In search of a style

Today I got my two guys to walk over one of the leather goods markets. "Walk" is actually a bit of a misnomer - we kind of ran by the stalls and I was able to cast a few furtive glances at the goods displayed. That was all that was necessary, however, to confirm that, indeed, stuff is so much more nicely designed here than where I live (polite way of avoiding to point a finger at my choosen home country and saying: you guys can't design a nice toilet paper holder if your life depended on it - which, of course, isn't quite true either but whoever is able to design nice toilet paper holders, door knobs, shoes, purses and wallpaper for that matter charges an outrageous amount for it. I could tell you stories of $25,000 sofas I saw ....)
Anyway: purses, shoes, leather belts and jackets in abundance. Some of them real ugly but most modern, sleek, well-designed, fun, colorful and ever so differnt than what I get at home and all - tata - for an affordable price. I managed - under the disguise of buying a present for Uli's teenage niece (a really cute pink little number with a very modern design and interesting curves) - to score a purse myself. Oh, and how I love it. I am not one who normally is too concerned about coordinating purses with belts, shoes and lipstick. By and large I carry a backpack, wear no lips stick and jewellery and my feet are adorned by a pair of sneakers but this green thingy I fell in love with right away. I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say its a very modern design, clean lines, leather and it is green - green as the grass, green like those little cute froggsies. Its not going to go with anything I own (well, maybe a few things, like the summer dress that I wore to the park yesterday when for the first time attracted some glances from the local males) but I have wanted it - unconsciously - forever. Best thing is: since we bought the little pinky-pink and the froggy we got a deal on the price and so the whole leather purse came to 35 Euros. I mean - what is there to complain? Problem is - there is always a problem, isn't there - that now I got started and there is no way of knowing where and when it's gonna stop. I saw this aubergine colored purse the other day and if I could ever get around polishing my toe nails I could actually slip on some of these shoes that are displayed all over town ... - you get the idea.
That brings me to the larger issue (attention; this blog is going to be booooring with a capital B for male readers): I need a new style, or rather, I need a style - period. Over the years, with Mr. Max and the demands he puts on my wardrobe, with not being able to wear heels of any kind for the better part of two years because of my hip problem and the style-wise devastating effects of living in Silicon Valley I have lost it on the style front. Whoever lives or has lived in Silicon Valley (sure it's true for other parts of the country in a similar way) knows what I mean with "devastating effect". Where we live wearing Jeans to the opera is considered acceptable, men frequently show up in nice restaurants wearing baggy shorts and Tevas and anything other than jeans or shorts and T-shirt to go shopping would be considered overdressed. There is only super-casual and super-dressy which is reserved for weddings and formal events, that is like once or twice a year. There one better shows up in a long gown not to be standing out in a not so desirable way but other than that very basic wardrobe will do. Since few seem to have a desire for nice affordable stuff it is also very difficult to buy reasonably price nicely designed things.
I could go on about this as it doesn't only pertain to clothing but also to furniture, kitchen ware, lamps, accessories of all kinds. In the US I go furniture shopping mainly at IKEA - not because I particularly want cheap materials and the Swedish meatballs for lunch while I am there but because that is basically the only place where I can get modern design furniture aside from those San Francisco high-end designer places with the $25,000 couches. Anyway, I an deviating from a topic that already is a deviation. So, my style, I need a new one, I need to say good-bye to Silicon Valley casual and find myself something that is affordable, stylish and me. I am stilling chewing - in a figurative sense - on that one. I love sarees but that is really not a particularly practical solution; all black would be very European-existentialist but it's a bit boring and too hot for summer, moreover black fades real quickly in the washing machine (when have I become so darn practical??), and I need to be able to sustain it away from the little froggy green and aubergine purple purses and high-heeled dominatrix shoes of Firenze. I am still working it out but I keep reaching the same conclusion: I better buy some more stuff here which will carry me through for a year or so and then I just have to come back on another extended stay in Europe and stock up.

Got to go. We will be leaving of a three day/two night tour of the "Marken" - an Italian province ajacent to Tuscany - tomorrow. We are planning on going to Urbino and Ancona and maybe another town - wherever it looks nice. We'll hopefully find some Italians along the way and avoid the Japanese bus tours. I'll report when I get back.