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Monday

February 1st, 2010 Kristi Leave a comment Go to comments

black turtleneck (Gap, thrifted) -- black skirt (BR, thrifted) -- black boots (Liz Claibourne, consignment shop)

Tine from The Red Geranium, asked about my Mexican silver choker I wore Sunday. I actually have two. I collect Taxco Mexico jewelry. I have two necklaces and a bracelet:

This was a gift from my mother years ago.

This was a 40th birthday present from my mother

This was also a gift from my mother. Opal is my birthstone, although I don't know if this is opal, maybe colored glass

Menu:
Breakfast: slice homemade bread toasted with butter: cafe au lait
Lunch: sandwich with turkey, pepper jack cheese, mustard; leftover salad from last night
Dinner: Leftovers: pasta with red sauce/pasta fagioli; wine

Categories: Mangia! Mangia!, Style Tags:
  1. annecychic
    February 2nd, 2010 at 06:18 | #1
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    K,are you wearing short black boots?

  2. Annie
    February 2nd, 2010 at 07:00 | #2
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    Lovely jewelry.

  3. Kristi
    February 2nd, 2010 at 07:07 | #3
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    Annie,
    Thank you.
    A,
    Yes these are the boots I pretty much wear every other day!

  4. BethG
    February 2nd, 2010 at 08:53 | #4
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    We don’t often see you with your hair pulled back. It looks really nice like that!

  5. Marsi
    February 2nd, 2010 at 09:19 | #5
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    Those are such wonderful pieces. Your mom has great taste.

  6. Eurochic
    February 2nd, 2010 at 10:12 | #6
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    I especially love the piece in the first picture. It would be great with jeans and a white scoop neck tee!

  7. Kristi
    February 2nd, 2010 at 10:26 | #7
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    Eurochic,
    You’re right. I tend to wear the first one with scoop necks and the second one with vee-necks for obvious reasons — the way they hang …

  8. Fiona
    February 2nd, 2010 at 12:49 | #8
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    Your outfit is tres chic and Parisienne today.

  9. aaonce
    February 4th, 2010 at 09:15 | #9
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    Wow, your collection is beautiful. Such a “personality piece”. They really compliment the outfits you choose to wear them with. Glad you showed a close up of the pieces, helps to picture what they actually look like.

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What is it about those Italian women? You know the ones I’m talking about: beautiful, sexy, dressed to the nines just to take the kids to the park. They have a certain something that is indefinable. It is in the way they dress, the way they prepare their meals, the way they spend their leisure time.

It is because they know the importance of la bella figura. Roughly translated from Italian, it means putting you best foot forward in everything you do. It means cutting a beautiful figura. The opposite of la bella figura is la brutta figura, which is what someone might say about the falling down drunken guy at the party or the super tackily dressed woman at church. It means ugly figure.

La bella figura is much more than your appearance. It goes much deeper than that. It is about how you act. It is about how you treat others. It is about how you care for yourself, your home and your family. Living a life in line with la bella figura doesn’t take money. In fact, it is more about how to have class without a lot of money.

Someone who exudes la bella figura will have clean, pressed clothes and be well groomed. They will not be rude or sloppy. Their fingernails will be impeccably groomed. Their hair shiny and clean and their shoes will be polished. They will not have stray threads hanging from their suit hems. They will not be driving a car in need of the car wash.

La bella figura means driving that 15 year old car and meticulously cleaning it and caring for it. It means keeping your belongings in good repair. It means taking time to clean your house and not cluttering it up with meaningless objects.

When you focus all your spare energy, time and money on the things that bring you the most amount of pleasure, then you are truly living a life in line with la bella figura. The best part about it is that you don’t have to be Italian to do so. You just have to think like an Italian.

Italian children are raised to present la bella figura in whatever they do. From the time they are small and are groomed perfectly to attend church or school, they know that appearances count. They count because it is the first thing people judge about you. That first impression does matter. Appearances are also important because when you take the time to look nice, you are showing that you care about yourself. When you care enough to look good, it shows you have good healthy self esteem. Nothing is more attractive than self confidence.

In addition, dressing nice also shows respect for others. If you invite people over for dinner and greet them in flip flops, baggy sweats and a stained shirt, it is really disrespectful to them. The same if you dress sloppy to go to church or even to the market. By dressing nicely and being well groomed, you show respect for everyone in your world.

Having la bella figura means presenting yourself in the best light possible in all your interactions.