Fashion Focus in Italy
November 2, 2007
Marie Green is a fashion stylist and writer from San Diego California. She is the Fashion Editor of FINE Homes and Living Magazine and her column, “Fashion Focus” has appeared in FINE Magazine as well as LaJolla Light, The Del Mar Times, Del Mar Ink, The Carmel Valley Leader, Rancho Santa Fe Record, and The Solana Beach Sun. Marie is also the co-founder of SheWants.com.
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As a seasoned traveler with a never ending passion for fashion, I was more than happy to adapt to the local culture when my husband and I took a trip to Italy this October. As luck would have it, we stayed at the posh Hotel de Russie in Rome, which just happened to be the headquarters for the Rome Film Festival. The hotel also played host to several American and Italian movie stars who were enjoying all of the food and fashion the country has to offer and you know what they say, “When in Rome…”
Not unlike American film and TV events, the Rome Film Festival hosted a style lounge, where sponsors gather to give their merchandise to celebrities and other notables. Barbara Kennedy-Brown, director of B2B Media Ltd., was the presenter of the style lounge and when she found out I was a fashion writer and stylist from America, she graciously invited me in. The boudoir atmosphere invoked a relaxed and comfortable setting while I perused the swag. I was comfortable, yes, but relaxed? No way. I could barely contain my excitement as I viewed the beautiful shoes, jewelry, clothing, sunglasses and lingerie. Everything I complimented was offered to me, including a Storm watch, a Miss Bikini, a lovely nightie, stationery by Fabriani (the oldest stationer in Italy) and an incredible sting ray skin cuff bracelet by CFC. I kept thinking, hmm, how am I going to explain this to customs?
One of the designer hosts was the talented Carla Fonzi Cruciani, the Italian founder of CFC. Her sting ray skin, leather and eel skin purses and accessories were absolutely gorgeous. She gave one of her purses to Italian film star, Monica Bellucci and was planning on giving the same cuff she gave me to both Reese Witherspoon and Cate Blanchett.
To say the shopping in Italy was amazing is an understatement. My favorite shopping area was the Spanish Steps and the Via Condotti, where many major designers including Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Tods, Valentino, Dior, Chanel and Ferragamo have boutiques. Each store was fashionably unique. They offered some of the same, but many different items than in the USA. I achieved my main goal, which was to buy stylish and distinctive things I couldn’t find at home.
The Italian people are very stylish. I noticed even the senior members of society looked very fashionable. Most of the women wore neutral colors and black must be a universal staple because it was strongly represented as well. Many wore their pants tucked into Italian leather boots with tailored clothing and long scarves wrapped around their necks, which is the wardrobe I adopted. Layering was also a trend I brought from the States since we spent a great deal of time in and out of museums, shops, churches and restaurants on our day-long journeys.
The absolute highlight of the trip however, had nothing to do with fashion-it was seeing the Pope. We were seated in the front row, behind the altar, at his regular Wednesday service in St. Peter’s Square. After the service, the Pope came over and greeted our section-he was only five feet away!
From that point forward, if things didn’t go as planned, my husband coined the phrase, “It’s ok, we’ve seen the Pope.” This is a good thing, because the day we returned home, like most of you, we had to evacuate because of the fires.
