Wednesday, June 29, 2016

How To Dress Like An Italian - 8 tips

The Italians are famous for their sense of style, their inimitable fashion taste and the quality of their designer clothing. They have the ability always, under any circumstances, be dressed in such a way that they want to be. Why are Italians still considered the best dressed men in the world? Italian men fuse the best of the two; blending contemporary colours, prints and textures with timeless silhouettes and details. 

 For a long time I'm living in Italy, but since my arrive I wonder the style of Italian men. Even the boys of 10-12 years old, going on the friend birth, chooses carefully every piece of clothes and always create something special with hair :) :) 

My husband is a lawyer, in court, in theory, there should be a strict dress code, but Italians make out to look stylish. Sometimes a jacket and trousers have different color - this is called spezzare. Or he will put an interesting tie,  knitted for excample.
The choice of shoes is very important too.


Anyway, I decided to write a few tips to understand what it means to feel, and dress, like an Italian, what is their secret? Many of these points, in fact, belong to women's fashion too.


Italian men are very self-confident. They do not even admit that may look bad, or at least "not very good" (and they certainly do not). This confidence is literally seen through in everything they do. Gait, gestures, facial expressions, speech, posture - looking at them, you can never say that these people shy or afraid of something. They are not afraid to be bright, to experiment, to mix. Often, they allow themselves to wear what a German or a Frenchman would never have dared. They just know how to do it very skillfully and naturally. Largely thanks to this courage and love to experiment Italian men are almost always look elegant and unusual. However, they always feel the thin line beyond which begin the absurdity and lack of taste.

It is unlikely that someone from other countries of the World can match with the Italians in their boundless love for accessories. Glasses, scarves, belts, hats, caps, watches, cufflinks, bags, gloves. If the streets of Rome, Naples, Milan, or any city in Italy, you will meet a man without at least a pair of these accessories, be sure it will be a tourist.

1. Scarf

Italians usually have a lot of scarves. It's popular accessory and people wear them day and night, winter and summer, with a suit or sports jacket. Italians from childhood study the ability to wear scarves with nonchalance, tie a scarf  in 2 minutes in way that it will look like a modern replacement for the princely mantle.

Selecting a scarf, you need to know how and with what clothes you can wear one or another type of scarf. For example, a long narrow scarf can casually throw around the neck. It will perfectly complement the classic business coat. Thin cashmere scarves are perfect for the suit. Not bad in this case, knitted scarf too. Monochrome and colorful knitted scarves are the perfect accessory when used with a sweater or jacket.






2. Shoes - a visiting card of a man.

 If a man has only one shoe, they quickly will be ruined.  If the shoe do not fit the style, they will automatically look cheaper than they are. The Italians are paying great attention to the shoes. It must be made from natural material (leather, suede) necessarily have to be of good quality.




3. Sunglasses

Details make the image, so the Italians, both men and women, usually have at home many sunglasses and choose one with great care to fit clothes on the basis of color and overall style. Wearing sunglasses at night or indoors - not mauvais ton, but only if the sunglasses are the part of your image.

Picking up of a sunglasses should be based on the traits of the face. Better take ones from well known label, a "left" sunglasses is not only spoil the looks, but also damage the sight.

You have myopia and need to wear corrective glasses? Here, too, there is a huge choice and Italians choose them with even greater care. Forget "wonk" and "barnacled" just because you worn glasses in the school time - is the classy accessory in Italy and element of the style.





4. The art of sprezzatura

In Italian there is a term sprezzatura, I can translate like STUDIED CARELESSNESS, an appearance of effortlessness. It's a way a man dresses and looks good without looking like he tried too hard. Wore the tie askew, with the skinny end hanging longer than the wide end. Wore  a rumpled scarf, It would seem accidental. Managed bed heads, jackets thrown on “with a lot of care”, loafers without socks, monotones with one single item of clothing in an offset color, mismatched pocket square and neck tie. All of this, you got that right, Sprezzatura. 



 5. Hairstyle

Italian men usually have fleecy hair, and rarely have short hairstyles. They are not afraid to dye hair or make highlights, use styling gel. In general they follow the trends of hairstyles. However, even if you happen to be bald - it's not a problem, because you still have a beard and mustache)) 



6. Slim Shirt

Italian wears slim shirt to work, on a picnic, for a shopping or lunch in a nearby coffee bar. Shirts are weared flowing or not, and pattern or color can be whichever, even with flowers. The most popular color for the shirt under the suit - light blue in evrery variation. But most importantly - the fit! It's usually slim fit with darts. Men often order shirts in specialty stores where you can select the model and fabric, and the tailor sew a shirt according to your measurements.

Very often, the Italians roll up shirt sleeves. Very elegant gesture to come to work or to negotiate, take off your jacket, unbutton the sleeves, a few minutes waving hands (do not forget about the active gestures!), and sleeves, and then roll up them with elegant movement. Voila :)




7. Layering, or like I call it - to dress like a "cabbage"

IT is creating a sense of depth with clever layering. Italian men won't think twice about wearing a classic shirt beneath a knitted overshirt, beneath a vest, beneath a blazer, beneath an overcoat
Layering means that when you look at yourself, you can simultaneously see all the clothes that you are wearing, except, perhaps, underwear. The more elements in your outfit, the more it is used in colors, textures and patterns.


8. Quality sweater of fine wool or cotton for a fresh weather.

The classic version - sweater, slim shirt with unbuttoned the first button and the scarf. It can also be buttoned cardigan. My husband almost always wear shirt and thin sweater in office, if he have not go to court. Over it it's often weared a casual jacket or something like it. When it gets warm, you can simply remove the sweater and tie it on the shoulders.





I hope my tips will help you :)

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Pasta with stracchino cheese and fresh tomatoes recipe


This is truly summer recipe! It's so quick too!
Stracchino is a type of Italian fresh cheese, typical of Lombardy, Piedmont, and Veneto, but you can easily find it in every supermarket. It's also known as Crescenza. The name 'Crescenza' is derived from the Italian word 'stracca', which means 'tired' in English. It is said that the cheese made from the milk of tired cows moving seasonally up and down the Alps, is rich in fats and more acidic in nature.
Crescenza is a very soft cheese with creamy, spreadable texture and no rind. It usually has a mild and delicate flavour. It spreads nicely on crackers, crostini or fresh bread.

You will need for two portions:

  • 130-160 g of pasta (depending on your appetite)
  • 200-300 gr of cherry tomatoes (better fresh from a local farmers market)
  • 100 grams of cheese stracchino o crescenza
  • 30g pecorino romano cheese (optional)
  • 1/2 garlic clove (optional - personally I do not put it)
  • 20 ml of olive oil
  • salt

There are two variations of this recipe, both delicious. 
In the first put in a blender a cream of fresh tomatoes, add stracchino and everything else, including olive oil and make a cream. 
In the second rvariation put a half of tomatoes in a pot with a spoon of olive oi and stew a little. Other tomatoes use to make a cream as I wrote above then add to the pot.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions,  until the pasta is al dente. When pasta is ready, drain and mix it with the cream. 

Of course as always I used a wholegrain pasta, but you can use a normal one.

Monday, June 13, 2016

30 Plus size fashion outfits

50% of women in US wear size 14 or larger, and in other countries there are many women too with sizes XL, XXL and etc. Fashion should be for everyone, not just for the skinny women. For example, in Italy there are some brands that make collections for Plus size and they are very nice, and there is no problem to buy clothes for girls and women of Plus size.

It so happened that recently I started to collect outfits for Plus size women. Partly, perhaps, because I have a mother of this size and I want to help her with the choice of clothes :) So I decided to share with you my collections. Mostly these are fashion bloggers. Of course, fashion bloggers, perhaps, can not be called ordinary people from the street, but it is much more close to everyday life then catalogue photos:)

 I hope you enjoy my collection :)

























 

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