The Paninari

I had this idea of sharing bits and pieces of info from different decades in time, from a style point of view. My first idea came to me by way of the bf, who often wants me to polish up my Italian pop culture knowledge. I wanted to share this with you guys. 

Milan, 1980's. There a food - and therefore social - revolution going on in the Italian Republic. The first fast-food chains have appeared (first McDonald's opened in Rome in the famous Piazza di Spagna. You know, the big steps from Roman Holiday.) Cool kids want to be more American than the Americans. And so, they meet at the fast-food joints and scoff down hamburgers. Much to the horror of the older generations ("Ma questa roba la chiami cibo? La cucina italica è la migliore al mondo. Vergognatevi!" You call this food? Italian cuisine is the best cuisine in the world. You should be ashamed of yourselves!) This shift in eating habits created a whole subculture in Milan: i paninari (which roughly translates to the Sandwich Eaters).

The paninari are the coolest kids on the block. They want to be dressed like Americans. Talk like Americans. Their lifestyle is mostly based on consumption, without a worry in the world for the future. Radical change after the hyper-political 1970's, no?

On their feet, Frye motorcycle boots. Timberland. And later on, New Balance or Nike. They wear bomber jackets from Moncler or Avirex, Wayfarer sunglasses (just like Tom Cruise) and Texan-style leather belts from El Charro. It has to be authentic, branded, expensive and preferably American. Oh, and the bf wants to make sure I include the Invicta backpack. Oh yeah, remember those?

They listen to the Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, Wham!, Boy George. They admire Tom Cruise in Top Gun and Sylvester Stallone in Rambo. Ah, the 80's... 

After a visit to Milan in those years, the Pet Shop Boys took high interest in such a colorful subculture and released their single "Paninaro", bringing fame to the movement internationally.

It seems I can't embed the video, so please go watch it on YouTube. It'll make your morning. :)

Would you bring any of these style elements back? Or is it better for this style to simply remain history?

Photos via ONE / TWO / THREE / FOUR. Edited by Dee & Duke. 

Christian Schallert's Active Apartment

I had seen a video float around the interwebs a while ago about this guy who bought a decrepit loft in an old building in the center of Barcelona and transformed it completely. It crossed my mind again and went back to look for it. 

Christian Schallert explains how he bought a 258-square-feet (that's 24 square meters!) and made it into an "active apartment", to use his term. He is single, lives an active lifestyle, travels for work constantly and is perfectly happy living in a very stylish self-designed box-sized loft. 

The kitchen units, the cupboards, the dishwasher, the fridge, the closet, and a dinner table all hide in clever wall compartments that "click" right into place, on demand. The bathroom is a custom-made glass box, where the shower and sink are in plain view, and the toilet is hidden away in a "cozy" corner closet. Sitting on his couch / pull-out bed, he can watch the wall-unit flat-screen TV, stretch his arm and grab a drink in the refrigerator. 

But the best part, in my opinion, is the rooftop terrace with the breathtaking view of Barcelona. He even installed a bathtub! Seriously, what's not to like? 

Excuse the quality of the photos, but these were the ones that could best render the idea. 

Photos via. 

Hotel Quirk

Spotted in the hallway at Wake Up Copenhagen hotel.

Photo by Dee & Duke. 

Brunch in Copenhagen

Today is my lovely bf's birthday! Auguri :) A few years back, I made him the following present: a 3-day city break in beautiful Copenhagen. We both loved it.

In all this humid Bangkok heat, sometimes I daydream about cold. I know it sounds so wrong, and most people will think I'm crazy, but sometimes I would like it to be cold enough outside to snuggle up to a nice cup of hot coffee. I never thought I would say this, but blame it on the Canadian blood, I guess. And well, this all leads to me thinking about the following... 

A couple of years ago, after having been living in Italy for a year (yes, try to keep track! I have a hard time remembering where I am myself), I was yearning for a bit of winter, some snow and a hearty brunch, like us Northern people enjoy. Well, I grabbed the bf, decided his birthday-present-city-break would take place in a Northern destination and we headed to beautiful Copenhagen. In February. Needless to say I was happy to be back in the snow (only because it was for a limited amount of time) and the Mediterranean-blooded bf was not as giddy as I was. At first. But the brunch at lovely restaurant Bastionen and Loven was well worth the climate. It's cozily located by the river, in the Christianhavn district. 

I had WAY TOO MUCH filter coffee and had to make an excuse to the waiter, explaining that, you know, in Italy, it's not the same and well... Uh, nevermind. And then I dove into the all-you-can-eat buffet, full of salmon, bread and Danish butter (duh) and the classic smoked herring, a Dane's favorite. Bliss. 

Photos by Dee & Duke. 

Streetcar Beauty

I miss travelling around a city by tram, like I did in Milan. The old-school feeling of it, imagining that, back in the 1930's, the Milanese used the same tram I am currently riding. It gives a certain cachet to the city to see them zooming down the main arteries, under the complicated network of electrical wire. The original wooden interiors, the narrow-yet-surprisingly-comfortable seats, the glass light fixtures on the ceiling. *sigh* (I'm not going to talk about this year's 50% ticket price increase though, and instead will choose to keep this post dreamy and on a positive note. Ha.)

Photos via ONE / TWO / THREE / FOUR. Edited by Dee & Duke.