Okay, gather round all you pilgrims, seekers, wanderers and lost souls.
Eat, Pray, Love opens on Friday and many of you will be flocking to movie theaters with your girlfriends, à la Sex and the City, dressed in tunics, sarongs and flip-flops to mark the occasion. And all of you will leave the theater wishing that, like Elizabeth Gilbert, you could just drop out and hit the road for a year, and not come back till your head is screwed on a bit tighter.
Well, if you DO give in to your wanderlust, we’ve sourced a few fashion essentials to take along for the journey. But before we jump in, a few explanatory notes:
First, we are NOT recommending the “official” EPL-approved merchandise being flogged on the Home Shopping Network. Seriously, doesn’t “home shopping” seem like the opposite of an EPL experience? Besides, it’s just wrong to load up on faux-ethnic costumery before you take the first steps on your odyssey.
Second, all of the pieces we highlight fit in with the Eat, Pray, Love Rules of the Road that we wrote about yesterday. Simple, small, light items only.
Finally, there are a lot of great fashion lines out there, but we’ve decided to choose three that we think best represent the culture and spirt of Eat, Pray, Love, its author and its intended audience. This is not fake ethnicwear, although you’ll see a lot of Asian influence in the designs. And it’s all VERY practical.
And by the way, these are NOT strictly lingerie pieces — after all, we’re entitled to a little holiday ourselves!
1. SURDEASIA
Surdeasia is a true fashion hybrid: a travel-inspired pret-a-porter label born in Italy but with its showroom in Buenos Aires. They produce truly magnificent tunics, beach coverups, light dresses and other pieces intended for hot climates. You’ll need to check out their website to find out how to order. (That’s SurdeAsia featured in the photo above).
2. NATORI
The venerable New York label got its start making Asian peasant blouses, and there’s still an abundance of lingerie, loungewear and ready-to-wear items in the extensive Natori catalogue that would serve the EPL wanderer with deeper pockets.
3. FREE PEOPLE
This youth-oriented label is adored by street-wise fashionistas with a touch of hippie sentimentality. Skip the bags, belts, jewellery and shoes and go straight to the awesome line of easy-care tunics, skirts and even bras.