“how could i approximate it as best as possible? that cool lower-case narrow, rounded r, for example,or the e, with the diagonal bar”.

You’d get the rounded ‘r’ and the diagonal ‘e’ with “roberto” in ChaletComprimé CologneSixty or MilanSixty and and “cavalli” CologneSeventy or MilanSeventy from House Industries.
http://www.houseind.com/index.php?page=showfont&id=11&subpage=viewfonts
Still a long way away, though.

hey thanks sihep this is excellent!!!

i think this is very very close, at least for my purposes.

i guess the biggest difference that i can see is just the rounded/smooth corners of the original logo, that organic quality it has.

(what is that called btw? when the edges and corners are soft and worn in, like old, real type, vs. the hard geometric edges of vector-drawn fonts -- like that organic font used a lot now in new york magazine)

also, the "t" is a bit different, the terminal and the crossbar, and the cavalli logo is more oval/oblong, whereas this one is taller and sharper, but it is FANTASTIC!

i can also work with the ascenders and make the shorter, and that will help the x-height look more similar.

and you know what, i actually like that thin version much better than the real logo!

and, just to show you how great it is, let me show you where i was -- i was way back with bodega sans light! yikes!

thanks again!!!

Unfortunately it’s compressed and what you’re after is condensed. Glad that was helpful, though. There’s also Dax Condensed Medium from FontShop with a similar ‘r’ and ‘e’ but it doesn’t have the same retro look.

"i guess the biggest difference that i can see is just the rounded/smooth corners of the original logo, that organic quality it has".

Had a quick look at www.robertocavalli.com and think the type has hard geometric edges – those might just be pixels.

"what is that called btw? when the edges and corners are soft and worn in, like old, real type, vs. the hard geometric edges of vector-drawn fonts — like that organic font used a lot now in new york magazine)"

Don’t know, unfortunately. I’ve seen a few of those with ‘Antique’ after the name
http://moorstation.org/typoasis/designers/steffmann/samples/p/packard.htm
http://www.fonts.com/FindFonts/Detail.htm?pid=204383
http://moorstation.org/typoasis/designers/steffmann/samples/r/romanant.htm

Have also heard ‘distressed’ used but think this refers to mid-1990s CalArts/Cranbrook font-mangling rather than just including irregularities from letterpress or a typewriter. You should post the question and get a proper answer from someone who designs typefaces.

Best wishes