I arrived in Ostuni at one in the afternoon and the streets were empty. Then one woman crossed the piazza, looking entirely comfortable.
The dress code is painted on the buildings
Ostuni's houses have been lime-washed since the fifteenth century. The white throws the sun off the walls and keeps the rooms beneath it cool.
Not white as a mood. White as engineering.
Walk through Ostuni or Locorotondo this month and you notice the colors before any garment: chalk, bone, oat, sand, unbleached everything.
Nobody dresses for two o'clock
Puglia halts outdoor work through the hottest hours on high-risk days. The day has two halves, and the wardrobe is built for the second one.
One piece, nothing tight, broken-in sandals
A dress or a long skirt cut wide, belted at the smallest point and left alone below. Plus an open-weave basket bag that lets the air through.
Pick one piece and stop negotiating
Something you can put on without thinking, in the color of a wall in Ostuni, and give yourself the rest of the month off.