Made In Italia

Ciao my fellow EB fans, as I chow down on my pasta and sip my vino bianco (white wine), I would like to proudly announce that I survived my first full week in Italia, and what an adventure it has been so far. Let me start off by telling you all a little about myself. My name is Helena and I am a local Highland resident studying fashion merchandising at Marist College. Prior to setting off for a semester in Italy, I was lucky enough to intern for Beth at Elizabeth Boutique.

Leather Bags and Braclets

Leather Bags and Braclets

While I am here in Italy I will be spending four months traveling throughout Italy and Europe and studying the art of jewelry making, observing the anthropology of fashion and hopefully absorbing the fundamentals of the romantic Italian language, all while trying not to rid myself of my entire life savings on fabulous fashions.

hand made sandals

hand made sandals

LDM (my school in Italy) must have predicted my arrival because I was lucky enough to be housed on the street of the most popular Firenze leather market. Being awake for over 27 hours on my first day in Florence instead of sleeping I decided to become more familiar with my neighborhood. Not only do I live right between the historical Duomo and Capelle Medici but I also live right around the corner from the largest leather market.

Italian Artisan

Italian Artisan

On my very first day walking along the cobblestone roads with hundreds of vendors with leather goods and accessories, I was automatically awaken by the rich smell of leather. Handmade sandals, belts, wallets, purses, and coats in rich soft leathers surrounded me everywhere I turned. A popular trend I noticed was that classic shades of browns and blacks were not the most commonly seen colors; but reds, yellows, greens, and magenta shades were. Bold colored leathers are a nice way to compliment a more basic outfit and can be used for any occasion.

leather belts

leather belts

I must have been in a haze from not sleeping on the plane, but no the market down my street was for real. There were hundreds of people shopping, mainly tourists from all over the world, while vendors wishfully tried to persuade the shoppers to buy something that is probably overpriced.

vino and my new cuff!

vino and my new cuff!

This is when the art of haggling will come in handy. Although I haven’t quite mastered the art yet, I did get the chance to bargain. Today during my break from my 5 hour jewelry making class I browsed the market where I fell in love with a metal cuff with earth tone stones. While a language barrier can be an issue, I was able to haggle my way into spending only 8 Euro instead of the original 15 Euro. Hopefully with a little more browsing I will soon be able to haggle my way into buying a beautiful genuine Italian leather handbag.

Until next time, Arrivederci!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 3:29 pm and is filed under EB Intern's View. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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