The first trip we made to Citta della Pieve was in the heat of summer. Italy, we’ve learned, is hot in July! Very hot!
I don’t mean to brag or anything, but Dan and I have become pretty expert at traveling with just a carry-on each. Admittedly, during that initial introduction to our town, it helped that it was only a ten day stay. Nonetheless, by trial and error I’ve learned that to accomplish packing it all into one small suitcase– even for up to 3 weeks– everything I pack has to mix and match, kind of like putting puzzle pieces together. And, much to Dan’s annoyance, I end up wearing a lot of basic black, with accessories or tops to bring variety and brighten it up.
This time, however, since it was a casual trip with no dressy dinners or events planned, I’d only packed another pair of jeans beside the ones I wore on the plane, as well as a pair of dressier pants, with several tops to switch around.
To my consternation, however, when we arrived, I noticed that the Italian ladies in this hilltop city dressed almost invariably in summery dresses or skirts, all of them neat and attractive. The real estate agent arrived dressed in a lovely skirt. The bank manager wore a dress to work. Women in the street looked neat and fashionable. I felt dreadfully conspicuous!
Lesson learned! Or so I thought…
We returned to Citta della Pieve for a longer stay that fall, and this time, I packed a suitcase of skirts, dresses, and palazzo pants with appropriate tops so I would blend in, only to discover women were all wearing (you guessed it!) jeans!
I should have realized that in the summer, skirts, palazzo pants, and dresses were so cool and comfortable as well as attractive in the heat, while jeans were much warmer as the temperatures dropped. And yet even in jeans, the women were ladylike, with attractive tops, scarves, throws, jackets, fashionable sweaters. Clearly, women can wear jeans and still look feminine.
It should have been obvious from the start, but eventually it occurred to me that the difference between here and our home in the US is that the grunge look, tattoos, piercings, weird hair colors and spiked hairstyles, ripped jeans were all missing in Italy. Not totally, of course; but commonly, for sure. Once in a while, that kind of thing cropped up in the big cities of Rome or Florence, but generally, in these quiet medieval hilltop towns, there’s a very healthy neatness and attractiveness that still dominates. It isn’t that these towns are outdated, because they’re really very much up to date in many ways, and are very fashionable. It just seems to be an organic part of the safe, clean, peaceful, attractive environment that these places seek to reflect.
Even in the big cities, it’s common to see men wearing suits to work and women fashionably attired. There’s a common respect in the way people dress. It’s not always enforced, but it’s a widespread requirement in Italy that anyone who enters a church (duomo) must have their shoulders and their knees modestly covered as a sign of respect. I find it’s a welcome change from our current American culture where men and women both often come to church dressed carelessly in ripped jeans, oversized sweatshirts, and baseball caps. Somehow, we’ve lost respect in the way we dress for certain occasions.
I’m not one to think too much about fashion beyond neatness and femininity, but I remembered so many years ago when my daughter– a teenager conscious of fashion at the time– questioned what was appropriate and acceptable for wearing, and together we found three basic general biblical qualities for dress. (I’m a strong believer that the Bible has something to say about pretty much everything, in order for us to live out our lives successfully.)
First, there must be a clear distinction between men and women in the way we dress. Women ought to dress like women and men are to dress like men (Deut.22:5);
Second, dress must be modest (1 Timothy 2:9,10);
Finally, within the general principle, nothing must be done in excess
(1 Cor.9:27; Eph.5:18; Phil.4:5.)
Obviously in Italy, the Bible is not the primary influence over how people dress, but culturally, they adhere so beautifully to those same principles, and it’s absolutely refreshing to see.
And as an added benefit because of this experience, I’m actually getting so much better at packing.