You're in a fitting room with two blazers. Same price point, same fabric weight, same beautiful. One is Italian, one is French. You try the Italian, and it feels snug, almost too snug. You check the size, check the mirror, wonder if you need to go up. You try the French, and it feels roomy, almost too roomy. You check the mirror again and wonder if you need to go down.
Here's what no one tells you: both blazers fit exactly as intended. They're not trying to do the same thing, and they never were.
Italian construction wants to show you off.
The Italian philosophy is that your body is the point. The clothes exist to reveal it, celebrate it, let it be seen. This is a country that gave us la bella figura, the art of cutting a beautiful figure in public, so of course, their tailoring follows.
Italian construction means minimal padding, soft shoulders, high armholes, and a waist that knows exactly where yours is. The sleeves are slim, the silhouette tapers, and everything sits closer than you expect. That's not an accident. When an Italian jacket feels snug across the shoulders, it's not telling you to size up. It's telling you: this is how we do things here.
The fabric moves with you rather than around you because the body is the architecture and the clothes are just the finish.
