Column: clothes make the man

Clothes make the man, so the saying goes. That certainly applies in Italy. How you go about it is very important. It marks the day. Radiates something. Whether you're camping, lost in a football tournament or just need to run a quick errand. Never, never do you go out 'unclothed'. And by 'undressed' we mean like you just worked in the backyard. 

Italians dress neatly when they go out. Even if it's just for a simple message. Of course, every country has exceptions and they are here too, but still… the average Italian doesn't go shopping in his shorts and slippers. Let alone going into town.

The most beautiful shops

Italian seaside resorts have the most beautiful shops. Along the pedestrian boulevard of Viareggio you can feast your eyes and shop your purse empty.

There are wonderful clothing stores. All on beautiful street corners. Stores that have one thing in common: they are expensive. Beautiful clothes, beautiful prices. But the crisis has also struck in l'Italia. So those shops are now only there for tourists and Italians with enough money.

What's missing now is that regular, cheaper clothes store. The store with large bins of snatch clothes and the not too expensive polo shirts. The shops for which the Netherlands is famous. Those shops that you come across in every village and every shopping center.

The cheaper stores

Are they not there? Those shops with the cheaper but no less good textiles? No, these shops are not there, but… the offer is there.

Italians buy clothes and shoes on the market with the same ease. Walk through an Italian market and you'll see outdoor clothing stores galore. Much more than in Olanda.

There are, of course, a few things to note. The clothing is sometimes already a fashion or two behind, but the price is accordingly. For that money you can get twice, can't you? And that appeals not only to the Dutch, but also to the Italians who have to watch out for the little ones.

So you see whole tribes grabbing with abandon in the bins with cheap textiles and subjecting things to a closer examination. Material is also sold of which sometimes someone is not quite sure whether it really fits. A fitting room is a problem on the market. But don't worry, there is also room behind the half-open door of the market vendor's bus. And with a little fiddling you can go a long way.

Everything is for sale

They also sell all kinds of clothing. From decent sweaters (even in the summer the Italian market vendor/clothing consultant does sell a wool sweater), to underwear and summer polo shirts. Bath towels, sweaters, skirts, dresses and what not. Underwear, ladies stuff? No problem. No one on the market is looking at that separately now.

'Say, Dad, you're not going to wear that now, are you? Here on the market? We're crazy!'

'Dad, don't go put that on the market right now, man! You look crazy and so do we. I don't belong here!' But the Dutch dad (tall and blond) perseveres unperturbed. First hold it in front of the belly, then ask if there is also a copy in XXXL. Because Italians are simply not too long and wide and XXL is already very large. XXL is almost a nonsensical question. That size is sometimes only for fat old men.

Dad just takes off his own T-shirt and puts on the polo - just bought. Nobody cares about that remarkable Dutchman. Something we would probably never do at home in our own city or village (just the climate advises against it at home and imagine who can see you, right?), but here it is best. Buying cheap clothes in Italy is simply done on the market.

Clothes in the supermarket

Trying on shoes, trying a skirt over your own skirt? Not a problem in an Italian market. There is no separate protocol for this. Where then? In the store of course. Just at the grocery store! Italians are very clean. Hygienic. Just grab something from a shelf that isn't prepackaged? Not, so.

We take fruit with plastic gloves and we don't touch bread or cake with our bare hands. So buy underwear in the store, well. Also in the Italian version of those German retail chains, there are large containers with garden hoses next to bras or jogging pants and slippers. You really have to buy it by feel and try it at home.

A new polo and a boar sandwich

On the corner, at the last market stall, we buy a pork sandwich. Or actually it is a thick sandwich with meat from a wild boar roasted on the cart. With bags full of cheap clothes and mouths full of meat, we walk happily to the car. And Dad's got his new polo shirt on and the old T-shirt in the bag. Clothes make the man. And Italian markets are an experience.