Re-Vamping my Wardrobe

I sometimes wonder what a cultured, well-dressed, stylish, well-traveled, intelligent man like my husband is doing with a just as intelligent, not-so-stylish, not-as-well read but great cook, like myself. After having known Deme for two weeks I thought he and I were definitely mismatched. He cared about expensive things, had expensive things, ate at expensive restaurants, notice if women wore designer bags/shoes/dresses even more than I did and pointed them out to me. He took longer to get ready than I did and what really made me question our compatibility was when I opened the third drawer of his bathroom cabinets and discovered about 80 bottles of cologne. The drawer almost fell on my foot as I struggled to get it closed again. Somehow we managed to get together.

When we go out casually on the weekends, I have to beg him to wear jeans or plain slacks. Before we go out to eat or even to look at apartments, he has often glances at what I am wearing then causally asks “Aren’t you going to get dressed?” He asks even though he knows full well, I am dressed. If I ever have a wardrobe question I can ask my Mr. Stylish. Common wardrobe questions are:
“Do all shirts have either buttons on the sleeves or cuff link holes or both?” and he answered they have either one or the other.
I have also asked him what proper tie lengths are and how to tie bowties.
Sometimes he seems amused and other times annoyed. He often about jokes about me being the wife that “swung down off the trees in Guam.”

Being from an island has definitely influenced my style. I love sand, sun, shorts; my favorite fragrances are coconut, fresh island limes/lemons, and plumeria. If I could get away with wearing shorts, flip-flops and tank tops all year around I would. Now the simplest things I wear are tennis shoes, jeans and t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts in the winter and short ones in the summer. Also because I have worked with children for years, the fancy wardrobe was just not practical. Inadvertently, I’ve been sneezed on, vomited on, had my shoes stepped on by muddy shoes and paws, etc… Also playing at the park, doing art projects, climbing up and down trees/play structures, running after dogs and such, is much more difficult in stilettos; although I have seen some nannies and moms accomplish this.

Whenever we go on walk, I stare and stare at people all around me. One day, I saw a particularly stylishly lady and asked him he would like me to dress like that, “Sometimes it would be nice was his reply.” Women all dress so well; tall boots for winter with high heels and pointed toes, furs, beautiful sweaters, warm, cozy but stylish coats, long gloves, matching purses and stylish scarves. Right now I own a luggage full of clothes that consists of 4 pairs of pants, 2 sweaters, pajamas and not much else. I had to buy a new coat the first week I was here because of the cold snap that Europe experienced. Then I bought a new pair of boots but other than that nada. Shopping here is a national pastime. Now I’m among the masses that gaze and gaze into shop windows for a glimpse of the latest fashions. I think my husband wants me to re-vamp my wardrobe.

Deme convinced me to walk into a designer store to look at handbags. I told him I abhor most designer labels because I find them too flashy also I do not like the logos most of them stamp on their products; Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Gucci, Louis Vuitton just to name a few. He loves designer stuff and claims you get what you pay for and believes that you pay those high prices for unmatched quality. So in we go to the handbag store, he asked me to pick out a few I liked so he could get an idea of my style/tastes. I picked out three black, simple, clean lined Prada handbags and a simple black TOD’s handbag, all devoid of giant buckles, flashy metal rings or hoops and no large logo lettering. He looked at them and said they were cute but then commented that maybe I should consider another color besides black since it was springtime. Ugh! He wanted to purchase one of the bags as a belated birthday present for me but I declined. I don’t think a Prada bag would go well with my BROOKS running shoes. (I only have three pairs of shoes here in Turin and the running shoes are the most comfortable.)