ITALY - Venice - Florence - Siena ~ 2004, 2005 The Italian Fashion Police .... or "Police with Fashion"

... Police with fashion, that is.

Message From Lee Carroll

I see all kinds of fun things in my travels. In my two times in Italy, I noticed that the police, both male and female, generally look stellar! Then I noticed that there were many kinds of uniforms involved, all of which looked almost tailored and designed very well (It's Italy after all). There was only one exception (below) in Florence by the traffic police on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge... very frumpy costumes. Then they told me why: they were emulations of other police from an unnamed country (I don't want to be politically incorrect here). So enjoy this little photo montage of the various police persons I have photographed... with and without permission, who I felt needed to be on this page. Ah, um... and there are some other non-police outfits that are here too. I just couldn't resist. I was in Italy.

These three photos were taken in Venice at the very famous San Marcos square where Saint Mark's Basilica is located... a very crowded tourist area. Are these police good looking or what? They were photographed without permission, and I was only caught one time (left) where the guy is obviously waving a finger at me and saying. "no no." But I did it anyway. What would they charge me with, "possession of a camera in a tourist area?" ... or did I just catch them talking about soccer? Trivia: (above) Which of the above police men are "in charge?" The one with the silver hat emblem or the one with the gold? And... who didn't get the message of which way the shoulder strap should go? Later I realized that this was correct, since others did the same. I am guessing the guy with the radio is in charge. He's also slightly in front of the other guy, who is following him. He also has a red trimmed belt. Cool, huh?

These three photos were taken in Florence at the very famous Ponte Vecchio tourist shopping area. The above two are the "frumpy" outfits I spoke of earlier. Are they fire or police? Actually, they are traffic, or "municipal police." The guy in yellow is a helper (I'm told), who doesn't get to wear the uniform or carry a gun (traffic cops with guns?). He just gets to wear that delightful yellow thing... fashion right from our last cruise, I think... lifeboat drill as I remember. The guys on the right are like the guys at the top right of this page, only with slightly different uniforms (winter?) The shoulder belts are again worn on different sides, so it must be the "right" way. The guy with the silver emblem is looking me over, deciding if I'm okay or not. I left quickly. How come some of these police don't want their photo taken and others don't mind?

The men and women below didn't mind having their photo taken at all. In fact, they posed for me! Interesting... with or without belts? Some do and some don't. These were in Siena.

Again, taken in Siena, the guys above seen to mean business. They are more like I expected to see - more utility than fashion. But still nice. I like the military leather black belts. The above right photo is very nice. These women were more than happy to let me photograph them. However, are they old enough to carry guns, drive, drink, stay out after 10PM? Guess so.

Back to Venice. (above left) Under cover Police? Naw... but I had to photograph them. (above right) Nuns with backpacks! After I took this photo I realized that everyone around the nuns was picking their noses. Gee what are the odds of that?

Neither of these photos are police either, but nice uniforms, huh? The guys on the left are army. The guys on the right are part of an army band (just in case you thought they were police carrying loaded horns). Check out the feathers in the hats!

Where is Alfred Hitchcock when you need him?