Peaky Blinders Style: How to Get the Classic Italian Sartorial Fashion Outfit Look in 2023
One of the most iconic British TV shows of recent years is Peaky Blinders. The show, created by Steven Knight and set in Birmingham during World War I, has given us four amazing seasons and a "style fever" that also engaged celebrities like Brad Pitt or David Beckham.
All of the items in the above picture are from our website. The main styles and fabrics behind the Peaky Blinders outfits are heavy wool, long overcoats, and being dressed to the nines.
If you want to get the same style for yourself in 2023, we have some good news for you! Classic Italian Sartorial fashion is coming back in a big way, and we can show you how to get the look.
The design style of the clothing and outfits worn in Peaky Blinders is incredibly similar to the classic Neapolitan tailoring style - and perhaps has even influenced giants such as Kiton and Cesare Attolini to produce things like flat caps.
This mixing of two fashion styles, British 1920s and modern Neapolitan tailoring is a thing of beauty, which we will talk about today. But first, he’s some ideas to get you motivated!
In this article, there are several examples of Italian designer brands that make these classic British menswear pieces with a modern twist.
Generally speaking, the Peaky Blinders wear the following outfit:
- A three-piece suit
- A flat cap
- Boots or Dress shoes
- Tie
- Shirt
What aesthetic is Peaky Blinders?
The Peaky Blinders aesthetic is a mix between 1920s British working class and modern Neapolitan tailoring. You can see this in the show itself, where the gangster outfits are based on real historical clothing from that period.
Luckily for us, Neapolitan tailoring was born from British tailoring - and so this is why the styles are so similar. Many of the same fabrics that were used by Britsh Tailors, and many of the same styles, have bled through to the Sartoriale style.
The aesthetic could easily be summed up as Classic Menswear - Indeed, the members of the gang protagonists of the show, have such a unique vintage British style (that made all the viewers fall in love) made of heavy fabrics, military references, oversized coats, and accessories such as silk scarves, leather lace-up ankle boots and, of course, the iconic wool hat. Their signature and the uncommon tailored outfit is a precursor of a style a little retro, and rebellious but also wonderfully sartorial.
What kind of suit does Tommy Shelby wear - How do you dress like a modern-day peaky Blinder?
Tommy Shelby's Suits are all luxury suits a modern cut suit, with all of the accessories included. He almost always wears a 3-piece suit, a tie, a pocket square, a flat cap, and a dress shirt. Although the original tailoring style emulated in Peaky Blinders is British, you can see in the following example that Neapolitan tailoring houses clearly took inspiration from the TV Show, and from the tailors themselves. The Best Suit Brands for this kind of look at Kiton and Cesare Attolini
Another interesting thing you can see in Tommy Shelby's suits is that he wears a very close fit, most likely trying to show that he had his own personal tailor who would take measurements for him and make him the perfect suit:
What type of coat did the Peaky Blinders wear?
In this example, you can see one of our own personal suits created in collaboration with Kired. These modern suits are surprisingly similar to the kind of suits that Tommy Shelby and the other Peaky Blinders would have worn. They also wore coats that matched the fabric and style of their suits, allowing them to have a comprehensive classic menswear look, which was both comfortable and functional. Allowing them to always look their best, but also fight, etc. when necessary.
This is where the idea behind our modern suit collection with Kired came from - to recognize the modern struggles of the modern man, and giving men an option to wear the same suit to dinner and for a round of golf.
What hat do the Peaky Blinders wear?
The Peaky Blinders are frequently seen wearing flat caps, which are a British tailoring classic, and have been part of the style in Britain for many years now. They have custom-made flat caps, which have razors hidden inside, allowing them to use their hats as a weapon when necessary.
What shirt do the Peaky Blinders wear?
They are often seen wearing a normal dress shirt, most frequently white. Again, the Classic British menswear style and the Neapolitan tailoring tradition are very closely linked, so they also wore mainly white or Celestina (light blue), but sometimes you can see (as in the example above) Tommy Shelby wearing a dress shirt with some colorful stripes. An important part of this is the white-collar, as this gives the look a certain je ne se quoi.
What pants do the Peaky Blinders wear?
Almost always they would wear dress pants that are made from the same fabric as their suit. Very rarely will you see someone break the norms of Classic Menswear in a show like this. Most likely they would wear either wool pants, linen pants, or Cashmere slacks and dress pants.
These would have been tailored to his exact measurements, allowing them to be close-fitting around the ankles and at the waist. What is interesting about these trousers though is that they are actually high-waisted, which was a very popular style in the early 1920s. They are very similar to the pants which come with our Kired Modern Suit.
What kind of scarves do the Peaky Blinders wear?
Arthur Shelby is the most known scarf-wearer in the Peaky Blinders - he is very frequently seen with a knit scarf, mainly neutral colors, but occasionally with some red in there too. This allows for the character to show his development from hardened thug to family man.
What kind of shoes do the Peaky Blinders wear?
There are a couple of important shoe styles in The Peaky Blinders. All of them are the classic British style, mainly boots, as they would often have to fight, and you can’t really beat a pair of steel-capped boots for a fight. However, for events where the likelihood of a fight was low, they would wear simple brogue dress shoes.
Again the important thing here is coherence - a complete look, which would have obviously done by a professional for real gangsters in the UK in the 1920s. A good modern alternative might be Timberland Boots.