Karen Smith writes articles for Rome Shopping Guide. The author gives valuable information about Rome Day Tours, Rome Excursions, Rome Shopping Tours, Shore excursions from Civitavecchia to Rome and Wine Tasting Tours in the Tuscan wine area which are available at http://www.romeshoppinguide.com
Good morning Stefania, please tell us about yourself. Are you originally from Rome?
Good morning Karen. I am extremely keen on sharing the love I feel for Rome, my city and my fondness for shopping in this amazing city with your readers.
My family is from Rome and we have been living in the Eternal City for as long as any member of the family can remember and I am very proud of that.
Rome is the largest open air museum in the world and as a local I love sharing it with visitors who come from all over the world. My philosophy is to provide my guests with the finest vacation in Rome, backed up by my personal friendly service.?
What makes Rome such a popular shopping city?
Shopping in Rome is a marriage in paradise. You have the most famous and desirable designer shops all nestled in a colorful and unforgettable urban landscape made of small alleys, old patrician palaces and unique squares designed by the genius artists Italy is famous for.
In some cities you shop between districts, in Rome you shop between centuries.
Beside Rome is not only for the glitterati who like to splash out on the latest must-have bag. On the contrary the Eternal City has plenty to offer for all tastes and wallets, from chic boutiques to small ateliers and artisan shops that you can only find by taking your time walking the ancient walks of Rome.
Actually the best of the Made in Italy with its sartorial touch can be found here and if you knew whom to ask for you can even find the Pope's tailor in downtown Rome!
When did you begin your business as a personal shopper?
About six years ago, during one of my frequent business trips to London, I decided to maximize my shopping time hiring a personal shopper. The result was excellent because of the great value of the assistance I got and because I realized that I took a service that I used to give to my friends when they came to visit me in Rome. I suddenly realized that this creative job could have been a great challenge for me since, in 2003, almost nobody knew of this profession in Italy.
I asked my friends about my idea of sharing my expertise for styling and fashion together with my passion of Rome with guests and they encouraged me to "launch myself" setting up a "shopping friendly" website and that's how http://www.romeshoppinguide.com was born! Since then word of mouth has been my best advertising.
I am extremely happy with this decision since it gave me the opportunity to get in touch with people from different places and cultures. These encounters often turns into friendship and give us the possibility to exchange views on the latest fashion trends from NY or Mumbai to Shanghai and Paris and it is really fascinating.
What are your most popular tours or types of shopping requests?
My clientele, both male and female, when they come to Rome for pleasure or business, are interested in having access to the "unknown Rome".
Actually what I enjoy most is taking them beyond the street level retail shops sharing "my shopping secrets" with guests curious to experience Rome in a no tourist way.
Just to give you an example, since Italy is also famous for leather I have being asked several times by my clients to take them to leather goods shops. I often accompany them to visit skill craftsmen of which there are few left downtown Rome. These are my favorite gems. In these leather shops cum-laboratory guests can purchase and customize their bags, suitcases, jackets, coats, shoes with the kind of leather, seize, color and accessories they prefer.
This kind of shopping trip together with those that target private showrooms and local artisan laboratories are always a successful experience. Italy is actually still a country with an alive artisan heritage and if you would like to have a unique quality piece, this is the place to come to for it!
Then going back to your question, and actually a question I have also been asked often from my clients, there are not popular tours but similar shopping requests as for clothing and shoes of course but also for watches, for customized jewelery, for gourmet food and wine, for pottery and home furniture, for kids clothing and toys and even for pens!
But let me tell you that sometimes I also get bizarre requests such as the one from two ladies who asked me to take them just to the best quality open air food market in town because they wanted to make a dinner surprise for their husbands! We had an amazing time together, they were eager to learn about Italian recipes and so during our shopping food tour I was pleased to share my family secrets with them on how to cook with those fresh ingredients. After few days I was very happy to receive a thank you letter from those ladies. This is just one of the several wonderful memories I got.
Can you provide me with a sample itinerary of two contrasting tours, for example, Piazza Navona and Via Veneto?
My pleasure and specialty is customizing itineraries to the client's objective and make sure that it is unique and unforgettable for them.
The Piazza Navona and the Via Veneto guided shopping tours as proposed in http://www.romeshoppinguide.com are based on my experience and entice most of guests that visit the Eternal City for the first time. But please keep in mind that these itineraries can be tailor made, revised and eventually turn up side down even at the very last second according to the guests requests.
When I receive a shopping or a wine tour enquiry, 99%by e-mail, I ask for as many details as possible so that I can create a personal itinerary based on their particular needs, maximize their precious time and make their trip fun and relaxing. So through this "questionnaire" I plan the tour making sure to book, if necessary, private ateliers, schedule the tour with the "right" shop stops. Sometimes my questions are amplified by a phone call to get even more details and the day I meet up my client/s at their hotel, we reconfirm their personal preferences so that we get the best outcome!
Following your question, the Navona and the Via Veneto guided shopping tours vary for the different kind of shops you can find and for the feeling you get by strolling around.
Shopping through the historical Navona area means going for antique and marble shops, artisans and glass shops, minimalist boutiques, enoteche and gourmet food, breathing the ancient Roman atmosphere on every corner. In this shopping area surrounded by marvelous fountains, noble palaces and ancient ruins, guests get the perfect combination of a shopping and sightseeing Rome tour since, besides leading them to the shops, I point out and explain to them all the treasures around.
The Via Veneto area, well known as the Dolce Vita Street, has many exclusive leather goods, jewelers, gloves and fashion shops that I usually suggest to a sophisticated and more mature clientele.
American clients enjoy also this route because in the Dolce Vita Street they can also appreciate the magnificent 19thcentury Palazzo Margherita beloved to the first Queen of Italy, Margherita di Savoia, which nowadays houses the U.S. Embassy.
You also offer tours to Tuscany & Umbria, as well as factory outlets and food/wine stores. What do these tours encompass?
I love offering my guests different choices of shopping and wine tours as well as promoting my country letting travelers know that Italy is not only confined to Rome, Venice, Florence, Capri etc and that besides the astonishing Tuscan countryside well known around the world, there is also the beautiful Umbria countryside region.
The Umbria area is extremely picturesque and with a wide variety of choices from visiting ancient Castles surrounded by vineyards, where is lovely to stop for a personalized wine tasting; to visiting the pottery and cashmere outlets (the best Italian ceramics and cashmere brand name factories come from this region); from stopping at the chocolate factory (the famous Bacio perugina comes from Perugia!) to visiting the gourmet shops specialized in the famous black truffle.
I mean the list of treasures to discover and things to do is endless and it is definitely worth a visit!
The factory outlet tours are the bargain tours and, in nowadays with this bad economy, finding quality designer goods at 30% to 70% discount on the retail price is wonderful!
Often those outlet tours could be combined with magnificent wine and genuine Italian food tastings, according to the region we are going to.
Can you share some of the current fashion trends in Italy, from clothing to shoes to eyewear?
I gravitate towards unusual, special and unique pieces. I love clothes and accessories that have style and are not related to any specific trend.
In my opinion fashion trends for 2009 would be a lot more towards affordable fashions than big labels. Today's fashion designers need to be extremely creative in order to have a competitive edge in today's growing fashion industry.
Having said that I am saving for a beautiful suitcase that I have recently seen at the last Pitti in Florence. I won't tell you the brand! After all I am Italian and I am a fashion victim by default!!!
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