Bring Your Poncho

In case you were wondering if I had fallen off the face of the earth, broke all my fingers and thus had to attempt typing with my toes and never made it past the post title, or decided to quit blogging all together, I’d like to let you know that none of the above, or any of your other predictions are in fact true. I was actually on vacation in Italy with my husband and my blogging break can be contributed to several factors, such as lack of wifi internet connection in two of the hotels we stayed at, absence of mental function and ability to think straight after long days of touring Milan, Venice, Rome and Florence – tough life; I know, and in general a food induced coma every evening when we hobbled back to our hotel room. Any-hoot, all of the above rambling was my way of saying, IM BAAAAACK.

I am indeed back and with a vengeance, I was after all in the fashion capital of the world for the past week and a half, so there is no lack of inspiration for this girl, and I decided that there is nothing my readers would like more than creepy photo’s I snuck of other tourists while on my trip. Am I right, or am I right?

So before I get too serious with my fashion findings, spring trends, and general gushing about the great Italian designers I drooled over and dreamt about every night while in Italia, lets discuss what the tourists wore over the past few weeks, shall we?

First off, I must tell you that the weather was unpredictable, we saw rain, hail, sunshine, heat, what felt like Arctic temps, and I experienced sunburn on my face all in the same trip. I sure as hell didn't know what to wear, and left the hotel with my trusty trench coat every single day, often resorting to folding it into a tiny ball and cramming it into my purse when the sun came out (don’t worry, its Club Monaco not Burberry). My shoes consisted of flats, and a pair of Joe fresh sneakers.  Actually I pretty much wore Joe Fresh from head to toe for the entire trip, I had packed so many cute outfits, but for the sake of reaming comfortable in unpredictable weather and hours and hours of walking I stuck to skinny jeans, sneakers and sweaters the whole time.

It was quite obvious at times who the tourists were, we were generally under-dressed  walking around in wet shoes and could often be found wearing a poncho (see Exhibit I below)

Here I am eating rice balls in my infamous poncho before the Inter Milan soccer game

You could easily play “Spot the Italian”; that’s a new game I invented. The Italians went for warmth, and wore their black (always black, only black) puffer down jackets every single day. Even in the heat and sunshine they refused to take their winter coats off. They obviously were not buying that Spring had actually arrived, and preferred to be prepared for another chilly torrential downpour at any moment.

But when the sun came out so did the style, this tween boy band pictured below, I mean group of random guys, are a perfect example. Sitting together in the sunshine across from the Roman Forum they sat and enjoyed each other’s company in their knit sweaters and cool shades, while I pretended to snap a pic of the pillar behind them to capture their outfits.

When I packed for the trip I loaded up on coloured skinny jeans, I packed mint green, red, grey and one pair of regular plain old blue jeans. The trend was still alive and well over sea’s where I spotted so much coloured denim on everyone from tourists and locals, also THIS pair from Zara caught my eye, aren't they fun?  

And this rando girl with her guy-friend really knew what she was doing with coloured denim for every day wear.

Speaking of denim, it’s refreshing to see that everyone is still embracing the all denim, all the time look. When my brother picked us up from the airport in Toronto he made a jab at my denim jacket paired with blue jeans, he said I looked like a farmer, but then again he’s a chef , what does he know about fashion? Check out these girls, a trio of young Italian girls in Rome who all had the same curly hair and shared a love for the Canadian tuxedo. Thanks for representing.

Finally, my last creep-tastic photo is of THESE shoes

I thought we had gone through this before?  I spotted the wedge sneaker everywhere over the past few weeks, on children teens, adults and seniors, and what’s worse is its new counterpart. In store windows everywhere I spotted “used” sneakers, these are never before worn shoes that are made to look like they are scuffed up. Wtf? Here I am stressing and spending way too much time walking slowly over puddles and dog poop to avoid this very incident, and meanwhile Italians are PAYING for it? Ohh dio, is all I have to say…. Take a look at this! Would you buy a pair of dirty shoes? Well, would you? I sure as hell wouldn't  Sometimes I am totally thrown by trends and can’t fathom what designers were thinking (or smoking) when they came up with a certain item.

In these uncertain fashion times, one motto simply needs to be; “When in doubt wear Gucci.” Actually; that’s not my motto, because I don’t own enough Gucci for that to be true, but I can dream right? My last discovery in Italy, before we flew out on Saturday was the Gucci Museum in Florence. Opened to commemorate Gucci’s 90^th anniversary, in the city where Gucci was born I discovered that Gucci puts lil rain poncho’s over their shopping bags on rainy days, and suddenly, just like that, wearing a poncho never felt more chic.

Grazie Italia, for the fashion inspiration and musings. Until next time, ciao ciao.

When In Rome

Do as the Italians Do

Last time I was in Italy, while visiting the ruins in Pompeii I spotted a statuesque, well-dressed woman wearing five inch Louboutin heels. Hobbling around on what I can only describe as the best way in this world to simultaneously break both your ankles she did not seem at all phased that her red soles were being ripped apart on shards of stone and pebble. Why would anyone visit an archaeological site in a pair of $1,000 pumps? My only reasoning was she must be Italian. So, naturally, I stalked her for a lil while with the intent of listening for an accent or a clue as to where she was from, and suddenly, there it was, “Voglio una limonata” she blurted out to the also overdressed male who accompanied her. Translation: “I want a lemonade.” BINGO, she was Italian!

Being of Italian decent I feel like its OK for me to admit that Italians have a reputation for over indulging in fashion, actually, let me lay this out for you; we would basically sell our first born to afford the latest Gucci hand bag. 

Most Italian’s have a closet full of designer clothing and an empty bank account. Living beyond our means is perfectly acceptable, while wearing the same outfit twice is highly frowned upon. I don’t want to say Italians are superficial but…have you ever had the privilege of watching the Italian news?  Watch it for half an hour and you will see there is more focus on what the accused was wearing rather than the crime.

I was lucky enough to be in Italy when the royal wedding took place two years ago; I say lucky because the local news channel provided hours of entertainment for me and my mother.  The details of the nuptials were lost on us Italians; rather, a close up shot of Pipa’s butt in the infamous McQueen column gown took center stage. If I had a Euro for every zoom in butt shot they flashed across the screen I would have had a field day in Missioni!

In light of all this, one question remains. How should you dress when you’re in Italy? Have you ever travelled some place and had a really hard time packing? This is how I feel every time I visit Italy so I am by no means an authority on the subject, but I do have some tips based on my own experiences. 

Be cognizant that your outfit choices depend on whether you are in the South or the North. Trust me on this one.  Southerners embrace the fact that they come from humble means, they have a passion for food, family and gossip and are more laid back. So what I'm getting at here is, you best not be wearing sky high heels or a short skirt while walking through  a small, rural, mountain town in Southern Italy, trust me I've done it, I was gawked at, and comments were made, all of which I don’t care to divulge. 

In the North all bets are off, think Milan fashion week, but imagine a world where EVERY week is fashion week. Northerner's passions include dressing to the NINES every single day, wearing tons of make-up and bad mouthing Southerners. 

If you’re in the north for vaca and you don’t want to look like a stinking tourist then please put your fanny pack and Nike’s away and fix your hair and do your make up while you’re at it. In the north, especially in Milan, fashion rules supreme.  Even our police officers are all 6 feet tall, with chiselled features and decked out in black Armani suits, no wonder they are so easily confused with models.  I'm sure many of us would gladly be taken away in the back of one of their shiny Mercedes sedans. But I digress….the average women is waif-like with gorgeous hair and so well put together she appears to have just stepped off a runway. It’s unrealistic for foreigners but perfectly acceptable for Italians. 

In case you didn't catch on last week, I am headed to Italy in a few weeks myself. My husband asked me a while ago what he should pack and I very sincerely told him that if he brings his Crocs I am going to have to pretend to not know him, or I can possibly try to convince my Pisano’s that he is my chauffeur, not sure how well that will work.

Me in Rome in 2011 with my Miu Miu purchase

I would say that as a rule of thumb when packing for Italy think about over dressing slightly, you will still be under dressed compared to the home-grown Italian women prancing around. Don’t wear runners unless you are visiting an archaeological site or taking a morning jog. Embrace trends, if you want to pick up something in Italy that will set you apart when you return home then this is what you gotta do. The last time I was in Italy “hideous” wedge sneakers were trending, I thought I’d never see them back in Canada, and I was quite unimpressed with Italian women in general for falling for them. Low and behold take a look at THIS,this this annnnd this, the trend has exploded! (p.s two years behind the Italians, who are definitely already OVER IT!) You get the point? 

Lastly, save room for food, I am consciously trying not  to pack too many pairs of skinny jeans because I know I will be pigging out every chance I get. If you travel to Italy and avoid carbs, gelato and salami then you are pathetic, sorry, I had to say it. Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh but I wouldn't be Italian if I didn't defend my love for food, bad mouth someone, and try to boss you around, so please forgive me. Instead, please share with me what you pack when you visit somewhere far, far away and any conundrums you face when trying to narrow down what to bring with you.