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Wednesday

March 3rd, 2010 Kristi Leave a comment Go to comments

JCrew Tee - Cashmere Cardigan - Black Cords - Etienne Aigner boots - cashmere scarf - hoops

 This outfit goes in my DIDN’T WORK folder … you can tell by my smile/grimace that I am not happy with this look … oh well. That’s the beauty of having this blog and taking photos of what I wear, clarity!

Menu:
Breakfast: bowl of plain, whole milk yogurt with homemade granola; banana; cafe au lait
Lunch: peanut butter, apricot jam and banana sandwich; tortilla chips
Dinner: Leftover spaghetti; salad; wine

Categories: Mangia! Mangia!, Style Tags:
  1. aaonce
    March 4th, 2010 at 10:01 | #1
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    What do you do with leftover spaghetti sauce? I usually add it to a pizza, but I am at a loss for new ideas. I guess I can try adding it to lasagna…

    I can’t see the cardigan in your picture, but I sure do love that shade of blue! Spicy and feisty eh? Somehow, I am not surprised. Hahaha (I knew I liked you!!). Ditto :) –but I prefer the term passionate. It certainly is the source of all creative endeavors.

  2. Kristi
    March 4th, 2010 at 10:16 | #2
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    Aaonce,
    no wonder we get along so well — passionate is my favorite word.
    As for the spaghetti sauce, unless I make the monster batch (only two times a year) I usually boil a whole pound of spaghetti on Sundays and then mix it with the sauce, even though we only usually eat 1/2 a pound. For some reason, once the spaghetti and sauce have sat for a day or two, the flavor is stupendous. I actually believe leftover spaghetti tastes better than when it is fresh.

  3. Bobbi
    March 4th, 2010 at 11:53 | #3
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    And I was thinking how much I liked the outfit!!!

  4. Stephanie
    March 4th, 2010 at 17:40 | #4
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    Wait a minute, I think that looks great on you! I love the blue scarf with the outfit. The blue is nice next to your face and eyes.

  5. Kristi
    March 4th, 2010 at 18:14 | #5
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    Well, I love the scarf. It is one of my favorite things in my closet … what I don’t like is the tee and cardigan. With a different top, same pants, same boots, same scarf, I think I could make it work ….

  6. Tine
    March 4th, 2010 at 20:42 | #6
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    I actually like today’s outfit a lot more than yesterdays outfit!

  7. Kristi
    March 5th, 2010 at 08:55 | #7
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    Thanks for the comment. It is so fun to get all these different opinions. I love the feedback!

  8. Letii
    March 20th, 2010 at 21:55 | #8
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    Hi I like this outfit too, especially the jeans. the feel of the jeans – the ’scruffy’, ‘crumple’ – great!!! and i love layering. nice!

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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.