The Ladybug and the happy floral dress

Did I tell you that vintage makes me happy? I guess I did but sometimes I am still surprised of how a vintage piece can make me smile and make me feel so good and in peace with myself!

I took these pictures the very first time that I wore this vintage dress: it is a beautiful vintage wrap dress that I bought on Depop from Clementine Vintage (one of the loveliest sellers on the app) because I loved its warm autumn colours. When I received it I was super happy because it was even better than in pictures and I loved the fit on me, I tried it with a big brown belt (the same that I am wearing here, from Mango) and I looked at myself in the mirror with a huge smile…I think it was the same that I have pictured here!

In time I understood that the happiness that I feel when I wear vintage comes from the fact that I feel so true to myself; I can feel the energy and the power of this piece on me, I feel beautiful for my eyes because I don’t care about the others, about how they feel about my style. I mainly dress for myself, with the aim of getting to that feeling of peace and joy in my own clothes, I don’t dress to look thinner or taller…just to feel happy! Can you relate to this? I am curious to hear about that because sometimes I have the feeling that many people dress to impress others, not to accomplish their own self and personality.

I paired the dress with Strategia military green suede ankle boots and Metalica Creazioni brass earrings. Rings are from Francesco Tramontano and vintage.

The Ladybug has a new vintage 80s shirt

In my last post I showed you one of my new 80s vintage shirts that I bought from Maison Retro on Depop, today I show you the second one (there are a few more!).  I met Federica for the first time on Facebook and I still remember that my first purchase from her was a wool vintage plaid culottes that I adore. She was such a nice and helpful seller and I loved the skirt so much that I kept buying from her and I am now quite obsessed with her vintage pieces. Her style is strongly in line with mine and almost every new vintage piece on her shop is in my wish list!

When I bought my mustard shirt I also got this 80s purple long shirt, with a beautiful collar (sort of Korean one) and a stunning print. It is so 80s and I loved the shape so much that I couldn’t hide it and tuck it into a bottom, so I decided to wear it free and in all its beauty!

To leave the attention on it I just paired it with a pair of jeans from Mango (from an old collection) and my thrifted Golden Goose ankle Texan boots.

As every time that I wear a 80s piece I always add a pair of earrings of the same era (I love the big statement earrings of that decade!): this time I went for this big vintage golden clip hoop earrings that I bought many years ago from a vintage seller at the” Valeggio Veste il Vintage” event, after a long search of a pair exactly like these!

Rings: Indian vintage, Berber vintage and brass (cowrie + fertility doll) from Afrohemien. 

Click here for a similar women pant!

The Ladybug and a secret passion for vintage overalls

When I announced that I wanted to buy a vintage blue overall, you know this type of men workwear that is used by people working in the garages (mostly mechanics) my friends stared at me as if I was announcing that I was pregnant! “What the hell are you going to do with that?” – they asked.

Well, just wear them; my style of course!

I was tempted to buy one in Japan where they are very trendy not only in the vintage shops but also new and in lovely colors (like baby blue or pink) but I was at the end of my trip and I already had two full suitcases to bring home, so I decided to wait a bit until I found my vintage perfect overall.

This happened not longtime ago on Depop where I found out that Tiziana, the owner of the beautiful shop Vintage Afro Picks has the same passion for overalls. She had a few in her shop (including a couple of new ones that she brought from Japan!) and my perfect one was just there, waiting for me: dark blue, with a long front zip, oversize and…discounted!!  I was a bit worried about the size because even if I got the measurements I wasn’t sure how it would fit but when I received it I was super happy because it was just perfect!!

Here I am wearing it with a vintage inspired Mango denim jacket, handmade denim-like headband from Madame Ilary, vintage 70s bag from Lady Fusetti and baby blue New Balance sneakers.

Silver earrings are vintage from my grandma, silver rings are vintage Berber pieces that I found in Marrakech during my last trip.

What do you think of my vintage blue overall style? Yay or nay?

The Ladybug on Depop and vintage finds

It has been about a year now since I started using new platforms to sell my vintage and second hand finds other than Ebay. I have been an Ebay seller for many years but I needed something different, with different rules and lower fees. I was studying Depop and Vintag and I realized that they were interesting options with better prices and less stress than Ebay.

I started my Vintag shop only for vintage pieces and my Depop account to sell almost everything, from vintage to second hand. On both platforms I buy and sell and I have a few favorite sellers. One of them on Depop is Tiziana from Vintage Afropicks that I also met a couple of times in Milan at the East Market. She has very interesting vintage pieces because they are often rare and honestly priced. The only problem is that many of them are sold super quickly (or are too small for me!).

This time I was lucky enough to find this vintage dark red cape and to buy it before anyone else did! This loden cape is super warm and I found out that it is also perfect when you wear large blazers or sweaters!

Today I wore it with Zara prince of  Wales culottes and black turtleneck sweater and paired it with black laced ankle boots from Ouigal and handmade Coco headwrap from Madame Ilary.

I added to this cape a vintage Nina Simone brooch (that’s how they called it!) that I bought at the Lipscani Antiques fair in Bucharest a few months ago. Brass earrings are handmade from Metalica Creazioni.

If you are curious about my Ebay, Depop and Vintag online shops just look for theladybugchronicles as a user on each of them!

The Ladybug and a her new love for 80s vintage short-sleeved blazers!

Short-sleeved blazers are so vintage that they never came back on trend after their best moment in the 80s and beginning of the 90s! This means that if you want to find a short sleeved blazer the only way to go for it is finding it in a thrift store or vintage shop.

I haven’t thought about them for a while after my 90s period, but when I saw them at Humana Vintage in Milan I couldn’t resist them: they were colored, with padded shoulders, long with jeweled buttons! I got two (a green one and a red one) as they were in a special summer promotion at 5 euros each!

As usual, one of my friend asked how can you style them? Well, in many ways I answered!

I decided to start with a dressed down outfit, perfect for an end of summer Sunday morning in Milan, with my vintage green piece that I mixed with Dixie black culottes and 90s inspired huge sneakers from Dixie. I decided to make it a bit more feminine by adding a tiny black belt to give more focus on the waist, that I bought in Osaka during my last summer Japan trip.

I added another vintage piece with my adored hooked vintage bag from Vintage Studium on Depop (I told you about it in my last post!) a retro inspired cactus brooch from Erstwilder (remember, my favorite Australian brooches with a retro twist!) and vintage golden loop earrings found on Depop.

What do you think? Can you go for this vintage trend right now?

The Ladybug’s best vintage find in Milan: the Après-Coup bistrot

I still remember when a friend of mine sent me a link on my phone to a post from a Milanese blog announcing the opening of a new “vintage” bistrot in town called Après-coup in the Porta Romana area. It took me a while before I could finally go there for a Saturday lunch with my friends but calling this place just a vintage bistrot is very limiting.

Après-coup is a (delicious) restaurant and (innovative) cocktail bar, a theatre, an art gallery, a place where you can really enjoy the good things of life with your friends but also learn something and appreciate the wonderful vintage décor dating from the past century in a venue that feels more like a beautiful home than a restaurant or a bar. It has a very intimate twist that it is difficult to find anywhere else in Milan.

Food and drinks are amazing and pricing is very fair. Incredibly welcoming and qualified staff, very friendly and helpful, it is already one of my favorite places in town!

I took a couple of pictures to show you the place, but its perfect position, the lovely space outside in front of the Teatro della Contraddizione makes it perfect for a dinner/cocktail/theatre night out!

For the Saturday lunch at Après-coup I wore a vintage polka dot top from Humana Vintage mixed with Dixie black culottes and Mango black leather jacket. I also mixed handmade (with a beautiful turban from Madame Ilary and brass earrings from Metalica), vintage (with the beautiful hooked bag from Vintage Studium that I found on Ebay after years of hunting for that specific type of bag!) and modern (with my new Vans white sneakers found in Tokyo last summer, with the French colors, just like my vintage top!).

 

 

The Ladybug and the story of a vintage Nina Ricci shirt

One of my favorite recycling rules is re-selling what I don’t use anymore: it is a great idea to make room for new pieces in your wardrobe and to put together some money for travels or new fashion and vintage addictions!

I have always used Ebay as a platform to sell my wardrobe but in the last few months I got addicted to more mobile apps for my fashion recycling: Vintag,  (that I have already introduced you to some time ago and where I set-up my personal vintage shop,!) and Depop where I started selling and buying quite a lot lately.

My first buy ever on Depop was this amazing vintage 70s Nina Ricci shirt from the wonderful seller Erre Moscia Blog: I totally fell in love with this vintage piece but as it was my first time on Depop I was a bit afraid. The transaction was super smooth and when I received the shirt I was fainting for how great it looked for real!

I took these pictures the first time that I wore it, with a velvet Massimo Dutti blazer and flare jeans to complete the 70s look even if the earrings, bought during an Antiques fair in Sorrento many years ago, are from the 80s.