The Ladybug and the long hunt for a vintage smoking jacket

A few years ago I decided that I wanted a vintage man smoking jacket: I couldn’t stop thinking of the many outfits that I could create with it, even easy ones, and I believe that this is a collector piece that would stay forever in the wardrobe.

I started then a long hunt for my perfect smoking jacket knowing that they are very hard to find mostly for two reasons:  1. As I said last time I’m not really a fan of oversize jackets then I would have needed to find a small men size (very rare!); 2. Not many sellers deal with this type of jackets as they are not easy to sell.

As many of my vintage hunts it lasted a few years and it ended with the help of Ilaria from Madame Ilary who found this perfect olive green piece for me: it’s just amazing! The shape, the color, the size, I think it was really made for me! The long wait for the perfect piece was over but I can say that this piece was really worth the wait!

This is a very important lesson for those who want to buy vintage and want to do it sustainably: don’t rush on the first piece you find thinking that you cannot find better. You’ll always will. Trust vintage and you’ll see that the perfect piece for you is just around the corner. Maybe it could take some time (sometimes even years) but don’t be in the rush, it will appear sooner or later!

I immediately wore my new vintage smoking jacket with a simple black organic cotton shirt, a pair of vintage Levi’s jeans  and a pair of aqua ankle boots from Ouigal.

Last important touch: a vintage hairdo realized by the amazing Kitty Vintage Style and a precious comb created by Madame Ilary.

What do you think of my first outfit with this fantastic piece? Easy peasy!

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The Ladybug on vintage pride and prejudice

It has been almost 30 years that I buy vintage and I start having a sort of attitude like: “I know what it’s good for me so leave me alone when I do my vintage shopping”. This is not a very good attitude for a vintage shopper: the fact that we have clear vision on what we like and what we are looking for dors not mean that we can underestimate the surprising power of vintage!

I am wearing here the vintage suede jacket that started my thoughts and considerations on how vintage can still surprise me, as well as the eye of a vintage seller who convinced me to try it even if I did not want to (“It’s not my style” – I said – “I don’t like the color either!”). The good part of it is that the vintage seller was Tiziana from Vintage Afropicks and I have such a consideration and estimation of her work that I always give it a try when I see that she is insisting on something!

And I must confess that she was totally right: not only this jacket was amazing and fitted perfectly but I also loved the style and eventually thought that the color was great on me!! Unbelievable!!

When I left the shop I thought that I should never say no to a vintage try, even if I’m not convinced at first, because I’ve got my best pieces exactly like that, when I didn’t expect them!

For this shooting during a warm end of October day in Milan I wore this beautiful jacket from Vintage Afrocpicks with a handmade green pussycat bow shirt from Madame Ilary and my favorite black trousers from Rouje.

The bag is an old L’Autre Chose piece found during a sample sale, the shoes are vintage from Damsels in Distress. Ginkgo earrings are handmade from the amazing Made in Camper.

You can find women cheap shoes here

The Ladybug on the joy of knitting

When I was a kid we used to spend part of our summer holidays at the countryside, at my mum’s home village. I particularly loved those weeks spent in the nature for many reasons: I could spend a lot of time in the country with my dad eating fruits from the trees or drinking pure water from a lemon leaf; I could pick fruits, play with dogs and cats, ride my bike, wear my granny’s clothes and…learn a lot works. I used to spend a couple of hours per day with an old lady of the village who thought me to crochet, to embroider, to tat and my granny also thought me how to knit (she was so good that sometimes when we had no needles she did it with my colored pencils!).

When I grew older I slowly stopped loving my holidays at the countryside as I preferred to spend time at the beach with my friends and with time I lost all of the good things that I learned in the village.

I feel so bad if I think about it now: you cannot imagine how much I wanted to restart at least crocheting and knitting but I thought that it was too late and I was too old to get back at it. Well, I was wrong.

During a very intense moment at work, I understood that I needed some side activity to relax. Knitting was the first idea that came to my mind: I desperately looked for knitting classes in Milan but I couldn’t find what I was looking for, until I saw an ad on Instagram. It was from We are knitters. They promised to make you learn with their tutorials and that you could start from beginners’ pieces to practice your skills. I wasn’t convinced that it could be that easy! I asked them if I really could start from scratch, telling them that I have never knitted in my life. They answered: Sure, no problem!

It’s only when I had an impartial review from a friend of mine that I decided to give it a try: not only it was true but I loved it!! I spent all my afternoons watching tutorials and quickly learning the basic stitches and in a couple of weeks I finished my first paired cinnamon snood and headband (those that I am wearing in these pictures). I then made another headband for my mum and a maxi mustard scarf. Now I want to start also crocheting!

The benefits are multiple: not only I can make myself clothes (which I find extremely sustainable and satisfying!) and make them for the people I love, I can also relax and leave all my problems and stress outside when I start knitting. The fact is that you must be so focused that you automatically stop thinking of other business. Isn’t it amazing? You also have the gratifying feeling of learning something and of creating a piece from your own hands, which is really amazing!

While I keep practicing my knitting skills and starting my crocheting ones, let me show you how I paired my creations for a Sunday at the vintage market with my friends: a wonderful navy vintage coat from Je m’en fous vintage, a pair of old Zara brown trousers, a pair of vintage cowboy boots from the French brand Sartore found on Vestiaire Collective, a vintage cross-body bag from Live in Vintage and my vintage and handmade rings!

As a detail for my snood, I added a beautiful handmade butterfly brooch, a present from Giorgia, owner of Je m’en fous vintage, created from vintage Japanese fabrics. Isn’t too cute on the snood?

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The Ladybug takes on the Balaclava in April – but is there really a season to talk about it?

How come that we talk about balaclavas in April?

Well, considering that it was freaking cold again until a few days ago even if we are in spring, this could be a good reason but the real question is: how can we not talk about it, whatever the season is, as it has been for a while one of the most trendy accessories in the streets and on the catwalks?

You know that I am not a trendy one: personally I love it as it is the perfect solution for my cervical pains and it often saves my life in winter in Milan, but I find its story very interesting not to tell it (even if not the happiest one).

This accessory is “invented” and used for the first time by the English troops in the battle of Balaclava in Crimea, during the homonymous war in 1854 to protect from the icy cold of the region.

Virgil Abloh was one of the firsts to promote its come back on the catwalks and in the street style a few seasons ago and since then it has become THE accessory.

Last winter we saw every brand proposing their own version (or copying someone’s else version!) from fashion big names to high street fashion.

Personally I went for an handmade version from Le Nereidi (they called it Balalupo), in this beautiful marsala shade that was perfectly matching the blossoms of Parco Ravizza in Milan. I matched it with a total vintage outfit: 1) amazing navy vintage coat from Je m’en fous vintage; 2) adorable 80s tan boots from London Corner vintage; 3) lovely tan vintage bag from Live in Vintage; 4) super cute colored vintage brooch from a lovely seller’s granny at Remira Market in Milan.

I am so in love with this outfit, do you also like it as I do?

Photo Credit: Milena Molinari

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The Ladybug can get married or go to the grocery store with almost the same outfit!

Question of the day: are there clothes made only for certain occasions? We often call them with the name of the right occasion to wear them: bridal dress, cocktail dress, prom dress etc. but shall we really stick to these labels?

I personally don’t think so: I am the queen of mix and match, wear it as you feel it, and I love playing with fashion along with my mood and I want to have fun when I get dressed; I also want to respect my personality and I feel really sad when I am given a dress code or a suitable event for what I am wearing.

For this reason I often buy pieces that can easily be worn in different occasions and accessorized in different ways, dressed up or dressed down, depending on your mood, on how you feel or what you want to express.

The Sartorial Vintage Jacket (an amazing upcycled piece created by Madame Ilary with Le Fie Studio starting from vintage blazers) is a great example of what I mean. One day I saw this wonderful white piece at Madame Ilary showroom: a very rare vintage white smoking blazer with fantastic silk puff sleeves and flower. I immediately said “I could get married with it!”.  And I definitely would. But at that exact moment I didn’t have to get married and I just needed to go to the grocery store for my weekly food shopping, and I wore it like that: with a pair of grey vintage Levi’s, an handmade viscose pussybow shirt from Madame Ilary (as well as the lurex turban) and a pair of second hand Ash sneakers.

Basically I realized that with the same jacket I could get married (with a white silk slip dress for example!) or go to the grocery store with the exact outfit that I was wearing that day!

Isn’t it amazing?

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The Ladybug on how to wear a vintage hairnet every day

The hairnet is one of these accessories that screams vintage from everywhere!

What I mean is that it is an accessory that was consistently popular in the years prior to World War I, but their sales plummeted after the war when more women began to style their hair in a bob.

Since then its use became really rare and generally limited to those people who love to recreate a perfect repro of the 40s and 50s style. It is very hard to find them vintage and most of those that you can find nowadays are mostly handmade from vintage 40s fashion lovers who aim at recreating this amazing hairstyle, possibly with victory rolls!

But can we wear it outside of this context and make it a modern piece for our daily hairstyle?

The answer is yes!

And I think that it is sufficient to have a lovely 40s style worn with modern clothes, even a pair of jeans as one of the best options.

When I had my perfect hairnet vintage hairstyle done by the amazing Ketty (one of the best vintage make-up artists and hairstylist that I have ever met) during a special event at Madame Ilary showroom I decided to wear it with my vintage denims, Ouigal aqua ankle boots and an amazing handmade Victorian brocade coat from Madame Ilary.

I think that the total outfit was quite nicely balanced mixing old styles and modern pieces in a lovely way, don’t you agree?

Btw, my teal hairnet is not vintage unfortunately (I’ve never found a vintage one!) but it is a lovely reproduction that I found on Etsy longtime ago and that I still cherish a lot.

To be honest I was also thinking that once I will feel comfortable again with crocheting I could make some for me and for my friends, isn’t it a cool idea?

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The Ladybug, a Rolls Royce and some mustard sauce

Strange title there, isn’t it?

Well let’s try to analyse it: why a Rolls Royce? Rolls Royce is the English name for one of the most famous wax patterns, the hibiscus one, also known in French as Fleurs de Mariage (wedding flowers). Even if the names are completely different the meaning of this “pagne” is exactly the same: it represents happiness within a couple and it is known for being considered as a good luck gift, bringing success and abundance to those who wear it (possibly the reason why it is called Rolls Royce!). It is a very popular pattern but also a traditional one, for this reason I truly believe that every real wax lover should have at least one piece in Fleurs de Mariage! I have to say that I have more than one, even in different colours, but this classical red/white pattern is definitely the one that I prefer. For this reason I asked Magali from Atelier Habibi to create one of her lovely Mahotella skirts in this pattern for me; and I wear it all the time (even in winter although these pictures are taken in Cagliari last September) and it is one of my “wax it-pieces”

And why mustard sauce? Mustard is the exact color of this adorable vintage shirt coming from a deadstock that I found on Vinted some time ago: peter pan collar, lovely embroidery on the front and fantastic puff sleeves: how could I resist?

Mixing vintage and handmade wax pieces is my favorite activity but I added a couple of very special pieces here that made the whole package super fun:

• First of all this handmade canvas bag with a very interesting quote in Sardinian language (it translates with something like F*ck plastic!) that I found at Recyclerie in Cagliari and that made laugh everyone in town (they all asked if I knew what it meant!!)
• My favorite clogs from Lotta from Stockholm (love this brand when it comes to clogs!)

Less fun but still beautiful my cross-body Cartier vintage bag from Grey Vintage Shop.

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The Ladybug has a few ideas on how to wear a vintage white caftan

Last week we discussed about vintage caftans and I tried to show you how easy it is to incorporate them in your daily outfits all the time, without considering them just as beachwear.

So I decided to keep offering ideas on how to wear this beautiful piece, mixed with other vintage (or not) pieces and I started from a beautiful yet simple vintage white embroidered caftan that I bought from Roses & Vintage last summer. I have to say that Silvia often has this type of vintage finds and I regularly follow her Instagram stories to spot caftans and boho tunics!

This is my first white caftan: probably a Moroccan piece in soft and fresh cotton, short sleeved, with a lovely embroidery around the neck. It was the perfect simple piece with an ethnic twist that I was looking for!

I tried then two different outfits to show how easy it is to wear it in town:

• Outfit 1. I paired the vintage caftan with a statement vintage piece that I deeply love: the silk Chinese tunic that I found from ND Second during a vintage fair in Milan. Superb vintage piece, in the softest silk ever, great colors and embroideries, I almost died when I saw it. I love how this two pieces match, basically because the caftan is very simple and it can easily complement such a stunning piece!
• Outfit 2. Completely different mood, I paired the vintage caftan with a wonderful handmade piece from Madame Ilary. A Japanese inspired green and silver fabric for this short sleeved cape-coat that is such a beauty! I couldn’t help adding a vintage lady touch with the 40s inspired black turban (also from Madame Ilary).

Common pieces for both outfits: the vintage 80s earrings from Live In Vintage in Milan, the white sequined flats from Colors of California, the amazing henna work of Laura Mehndi on my hands!

Now I want to ask you again: do you really believe that caftans are for covering swimsuits at the beach?!

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The Ladybug travels to Spain but staying in Sicily: plunging into the colors of Borgo Parrini

During our last lockdown, while scrolling on my Instagram feed I saw a picture that took my attention: colored yellow, white and blue houses that looked like Spanish or Tunisian. I liked at the point that I checked the geotag to understand where this lovely place was placed and, big surprise! It was located in Sicily!!

I couldn’t believe my eyes and I immediately googled the place: Borgo Parrini, between Palermo and Trapani, that was a real revelation for me! I added in my “Places to visit” list and I had the chance to go there a few months later, during my summer holidays.

But first, let me tell you more about this place: this small village near Partinico (also called the secret Barcelona) was founded in the XVII century by the Jesuits but it is now an almost abandoned village where only around 20 people still live. One of them was the entrepreneur Giuseppe Gaglio who, with the help of some other citizens decided to initiate a restoration of the abandoned houses to re-give life to his beloved village. He called Sicilian artists to recreate a Barcelona/Gaudi inspired village with mosaics, majolica and colored glass, bright facades and an explosion of colorful flowering plants.

The project started in the late 1990s and it took almost 25 years.

The life of the “Borgo” immediately changed since loads of tourists from all over the world started visiting this renovated village, pretty much loved for its colors and dreamy atmosphere.

It is more and more usual nowadays to use some “marketing ideas” to bring back to life many of the abandoned Italian villages and I must say that I think it is a great idea to restore our architectural and historical heritage and to give them a new life. And if this means also giving them a new life in terms of economy by bringing tourists and give space to more entrepreneurs, why not? Today in Borgo Parrini you can find a few pizzerias and a couple of bars and shops which was absolutely unthinkable a few decades earlier.

You can reach the village by car and it takes about an hour to visit (you can also enter the renovated houses for a few euros) and you can have a quick lunch/dinner and even enjoy the pomegranate “granita” handmade by a lovely resident who sells it on the main street leading to the center of the village!

It is better to go during the day to enjoy the bright colors and to take very nice pictures, but it seems that it is very suggestive also at night, coming back from a day at the beach or even in Christmas with its lovely decorations and a living nativity scene.

You can have an idea of how it looks like from my pictures but believe me, you’ll love it in real life!

I wore a vintage caftan found at Vinokilo in Milan with handmade turban (Mara Seyeyaram), a neoprene bag (Geometric Bag) and a pair of sequined flat sandals from Colors of California. Also, the lovely turban earrings come from Kano Sartoria Sociale in Sicily.

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The Ladybug Vanity dress: wearing peacock wax for your birthday

Peacocks are legendarily famous as vain animals: they love showing off their beauty! Wearing a peacock print has a very similar effect on those who wear it, have you noticed?

I am a huge fan of this print, possibly because I am vain too but I think that it actually depends on my love for the two colors together (patrol green and purple).

When I found this beautiful rare peacock wax print on Etsy I didn’t think twice: I got to have it! I immediately ordered 3 yards not knowing yet what to do with it! I have to say that it is very rare to find the peacock print in this color: usually they are in blue or pink (I have a few yards like that) but this…a real gem!

When I received from Nigeria I was the happiest girl in the world and I knew immediately what to do with it: a simple yet beautiful dress.

And there was only one person to make it exactly the way I wanted it to be: Madame Ilary!

We went for a long egg dress, round collar and short sleeves, without any cut just to show how beautiful this print could be! When it was ready I immediately fell for it and I decided to celebrate my own birthday with this dress as a sort of self-dedication! Yes, vain that I am!!

I wore it simple with sequined flat sandals (those in which I lived all summer!) and handmade headwrap (from Madame Ilary again). I added my favorite vintage Cartier bag from Grey Vintage Shop and a pair of handmade octopus statement earrings from a Neapolitan artist also found in Madame Ilary shop in Milan.

What do you think of my birthday outfit? Did I reach the “self-celebration through outfit” goal?

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