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Lotte on fashion in Italy and living like an Italian
"Look," says Lotte, "that just really doesn't work." She points outside, where someone has dressed in a way that puts his tattoos on full display: shorts revealing a mass of ink on overly thick, pale calves.
"Terrible," she says, shuddering slightly. I can’t blame her. We’re sitting in a small café in the heart of Utrecht. She’s visiting from Milan, where she now lives and works. She’s here to see family, but she also wanted to share some of her experiences while she’s in town—partly, she says, to offer a bit of encouragement to others.
Or, more precisely, to inspire people to follow their hearts. "It really wasn’t that long ago that I was walking around here, feeling completely lost," she explains. "I’ve always been crazy about fashion—right from the start, as my mother reminded me recently. I was always fussing over my dolls' clothes; nothing was ever quite right—it always had to be different." Lotte laughs. "I still find myself getting terribly annoyed by poorly dressed people. I know it doesn’t exactly make me popular, but I see it all the time here in the Netherlands."
"And yet, that very annoyance was what drove me to pursue a career in fashion. I kept thinking, 'Surely things could be done much more beautifully?'—even after I’d finished fashion school."
And that brings me to Italy, she says. Because that’s where they just *get* it. It’s as if they invented fashion there. To put it less grandly: the Italians inspired me. I was determined to find out why. Now, I’m a bit of a fanatic, so I thought: I’ll live like an Italian. It was the same kind of fanaticism you see in top athletes—people who do absolutely whatever it takes to reach the top. I had that same mindset, so I started right at the beginning: the language. Man, that wasn’t easy! It was so tough at first. I was basically just muddling through until I met a wonderful teacher. She would take the pressure off whenever I was feeling overwhelmed: "Non preoccuparti! Va bene!" she’d always say. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. I didn’t believe it for a second, but it helped! Her second tip was even more valuable. She had a good friend who worked at an atelier in Milan. Through her, I was able to arrange an internship! After the internship ended, I was allowed to stay on. I gradually worked my way up and began to understand better and better what fashion is really about. It’s the Italian perspective, I’d say now. There’s music in it—just like in the language—and it reflects a zest for life, the beauty of living, la dolce vita. I’m not quite there yet, says Lotte, but I’m well on my way to living like an Italian and designing like one!
I am incredibly grateful to Lingodrops for that.
That was the story of our wonderful student, Lotte. 💛🇮🇹
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