The Ladybug’s vintage riddle of the day!

November has just ended and I have a little riddle for you: which amazing vintage event takes place twice a year in Milan, in April and November? I know, this is easy and as I guess that you are a vintage lover it is even easier! It is the Milano Vintage Week! The thing is that, if you are a vintage lover in Milan there are for sure a few shops and markets where you can go for vintage shopping but many of them are way too expensive, so all that you can do is wait for your favorite vintage event in town where you can still find good pieces at affordable and fair prices and where you can breathe (and shop) vintage for a couple of hours!

This year I brought one of my non-vintage-lover friend who ended up buying vintage inspired pieces, which is the first step to move into vintage fanatics world! I did the same of course, but this is no news!

As always my little vintage paradise in Milan was full of great stalls and pieces and I could see my “vintage friends” (Opherty & Ciocci, Shabby Chic, Magnifica Preda, A.N.G.E.L.O.), meet new dealers and crafters and be part of some of the many events and activities that at every edition make this Vintage Week fun and pleasant (workshops, presentations, beauty and hair tutorials, retro inspired photoshoots).

I also visited the lovely exhibit (in collaboration with A.N.G.E.L.O.) dedicated to Valentino with some of his beautiful pieces from the 70’s and 80’s. The two rooms dedicated to the designer were a real paradise for those who love vintage, but also for those who appreciate a good piece of fashion. I spent a lot of time admiring the decorations and the wonderful work on these pieces, and I was really amazed to find a kind of creativity that doesn’t exist anymore. It was a way of reminding me why I love vintage fashion so much!

I wore Heka Couture lace jabot, Dixie black culottes, Max&Co black coat, Maison Momonì folk clutch, 8 pointed brogues and & Other Stories glitter socks.

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.

The Ladybug is in a Vintage Paradise at Milano Vintage Week

Even if I had gone to the first edition of the Milan Vintage Week which happened last Spring during the Salone del Mobile, when I heard about a new edition I decided to head in during the weekend to see what it was about this time. I just didn’t expect to find what I found.

I’m not saying that I didn’t like the first edition- it was pretty cool and interesting, but this time I was just… WOW! Yes, possibly because it was a shorter edition (not a week but just a weekend) it was full of people.  And not just those people who are there to have a look and go away, but I mean packed with real vintage people: those who love it and live for it! Like me!

A lot of interesting workshops and lectures around vintage, style and craft workshops were held over the course of the weekend and it was also easy to find great bargains with general pricing being correct and honest.

The atmosphere was alive and sparkling with an ease of meeting new people with your same passion- talking vintage forever! I found some of my favorite sellers and let me say that what I saw in their stalls was pretty amazing: from clothes to accessories, I just fell in love with many pieces. And even if I wasn’t in the mood for buying, I couldn’t resist getting some stuff: like a beautiful handmade ’40s turban style from Shabby Chic and a lovely plaid skirt from A.N.G.E.L.O.

Speaking of him, this time he presented one of the most beautiful vintage expos I’ve ever seen: last edition he brought some wonderful vintage silk scarves from Hermès, this time it was all about Yves Saint Laurent. The two rooms dedicated to the designer’s wonderful pieces from the ’70s and ’80s were a real paradise for those you love vintage, but also for those of you who appreciate a good piece of fashion. I spent a lot of time admiring the decorations and the wonderful work on these pieces, and I was really amazed to find a kind of creativity that doesn’t exist anymore. It was a way of reminding me why I love vintage fashion so much.

For the occasion I wore a yellow dress by Zara, Replay biker boots, Celyn B leather jacket paired with Tolani animal print scarf and my new ’70s vintage doctor bag from Sculptures to Wear during Next Vintage at Belgioioso.

The Ladybug at Milan Design Week 2014, pt. 2: Milano Vintage Week

So let’s recap: we said that the most important week in Milan is the Milan Fashion Week. Then comes the Milan Design Week, but what if I tell you that we also have a Vintage Week?

Indeed, during Design Week, Milan hosted the first Vintage Week ever- with stalls, expos and workshops all dedicated to Vintage. Let me say first say: compared to last year, I was very surprised by the relevance of vintage during this year’s Design Week and not only in terms of inspiration for design, home-ware and decoration, but also in terms of vintage related events.

So the last day of my Design Week, on a sunny and warm Sunday morning, I brought my friend Kay who was visiting me from UK to the first event of the day… the Vintage Week at the Riccardo Grassi Showroom. This vintage marathon attracted different kinds of customers: from buyers to vintage lovers and addicted, from fashion lovers to simply curious people trying to understand what vintage was about.

Clothes, accessories, handbags, glasses, jewels, shoes, books, home-ware… every kind of vintage article was exposed to fulfill everyone’s expectations on the theme!

The Vintage Week was an event in collaboration with A.N.G.E.L.O. who brought his beautiful collection of 24 wonderful silk vintage Hermès carrés.  Another small expo, “Vintage for Love” was dedicated to the vintage brides and weddings worlds.

It was great to see my friends Marco from Opherty & Ciocci and Nicoletta from Shabby Chic (two of my favorite vintage sellers in Italy), but a part from them the area was a bit bland: maybe because it was Sunday morning, but nothing “new” was really exposed and it was quite “standard business targeted on Italian customers” (what I mean is: “the more labels the better”). I was a bit disappointed by this event that was very well advertised- which is why my expectation was so high!

Still; I tried some cute pieces from Telma Vintage, (what do you think of these frames?)

and some amazing headpieces from Shabby Chic (yes, I bought the straw hat with the purple net and flowers!!).

For the occasion I wore a vintage sparkling sequined top from Humana Vintage, Zara trousers, an H&M biker jacket, Sam Edelman ankle boots, Balenciaga red handbag and Peter Pilotto for Target sunnies.

…Oh, and how could I forget my TOG “create” canvas bag… my Design Week favorite!

(Photo Credit: Kay Wilkinson)