I’m back from Vienna and Prague. Well, I’ve actually been back a week but it took me a week to get back into the swing of things, especially after the 40 hour long trip back. (Long story short - a man had a heart attack on our flight home and we got rerouted back to Iceland as an emergency stop. It added HOURS to our trip.) Anyway, I did my best to take note of the fashions in these cities to report back. I’ll admit it was a bit hard because I was distracted by all the amazing architecture and as often gazing toward the rooftops. I also wasn’t entirely sure if the people I was seeing were tourists or locals since most of the places we went were frequented by lots of tourists. With that in mind, my observations follow.

Vienna - I was really blown away by the sophistication in Vienna. These people take aesthetics seriously. The women in Vienna really epitomized the kind of effortless sophistication that I would like to have. In terms of particular styles, the most striking one I noticed was the number of women with extremely red hair. We’re taking shockingly, flaming red. I’m pretty adventurous with my hair color, but I think I’ll be passing on this one. The picture here is an extremely tame version. http://i508.photobucket.com/al.....edhair.jpg

I didn’t see as many leggings as I would have expected. I did see quite a few 80s-inspired one shoulder tops. This isn’t quite like the tops I’m seeing a lot of here in the US, a la Angie’s post: http://youlookfab.com/2009/04/.....-dressing/ Instead, it was more akin to the famously altered sweatshirt in Flashdance. The Viennese did it in more luxe fabrics than sweatshirt material, though.

Prague - The style in Prague was much more laid back and utilitarian than what I saw in Vienna. I did see more leggings here, however I know a few of them were on Americans because of their English sans accent. I feel like I mostly saw other tourists here and so my observations are a bit skewed. I do have this feeling that Czech women have a kind dual identity. One was represented by peasant dress, the kind that incorporates modesty and ease of movement. This is not peasant in the boho sense but is about functionality over style. It is the mid-calf skirt with a collared top and a boxy blazer and, of course, sensible shoes. This was a look I saw on women of a certain age. I sensed that the younger crowd has a penchant for things with bling and a more flamboyant (almost gaudy?) style. I didn’t see this so much on the streets but did see it quite a bit in the windows of the local (not the European chains) stores.

In the end, more food for thought as I continue my style evolution. I’m glad to be home. Here are a couple of outfits I wore on my trip, complete with my face. I’m tired of blurring it out. I also have some purchases to post but that's for another post.

http://s508.photobucket.com/al.....09/Europe/
password - ylf2009