I have been pretty lax on writing my blog – partially because I have been busy and partially because I am lazy and doubtful. Ixma and I just got back from celebrating New Year’s in Rome and it was a pretty good trip. Ixma lived and worked in Rome for 2 years when I first met him. Surely it was the way he spoke Spanish with an Italian accent that won me over. He lived in Campo di Fiori and we always try to stay around there as it is familiar and I think one of the peppier parts of Rome. We had a great time wandering the streets and this time we visited el Museo Capitolino. I loved it – I got to see the Lupa, symbol of Rome from the XVth Century. The trip was lovely but it was a bit different this time around because on all of my previous visits to Italy, I could eat whatever
I wanted. The smell of pizza and fresh made pasta still lingers in my nose and I promise you I could devour an entire pizza in 5 minutes myself.
Shortly after new years, January 2nd, the saldis began. I think I know the word for “sale” in many languages! As a dutiful capitalist, I set an alarm for 8:30 AM to go charge the streets at 9:30 AM as a shop clerk indicated that is what time stores open in Rome the previous day. I quickly wash my face, brush my teeth, get dressed and fly out the door. I had to have a coffee before I could start shopping to make sure that I was fully awake so I stopped at the local café and ordered a cafe lungo. I grabbed the mini-coffee cup that reminds me of the ones from my tea sets as a girl and tossed it back like it was a shot of tequila, paid and rush
ed out to the cold air at 9:30 AM. It was a minor disappointment when I realized that the majority of the stores didn’t open till 10:00 AM so I took a couple of laps around the block from the acceleration of the coffee. I finally bought a sweater I had been eyeing and walked in to a bunch of other stores and it suddenly got really crowded. I can hardly believe it but due to the wait till 10 AM, the laps around the block didn’t use up enough time so I had 2 more coffees, I ended up having a shopping-panic attack!! I went back to the apartment where Ixma was dead asleep. I decided to shower and pretend that I never actually went shopping. Ixma woke up – he could somehow tell that I had enough gasoline in me to fly to the moon in back.
I went back to one of the shopping streets where back in 2002, I spent a bloody fortune in about 45 minutes and managed to feel like Pretty Woman for a minute and where I had just been, to find that there was now a line to enter a shoe store I wanted to go in at 9:30 AM. I hate to admit it but as they say, curiosity kills the cat, I waited on the queue. There were some nice boots in the store but nothing that I couldn’t live without.
Later that day we went to Via di Corso, a main street that has a lot of stores and I bought a blouse and Ixma bought me a dress from Stefanel and Sisley because he thought it was cool which it is. I once again got a shopping-panic attack – via di Corso was a nightmare – packed with people, strollers, dogs, bags, more queues to enter stores; general European chaos. I can’t write if the shopping was great or not, perhaps my taste has changed or perhaps budget limits my spending habits. I must say that I didn’t find the way the Italians dressed as striking as I did in the previous years. (I have been to Italy about 7 or 8 times). However, people looked fresh, stylish and were sporting new shoes or boots or bags (I'll leave out these awful puffy jackets that remind me of black trash bags that seem to be the ultimate rage) on that particular evening on Saturday, January 2nd.
As I am back in my home-sweet-home, I will write about shopping in Madrid which can either be really great or it can really stink. I either find everything I want and love shopping or find absolutely nothing and hate shopping. Madrid has stores for every budget. My most favorite stores are Mango and Zara, both are chain stores located throughout Spain and most of the world. I believe the most recent Zara opening was in Russia. They both have semi-decent quality clothing at a fair price. You can usually find all of the latest trends in the stores shortly after it is seen in Vogue and on the catwalks. Whenever I go shopping I try to think Channel by day, D&G by night (this part was written prior to my latest trip to Rome), neither are on my budget but love, love, love their clothing. I don’t have a particular favorite shoe store as I love all shoes although I really do love shoes by Latouche I and have a couple of pairs of Gloria Ortiz. My company gave me a pair of Manolo Blahnik last year and they are really cool but not really practical. My theory is, if they fit, buy them , as long as they don’t hurt your feet. Shoes can make an outfit and make you feel fabulous. Unfortunately, there are no half sizes in Spain so sometimes shoe shopping is not as fun as it should be as I wear a size 6 and a half. Days when my goal is to buy shoes and I find nothing, I get depressed.
I am not sure what to say about Spanish style and sometimes I think, lack-there-of. Most Spaniards are totally set on trends and at the moment I believe that Hoss, Hakei and Friday’s Project are really in – mind you I could be totally wrong as I stick to the basics (Zara & Mango). There are many Spanish designers, for instance, my office gave me a mink scarf from Elena Benarroch, it's lovely. There is also Sita Murt. I think that Spanish women like to have the latest and sometimes don’t wear it right. Most Spanish women love Tous which I really can not stand and tend to match their shoes with their bag and if the outfit calls for a belt, that too. I really have no patience for that and although Vogue Spain at some point wrote an article that it was the way to go, I find it rather dull. I am not the biggest bag person – I use one black Lamarthe bag all week and on occasion, the fire engine red Luis Vitton that my office gave me one Christmas or the vintage Prada my sister gave me when we ventured out to the outlet in Tuscany one summer. A Spanish store that is in style for purses is Bimba & Lola, I, personally, don’t like to have the same bag as everybody else and I entered the store twice and found that it was over-priced and not that stylish.
Shopping in Spain can also be difficult due to lack of customer service. I remember when my cousin, Matt, came to visit and he couldn’t believe how the waiters basically toss your plate at you and have the theory the noisier the better, well, it is about the same in the store, God forbid you need a different size. Mango has improved immensely; the sales assistants now have a blue tooth wireless in their ear, so they can call down to the storage to see if they have the item you want in a different size. I think that all stores in Spain need to be frequented often as once a new item arrives; it disappears for the “gotta have it” theory.
I have had a couple of weird instances while shopping in Madrid. I once had a lady following behind me. It was kind of creepy. I kept turning to look at her and I must have given her one of my infamous faces because she then asked me if I was going to buy the jacket I was carrying around the store while browsing. I told her I had to try it on first and she told me if I was not going to buy it to find her in the store! I had a similar instance with an older, French man. I looked at a dress in Mango on calle Fuencarral and held it up to myself in the mirror and as I was putting it back on the rack he asked me if I liked it. I was kind of confused so I said “yes” and he said his daughter is about the same size and he was going to buy it for her. He really did buy the dress. It was black with cute little flowers and ruffles with a low-cut neckline. Wonder if she liked it?
I think the best places to go shopping in Madrid are calle Goya, calle Serrano, Sol, Gran Vía, calle Fuencarral and calle Agosto Figueroa where they have all of the shoes that are muestras that just happened to be in my size. I say avoid the rebajas, my dear friend Kim would beg to differ, and it is best to shop first thing in the morning when the stores are organized and less crowded. Rebajas start in two days being that the Reyes Magos is January 6th.
