Shiny Happy Italian People

I came to Italy with the most ragamuffin clothes I owned; clothes I now plan to throw away once I get back home because they are so gross. And I expected to be blown away and shamed by the fashionable women wearing their Versace and Dolce and Gabanna and all the other amazing Italian brands we are told to respect... but I haven't been.

Don't get me wrong, I have been trekking around this country for a month now without a stitch of makeup on wearing the same clothes for days and my Adidas runners with everything, so any normal woman looks heaps better than I do. But there is an ugly side to the fashion in Italy that I didn't expect. No, ugly is the wrong word. Gaudy is much more appropriate.

We've been to a lot of cities during our exploration of this country, but we have been to just as many small villages a fair distance from anything metropolitan. It's in these villages I first noticed that every woman was dressed the same, but in different colors or with different accessories. In Sferracavallo I was walking around the market and it hit me that it was the only place to shop in the town. There was no Bata to buy your shoes at, there was no H&M to buy your child labour priced trends from. The market was it. And everything there, I mean everything, had been bedazzled or was already shiny and accessorized.

You can't buy a pair of jeans, boots, or a belt without it glitzing and shining in the Italian sun. Everything is tight. Everything is meant to be sexy, I think. It doesn't necessarily look bad, it just looks cheap to the average North American. Maybe it's the opposite for Italians? Anyways, this market was not for tourists, as many of them aren't. They mainly provide the new clothes, toiletries, and household products that the stores in the community don't have. The market is the trend setter for the people who can't get to the big city.

In the cities there are of course women who look amazing. I find that usually these women are older, at least in their 50's, and they seem to ooze class and money. But the average Italian girl In the cities still clings to her bling. Maybe she grew up in a small town and moved to the city, bringing her market fashion sense with her. Maybe the glimmer of the fake jewels all over lure the Italian men like fish. Whatever it is, it's real, and present everywhere we have been. It is more predominant than the high end brands by miles, and even in Milan there are shops solely selling this style of clothing.

So it turns out I do stand out in Italy because of my poor fashion, as predicted. But instead of it being because I'm not dressed head to toe in designer gear, it's because I'm not nearly shiny enough.

Your fashion victim,
Gen