Women in Rome

It seems only fitting that I follow a post about men with a post about women.  Italian women are all stereotypes at the same time.  The only thing you didn’t know about them is that this season, everyone is wearing purple.  I fit in better than expected with my little purple Patagonia jacket. 

It is not formal to wear fur.  Matrons wear them daily with nude hose and Ferragamos, their hair expertly coiffed with a cane on one arm and a caretaker on the other.  The younger matrons wear their knee-length furs over street clothes to the grocery store.  Heeled sneaker-type footwear is common.  Usually a wedge in black leather.

The fashionistas, 20s-50s in age, wear form fitting short fur coats or belted puffers with tight jeans and true stillettos.  Stilettos are incredibly difficult to manage in Rome.  It’s the cobblestones, the deep gaps between them, the unevenness of the streets.  If you want to prove that you have mastered the art of 4-inch heels, this is the place to do it.  Here are my suggestions:

·      First, insure that you can adequately walk on your toes with absolutely no heel support.  If you can’t do this, don’t bother with heels. 

·      Choose a shoe with a platform.  This sounds crazy but there is a very specific reason.  Cobblestones tweek your feet unless you have the sturdiest of soles.  Even wearing comfortable walking shoes will wreak havoc on the balls of your feet.  When I’m not wearing boots here, I wear wooden-soled clogs.

·      This is another rule that I use in general but is most important here.  Any shoe is possible as long as it has a firm shank.  (There is a dirty joke in there somewhere but I’m not going to fish it out).  But think about it; if you are mostly walking on your toes, then you’ll want support for your instep.  The stronger the platform and the firmer the shank, the less work you’ll have to do and your heel will be carried along with minimal effort.

·      I don’t really believe this to be true in Rome but I do believe that in general it is safer, ankle-wise, to wear heels rather than clogs.  When wearing heels, not only am I more aware of my feet but anyone with me takes precautions and offers and arm.  Your weight may be less equally distributed but also the surface area is smaller and more deliberate.  In clogs or anything with a platform and no heel, one tends not to pay as much attention and stepping on the platform edge or dragging one’s feet is a likely occurrence.

I’ve seen some great handbags here.  Valentino is (surprise to no one) incredibly popular.  Both fakes and the real thing are often seen on the street.  But the most common accessory is the cell phone.  Italians often have as many as three cell phones.  They are not required to have the long contracts that are typical in the States and minutes can be topped up at every ATM.  In fact, school encourages us to get cell phones, which are cheap and easy to manage.  I, however, see no reason why any one should be calling me while I am out and about.  Call me when I’m at home on Skype.

By far, my favorite demographic to observe is the teen set.  Instead of just a purple scarf or hat like their older contemporaries, the younger Italian women will wear purple sneaks, typically Hogans, tight jeans and a wild-looking puffer coat, often in purple as well.  This puts me in their class.  Also, they seem to share my fondness for metallic footwear.  (I am rocking silver clogs at the moment).  Mostly, their coats tend to be short, similar to the fashionistas.   Just like in Paris, NO ONE wears Uggs here.  You can always spot the tourists by their shoes.  Either white cross-trainers with jeans, or Ugg boots.  (More on Uggs in the Paris post).

Because my shopping post ties in with my Paris post, I won’t say a lot about shopping in Rome for now.  I’m still waiting on the camera cord so I can post photos.  I will not ever be taking Sartorialist-type snaps because I believe strongly that individuals should not be subjected to blog posts with accompanying photographic evidence, though describing them (as in the Lady Gaga Bag Lady) is not yet beneath me. 

With the whole idea of women being verbally harassed by every passing male firmly implanted in our minds by the staff of the Study Center, I found it incredibly interesting to discover that four of the five women who work there are not of Italian origin.   They all came to Italy to study, met Italian men and never left. 

Most people don’t realize that prostitution is legal in Italy.  It isn’t regulated nearly as well as it is in places for which it is famous, think Amsterdam.  Being Italy, it does have some very specific and arbitrary laws.  Per esempio, one cannot be a prostitute in Siena if one’s name is Maria.  I suppose that would be sacrilegious in some way. 

Just when you are about to say that all of Italy is sexist and awful and somewhat demeaning, here’s a little sexist tidbit that you’ll enjoy.  I’m not sure if this is just for Rome or Italy in general but if a woman is taking a taxi alone after 9:30 pm, she is entitled to a 10% discount on the cab fare.  Italians think that all women should be able to get home safely.