You know those tapes that play in your head? The ones that are the voices of your parents? I have pretty good tapes that play in my head, my parents gave us good recordings. I want to mention two of my mother's offerings: 1) A woman's hair is her crowning glory and 2) You can never go wrong in a skirt.
Think what you will, in this day and age of shabby-chic and anything-goes, but those little mantras still have validity whether we want to acknowledge them or not. And by the time we'd been traveling around in France for five days I was a believer in what Rick Steves and the others have said about how the Europeans dress vs. how we Americans dress.
I never saw baggy jeans on men/guys. Or over-sized shirts. Or tee shirts.Or untied shoes. Or baseball hats. Or shorts.
I rarely saw women in jeans. Usually dresses or skirts. Never in sport shoes. Hosiery abounds. Hair always combed. Never shorts. Or tank tops.
And we hadn't even arrived in Paris
(This picture was taken by Doug with his camera which was showing a black spot for awhile. Then it went away. But it showed up on this woman's coat.)
While Doug and I were enjoying our picnic by the castle at Saumur a couple strolled up and stood there gazing out at the castle. I nudged Doug and whispered,"See? That's what I'm talking about. Everyone dressed up so nicely all the time."
It isn't that everyone is wearing all the latest fashions. They aren't. They just wear clothes that fit. And aren't ragged. And cover their body.
And it really is obvious who the tourists from the U.S. are!
(Do I sound like a snob? I don't mean to. I just found this very fascinating.)
1 comment:
I couldn't agree more, Shaun. In Italy everyone makes an effort to look presentable in spite of the fact that there are many poor people in the country, they look nice. Never shorts in Italy either except at the beach. People are clean and well-groomed and dressed up if they are out. It is great.
The first day back I was at the versateller and the person next to me strolled up in their pajamas. It was a bitter contrast. America has forgotten what dressed up means for the most part.
Good advice from your sweet mom. And my mom use to say a woman hair is her crowning glory too. It is true. If your hair looks bad..nothing else can make it better. I absolutely have loved your posts on France. I really want to go again because of your experiences.
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