We’ve been in Milan for the last three days and while it’s a relatively short period of time, we have been in and out of more clothing boutiques than I can count and paid close attention to style trends of people on the street. One thing I can tell you with 100% certainty is that people in Italy definitely care about fashion and style, and while that style may be different from America, there are some similarities.
Below are five things I’ve learned about Italian fashion so far, make sure to scroll to the end for a before and after shot of me moving from American style, to Italiano style.
- The puff coat is in – I bet you weren’t expecting that. Yes, it’s cold in Italy this time of year and to keep warm the puff coat is the jacket of choice. I bought the style of puff coat I’ve seen the most which you can see in the photo below. Not only are they incredibly warm but it feels like you’re walking around wearing a down comforter, which I’m really enjoying!
- Your pants are never too skinny – guys have no fear of wearing incredibly tight jeans here, and I’ve even seen some guys wearing skin-tight leather pants.
- Shoes are more than foot protection – people definitely care about shoes here. Even if you’re wearing tennis shoes, you’re wearing cool tennis shoes, not the big bulky American tennis shoes so many of us (myself included) wear. New Balance is definitely popular, and neon is in, very in.
- Your scarf is a fashion accessory – sure, you can wear a scarf to keep warm, but in Milan I can tell you people also wear a scarf to look fashionable.
- Rolling the bottom of your jeans is a-okay – one trend I did not expect was rolling the bottom of your jeans to expose your ankle while wearing low-rise socks. I still think this looks weird and can’t bring myself to do it…yet, but it’s definitely part of the accepted style rules here.
And now for the moment you’ve been waiting for, the transformation from American Morgan to Milano Morgan:
