April 21, 2010
All the street is a stage in Sicily. Those who show up for a performance had better be decked out for the part.
Living here feels like walking through a gigantic theatrical production. Flamboyance and fantasia rule.
Couples herald their coupledom with coordinated outfits. My own husband will not agree to this. (He finds it a challenge to coordinate his socks.)
Some dress-alike couples are subtle.
Others not so much.
It wouldn’t be fair to i siciliani to say their obsession with clothing springs from narcissism. Elegance shows civic altruism: you are prettifying the landscape for the delight of your fellow citizens. As the old Sicilian saying goes, Mancia a gustu tò, càusa e vesti a gustu d’àutru; Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.
Click here to read Shoes Like Gondolas, the true tale of my failed attempt to become an Italian fashion goddess. I wrote it after my first long visit to Ragusa Ibla (Sicily) in 2002.
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[…] Bella Figura: A Story of Coordinated Couples […]
This coordinating dressing is incredible. In my part of Sicily not so common, minus the weddings that is.
It looks like they are all going to prom! Did the last couple you shot approve of your taking their picture. The gentlemen seems to be giving you a wary eye!
How amazing to see couples so willing to identify in these creatively fashionable ways. In the US, I think of matching Bermuda shorts and T-shirts that say “We’re spending our children’s inheritance” or something equally tacky. As usual, your photos are marvelous!
Thank you Aysha. I laughed at your description of how American couples “match!”