spruced by marlene

The fourth (and final) day of my European adventure saw me return to Milan for what turned out to be a very short trip. During my previous visit only three days earlier I had been impressed by the old Italian men dressed impeccably in tailored suits and shirts and I was sure that I would have no trouble finding some to photograph this time around.

Maybe it was because it was a Saturday, maybe it was because it was 32 degrees. Either way, this time they were nowhere to be seen. Which left me with something of a dilemma: with only an hour to play with, what should I do? I had expected the people of Milan to be well dressed, but all I saw was people in T-shirts worn with jeans (or, worse, cargo shorts). Any hope that the situation might improve by going to an area with better stores was promptly dispelled by the sight of a women leaving Louis Vuitton in an ugly yellow T-shirt bearing a picture of Dopey from the Seven Dwarfs. She wasn’t the only one who thought cartoon characters made for a good oufit, I also spotted two Mickey Mouses and Berlin’s very own Ampelmann.

Which is why I was so happy to run into this girl who I thought looked beautiful in her brightly coloured striped dress, entirely appropriate for afternoon shopping in the summer sun.