traveling to inspiring places...

...elvis at the graceland gates in 1957...

Another thing I do in the Summer - although I enjoy it throughout the year, it is nice to get out of the sticky city during the hot months - is traveling. I just love it! It's all I'd do all the time if I wouldn't work.

Here's a pretty cool shot of myself in front of Elvis Presley's Graceland in Memphis. I've actually been there a few times already, especially during the time I was working on the Elvis Presley collection for EPE.

...me, on my way to Vegas, wearing the billie holiday skirt, in memphis...

...the graceland gates in the winter...

end of trends?

In NYC I hear a lot about the death of trends. Is it true? Are there no more styles to be pinned down which will be guaranteed to be worn by most?

Well, I think that by the way people have access to the Internet, which allows them to either offer their own ware (which adds to the variety and confusion of what will be next) or have the style world of the whole world at their fingertips, therefore forecasting a trend is definitely more challenging now. Not that it has ever been easy for a purchasing fashion professional to know what to buy that will sell next season, but these days this task has become a nightmare, as I am told by my colleagues in the industry!

So, yeah maybe in that sense we have reached the end of trends as we know it. But that is a good thing for the world. NOT for the forecasters and NOT for the buyers, but for us the creative and the educated consumers. We have tolerated long enough the degrading world wide marketing of our home grown street trends! We have been so bored by finding our looks on the ad pages of the glossy magazines, now sold for money we could not ever spend! Death to trends that's right, I love it! Let the people that never had personal style shiver, not knowing what exactly to wear right now, let them be out of the loop! Force them to be the style-less creatures that they really are! Hah! The end of the so called "stylish" mass look!

But this "stylish" mass look has not reached every corner of the world, stop gasping! I was surprised to witness that almost no American trend has reached the South of Sicily, where I spent my Summer vacation (despite the immense down slide of the US$ against the Euro). There, the most fashionable accessory for a girl is still the good old Vespa motorcycle and yes, the tight jeans have made it there... which don't make any sense as the temperatures are always way above 90 Fahrenheit and it's a mystery to me how they survive a day or even a night in skinnies.

girls on vespa motorcycles in modica, sicily.

...me acting as if italian...

But none of the 80's craze of the streets of NYC. Color? Yes, but only as a accent. Flats? Yes, but none of the American Apparel leggings. How refreshing!

soft ice machine at the mccafe in catania, sicily - not in use very often because everyone knows: italian ice cream is so much better!

I was also pleased to see that the McDonald's actually was a coffee shop (McCafe) at the entrance - a la Starbucks - heck yeah! I mean we are, after all, in Italy, the capital of the espresso and the cappuccino. Only after passing the cafe, you enter the burger hall, as we know it in the rest of the world, except that it was equipped with fake statues of Italian gods to diminish the harsh contrast of European history and American culture.

me at the mcdonalds in catania, Sicily, note the statues of gods to the left and right and above. (i did not eat there!)

mcdonalds logo in sicily.

I will tell you guys more about this very special place Sicily, but first let me tell you - tomorrow! - a bit about what I've seen on the streets of NYC, weather these are going to be worldwide trends for Spring Summer 2009? Careful! None of these styles may actually be worn next Spring or at least not in this context, but they are certainly worn on the NYC streets right now.

all photos courtesy of carl posey.

gladiator sandals from turkey?

Right, it's not Summer yet - what in the world is going on?? Or what is going on in the world?? It's cloudy and it rains since weeks - but we sure are prepared for the trends which are going to be worn this season!

As I mentioned, we have not had a chance to wear any of them - my garden is ready for sun, the lettuce planted, the orchid bulbs already aiming towards the sky, but the lounge chairs are still folded leaning on the house wall for roof top coverage.

Last year I took some pictures in the front yard where I planted flowers and this year I am planning to do some more garden shoots, provided the sun finally comes out...

Elvis Presley cotton dresses and shirt by idil vice fashion rocks.

But it's really not the subject of this post, got carried away...

In 2001, just a week before 9/11, me and my hubs spent a wonderful vacation in Turkey and Greece, which of course came to an abrupt end that day, when we were about to get some last minute presents from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, before we intended to board our plane back to Switzerland and then finally back to NYC, which everyone knows did never happen.

Anyway, I got carried away again here, sorry!

The gladiator sandals that promise to be THE trend this Summer are the reason for my post. They come in all shapes and colors, and even in a jelly version ( I ordered the white ones).

The jelly versions in different colors and the genius version by Balenciaga above.

For all that do not know, these sandals were worn by the Roman and Greek gladiators. Ha! And until today there are the hand crafted originals in Bodrum (South/West coast of Turkey) in a variety of styles, but of course in the classic version, in leather only. Nothing better than an authentic original, right?

There is a lot of history in these parts of the world and the nearby town of Ephesus, which once was governed by the Romans in the year 190 B.C. after Athens and the Spartans, who dominated it during the Persian Wars, during which Alexander The Great won it for the Persians, is an absolute Must-See.




Yes, and that is what I wanted to tell ya'll, that THAT Summer in Turkey, I bought a pair - and since have cursed myself that I did not buy the whole collection - Bodrumlu originals.

And here they are... I wore them in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and I will wear them in 2008.
They just came form my shoe maker and have a brand new rubber sole (even the one that the old greek guy on Simi Island, insisted on putting on ((for free)), so that I would not slip on the many stairs on the island and who spoke Italian so that I was able to communicate with him, Nicolas was his name, had been worn down by now).


So I am looking forward to go to Bodrum again soon to buy me a few more styles... (I love them, be they trendy or not) and visit one of my absolute favorite parts of the world!

Bone vacanze!