@ Exarchia square

Exarchia square, Varvara

Varvara is 28 years old and works in a private company. She
lives in Marousi (a northern suburb). She has a dress code for
work, and for every day outfits she prefers comfortable clothes,
that don’t draw too much attention. She describes herself as
simple and conservative and feels that’s reflected in the way
she dresses. She is inspired by Latin music and her travels to
other countries. That day she wore earrings she had bought
during her trip to Brazil and her top was bought from Thailand.
She likes accessories and experiments with them. She buys
her clothes from Zara and similar chain-stores and also from
small boutiques in the suburbs, near her house. When shopping
she thinks practical and prefers to give more money for
high-quality items that last longer (for example good leather
boots). She has specific items in mind when shopping but
rarely finds them in the shops around her. It’s difficult for her to
follow fashion trends and she usually likes trends when they’ve
faded out and she’s managed to adapt to them.

Panemistimiou st, Aliki

Aliki works as a graphic designer and owns her own creative office, called Meetoo. Loves fashion and likes expressing her creativity through clothes. She shops without a plan and goes for items that attract her attention. She loves to wear out her clothes she owns, like the ballerina shoes she bought from Rebet while visiting Paris.

She learns about fashion from magazines, the internet and from what she sees in other people. She points out Balmain as this season’s favorite fashion designer and adds that she found a T-shirt in Zara that reminded her of his collection. She commented that Zara and the other “affordable” chain-stores offer everybody the opportunity to own a piece of high design since they create quite good imitations of designer clothes at low prices, remarking that this is a result of the industrial revolution in fashion, but that the bad side of this is that you may end up wearing a kind of uniform.

She also comments that clothing reveals one’s personality, aesthetics; for example a handsome man in army uniform could look ugly if he dresses with bad taste in everyday life.

Place: near the Academy of Athens and the University (Law school)


Voukourestiou st, Maria and Panagiotis

I moved on to Kolonaki, 10 minutes walk from Sintagma, and headed to Voukourestiou st, the high class shopping area. Gucci, Prada, Hermes, top-end jewelery shops and the Attica department store are nearby. I stopped to talk with and photograph Maria and Panagiotis, a married couple.

Maria works as head of sales in a private company. She enjoys quality clothing and for this reason prefers shopping from famous fashion labels like Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and feels comfortable in Pinko clothes, Miss Sixty and Seven Jeans; she also pays regular visits to Zara and H&M. She doesn’t enjoy shopping because she gets confused, unable to choose easily, so when she shops it’s usually a spontaneous process. She spends money but within reason and as she said tries to buy clothes and accessories that are not fashion statements but have a timeless quality, so that she can wear them for many years. She has developed a personal style that comes from combinations of clothing she has in her wardrobe and depending on the event. She is not influenced by trends. She likes being feminine; she likes bags and eccentric shoes, always with high heels. In the photo she wears Marc Jacobs shoes,Dolce & Gabbana jeans and holds a Prada bag. She likes jewelry, especially necklaces, bracelets and rings. Earrings don’t do it for her.

Panos runs his own business. He likes fashion and shopping, makes quick decisions and always knows what he wants. He enjoys wearing brand-name clothes, and considers Prada designs quite close to his personal taste.

Athenswears on air

Athenswears visited AIR FM 104.4 in the studio to chat on the show Athens4real. On the video Eva from Athenswears relates what she has discovered about the changing face of style in the capital and her experiences about setting the blog up.

back on the streets of Athens on a dull day

We walked from Syntagma Square to Exarcheia to capture the Athenian vibe on a dull day.

@ Exarcheia, Aspasia and Olga, Students, 19 and 20 years old

Exarxeia is a youth-based area of Athens with many cafeterias, bookshops, record stores and bars. It’s a culturally peripheral zone, with a lot of students from the nearby University, cult residents, anarchists and junkies.

We met Aspasia and Olga as they sat on the doorstep of an old building. Their colorful clothes made us notice them from a distance. They are both students at the University of Athens, Aspasia studies English Literature and Olga Psychology. They said they like to shop second-hand clothes from bazaars. Olga said she likes earrings and the ones she was wearing were made by Aspasia. They are influenced by music, they listen to alternative music, Aspasia added post punk and new wave. We asked them about their haircuts and said they do them themselves.

@ Exarcheia square.

Romina is Italian and lives now in Greece because she’s studying at the Italian Educational Center of Athens. She is 20 years old and likes fashion, but wouldn’t spend much money on clothes if she can’t afford it. The clothes she was wearing that day were from London. She makes accessories herself, such as the earrings she’s wearing in the photo.

@ Syntagma square.

Christina is 21 and studies Theater in the port-city of Patra. She likes fashion and usually prefers going out wearing jeans, high heel shoes and shirts. She doesn’t like to provoke with her clothes but enjoys dressing in a feminine way. She likes to wear make up and accessorizes with earrings, faux bijoux, and an expensive watch on her left wrist. She shops from chain-stores like Bershka, Stradivarius and she would spend more money on buying shoes and a watch.

Note about Sintagma Square: it’s the starting point for Ermou st, the most popular downtown shopping avenue, with boutiques, big stores and chain-stores like Zara, Bershka etc