My earliest memory of The World Cup was driving down Dufferin with my parents after Italy won the semi-final in 1994. A Pane Vittoria bakery truck pulled up beside us with men hanging out the back, passing loaves of bread to the Italy fans making their way down to St. Clair Ave. My mom stuck half her body out the window in an attempt to gets hers and we drove for a good block, tethered to the truck by a loaf of bread, my mom hanging on for dear life not unlike the creation painting.
My second memory of The World Cup was from that same year when Roberto Baggio missed the penalty kick. I went out to our veranda and cried until I had no more tears left. It was my first experience of the emotional release that only soccer can induce.
The next time I felt a similar release was when Italy made it to the final in 2006. I turned to my best friend who sat beside me, holding my hand, and said: “If Grosso gets this in, we won the World Cup.” And just like that, I realized the magnitude of winning. When he scored the goal, I sobbed again, this time tears of joy. I would imagine winning the lottery feels more or less the same. Soccer may ever be better.
This year I’m too old to fly down to St. Clair, hang out the sunroof of a Yukon XL (true story) waving the bandiera italiana and screaming AZZURRIIIIII. Instead, I’m showing my support for the Italian soccer team through fashion. Surprise, surprise. I absolutely adore the Forever 21 Soccer Collection t-shirts (they’ve got hats, headbands, dresses, tanks and jerseys, too) because they are done in the style of the 1982 paraphernalia (trust me, my parents have a few old Italia t-shirts from those days). When Italy won in ’82 a spontaneous party broke out on St. Clair Ave, forcing the police to shut down the street as thousands of Italo-Canadian immigrants went HAM for the motherland. This tradition continues today, and I cannot wait to cheer on my team wearing the Forever 21 Italia t-shirt.
I styled the t-shirt with Diesel JoggJeans and my DIY Lacoste sneakers that I, uh, did myself. I love how sporty this look is while still being chic. The midriff exposure helps. You will certainly see many a ginas wearing their blue jerseys tied under the bust exposing fake-tanned tummies and bellybutton rings. NB: That look is not commensurate. So, please, crop with caution.
Photography by Alexander Liang.
