Italians Announce Plans to Ban Miniskirts, Sandcastles and Everything Else Fun

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Gety Images/ Shiva Twin

Getty Images/ Shiva Twin

Who needs SPF 50 when you’re wearing trousers?

Ladies, packing for the Mediterranean sunshine just got a whole lot trickier: one Italian town today announced plans to ban the miniskirt. The Italian seaside city of Castellammare di Stabia is adamant that if they outlaw the mini along with all other revealing clothing they will improve what the mayor calls standards of public decency. Mayor Luigi Bobbio said the regulations would help “restore urban decorum and facilitate better civil co-existence”. Serial mini offenders could face a fine between $35 and $696.

(Learn more about the mini in Where Ideas Come From.)

Following the mini regulations Mayor Bobbio is also pushing proposals to prohibit sunbathing, playing football in public places, and blasphemy because he believes they encourage “rowdy, unruly behavior.” Mayor Bobbio has the blessing of the local parish church, “I think it’s the right decision, It’s also a way of combating the rise in sexual harassment,” said  Don Paulo Cecere, a comment that will undoubtedly raise a few eyebrows in light of recent events.

Castellammare di Stabia is the latest city to incorporate a series of additional powers inherited  from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government, in attempts to fight crime and confront anti social behavior. Other outrageous regulations include kissing in cars, building sandcastles and mowing your lawn at the weekend.

(Fancy more mini, check out TIMES Top 10 Everything 2006.)

Oh dear, NewsFeed can hear the fashion police already.