The Ladybug is an uncomfortable Arab Queen in Milan

One of my best sources for shopping clothing and homeware is traveling. I buy a lot when I am abroad, especially local handcrafted pieces and if possible vintage shopping. I also prepare a sort of tailored “shopping list” depending on the country before leaving and I cherish these pieces that are for me the most tangible memories: prints, jewels, fabrics, rugs, pillows, typical local clothing are on top of my list!

Although I traveled twice this year to an Arab country (Morocco and Jordan) I couldn’t find a good embroidered tunic: most of them were cheap and made for tourists, while I was looking for more authentic ones. Funny thing is that I found what I was looking for in Budapest, in a lovely vintage shop called Jajcica where I bought two vintage Arab tunics, beautifully embroidered and apparently authentic as they both have tags written in Arabic!

One of them is the olive green pictured here that I wore on a Saturday morning in Milan: although I mixed it with modern “more European” pieces I was shocked to realize how people stared at me in the streets or on public transportation. Seriously, is an Arab tunic that scary? What’s strange if I like other cultures’ clothes and traditions and I’m not afraid to wear them? Honestly I really cannot stand when people try to make me feel uncomfortable with their looks when I am just being myself and no one can blame me for that!

Anyway, I matched it with a beautiful handmade turban from Madame Ilary and I made a contrast with my thrifted Golden Goose Texan ankle boots.

I also added brass handmade jewelry from Italian crafters Metalica Creazioni (earrings and ring) and Meraviglioz (dragonfly necklace).

It was also fun to take pictures in front of this tiny wooden door as I realized later that if you see the picture and you don’t know that I am in Milan, you can easily think that I am in the streets of Marrakech!

The Ladybug brainstorming moments with Madame Ilary

This is the easiest blog post ever: everything I wear is handmade with love by Madame Ilary, from head to toe! The embellished black turban, the silky black pants with belt and the amazing green top with silver Chinese decoration and embellished collar.

Almost every weekend I meet Ilaria for lunch and for a brainstorming session in her showroom in Milan: we talk about the ideas that we had during the week and how to make them come true, we share ideas on our jobs, we discuss fashion, fabrics, vintage and travels, we make new project and we take a lot of pictures!

I love to wear her new pieces just to see how they look like on me and sometimes I even buy them like I did for these black trousers that I love and I wear very often because I find them stylish and super comfortable at the same time!

I like the like-minded connection that we have and I love everything she does so I also share our outfits on my social media and blog!

As for my earrings they are handmade with love too but by Metalica Creazioni, from the magical hands of Francesca!

The Ladybug reveals the secret of the “combo” style

Since I know Ilaria from Madame Ilary I’ve been developing a strange addiction for what I call the “combo style”!  The combo style is the combination of a turban or headwrap with a skirt, culottes, trousers or even a dress of the same fabric and pattern. Usually when Ilaria sews something for me she asks: I have more fabric of this, do you want a turban too? And my answer is always yes!

I can wear the two pieces separately and mix them with other styles but I really have a thing for wearing them together! The only thing that you need to pay attention to when combining the patterns this way is to have a “neutral” piece between them, just not to overload your outfit with different pattern and colors.

In this case I used a beautiful vintage linen white shirt from the 70s that I bought at Humana Vintage for a few euros but it is one of my favorite pieces ever. The fabric is wonderful, candid and fresh and I have been dreaming of a shirt like this for ages! Also the little trimming on the top are adorable but you cannot really see them from these pictures.

Regarding the combo, this was the first time that everything started from the turban and not the opposite: I got the turban first and even if I saw the culottes and I loved the golden palms pattern I only got the culottes many months later, when I saw them hanging in her show room and thought “Hey, they are perfect for my turban”!

I wore my outfit easy and comfy with flat gladiator sandals from Clarks and amazing jewelry:  brass shield and earrings are handmade from Metalica Creazioni, while the blackamoor brooch is a vintage piece from Déjà-vu Vintage.

The Ladybug is a modern 80s child

I don’t buy only vintage. I’d love to but I find it too complicated and every now and then I am tempted by fast fashion and high street labels as well as designer.

Nevertheless I realize that even when I don’t buy vintage I always buy vintage inspired pieces that I love to mix with original ones to create my own personal vintage mixed outfits!

It was the case when I bought this maxi camel jumper from H&M:I loved so much the 80s oversized flare that I bought it two sizes bigger just to exaggerate it!

I paired it with a black pencil skirt from Zara and original 90s slouchy boots from Max&Co. To complete the 80s look I added a pair of handmade “3/4 moon” brass earrings from my adored Metalica Creazioni.

The Ladybug stays warm and cozy

As the temperatures get lower it is time to stay warm and cozy in our favorite winter pieces.

Soft and warm scarves and sweaters are on top of my list especially since I live in Milan! I can get out without gloves or hats in winter but I cannot make it without a scarf!

The checked one I am wearing here is from Momonì and it is possibly one of my favorite winter scarves as it is incredibly warm and soft. I wore it on a navy jumper from & Other Stories and denim culottes from Massimo Dutti.

Camel ankle boots are from Carmens and handmade brass earrings are from Metalica Creazioni.

The Ladybug is the perfect 70s employee

I have been working in an office since 2004, almost 14 years now. But I could never get used to the office unwritten “fashion” rules. I mean, I can wear blazers and avoid ripped jeans and sneakers, but these rules want women looking all the same with boring blazers, white shirts, skirts and heels, “neutral” colors like grey, black and maybe brown. Too boring for me!

I can accept some of them (not all together!) but I need to add something personal before I die in a multitude of clones!

People working with me know that I am like this and that I cannot accept to hide my personality. So I always try to add a little something that says a little something about me.

This time it says that I love the 70s! There are no vintage pieces in this outfit (except for the boots) but everything has a clear 70s inspiration. First of all the jacket: a piece that I bought from Zara because I loved the pattern and the long fit…so 70s indeed! Same thing for the black skirt with big front pleat that I got from Marella two years ago.

Black jumper is from Benetton, earrings are handmade from Metalica Creazioni and the tiny necklace is one of my iconic jewelry pieces from & Other Stories.

Find your perfect casual women blazer!

The Ladybug and the story of an African King (of Fashion)

My second and last day of Afro Fashion Week in Milan ended with the event that I have been looking forward for a while now: Anggy Haif fashion show.

If you don’t know about him let me just give you a couple of information: Anggy Haif is a super talented designer born in Cameroun where he started his career before moving to France and being recognized as an incredible fashion artist. Africa is still his first source of inspiration and his shows in Paris are always a blossom of colors mixed with raffia, leather and other traditional materials. I love his fashion because it is so incredibly modern and traditional at the same time.

Anyway, this year I had the great chance to attend his show in Milan and I was utterly excited: in the beautiful framework of the Palazzina Appiani in Milan, his show was as captivating and fascinating as I imagined it! It also great to greet him and tell him how much I loved his work! (A bit groupie right?!)

For the occasion I wore one of my favorite Madame Ilary wax turbans on a total black look (culottes from Dixie and Asos tee) and with a vintage inspired denim jacket from Mango. Afro inspired earrings are Metalica Creazioni.

The velvet sandals are from Ottod’Ame while my mini bag is a vintage find from Divas Vintage in Ljubljana a few years ago.

The Ladybug’s graffiti wall in Munich

During my three weeks in Munich, we passed every morning by an underground passage in Munchner Freiheit that we never used. We used to say: tomorrow we’ll take that one to go faster but we always forgot until a few days before leaving!

What we discovered there was a world full of graffiti and we couldn’t help stopping to take a few pictures also because the graffiti matched my African print shirt!

This Ankara fabric is one of my favorite ones: I bought it online on Ebay and used it for a lot of things: two pillows, a turban and this lovely handmade shirt! Considering the bold colors I wore it that day with black denim jeans from Acne Studios, Mango oversized denim jacket and New Look flowery loafer mules from Asos.

Anyway I couldn’t help adding big handmade silver statement earring from Metalica Creazioni (Francesca has been my favorite earrings provider since we met a couple of years ago!).

The Ladybug and the hard life of obsessed shoppers!

A few weeks ago, a long Bank Holiday weekend, three single girls in Milan…we really needed to find a way to have a fun! No way to leave the town for a weekend at the beach, then we decided to find interesting things to do: an evening at the opera, aperitivos, nights out and a full shopping session outside the city center to avoid the crowd of the weekenders in Milan for a shopping session around the Duomo.

We spent the whole evening in a “shop ‘till you drop” mood (although we didn’t buy as much as we expected!) and we also found time to make a mini outfit shooting in the middle of nothing (a white wall was enough!).

I was wearing my coordinated headband and shopping bag handmade with original African wax fabric by Madame Ilary, as well as the black culottes. A white tee by Cos, a pair of black slippers by Divine Follie and super big earring by Metalica Creazioni and I was ready to hit the shopping malls!

I came back home only with a necklace and some homeware from Maisons du Monde…and with a huge headache! I’m not used anymore to these prolonged sessions or I’m just getting too old for that! Ok, no this is not true, we’re never too old for shopping!!

The Ladybug on How To Become a True Vintage Lover: Milano Vintage Week

Milano Design Week is over (I will tell you more about my Design Week next week), but there is no Design Week in Milan without one of my favorite vintage events in town… Milano Vintage Week.

This beautiful event is quite young (it started in 2014) and has two editions- one of which happens during the famous Salone del Mobile and the other during MDW. So it’s no surprise I immediately feel excited about the best vintage coming to town in the weeks before their arrival!

I travel a lot checking out fairs and events to spot the best vintage around, but when it happens in Milan (at the Showroom Riccardo Grassi) I feel even more excited! As surprising as it may seem, there are not many vintage events in Milano, but the Milano Vintage Week is a special one- mostly because of the accurate selection of the stallers. I know most of them and I consider them among the best vintage dealers and lovers in Italy.

Among them, Opherty & Ciocci (in my opinion- one of the leaders in vintage research, quality and rarity of pieces in Italy, especially vintage designer handbags), Shabby Chic (who brought some wonderful handmade pieces made with original ’50s fabrics and amazing straw headpieces), Magnifica Preda (with a great quality choice of handbags and beautiful dresses) and A.N.G.E.L.O. (with his amazing collection of pin-up swimsuits and other rare accessories); just to name a few on the long list which definitely makes it worth a visit, so don’t forget to note it for the next edition!

But Milano Vintage Week is not only beautiful vintage dresses and accessories. There’s also Italian vintage design (and why not, it is Design Week!), handmade, a beautiful fashion exhibit in collaboration with A.N.G.E.L.O. that told the story of fashion in the Postwar years and presented interesting news. For example: there were vintage hair and makeup tutorials in collaboration with Elizabeth Arden- who also offered vintage hairdos and makeup to those who wanted to try it for a day and know more about the story of this long-running brand! Plus a lot of tutorials and workshops and “how to” events, including vintage makeup, weddings, china and the use of foulards to make perfect gift packages to reduce the use of paper!

Milano Vintage Week is the perfect event to actively try and experience vintage. It’s also the kind of event that I strongly recommend to those who want to know more about the beautiful world of vintage. I am sure that you will step in curious about vintage and leave a true vintage lover for life!

I couldn’t wear a vintage outfit as I wanted to because of my running errands during the day, but I paired my Acne Studios black jeans, H&M denim shirt, Lazzari brogues and Miu Miu handbag with a vintage striped shirt, vintage ’70s sunglasses by Maison Studio, handmade earrings by Metalica and handmade velvet turban by Madame Ilary.