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国际著名女星莫妮卡•贝鲁奇曾经说过“性感的不是我，是意大利”。这句话足见意大利的风情。无数世界顶级的时尚品牌皆出于意大利，米兰时装周更被视为世界潮流的风向标。在意大利，时尚早已成为一种文化，而非名人、富人的专利，在这个浪漫、个性化的国家里，时尚已经融入到人们的生活中。 Looking good in Italy is a national obsession. Forget football, fast cars and food. This nation’s favourite pastime is style. Italians grow up in a culture of “bella figura”. This translates literally as “beautiful figure” but is more specifically understood as “a good image”. This is not only related to what you wear but involves how you “appear”: etiquette, reputation, style are all equally important. The way you present yourself to the world matters hugely. In a country where, even the police uniforms are designed by Valentino and footballers are kitted out by Mr. Armani, Italians consider it essential to look good pretty much from birth. This is not a new phenomenon and is in no way related to individual finances. Indeed, a little bit of style in Italy can take you a very long way. For Italians style is cultural democracy; in the words of Italy’s most famous journalist, Luigi Barzini, “where poverty can be worn with dignity... it is not noticeable or embarrassing”. In times of national and international disaster, Italians can be relied on to put their best fashion foot forward. When the first tourists arrived in Italy after WWII, they were stunned at the importance placed on fashion by the young men and womenlounging in the bars and cafés of Rome. One observer commented, “Some of them would go without eating to devote the few pennies they had to buying suits, shirts and dresses which would enable them to cut a dignified figure at the passeggiata.” | 
