advanced style

the cheat sheet, the Italian way, how to be Italian, italian style

warning: do not read if you don't wear a pajama shirt and jeans, icecream on one hand and a cappuccino on the other

Would you ever expect Camilla and Alessandra as 'human version' of a website called Ordinary Seaman?

I mean, the 'ordinary seaman' (OS), in Italian 'il mozzo', is the lowest rank in a merchant ship and honestly the least figure to associate to fashion, elegance, chic, jewelry, perfumes, heels and all that jazz we always swoon over.

Never judge a book by its cover?

Sometimes it is the people that no one imagines anything of, who do the things that no one can imagine.

If you have watched 'The Imitation Game' you have been impressed by the quote, and not because of Benedict Cumberbatch (yeah right), but because in a conservative England of Churchill's tenure, a woman or a homosexual couldn't possibly occupy a position and have a role that, indeed, a woman and a homosexual did.

 

Same with the OS: they tell you what they think about normcore and why if you don't account Iris Apfel as your muse you shouldn't even be reading their blog posts.  You'll learn to love discovering young fashion designers, you will start wearing pink a lot, not only on Wednesdays, and you will end up adding quirky butterfly stickers to you MacAir. 

And because I love my nightime job as a writer of all-things 'the Italian way' I had a blast interviewing them. 

Why did I decide to feature them in this page? 

You be the judge. 

FB - I really think that Ordinary Seaman is the Italian version of The Man Repeller: what is the secret to your style that keeps you unique no matter what?

OS - Well, wow! Thank you so much, but we think The Man Repeller is über alles! We love to be funny, colored and we don’t take ourselves too seriously. If fashion is a circus, why can’t be our life too? Our style is a mix of John Huges' movie 'Pretty In Pink' and a cup of cornflakes. We’ve a milkshake style.

FB - Can you still be sensual and feminine without wearing heels and bandage dresses?

OS - Yes, we must do it! We need just a red lipstick, a good perfume and the perfect haircut! No matter what you wear, if you feel sexy no one can tell you otherwise. Any example? Our favourite pajama shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. what else? Oh, yes! A cornetto in a hand and a cappuccino-to-go in another.

Trends and good taste: clash or follow the same path?

Clash! Trends don’t always mean good taste! This is the game: no rules except one. It’s funny to wear prints all over and skip a monochrome dress, but what’s the limit? Unfortunately, the limit is ourselves and not everyone was born with a good taste.

[A NOTE: I have warned you that there's a point where Italians do it better]

What makes you drift away from preppy and matchy matchy and still be cool and feminine wearing ‘pink on Wednesdays’? 

Our adventurous spirit , our curiosity, our personality. Sometimes you can't feel yourself in a pair of paint shoes, even your friends do it. Sometimes, you are fascinated by something new, sometimes, by something old but in a new way. Sometimes, you want be yourself so..just do it!

What’s an absolute NO in the Italian way of dressing?

White terry socks. Hey babe, it doesn't matter if you are walking in a new pair of Prada flats because if you wear terry socks, you suck.

Head over to the comment section whether or not you wear white terry socks, my alter-ego Edna Mode and www.OrdinarySeaman.com will forgive you too.