Old World Budapest--Hungary for Style : Glamour-Conscious Youth Dominate the Setting on the City’s Central Street

A sunny spring day on the Vaci Utca, Budapest’s central shopping and walking street, brings out both the young and the old for a stroll along this updated cobblestone strip.

Looking good in this setting is of paramount importance, and the younger generation matches the high style of their Western counterparts, mini for mini and leather jacket for studded leather jacket.

There is plenty of chic attitude coming from the eyes of the young, glamour-conscious girls wearing thick, black eye-liner this spring.

This grand sense of caring about what they wear is a reassuring sign that style has not been lost during the 40 years of oppression.

The youth of Hungary, at least in this setting, maintain the city’s Old World tradition of glamour and drama.

Ice cream vendors and post-card sellers dot the route as do entrepreneurial peasants selling country wares such as embroidered blouses and hand-painted ceramics, giving the endless stream of dawdling pedestrians the perfect chance to pause and be seen.

The art of looking, a traditional European and very typically Hungarian pastime, blends harmonically with the backdrop of turn-of-the-century decorative architecture, outdoor cafes and stoic sculptures.