Emerging this morning from a two day jet-lag after flying back from Venezia, I'd been thinking about how every store window in Italy was drenched in Purple. I am fortunate to travel to Northern Italy quarterly and able to see how trends spread to the people so fast. In Italy they buy clothes for the season and wear it out. They, meaning even the garbage men, the Pizzaioli and truck drivers too. They look fantastic to the average American tourist but if you spend more than a weeks time in the same company you'll discover that clothes is usually worn over and over again.
Purple is not a popular color for the Italians. Long considered to be a color of mourning along with black, wearing purple is thought to bring bad luck. Strangely wearing black is not considered bad luck but rather fashionable (could this be for its slimming qualities?). Wearing purple for me is bad luck because It makes my skin look sallow and corpselike. Hmmmmmmm color of mourning... I did a lot of shopping on this trip and every time a sales lady recommended that I try something on in purple I cringed before politely saying no grazie. I'd ask for green, burgundy, red anything but purple, to no avail. And the heartbreaker was that there were so many lovely dresses, cashmere sweaters, and blouses that I would've bought in a heatbeat, even with the current exchange rate, had they been in a different color. If you look good in purple now is a great time to go. If you don't mind being behind a season or two go in January for the bi-annual sales.
Surrounded at dinner by 12 men all wearing something purple I felt compelled (perhaps by the Grappa) to tell my father-in-law's golf buddies that they, along with their people, are two years behind Madonna in the wearing of purple but good manners (And my husband pinching me under the table) made me stare zitta (Italian for keeping my big mouth shut). When we got home I opened up a gift from our friends parents and it as a beautiful little purple charm bracelet and I actually really love it. I think I found the right amount of purple to wear. After unpacking I layed out clothes and I ended up with a black dress (€200), a black and grey scarf (€75), a black vest for my husband (€ 280), a white dress shirt for him with a stiff high collar (€ 180)and a gorgeous black leather jacket hand crafted by our uncle Enrico (€250 - €1250 retail). If red had been the color of the season in Italy I would've came back ready for the tango lessons he's been saying he is game for. Instead we look like a fashion spread in Vogue for funerals and we didn't even buy purple.
*This is the author's first trip to Italy where she did not buy shoes. She is waiting rather for January and the delicious countrywide sales that come along with it.
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