Horizon

The restless waves of the blue Aegean Sea hug the shore and linger as a rippled mirror reflecting the picturesque mountain villages of Greece. As pristine and stark white as they are, domed by royal blue roofs, one wonders how this color combination came to be. The Greek flag in blue and white would almost suggest it comes from a profound spirit of patriotism, the true reason is a lot more practical though. The Cycladic Island of Santorini surrounds the caldera, with the plentiful amount of volcanic stone found to be the perfect insulator to build houses from. The dark color of the stone however, absorbed the heat and made it unbearably hot to even sit inside. Painting them white reflects the intense sunlight, leaving us with a magical landscape of chalky white houses between the hills. The inexpensive and ample available “loulaki” paint was used for the domes and would react with the limestone plaster in such a way that it turned out blue.

Alas, the story behind the idyllic white mountain villages has everything to with the calescent Greek sun. The same flaming aubade that urges us to dress light while we dance allover these white and blue rooftops, embracing the traditional go-to style in white linen to stay cool in hot temperatures. Reaching for each other’s hand while sitting down to glance into the horizon, a Greek goddess-like linen maxi dress with traditional embroideries for her is flanked by denim shorts and a breezy white linen shirt for him. Sungazing until the night falls over all the white.