Not An Undershirty Girl
When Luca’s Mom started giving me undershirts, I was worried. Undershirts? Even when I was little I wasn’t the undershirt type. (…Or was I, Mom?) I don’t have memories of prancing around in little duck-patterned underthings like some of my friends did. Undershirts for me have always been one of those nonsensical garmets that I’m happy to be without.
Needless to say, when I moved to Italy and started hearing other girls my age talk about how they never go without an undershirt (not even in the summer!) I started wondering if I hadn’t made a big mistake by moving to a country populated with sissy, undershirt-wearing women. When I overheard older generations lamenting about getting sick after having their stomach unexpectedly exposed to the cold, I REALLY started worrying.
So, it was with a somewhat prepared but skeptical heart that I accepted the new undershirts from Rosanna. (The Italians have yet to convince me that getting a cool draft down your neck or being unexpectedly exposed to cold air is a sure fire way to come down with a cold — or wose: the flu! These wives’ tales and home remedies for illness prevention are intriuging me but undubitally reek of outdated old-fashionedness to me…I wish I could respect these beliefs more, especially since it’s me versus the entire sex of a nation and my lack of agreement on this matter surely hasn’t helped my assimilation into local society.)
I started wearing the undershirts when the weather turned bitterly cold here and the thermostat at work bit the big one. (I was also somewhat motivated by the fact that they are pretty undershirts–creme colored with a small quanitity of sensible lace, and soft (only the best quality wool for me–thank goodness Rosanna has good taste!).
And now I’m addicted. I can’t stop wearing them; if I don’t have one on, I feel naked and just generally miserable. They keep you so warm and cozy. I feel protected when I wear my new undershirts.
In addition, I would just like to point out that undershirts can double as pajama tops, triple as a going out shirt or an under-the-business-jacket blouse in a pinch,
and they really do keep you warmer.