let's not be perfect

We have binged in a random series of RHBH from 2016 and the amount of $ and products wasted in unnecessary glam squads was nauseating.

My mutinous self blossomed like a paperwhite in the spring.

• There are two chapters in the book dedicated dive-in style to what not to do to dress/live/eat the Italian way: “Don’t take yourself too seriously” and “You don’t owe pretty to anyone”.

There isn’t a right or wrong way for being not perfect, what is perfect for you could be imperfect for me. Many things have changed in the last two years that I feel I owe you some details on how to not be perfect and happily ever after.

So to a year of:

no to flat stomach and yes to an overload of drapes;

imperfect smokey eye;

attempting at finding the perfect pose for a selfie/hating to pose and take a picture of yourself;

avoiding t-shirts loaded with feminist messages;

rewearing staples in different looks du jour, instead of repeating outfits;

deliberately not matching colors, but insisting on navy blue and black together;

maintaining the obsolete iPhone 7 alive and no Air Pods;

wearing stripes;

• aiming at preserving a certain mental equilibrium and taking breaks;

• NOT accepting the new state of being “pandemic fine”-noun-a state of being in which you are employed and healthy during a pandemic but also tired and depressed and feel like trash all the time;

• saying NO with no regrets or FOMO;

• shielding yourself from anxiety-provoking news;

• abundance of sparkle and a cig here and there, absence of flip flops, flannel pajamas;

• banned words: girlboss, hustle, “you can do it”;

• being single and OK with it;

• ignoring chromotherapy or whatever is called that thing that gives you a wheel of colors you should wear;

• not buying anything new, again. Turns out in 2021 I was able to manage a full overhaul of my wardrobe after I realized my body had changed and there was no going back, but I had also committed to the no new clothes. I kept the promise with second-hand apps. my seamstress and hand-me-downs;

• delete/eliminate/ignore toxic people/relationships/other people’s opinions/phone contacts;

• no flip-flops allowed or furry slides.

The hacks for a successful sustainable thrifting or second hand hunt

Now that we have established that thrifting and second-hand/consignment/vintage purchases are the first and most tangible practice to make your life and your wardrobe more sustainable, let’s do it right.

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First things first, I want to get this out of the way. There’s people that still frown upon buying used clothes and when asked what is it that turns them off is they think they are dirty and smell like mothballs. There’s nothing more disheartening than to listening to adults coming up with unfounded excuses like “climate change is a hoax” ok? Have you ever seen the sanitary and physical conditions of the places where fast fashion is produced? So let’s put things into perspective.

Is there such a thing as overconsumption of thrifted clothes?

I am not sure if “overconsumption”, but definitely you can end up hoarding thrifted clothes, and that’s not sustainable, it’s a catch 22, and a revolving door of clothes, you don’t have time to wear them and can’t grow attached to them. A friend told me: I have to find a way to control myself with thrifting, every trip I come back with a bag full of clothes and my monthly budget wasted on it.

It may sound a contradiction, but it’s common. You keep buying because the price was ridiculously low and couldn’t resist, and because ‘you never know’ and end up accumulating a closet full of stuff, occupying lots of space, cluttering mind and luggages, storage and shelves for no reason.

Do you know that more than 50% of what we own we don’t wear? No matter what type of trick we do to ourselves (rotation, switching the wardrobes, twisting the hanger) we still don’t wear it, so why have it?

It takes time and you must enjoy the process, we have grown used to the immediate gratification of a shopping cart.

Be creative and open minded.

The first mental switch is “use your own imagination” because whatever you’ll find you will probably remotely remind you what you saw on a runway or in a magazine you can certainly go to your favorite thrift store, access your consignment but won’t be the same. It takes time and you must enjoy the process, we have grown used to the immediate gratification of a shopping cart. It also exercises your knowledge of your style, what you are or could be comfortable with and expands your boundaries (I now own 1 red piece, never seen before in my closet)

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What do I do to not overspend my budget?

A thrift store has merchandize priced ridiculously low, but still if you buy everything to keep instead of reselling, it becomes burdening. Go only with cash and that’ll settle it, like a kid with allowance.

Do short and targeted visits. Use your lunch time so you’ll have restrained time and you’ll concentrate on what you are looking for, go to that section and remember, that man tailoring is way better: blazers and pants especially.

Know a good tailor and seamstress: anything that you buy will have to be altered and sometimes mended.

Off season: the best time to find something is off season. A coat or a leather jacket you have much more choice as soon as spring starts, my empirical explanation is that people get rid of them when they clean up at the change of season.

Just plain E N J O Y, not all the times you’ll find something, and that’s perfectly fine.

Slow Fashion Challenge 2019: the last stretch

This past June 21st I have started a three-month long restricted diet: no new clothes.

Why?

The only way to turn the wave of sustainable living lays within each one of us. The major obstacle to transitioning the fashion business from polluting to clean one is over production. Fast fashion colossal businesses strive in a force-fed system of overflowing customers eyes with products produced faster than chicken that in 2 weeks has to grow a lifetime to become a patty.

In front of millions of tonnes of garments spitted out of those infamous production chains every week, the daily actions of one single person may seem a drop in the ocean, but we are in a state of emergency, everyone must do something.

I have pledged to not buying for three months last year and I ended up filling the closet up with second hand clothes purchased on the whim and the high of an irresistible deal, with the promise I would find a way to wear them somehow. At the end of the summer, when I did my switching of the closets, I collected a pile of clothes for donation that was almost equivalent to the amount of clothes I had purchased. That addiction to the thrill of the bargain was still lingering.

See where I went?

The same mistake of over spending done with a clean conscience doesn’t make it sustainable by no means.

Although many people thinks of it that way.

Nobody is perfect, something had gone real wrong, at the end my superfluous second hand clothing became third hand and I was lucky enough that was swapped and became somebody else’s treasure. But, there had to be a better way of applying sustainable practices than going back to square one.

I pledged again, this time I had some virtual buddies, I somehow coerced my daughter in the game, but I had also a visual plan of keeping it unique, chic and minimal. The more you keep the racks of your closet clean, the more your imagination has to be the one on over run, because at the end of the road minimal can become boring, like a marriage. I always say, or maybe that was Mary Poppins, that if you prefer shopping in your closet first, you are half way through the most elegant finish line.

Success has a thousand mothers, failure is an orphan.

I went through so many mishaps, trials and errors, one too many times I ended up having an overflowing closet full of garments that didn’t mean anything to me. Still I grew up guided by the image of my grandmother’s armoire, by her rituals of moving the garments up and down according to the seasons, spot washing, ironing, polishing, repairing, mending knits, fastening a button, replacing a zipper with the same attention and love that she’d keep my smoking dresses for all the cousins to come, not to mention guarding them for my daughter.

Thinking back at all of the above, I had the privilege of growing up surrounded by craftsmanship, art and history, in a family where we cherished the example of the previous generations as an inspiration instead of something to steer away from. I learned skills like cross stitching, sewing, knitting mending, fixing and cooking on the go, that is, we were never sat to be taught, we were living and learning.

Enough though, how do we survive another month of not buying NEW clothes? By checking in with the something we overlook when taken by the whirlwind of buying sprees: #wearyourvalues

Some considerations ahead.

• Is less more? It’s up to you to make it more by purchasing things that have the umpf, that carry enough quality that you want them to last.

• Use the stop and smell the roses cliche’ and ask questions when you buy something, the same way you want to buy local honey.

• If you buy second hand and the description doesn’t include the composition of the fabric or yarn, ask for it.

• Pre screen the brands you choose to buy from, even if it’s a re-sale item, keep yourself informed with the Good on You app, the Fashion Revolution Transparency Index, become familiar with the Common Objective website.

• You become a “consumer” after you wear, care for and cherish your clothing, a “mindless spender” for the sake of the trend or the Instagram influencer. I am not here to criminalize bloggers or influencers, they need to live too, but their role of serving as sirens to Ulysses is so over.

• Look for the storyteller, appreciate the talent, efforts, workmanship, research and creativity behind designer collections.

• Collaborate with your local consignment store and ask them to keep an eye for that piece from that collection you would like to own.

All of the above looks like a hell of a lot of work, but that’s how you end up saving money for quality pieces that will make you feel empowered to wear them day in and day out. Because, one thing we never do: we don’t keep Sunday’s bests, we wear semi couture to the green market.

• One more thing, I wish it had been my idea, but I read it on the Man Repeller that somehow started integrating conversations on sustainability, probably out a need of connecting with a selected slice of their readers (hem … me?) and to counterbalance their selling platform. This idea of reverse layering is an organized way of putting the more spontaneous “style yourself without any preconceived obligations of uniformed office dressing or cocktail attire.” In other word, who says that you cannot wear a bra top over a shirt or a skirt over a dress?

“One of my favorite things to do toward the end of a season—both out of necessity and for my own amusement—is to daydream about new ways to wear the clothes in my closet that are starting to feel old. I observe zero limits when it comes to the kinds of styling experiments this can entail, and to be honest, sometimes the results are surprising even to me.”

— E. Tamkin x Man Repeller

reverse layering

Made in Italy at The Wolfsonian

The role of MITA, the Manifattura Italiana Tappeti Artistici from Genova, and its collaborations with frontrunners artists of the likes of Fortunato Depero, Gio Ponti, Arnaldo Pomodoro in the evolution of modernism from the Fascism era to the1970s.

The Wolfsonian inaugurated Made in Italy: MITA Textile Design 1926 – 1976, a collaborative exhibition with The Wolfsoniana, its sister museum in Genova.

“Made in Italy illustrates a cross-section of Italian creativity orchestrated by one of the most resourceful entrepreneurs of the twentieth century,”

— Silvia Barisione - Wolfsonian curator

The exhibition takes one back in time, along a trail of succession of avant-garde art movements, from Futurism to Abstract Expressionism through luxurious craftsmanship.  Shrewd entrepreneur and founder of MITA Mario Alberto Ponis projected the traditional manufacturing art of hand-knotted rugs to the wider spectrum of design and art.

With collaborations spanning decades that exude the classic artisanal traditions, MITA reinvented the conversation working with out-of-the-box thinkers of Modernism and extended their offerings to textile drawings, ceramic pieces and tapestries. After the long intermission of WWII, that saw the newly designed factory converted in a military facility and subsequently occupied by the Germans after the Italian armistice, the post war production represent an advancement in collaborative pieces. From creating one-of-a-kind productions for private homes, bars, clubs, restaurants, MITA’s footsteps in the world of interiors, culminated with being commissioned to produce upholsteries for Italian ocean liners and shipping vessels such as the Andrea Doria. 

“Made in Italy illustrates a cross-section of Italian creativity orchestrated by one of the most resourceful entrepreneurs of the twentieth century,” said Silvia Barisione, Wolfsonian curator.

The exhibition showcases the invaluable and colossal body of work of an Italian factory that traveled around the world representing how merging new technology, artisanal tradition and avant-garde artistic input characterized the evolution of Italian taste. 

Fall is for changing wardrobes

Chapter four of the book explains the lengthy, tedious, and exhilarating process of switching wardrobes with the changing seasons.

I still get the blank face when I tell people that yes even if I live in sunny all year long Miami, I switch wardrobes, but then when I go deeper and start asking questions and pretty much all the times I realize that although everyone has one system of organizing their closet, there are clothes that they wear in the summer that in the winter really not, same as evening stuff hangs separately from working attire.

We end up agreeing that, especially if you live in newer buildings where closet space is ridiculous, why clutter with stuff that you don’t wear?

If I can convince just one person of the benefits of switching wardrobes I am happy, and if you are that one and decide that it’s time to pull your most summer clothes aways from sight, this is also the time to eliminate the useless, the stuff that although it’s been hanging there, it’s been catching dust or the stains of the hanger.

Here’s the questions that, if you’d do a closet cleaning with me, I’d ask you. They are not the usual ones and hope you’ll enjoy.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: ELIMINATE WHAT YOU KEEP TRYING TO WEAR AND DOESN’ T WORK

My favorite question and the one that nobody asks you. Those just go, they are not becoming and chances are they don’t deserve any waste of your time. The process of choosing what to wear in the morning or for an occasion is psychological, sociological, cultural and very much related to the moon, the stars or whatever crap affects your mood that moment, even if it’s your neighbor’s dog barking. It’s many feelings all together, but if they are not conducive to a better you, they are not worth it.

WILL I EVER FIT IN THIS AGAIN?

Bam.

That’s not the right question to ask yourself on many levels. It depletes your confidence and diminishes your self-esteem under peer pressured “thin is good” image. If you haven’t worn that piece in a while it could be ‘cause of many reasons, but before that the question is “is this piece worth keeping?” It could be a made to measure suit, a family heirloom which you’d keep for the next generation, it could represent a pivotal moment in your life (I still have my first pair of Levis 501, because it’s like the first kiss), the intrinsic value, which only belongs to you, is what should help you make the decision, weight comes and goes, like seasons and men.

WHY IS THIS IS STILL HANGING HERE AND I NEVER WORN IT?

Fair.

Last time I asked myself that question I was at my lowest point of self-esteem professionally, spiritually and personally, between a body that had changed after the birth of my daughter, changing jobs and residence because I was getting divorced: can you imagine a most perfect definition of a shitshow? And right then, when I had to resize in budget, pounds, closet space and donate stuff for free was when the whole system crashed. What I had bought was stuff, not fashion nor quality, it was worth just a pile of ill-fitting clothes, there was nothing to resale. That same pile of mindless purchases had caused a little bit of a credit card damage, credit that now I could use in a different way. After the purge, all was left worth altering, mending, fixing and sprucing up were all those same pieces that I had brought with me from Italy, the wardrobe I had been lucky to curate buying at sample sales and custom made by my dress maker. When quality speaks. 

SHALL I COLOR COORDINATE OR DIVIDE BY TYPOLOGY.

Duh.

Abso-lutely. Again, positive on so many aspects of your life, that you’ll thank me later. The time spent in the closet looking for the right combination shrinks, the ideas of assembling things that you’d never think of putting together multiply, clarity and organization will make your mind brisk and your heart skip a bit.

IF I PUT THIS AWAY UNTIL NEXT SEASON, SHALL I STILL WANT TO WEAR IT OR IT’S TOO TRENDY?

Tough.

I find that many clothes speak to me, mean something. There are some I wear exclusively to work, that mean business and aren’t child at play in the park enough to enjoy during the weekend or on vacation, sometimes we ought to look beyond and just choose, when making a decision. My best time to toss is when I pack for a move , when I am already in the state of mind of clearing paths and move forward.

WHAT’S MY FAVORITE PIECE

It will make you giggly, I have things that go on rotation, I have things that I only wear when I feel energetic and at peace with myself, and things I wear when I am bloated, PMSing and when I hate everybody. I have these perfect of baggy khaki pants that I remember when and whom with and where I bought them, it was 5 years ago and they had lost my luggage at Malpensa. They always fit the purpose and make me look perfect and polished.

 AND MY MOST HATED ONE

This is a good one and you’ll be surprised, but in resuming the clothes from the past season, there will always be something that reminds you of an unpleasant moment, a person to forget, and, it’s totally fine, go for it. I had these two coulottes I erroneously purchased under the impulse of the sales and I really never liked how they’d fit me. I truly disliked them, they made me look huge in the wrong places, unflattering. And “because they were on sale” I bought two colors, ended up being unworn and donated to the thrift store.

At the end of your journey, that will take a whole weekend at least, you’ll feel you went through the ghost of Christmas past, present and future, and maybe a bottle of prosecco, but you’ll feel so regenerated, clean, pristine.

Italian summer: while I was gone

I hit the OOO on July 4th and now that I am back, I have so many feelings. A detailed and scattered briefing of what happened while I was gone. Order is purely casual, importance is all on HIGH.

There were cicadas always and forever (I left them singing in my Highlight stories on Instagram)

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Crickets at night: nothing more reminiscing of those hot, slow nights of confessions, kissing, planning the future ... everything. Talking about crickets, watch this video of the making of Rainbow Future by Salvatore Ferragamo. The undiscussed king of the platform revisited the Rainbow sandal made for Judy Garland in 1938 according to sustainability principles. It has obtained the ISO 14067, which means it's carbon neutral. And it doesn't finish here, only 100 will be produced, for each a certificate that will include 1 of the 100 trees that will be planted in the countryside of Catania, a gift that keeps on giving. 

If they were a song, they would be Umberto Tozzi "Ti Amo"

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On the urban streetwear fashion, Dapper Dan collection launched by Gucci (make your enemies your best friends).

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Meanwhile, across La Manche channel, Burberry disclosed burning billions of $ worth of merchandize in an effort to make the brand exclusive again ... good try.

WTF? This is the most outstanding unethical practice that only this damn 2018 could bring to surface. Talking about greenwashing. 

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Eggs are kept on the credenza, not in the fridge, now you know it and sorry if I killed your vibe, but that's how it's done.  La frittata tastes totally different, also, there's no better fresh market than the zero mile aka next door neighbor: you only get what's in season, no kidding and no BS.

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Private viewing of monographic exhibition dedicated to Oscar Ghiglia by the curator, Elisabetta Matteucci. Fun facts: we went to the same high school, il liceo classico, and the foundation is headquartered in the v same Liberty style villa that used to belong to some of our family friends. The world is small, and Viareggio too, and made me think that even at +20 years away from the town, I have so many ties and roots that become alive in a jiffy.

Home is home.

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The premiere of Turandot at the Festival Pucciniano, that is the open-air theater built in front of the house/museum where Giacomo Puccini lived and composed much of his portfolio. That is: tenor brings down the house, physically, with "Nessun Dorma", everyone stomping their feet screamed "BIS", orchestra stopped and he performed it again leaving everyone aghast. Can someone have cried? Asking for a friend. 

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Brunello Cucinelli launches a new course for "le maestre di moda" in his Scuola di Solomeo, the village he has bought, refurbished and where he nurtures artisans and craftsmen with the arts of mending, mending knits, and confection. 

At Prince Louis baptism auntie Meghan wore olive oil green, which only looked good in the picture. I officially gave up with this one. 

“Of course one is born with good taste. It’s very hard to acquire. You can acquire the patina of taste?”

— Diana Vreeland

Shade.

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The book was launched at Canto del Maggio. 

Simona, the owner and the fairy of the hill, made her wish come true and hosted a slew of events for artists, writers, authors.  It was magical and undeniably special for the flow of friends and family that flocked and made it a happy celebration.

Unfortunately, it will always hold an incredibly sad memory of a special soul, something too intimate to share, but I want to dedicate it to her, because she always brought that joy, and she didn't take it away with her, she left a bit in all of us who were lucky to have met her.

THE LOCATION

ATMOSPHERE

IT HAPPENED

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The Italian hairdresser on a Saturday morning: an experience not to be missed. What was I thinking? I may have found a new tradition to add to: hot bombolone in pineta, pizzeria and second-hand bookstore in Naviglio Grande. It's gossip, feminism, friendship, roots, habits, polished life, family tradition, technique, slow time. It's a luxurious experience: hair color done with fair trade product by L'Oreal produced in India, the purity of primary colors activated by hot water, a nice soothing aroma therapy treatment while we chatted away about life.

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Sir Hardy Amies, Savile Row couturier and one of Queen Elizabeth appointed fashion designers, gave us a lesson in clarifying the difference between style and chic. Check my Instagram post on it. I bought his auto-biography at Il Libraccio, the best second-hand bookstore, my brother found it for me. Coincidentally, in the plane ride to Milan, I was finally able to watch "Phantom Thread" and, besides the character being a bit cruel, a bit abusive, and a lot not to be liked, DDL kills it with "fucking chic" so much that it became a GIF. 

“Chic? Oh, don’t you start using that filthy little word,” he says, raising his voice.

“Chic! Whoever invented that ought to be spanked in public. I don’t even know what that word means! What is that word? Fucking chic! They should be hung, drawn, and quartered. Fucking chic.”

IT'S SEASON TO SWITCH WARDROBES: DO IT LIKE THE ITALIANS

Switching wardrobe when the seasons change is so Italian that we don't even know how Italian it is until we move to another continent. 

Disclaimer: it may be a habit typical of other European countries, but I only know #theItalianway. Please comment, share, give your tidbits of knowledge about it that will help it become globally adopted. Collaboration is the word to help make the transition to a sustainable life smooth and positive.

Also: all pictures are from The Coveteur. 

“On this subject, I have to share a major TIP: follow Clare Press’ podcast ‘Wardrobe Crisis’”

Starting from an article posted in an Italian magazine, I'll take you through the most salient steps of the process. Remember, there's always chapter 8 of 'The Cheat Sheet of Italian Style'. 

1. UNLOAD THE HAUL

You gotta make it messy, before it becomes pretty. 

Unload everything, the season going and the season coming in.

Before retiring the outgoing stuff, think, ponder, look, become a "sorting expert" check the conditions, feel what comes to you, like, still with tags? why? it may be "currency", re-sellable?, there is always something that you have never worn that a friend could enjoy. See? It's a domino's effect: re-cycle, up-cycle, need a dress maker and seamstress, donate, re-sell online, visit consignment stores, attend a clothes swap (we are having one in Miami during Fashion Revolution week and tickets are HERE) 

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2. SEPARATION ANXIETY

We are all for circulating energies, so don't you think this is a couple hours affair. Make it a weekend, invite friends, practice "giving", stop and think, be mindful, don't flagellate yourself into "oh how much crap I buy", you already did it, move on, as long as that crap doesn't land in a landfill you have done something good that will make you feel better. When you pile stuff (remember that episode of Sex & the City"?) divide and conquer, sleep on it, tomorrow they will "taste" different, you will think twice about something and decide to keep it, and that's good too. 

3. KEEP YOUR S&*T TOGETHER

And now that you are done with clearing up the hoarding and clutter, put to sleep the season that just finished, and display the new one, now for example it would be the spring and the summer. First, think about it, you'll have a brand new (pretend) wardrobe. All those beautiful dresses and shorts and shirts that you accumulated through the years but you haven't seen in at least 6 months. 

How do you rearrange and display your closet? 

Do you color coordinate?

Do you gradually organize by length?

Do you have enough space to fold and hang? Do you use the kitchen over like Carrie, do you hang your evening gowns on the library? 

How about the shoes? Flats to heels or by color? In my open concept closet I had in my first apartment in Milan, I had so much space that I could make display outfits, I remember scarves around the necks and belts hanging on the hangers (I also was working in a showroom and my mind was going with the sales campaigns and insane). 

What's your system? 

Join the convo and be lively. 

AN EXCLUSIVE DAY IN FORTE DEI MARMI

There’s a code and I think I cracked it: It only took me 20 years of Miami living to dig out how to live in the Italian riviera like a local. 

It took just one morning, the morning of the Wednesday street market in Forte dei Marmi, our version of Palm Beach, in the good season, the summer, during my trip to Italy was a revelation.

Imagine the Agnelli, Giorgio Armani at one point owned a home here too, Thomas Mann, Henry Moore, Luchino Visconti, old money and noble families populate the mansions behind the discreet gates, pines, oleanders. And then there's il Bagno Piero, the beach club of the front rowers. If you have the tent in row n.1 you have accumulated a Anna Wintour type of seniority. And then la Capannina di Franceschi, a sort of Studio 54 of the roaring '60s when Gino Paoli and Ornella Vanoni were IT. 

There’s a diffused sense of elegance, relaxed and chic, understated lifestyle made of simple yet luxurious things, there's no showing off Ferrais or Lamborghini, you actually do errands, go to the beach in the bike. The morning starts at the bar, if you want to make it posh it's Il Principe. You know there's a bar at each and every corner in Italy, you go, pay for un caffe', show the recipt to the barista, order and in a NY minute you gulp it down and leave. There's no alien language just un caffe'or a cappuccino, not a skinny latte with an extra shot kids temp, they don't need to call your name, it's a ritual, but it entails a mix of attitude and discretion, respect for your privacy, it's a question of sleekness and rapidity, when you want a coffee can't wait.  

Well, al Forte, even the barista seems a magician, they are as fast at manifesting that caffe’ as you should expect from a barista, yet the noises are tufted, voices are soft and coffee cups are china, not clunky basic ceramics. 

So here’s when the luxury is a state of mind enters in action and the whole reason I wrote the book with it. How about getting dressed to go to the market?

CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Linen, layers of whites, gold bracelets, bicycles and wicker baskets, cashmere scarves, silk foulards, les paniers, flat leather sandals, wide brimmed hats, children in prams and nannies.

GET CAUGHT DEAD BEFORE: Wearing high heels pumps, allover logos, It girl bag, the same furry Gucci loafer that all influencers wear or any knock-off.

BTW, you will find random street sellers offering knock-offs of all the above on the curb of the street over a white bed sheet that comes handy when the police come.

WORST FAUX PAS: Trying too hard: it shows that you don’t belong, it’s not about the money and wanting to be who you are not, is never a good idea. And, no coffee to go in a plastic cup, ice cream though it's a different story, it's a cone on the go in the bike. 

WHAT TO BUY AT THE MARKET: The best items to be bought at the market in Forte dei Marmi are bed linens, bathroom parures, pajama sets all to be embroidered with initials (they place your order and the following week you come back for your personalized items); cashmere anything like sweaters, scarves, ponchos. Leathergoods, especially shoes and bags  are the best showcase of what Tuscan craftsmanship is capable of: leather, cotton, silks, prints all made in family owned looms and labs and proudly represented, generation after generation.