pins

I hate winter, really. For a thousand of reasons that may be more or less obvious (the cold, the rain, the grey weather etc. etc.) but there is one that is a bit less obvious: I hate it because I cannot wear my adored wax fabrics! Every now and then when it is not too cold I still wear some headwrap or turban but I miss my colored dresses, skirts, culottes…I just need these bold colors in my life!

These pictures were taken in October, the weather was still good in Milan and I was enjoying a stroll in Parco Sempione with my friend when we decided that the sun and the nature were offering a perfect frame for a quick shooting session!

I was wearing my wide leg trousers handmade by Heka Couture: the African fabric we bought online because we loved the print so much (we also got it in yellow!). I wore them with a white tee from Asos and a 90s inspired Mango denim jacket (I loved the vintage vibe when I saw it in the shop at the train station in Naples!).

On my jacket I added some of my favorite pins at the moment: some African inspired pins from My Filibo that I found on Afrikrea marketplace and the lovely body positive pins “Love your cellulite” from The Triangular Prism on Etsy.

I also wore my Fulani earrings from Africaialha on Etsy and wooden clogs from Casta & Dolly at Archivio Vintage in Milan.

December is, of course, the month of Christmas markets. Everywhere around Milan you can find all kinds of handcraft, vintage, food and little markets where you can get ready for your Christmas gifting or just enjoy music, food and a lovely atmosphere: from grunge, to rock to BCBG… you can really find a lot of stuff in town, for every style and pocket.

I went around extensively the first weekend of December to spot the most interesting markets to share with you (I won’t mention the very disappointing ones!) so you too can visit next year, if you happen to missed this time around.

Even if I enjoyed it a lot last year, I decided to avoid the Artigiano in Fiera this year and go for more local and small markets, hoping for less crowds!

The last Saturday of November was such a cold and rainy day that getting warm and cozy inside little markets was for sure one of my best ideas of the day. I started at the Fondaco market: a bit pricey I must say, but for a good cause. This market, with a lot of handmade original and interesting pieces, aimed to give more home assistance to terminally ill people. It wasn’t really my style, but there were some cool pieces in this big market.

After a Mexican lunch I headed to Supermarket, a space created by Spazio Venduto, in the Navigli area with a completely different atmosphere: two floors of handmade, vintage, music, art and food with a more rock/indie young atmosphere that I appreciated quite a bit… very cool pieces coming mostly from handcrafters or small vintage collectors.

The last stop of my Saturday was my favorite market of the day: It’s Time for Christmas, a lovely indie market with my favorite stallers of the day like Lovever (a beautiful concept store completely dedicated to Love) and the adorable Atelassé who creates vintage pins from comics or newspapers. I got my first buy of the day at her stand: I got myself a personalized Lamù pin and two more pins (one with my adored Mafalda and the other with a London map) to add to my collection for my new “handmade by me” headpiece (…give me some time, hopefully it will one day be revealed!).

On Sunday I headed to my favorite market of the weekend; the Lekker Market, a special Christmas edition with a lot of design, vintage, home-ware, handcraft, music, food in a lovely atmosphere.

I found two (actually, four) of my favorite female handmade artists and I couldn’t help buying things from them.

First stop: the beautiful handmade turbans of Sine Modus: it took a while to choose one, but with Chiara’s help I went for this beautiful iridescent blue turban.

Second stop: the two lovely Israeli Natalies of Oh la la Milano with their amazing jewelry… it took some time there too, but in the end- I picked these two lovely bracelets from their handmade collection.