Cinque or is it Fünf?

How can you not like Europe? Even after a disappointing shopping experience in Milan, I was pleasantly surprised with Karlsruhe's shopping possibilities. I had gone to Milan with the hopes of buying a nice Italian suit, but "only" came away with a slick pair of "fatte a mano," hand-made, shoes from Firenze (go figure!), a belt and a pair of Sisley slacks. Unlike Rome, Florence and Paris for that matter, Milan simply didn't offer the same type or number of small boutiques.

Back to Karlsruhe. The city offers a number of small boutiques, a couple of large, stand-alone department stores and a mall. Since I picked up a couple of items in Paris, I needed to buy a small carry-on sized suitcase. I never made it to the luggage store in the mall since I got caught at Peek & Cloppenburg. I tried on several suits and came close to buying a sleek, grey Hugo Boss. Just when I was ready to leave the store, the sales rep informed me that there were more suits on the top floor of the store.

I figured they would have a couple other varieties, but once I got there I was blown away with the vast number of suits available. The first sales rep, although she was cute, couldn't really speak English. So she passed me to her co-worker, Patrick, who turned out to be an extremely knowledgeable salesman, despite how young he was. I told him what I was looking for a slim-fitting suit in either a European 46 or 48 (a US 36 or 38). After having tried on about 10 different styles and brands, I selected 3 that I liked best - 2 Hugo Boss suits and 1 German designer suit with a brand name of "Cinque" (5 in Italian).

I ended up liking the "Cinque" suit the best. It's a solid black, slim fit suite sized 48. It features English vents, low-rise pants and a very slim silhouette. Since the store closed at 8, I didn't have time to go back to grab a skinny Joop tie. Joop is the last name of German designer, Wolfgang Joop, and his stuff is hot! I can't wait to find a place in NY that carries his stuff. I had previously known about his cologne, but never knew he carried such great suits.

Getting back to Cinque, here's a blurb I found online:

"Around 20 years ago two men got together with the aim of leading the rather dull world of German fashion down a new path. They were no longer ready to accept the German view that shellsuits constituted "leisure clothing" and that "business clothing" should be ripped off a soon as you return from the office - even if such views were understandable, given what was on offer. It was now time to look towards Italy for inspiration - and thus Cinque was born.

Cinque fashion provides material evidence that those apparent opposites in the Italian character, passion and coolness, are in fact close allies. Despite a passion for detailed finesse, there's no question of a Cinque collection ever stretching good fashion taste. Be it ladies‚ or men's off-the-peg clothing, leisure or business outfits, or accessories - the aesthetic of cool always takes pre-cedence. Nothing is too perfect, nothing too slick.

Mercedes stands for safety, Marlboro for cowboys. Yet few fashion labels have succeeded in penetrating the public conscious with a clearly defined brand image. The image Cinque wishes to evoke is the world of Italy. After all, what is Cinque if not the embodiment of Italian style? Inner passion and high emotion, forever with a smart appearance and cool air. Unaffected fashion creations which substantiate Cinque's claim to be the emissary of these Italian ideals."