5 style mistakes to avoid on the Sanremo stage

The history of the Sanremo Festival is a great document of Italian culture, in its best sides and in its worst sides – fashion included. The looks of singers and guests at the Festival are one of the topics of greatest attention in the days of the festival – and if among these there are memorable looks, there are others that only inspire a strong sense of cringe. This is why we have compiled this list of fashion crimes to avoid in future editions of Sanremo: from the unnecessarily bizarre clothes to the risky mixtures of motifs and patterns, from the looks that seem to come straight from a nineteenth-century portrait to the serious problem of male suiting, invaded by completely questionable sequins and decorative motifs, arriving at the end of the faux pas in hairstyles. All these looks are stained with the sin of overdoing: in search of originality, you lose sight of good taste (and in some cases even common sense) and end up wearing looks that have the same vibe of a car accident. But every mistake can become an important lesson. 

So here are the 5 style mistakes not to do on the Sanremo stage.

1. Weird catsuits

Loredana Bertè

Anna Oxa

Anna Oxa

Achille Lauro

Vittoria Belvedere

First pebble to get out of the shoe: in 2023 the only ones who can wear tight suits should be the Marvel superheroes. Fortunately, in the history of Sanremo the looks that included single-color catsuits were not many – but those that were there had the strength of an atomic bomb. The most recent is Achille Lauro, in a jumpsuit that was not unpleasant in itself but really reminded too much of the beach costumes of 1910. Not even Anna Oxa has joked over the years, although the total red look sported in 1985 would be forgivable. Nothing beats the debut of Loredana Bertè in 1986 anyway: latex suit and fake baby bump – outfit certainly progressive, certainly not of excellent taste but also completely incomprehensible. Only partially saved is Vittoria Belvedere who, in 2003, wore a sort of transparent jumpsuit that barely hid her graces under a series of sequins – impeccable look on the fashion level but perhaps responsible for a series of heart attacks within the most conservative bands of the public.

2. Hairdos from Hell

Patty Pravo

Patty Pravo

Patty Pravo

Loredana Bertè

Loredana Bertè

Anna Oxa

Marcella Bella

Francesco Facchinetti

Donatella Rettore

Everyone can style themselves as they wish on the stage of the Ariston – for heaven's sake. However, there were a few occasions when the hairdresser seemed to have been a crazy vacuum cleaner. Queen of the vibe of infernal hairstyles is certainly Patty Pravo who in 2019 appeared on stage with an inadvisable mane of blond dreadlocks shouting "cultural appropriation" but also that time in 2016 when Pravo's hair took the form of a nest of blackbirds, not to mention 2011 when she redid the iconic look of Rita Levi Montalcini. Over the years, Loredana Bertè also indulged in hairstyles including plastic butterflies in her hair while, in the male world, normally much more conservative, Francesco Facchinetti stood out when, although in his best form, exhibited a double cut in full Two Faces from Batman style.

3. Geriatric Outfits

Laura Pausini

Elena Faggi

Elisa

Arisa

Chiara Galiazzo

Lodovica Comello

Lodovica Comello

It is known that the best fashion seen at the Festival is women's. And the iconic looks have always been many in all editions, also improving significantly in those of recent years. Nevertheless, it happens from time to time to see looks halfway between a Jane Austen novel, your First Communion and the retirement home attire. If in 2021 Laura Pausini was among the best dressed,  courtesy of Pierpaolo Piccioli, her debut look in 1993, vaguely reminiscent of Stalin's outfit at the Potsdam conference, was definitely penalizing and made her look considerably older than her age. In 2010, however, Arisa, who two years ago was sheathed in beautiful Margiela's suits, appeared on stage as the "student secretary of Hogwarts" version while remains unforgotten Lodovica Comello who opted for a series of looks that, in The Conjuring franchise, would have been good on the Annabelle doll.

4. The crazy mix-and-match

Antonella Clerici

Syria

Michelle Hunziker

Sabrina Impacciatore & Michelle Hunziker

Federica Felini

Casadilego

Arisa

Arisa

Giusy Ferreri

Gio Evan

Ivana Spagna

Loredana Bertè

Virginia Raffaele

Perhaps the widest category of mistakes not to be made in Sanremo that concerns all the looks in possession that emanate so much chaotic energy as to be culturally radioactive. Antonella Clerici dancing the can can with a tulle skirt on which the Italian tricolor is printed? Check. Giusy Ferreri dressed in a mini-sheath dress that became black floral lace leggings with an organza train in black? Check. Whatever was going on with Gio Evan's outfit in 2021? Check. Syria remains unforgettable in 2001 with an outfit that defies all description (were they shorts? Was it a skirt? And what was that trail?) while a forgotten icon is Federica Felini whose beauty was immediately killed by a pair of truly unclassifiable zuava shorts. The mistake of all these looks was the desire to combine too many elements and different fantasies obtaining results that, in the best case scenario, leave deeply perplexed and in the worst case scenario cause a nice epileptic seizure to the beholder. 

5. The wannabe original suiting

Dargen D'amico

Mahmood

Umberto Tozzi

Alessio Bernabei

Max Gazzè

Marco Masini

Marco Masini

Il Volo

Francesco Gabbani

Fabio Fazio

Fausto Leali

Bugo

Of a tailored suit you should only admire the beauty of the materials and the impeccability of the cut. Something that some presenters and singers have understood (see Fiorello in Armani and Carlo Conti in Ferragamo) and that others, tragically, have not. The main culprit is Amadeus, a great butcher on stage, but afflicted by the vice of shiny tuxedo jackets. Last year, there were cases where suits took a deliberately ironic turn, as in the case of Dargen D'amico's wacky two-tone one, but others where they completely overpowered the person, such as the Fendi leather Bermuda shorts worn by Mahmood, which made his legs look very short. In 2021, Il Volo appeared on stage with a trio of gray damask patterned suits with a darker shirt under the jacket that make us say, together with Barbara d'Urso: «I am appalled». Fausto Leali almost defeated them the same year by combining an electric blue blazer, a Hawaiian shirt, black pants and a pair of sneakers – a look that, not wanting to say worse, had neither head nor tail. In 2017, however, for his victory, Francesco Gabbani wore a suit covered with stars and a tie with a phallic shape combining it with lace-ups of paint with red laces while Alessio Bernabei to the blazer full of sequins paired a refined patent leather shoe without socks and with an exposed ankle. The problem with all these looks? They were so overdone when a simple and well-made black dress would have sufficed.