Around the World in 80 Dresses

You needn't visit the Frankfurt Zoo to get a photo of yourself in the company of two attractive animals. They are waiting for you in the inner city in front of the old stock exchange building. Bull & bear, the worldwide symbols of your fortune's ever climbing and falling curve should you be invested in shares, up and down, up and down right as the paternoster of the Fleming's. For this meaningful encounter I put on a sober black dress lifted up by butterflies on a pale pink blazer from Rinascimento , Italy. Often enough the stocks are tumbling like butterflies leaving you clueless about their future direction.

    I built this outfit around my venerable leather jacket from Arfango in Florence. The Italian manufacturers are proudly displaying their refined techniques of leather processing dating back to the fifteenth century when Florence already was an important centre of Renaissance fashion and couture. © ddgarton, Florence, Piazza della Signoria, pixabay My jacket’s cloth lining, the knitted waistband, the leather coated buttons and the matching vest are showing craftsmanship at its best. Orange-golden autumn leaves and the fiery red of the wild grape vine are adding their bit.  

I admit to have a penchant for the tailored suit. When I was still working it used to be a sort of uniform. You didn’t have to think much about what to put on. Just two suits and assorted blouses or jerseys and you were fit for a business trip. Now that I am retired the opportunities for suits present themselves not so often. Still I like to wear a suit every now and then on an autumn day in the city or for a lunch appointment. The best: this autumn season the suit is having a renaissance. Look at all the mannequins in suits at the Paris Fashion Week! So, suit is even rhyming to young and fashionable, mainly the version with pants, though. The chequered dark red and green suit was made in Italy by Bartolomei and the black and beige by Viviana Fougá in Buenos Aires. It is sheer joy to stroll along the streets of central Buenos Aires, Recoleta or Palermo and to do some leisurely window shopping. You will never finish browsing. Some boutiques and dress maker’s ateliers are tucked aw...

This brilliant summer with endless blue skies and sunshine I am having  la dolce vita ,  the sweet life. No cloud is to be seen, even in the South West of France where rain showers are normally quite frequent. Not this year. In the bastide town Eymet the fresco from the famous Italian film is evoking a Roman summer and so does the weather. No Fontana di Trevi close by but a glass of diavolo citron, the coolest of French soft drinks, and jingling ice cubes. The restaurant under the arch on the main square is adorning the evocative film kiss of Marcello Mastrioanni and Anita Ekberg with the inimitable Italian mixture of a song of love and some washing hanging on the line. - C'e solo l'amore che mi da la forza di vivere!                   -  Alora vivi l'amore.               -  Only love is giving me the energy to live.            ...