Italians are notorious for their flashy sense of style. You haven’t seen extravagant style till you’ve seen Italian daily wear. They lpull it off though; they look well put-together. It’s a part of their culture: appearances and style are almost more important than what’s behind. Not in a shallow way, but this concerns “flair” and presentation. The worst thing you can do in Italy is pull a brutta figura (literally: ugly figure, like the frenglish word faux pas). Or not treat somebody respectfully, with the deference they’ve earned through age or social position. This sense of presentation of image is related to an anglophiliac dress style as well. Very hip here in Italy is clothes with English writing on them, because English is the global business language, and english movies and music are everywhere, though most Italians can speak only very little english. Perhaps because of this Englishness is a hot commodity. In clothing this is most often manifest as sweatshirts with Britain or England written on them, with Union Jacks of various sizes and shapes. But something else is coming up, style-mavens, check the hottest nuova moda: Canada.
Canadian flags or the word Canada on garments that have obviously never set foot anywhere near Canada is awesome. Big getting bigger. I told one guy wearing one that I liked his shirt, that I was from Canada and had actually seen beavers and he had no fucking idea what I was talking about. I had to point at his shirt and say Canada and then he got it and laughed nervously. He didn’t know shit about Canada, which is embarassing. But the point is for him and tonnes of other English-loving Italians Canada has cultural cachet. I’ve even seen a zipper sweatshirt, like a warm-up jersey, with the words “NOVA SCOTIA” on the back. Nova! Scotia! motherfuckers!! I almost bought a long sleeve shirt with Vancouver Canada and a canoe paddle on the front! In fact, I’ve been tempted to build a whole wardrobe of faux Canada gear, but that seems a bit excessive. I wear my Canadianness on my inside.
