SPORTING LOOK

The people who play on the Amalfi Drive have a look as distinctive as the scenery, compounded of classical Italian features and a flair for wearing play clothes. With Antonio del Balzo on the beach at Positano, long-haired Roman beauty Maria Grazia Montesi wears the season's newest skirt: red woven straw, accordion pleated.

At positano Neapolitan vacationer Giovanna Carola wears a beach shirt made from Roman-striped silk scarves. Local tailors make beach clothes in 24 hours.

On positano steps Gianna Ghiron wears crocheted straw stole, straw bracelets. Straw, for the most part made in Florence, is found from San Remo to Sicily this year.

At the Buca Di Bacca, Positano's favorite hangout, Dr. and Mme. Henri Guillemin of France wear clothes from Juan les Pins. She designed her plaid wool shirt. Dr. Guillemin's sweater is of handwoven wool with knit yoke and cuffs.

On Amalfi beach a boat boy wears a traditional, multistriped Italian fisherman's cap. Local fisherman's apparel inspires many of the Positano-made beach clothes.

After a mediterranean swim Paola del Tufo, of Naples, dries off in the sun. Her checked cotton swimsuit is two-piece, has a top cut and tied like an apron.

On town terrace Positano regular Fabrizio Delia Rocca wears a blue Neapolitan oxford-weave sport shirt, corduroy trousers, and a wide-ribbed-knit Italian sweater over his shoulders.

On hillside terrace Chilean visitor Sergio Gajardo wears denim copy of Venetian gondolier's shirt, white-stitched denim shorts, both made by local tailors who specialize in denim and corduroy beachwear.

In a Neapolitan Bikini, yellow cotton beach hat, Giovanna Carola comes from a swim. Positano and the entire Amalfi area have long been favorite resorts for southern Italians and Giovanna has spent every summer of her 19 years there with her family.

NINE PHOTOS