It is the paradox of this time. Just like everywhere else in the world, the COVID-situation in Italy keeps changing day by day (hello British and South African variants) but at the same time it feels like as if we have been in exactly the same mess for almost a year now. However, there is also some good news. The Italian government has seen reason to add a zona bianca (white zone) to the colour scheme that has been dictating the country since October. Zona bianca applies when in a certain region, things are going so well that even more restrictions can be lifted than in zone yellow, up to now the best colour you could be in. The bad news is that, up until now, no region meets the conditions for zona bianca yet.
Shivering, I pulled my thick white fur coat (fake, of course) – the one I bought in Rome last year and which by now can safely be called iconic – a little tighter around me, grateful that I had put it on that morning
Meanwhile, I found myself in a true zona bianca here in the Netherlands. When I went home on Saturday night after an evening of dancing in my friend’s living room, I had to remove several centimetres of snow from the car. A week earlier, my friends and I got up at the crack of dawn to go for a snow walk in the hills of the most southern part of the country. Everywhere we looked, it was zona bianca. Every single leaf and branch was covered in snow and it was as if we were walking through the fairy tale setting of the Frozen Disney film. Despite the fact that we walked briskly – at times we walked quite uphill – and in spite of the thermos flasks full of steaming tea that we had brought with us, I still felt cold. Shivering, I pulled my thick white fur coat (fake, of course) – the one I bought in Rome last year and which by now can safely be called iconic – a little tighter around me, grateful that I had put it on that morning.
My oversized white coat made of fake fur, however, looks more like a big teddy bear nonchalantly draped around my body. And it is in this nonchalance that the real secret lies
But why iconic? One of the most important lessons you learn in the fashion world called Italy, is that you have to invest in clothes. Clothes with a good cut, made of high-quality fabric and above all a perfect fit (the secret why those Italians always look so well dressed) that last for a long time. My oversized white coat made of fake fur, however, looks more like a big teddy bear nonchalantly draped around my body. And it is in this nonchalance that the real secret lies. At first glance, nothing gives away the fine, Italian design. And yet the oversized coat fits like a glove, the seams right at my shoulders, the sleeves just long enough and the thick collar giving it that hint of elegance. When I bought it on a Saturday morning in November, just over a year ago now, I was on a true mission to let this perfect coat become mine.
To make matters worse, I had to wait another month for the central heating to work, so the few times I did go outside wearing my light summer jacket, all I could do in an attempt to get warm again was taking a hot shower as soon as I got home (not exactly the image you have when you think of Rome, is it?)
When I moved to Rome in the autumn of 2019, I should have known better having lived there four winters earlier too. I definitely should have packed more than just a light summer jacket because only a week after I arrived in Italy, the weather turned. From a sun-drenched Indian summer, we went to dark clouds over the Eternal City. For six weeks, we were treated to torrential rain, hail and icy winds. To make matters worse, I had to wait another month for the central heating to work, so the few times I did go outside wearing my light summer jacket, all I could do in an attempt to get warm again was taking a hot shower as soon as I got home (not exactly the image you have when you think of Rome, is it?). So, it was almost December and I still didn’t have a winter coat. When my Italian friend reprimanded me for the umpteenth time about it, I was done. Slowly getting warm under my big blanket, I opened Instagram. The first photo I saw was of an Italian influencer in a very big, white furry coat. It looked like a dream. The girl seemed to get completely absorbed in all the fluffiness, which embraced her like a marshmallow. I simply had to get it. Quickly I checked the brand and I went to the store the very next morning. Within five minutes, the coat was mine. I never wanted to take it off again. And what I didn’t know then is that this white fur coat would become almost iconic.
With all restaurants still closed, the only place in the Netherlands where I still occasionally run into Italians, a live conversation is no longer happening. But then completely unexpectedly, such a moment arose last week. And you guessed it, it was my white fur coat that had given away my Italianness
Because everywhere I go in my white faux fur coat, people comment on it. Children want to touch it – the two toddlers of an Italian friend were overjoyed when they were allowed to wear it for a while – and dogs curiously poke their noses into the plush. At the same time, the coat has received the admiration of fashion connoisseurs. The Spanish husband of a former colleague – who worked at the top of the fashion industry for years – couldn’t stop talking about the coat and how well it looked on me. And while I’m going everywhere these days wearing my Italian teddy bear coat, I noticed that I really started to miss talking Italian. But with all restaurants still closed, the only place in the Netherlands where I still occasionally run into Italians, a live conversation is no longer happening. But then completely unexpectedly, such a moment arose last week. And you guessed it, it was my white fur coat that had given away my Italianness.
When the treatment was finished, I put on my white fur coat again. This time, my new dentist looked at me curiously. I could tell that she understood that she didn’t get the full picture of me either
I was at the dentist’s, it was a new one, so I met her for the first time. She didn’t speak Dutch but German instead, although I immediately found myself thinking that she wasn’t German either. My curiosity was aroused. When the treatment was finished, I put on my white fur coat again. This time, my new dentist looked at me curiously. I could tell that she understood that she didn’t get the full picture of me either. In German, I asked her where she was originally from. Colombia, was her answer and I saw her face light up when I said that Spanish had to be her mother tongue then. “Do you speak Spanish?”, she asked, and I answered her in Italian, knowing that she would understand me anyway. I told her I had been living in Italy for a while and with every word I said, she nodded in agreement. “It was your coat,” she said, “I saw you come in in that coat and I knew immediately that there was something not Dutch about you. I thought of Italy, but after you starting speaking Dutch, I thought I was wrong”. And after a very pleasant Spanish-Italian chat with the new exotic dentist in town, my Italian polar bear coat kept me warm on the way home.
As soon as I put on my white fur coat of Italian design, I am in my own zona bianca
Isn’t it fantastic what clothes can do? It’s one of the many reasons why I love them. Because as soon as I put on my white fur coat of Italian design, I am in my own zona bianca. And I can take this zona bianca with me all the time, also when I go back to Rome. Even now that the Italian government has declared Lazio – the region in which Rome is situated – an orange zone again.
