The Ladybug is PrePPy in vintage!

Who doesn’t like a bit of preppy style every now and then?

I must confess that I’m not a fan of preppy but I have a couple of cool preppy pieces and today I decided to wear them all together! When I looked at myself in the mirror I really felt like a preparation school girl (except for my wrinkles!).

Basically I’m wearing vintage/thrift head-to-toe (I’d better say head-to-ankle as shoes are not vintage!): let’s start from my navy double-breasted blazer with golden buttons, a real vintage thrifted piece and also one of my favorite bargains ever. I found it in NYC at the Salvation Army and I paid it only 6.99 dollars! I still wear this jacket a lot with many different styles and it is one of my wardrobe favorites!

I paired the jacket with a vintage tartan skirt from A.N.G.E.L.O.: I bought it years ago during the Vintage Week event in Milan, as at the time I had a thing with vintage tartan. I sold most of my vintage tartan pieces since then but I still keep this one!

The bow shirt is an old find form a vintage/retro store in Naples and the shoes are from Lazzari.

The straw bag is another vintage piece that I adore: I bought it many years ago from Opherty & Ciocci during a vintage fair in Italy as I really love straw bags (I think I need more of them in my life actually!) and 70’s long horizontal bags; so two things that I love in the same bag!

PS: I also chose a typical brownstone building in Milan for this set of pictures, just to fit the whole preppy thing!!

The Ladybug’s Inner Goddess of Style Speaks To Milan’s Grey Sky: “Let There Be Color!”

In the last few days all that Milan has to offer, in regard to weather, is a grey sky and a cold air.  That’s why I decided to pop-out some color today!

I’m wearing two of my favorite bold-colored vintage finds today: this frill fuchsia blouse from Humana Vintage and this blue ’80s jacket from the Salvation Army in New York.

Since I knew it was going to a big choc of colors, I decided to wear black for the rest of the outfit: Topshop velvet shorts, Max & Co. riding boots and messenger bag (both a result of my last winter sales!)

I’m also wearing this amazing hat from Pippi the milliner, a wonderful retro inspired handmade piece that I bought at the fair L’artigiano in Fiera here in Milan.

(Photo Credit: KNAGUI)

The Ladybug’s Walk of Fame: the Brooklyn Bridge

As I announced a couple of posts about Brooklyn, here’s the second one!

How could I not share the wonderful walk on the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan?

It was a windy day, but it was definitely one of the best walks of my whole life… and it deserved a mixed vintage outfit!

I went a bit masculine that day with my golden buttoned preppy blazer (thrifted from a few days earlier at the Salvation Army!), skinny jeans from Zara and a polka dot blouse.

I added a vintage purple paisley scarf (a London find from Portobello!), a tan belt from H&M and my famous Zara bag.

The lovely tan brogues are also a New York buy from Shoegasm… I have not been able to live without them since then!

The Ladybug’s First Wedding Outfit of the Year… Is That Bride Blushing or is my Vintage Red Radiating?

Another year, another tour of weddings to attend (but never mine, of course!!). My former colleague and great friend, Alfonso, got married a few weeks ago to a beautiful lady (and volleyball player!) named Veronica whom I finally met… on her wedding day. Let me just say that they are a wonderful couple and their big smiles made my day! When I last shared my outfit for one of my best friends’ wedding in December, I remember that I shared with you a few of my rules to dress for a wedding in Italy. I won’t repeat them here because they haven’t changed and you can still find them on that post, but this time I really focused on three of those: 1) Wear vintage 2) Don’t wear black and 3) Wear red lipstick!

As it was a beautiful warm and sunny day, I decided to wear vintage red from head to toe! I focused my whole outfit on this amazing vintage Saks Fifth Avenue chiffon red dress, one of my best vintage finds in New York, from the lovely boutique A Little Wicked on Houston Street (yes, Sammy Davis is the store manager and she helped me choose the dress!). This dress itself is so beautiful that it is impossible not to look great in it!

I added a matelassé vintage red bag with gold chain (do you remember? One of my vintage finds from Frendo Vintage in Naples) and another huge find from New York: a pair of coral Bally’s from the ’80s that I got from the largest charity shop I’ve ever seen in my life: the Salvation Army on the 46th in New York. Only $14.99 USD for these beauties! I’m still so proud of this find! The only “not vintage” accessory: my gold and red bangles from Madewell and a red orchid handmade clip (Ebay find) in my hair! My red lipstick is my adored Red Rockette from Rockalily London (it stayed up all day!).

Let me say that wearing a bold and bright color such as red for the wedding was a brilliant idea… it helped me to stand out in a crowd of tall volleyball players with perfect bodies all dressed in boring black! Smart power of vintage…