I should certainly not write about fashion as I might be the least fashionable person I know… I don’t care about trends or what’s cool and/or popular at the moment: I much prefer comfortable and simple. But there’s some Italian in me and the reason I am writing about clothing is because I need to vent! I am sick and tired of not being able to decide what I should wear anymore!!! Not because I have gained weight (which I have, by the way!) but because the calendar seasons don’t go with my wardrobe seasons anymore!!!
There is a distinctive peculiarity to Italian people I believe: we dress according to the calendar. In the fall you need long sleeves and a jacket. Maybe a light scarf. In winter (we don’t care that astronomically it starts on December 21, it starts when you get out of work and it’s dark outside and the stores are all pretty and nicely lit!), you need to wear a coat and a woollen scarf, and boots, etc. In spring you can wear bright colours and walk around half naked, and obviously in the summer too.
But it’s October 8 and it’s 28°C out there (82.4°F) and it’s so humid that you start sweating before you have even finished preparing your purse to go out!!! How is a girl supposed to start wearing her fall jacket and nice shirts and proper nice shoes and suit to go to work!?!?
Obviously, being Italian, I feel guilty about going out in October in short sleeves… people… it’s O-C-T-O-B-E-R!! I should be covering up! Going out in summer clothes feels almost like going out in my pyjamas (not that I haven’t been there…)!
This “global warming” is not just changing the face of the Planet, it’s changing our culture too! (Ok, not everybody is complaining. I heard Marquis Antinori praise the good weather as such a great asset for his fabulous grape harvest. He’s not sweating in the fields in his Armani suit though!!! Nor do his employees have to wear anything else but green/brownish pants and a shirt in the fields!!!)
In the urban environment in which most of us poor fellows have to wander about all sweaty and hot, you still see people dressed up as if it was 10°C/50°F out there (which I know might feel like summer in some countries but it’s almost as cold as it ever gets here), and they are evidently suffering in their long sleeved jackets and boots. And let me say, that we look really silly next to the foreign tourists walking in much more sensible clothes for the season and flip-flops.
But, boy, they are out of style… we say. They should suffer like the rest of us and be all trendy and smart! In the end, we have a saying that goes “per belli apparire, bisogna soffrire” (to look good you need to suffer).
Wait… Oh Gosh, could it be that I have some fashion sense in me!? Mmm…no… I guess I might just be jealous of those cool feet when I’m in my stockings and perfect-for-the-calendar-season shoes and outfit!
You’re right. When I’m in Europe I feel as though they’re dressing for the season and not for the reality. Everyone wears, well, a uniform. If I wear something comfortable that fits the weather I feel like everyone’s starying at me. And they are!
Well, thank God, the weather has caught up with our sense of style! ;o)
Hi,
Your blog is totally intriguing but I need to ask you I m travelling with my husband in October of this year 2014 so what are the types of clothing n shoes that I need to pack??
Layers! I October we still wear short sleeves during the hottest hours of the day at the beginning of the month and then we need a light jacket in the morning and in the evening. Later in the month it gets colder.