loosens it and even wears it half-undone while sitting in a theater with the critic Carini Daumier (Jean Rougeul). The glimpse we get of Guido’s tie label isn’t enough for me to identify it, though a reader with a more comprehensive knowledge of 1960s Italian neckwear may be able to help. (For what it’s worth, we do see that Carini wears a tie made by the French company Sato, apropos Rougeul’s nationality.)
Guido completes his look with black leather apron-toe penny loafers and black silk socks. Originally developed by the Maine-based shoemaker G.H. Bass in the mid-1930s, these slip-on shoes were marketed as “Weejuns” but eventually received their colloquial nickname thanks to their characteristic saddle strap across the instep with a diamond-shaped slot where prep students popularized the practice of slipping in a penny.
As penny loafers gained popularity in Europe, continental designers adapted the shoe with a more streamlined elegance, though European gentlemen generally still preferred lace-up oxfords or derbies with suits. Guido subverts these traditional expectations by pairing penny loafers with his already unconventional black suit, a fitting choice for a man in a creative profession that defies conventional norms.
Guido’s loafers are at least on the dressier end of the spectrum with their black leather uppers, refined apron-toe stitching, and a subdued and elongated slot cut into the strap that lacks the diamond-shaped notch and “beefroll” side stitching often found on Weejuns.
This is one of those situations where it may have been smarter to wear lace-ups.
“You’re so funny in that big, ugly hat,” Claudia laughs at Guido, adding “you look like an old man.” The distinctive black felt fedora with its matching grosgrain band, low pinched crown, and dramatically upturned brim was among Guido’s affectations inspired by Fellini’s own wardrobe, indeed allowing a degree of deprecation for the director to include this light criticism. Then again, I’d wear any hat that would prompt Claudia Cardinale to talk to me.
When the evening chill requires an additional layer, Guido pulls on a black cashmere single-breasted knee-length overcoat. The notch lapels roll to a low-fastening two-button stance, and the set-in sleeves are finished with cuffs.
During Guido’s brief conference with a cardinal, he foregoes the topcoat but drapes his shoulders with a soft woolen scarf that has fringed ends. Paul Ronald’s set photography illustrates that the scarf was a warm shade of light-gray, not unlike what we see on screen.
Guido often wears black square-framed eyeglasses with large trapezoidal lenses. Despite being a signature aspect of his appearance, the maker of these glasses has remained unidentified for six decades.
Guido maintains his zest for eye-catching eyewear with his black rectangular wraparound sunglasses, thought by some to be a vintage Prada frame that has since been reissued as the SPR07F.
Though estranged from his wife Luisa (Anouk Aimée), Guido continues to wear his plain gold wedding band on his left ring finger.
How to Get the Look
Black suits aren’t for everyone or every occasion, and it would take the right skill and attitude and sport one with the continental nonchalance to emulate Marcello Mastroianni rather than a Reservoir Dogs cosplayer. Indeed, the greatest takeaway from Guido Anselmi’s wardrobe could be knowing when to twist sartorial conventions—hint: the more Neapolitan tailoring has influenced your suit, the more you can get away with offbeat choices like clip-on braces, a dramatic hat, and penny loafers with your suit.
Marcello Mastroianni in 8½ (1963)
- Black silk Neapolitan-tailored suit:
- Single-breasted 3/2-roll jacket with notched lapels, curved “barchetta”-style welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, “spalla camicia con rollino” shoulders, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
- Single reverse-pleated mid-rise trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
- White cotton shirt with starched point collar, plain front, double/French cuffs
- Gold cuff links with round mother-of-pearl faces
- Black matte cotton tie
- Black suspenders/braces with silver adjuster hardware and clips
- Black leather apron-toe penny loafers
- Black silk socks
- Black felt fedora with low pinched crown, black grosgrain band, and wide upturned brim
- Black cashmere single-breasted 2-button knee-length overcoat with notch lapels and cuffs
- Light stone-gray cashmere scarf with fringed ends
- Black square-framed eyeglasses
- Black rectangular wraparound sunglasses
- Gold wedding band
The iconic nature of Marcello Mastroianni’s proto-Fellini wardrobe in 8½ has resulted in a number of manufacturers crafting their own homages, from the “Fellini” snap-brim hat by Worth & Worth to the “Numero 8 1/2 Nero” eyeglasses by Retrosuperfuture.
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
My dears… happiness consists of being able to tell the truth without hurting anyone.
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