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 Spellbound at Marc Chagall’s Expo in Milan

It may be a coincidence, but all of the expos that I see at the beginning of the year at Palazzo Reale in Milan become my favorite expo of the year!

I can’t say if this one will be the best of 2015, but those to come have a high bar of expectation.  So, if you missed it, trust me, you missed something special.

As usual, I went during the final days (but not the last one… this time!). The expo started in September last year and I still had to wait almost an hour and a half to get in but: a) one hour and a half was nothing compared to those who waited almost three hours; and b) it was totally worth the long queue!

I can’t explain the charm of this painter, who is still one of my favorites of all times. His colors and his representation of love (The Birthday and The Walk were my favorite of the expo!) give joy to the soul and quiet the mind.

The expo was very rich with a lot of paintings representing different stages in the life of the artist and different historical moments: the way his work changed passing from one room to another was awesome. The curating and design of the expo was amazing! Many of his most important pieces were there (more than what I remember seeing at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg), and even his costumes and sketches for the theatre were exposed.

I hope that the next expos held at Palazzo Reale will worth the visit (and the queue!) …again!

(Turban with brooch: Shabby Chic with a night view of the Duomo!)

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’s Jamboree Dress Up: Summer Jamboree Day #1

After my first experience at Summer Jamboree last year the only thing that I had in mind was going back again this year! Yes, because my first year was more like my year of satisfying a curiosity: I didn’t know exactly what to expect and though everyone talked about it, I wanted to see for myself. I enjoyed it very much, but I wasn’t prepared (neither my mood or mode) for the full ’50s immersion… but this year, I was ready!

I not sure what I can say about the Summer Jamboree to add to its allure… I mean, who doesn’t know it? I did an article this month on Vintage Shopper giving a bit more detail about these great and magical 10 days in Senigallia; so if you really don’t know what I am talking about you can read it all here.

I spent the first weekend of the Festival in Senigallia and I must say that I enjoyed it even more than last year: first of all the weather was great and I could enjoy the beach where part of the ’50s show happens during the day, plus I was very into trying new outfits for the event.

This is my first outfit, the one I used for the Saturday night when I enjoyed the Ben E. King concert.

I decided on this floral dress from the late ’50s that I bought in New York at one of my favorite vintage boutiques: Hamlet Vintage. When I tried it on everyone in the shop said that this dress was made for me! And I think it really was because it fits my shape almost perfectly and even if I have a few more kilos than when I bought it, it still fits lovely! The dress is an original piece from the ’50s, but all the accessories are reproductions, except for the bag.

I am wearing my adored Swedish Hasbeens sandals and this amazing headpiece made from Nicoletta of Shabby Chic who told me that she made it thinking of a lovely hair piece for the Summer Jamboree! I guess I wore it for the perfect event then!

My bag is a bit younger… or older, depending on your perspective (I think it may be from the ’70s). It’s a beautiful find from the Divas Vintage store in Ljubljana I picked up some time ago.

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)

The Ladybug Visit’s Her First Padova Vintage Festival

This year has been full of vintage firsts for me. A few weeks ago I visited the Padova Vintage Festival for the first time and much like the Summer Jamboree in Senigallia, it was full of vintage lovers and people with lots of knowledge of vintage. It was so refreshing and surprising at the same time.

I mean, it’s understandable that you meet people at the Jamboree who are deep seeded vintage aficionados because of it’s long and successful history, but I’m a bit ashamed to say that I prepared to go to Padova Vintage Festival, which began in 2010, with a bit of prejudice. But in two short years it’s amazing how profound and successful it’s become.

Padua is a wonderful town (I had time to have a look around in the city center and I really liked it!), and the location of the Festival makes it absolutely comfortable to reach. But the location itself is absolutely lovely: the agora, which sits in the center of it all, is surrounded by arches and the upper level has a lot of space and a lovely view of what’s happening in the “market’s area of the village.”

With that said, I had the chance to meet some of my favorite stallers (and to buy from them, of course!) and some new entries that I was pleased to meet. Coming into contact with familiar people and familiar items made me understand the key of their success, and it is this: their staff and their attention to marketing and details. Going to the Padova Vintage Festival was a different experience, even if the actors of the movie were the same… because of all the Chantilly cream, everything looked much more fresh. There were models dressed in vintage, a fashionable public, every genre of vintage was represented, some alternative celebrities, a beautifully well decorated location and, of course, a queue outside the doors!  It was “the place to be.”

And it worked! There was a lot of marketing and maybe a bit less spontaneity, but the result was interesting.  As for the prices I won’t complain: some exaggerations of course – as usual – but the average pricing was cool.

I was really curious about going there especially since I couldn’t go last year and, although it was a bit more commercial than my tastes usually go for, I really enjoyed my day there and my shopping of course!!

A.N.G.E.L.O, Shabby Chic, Dorotea Vintage, Oggetti Smarriti, Magnifica Preda, Stondo, Lamù Vintage and many other old “vintage friends” were there, but it was also time to meet new friends like the vintage collector Lorenzo Chiti from Deuda Vintage (from whom I bought this lovely vintage cardigan!)

If the market owned the agora, the upper level was almost completely dedicated to vintage through another wonderful expo. A.N.G.E.L.O brought his vintage Missoni collection, but there were also amazing antique suitcases and travel bags from Arte Viaggi or a real vintage barber shop (there will be a nice surprise about it soon on the blog!).

For the occasion I was almost completely dressed in vintage: vintage green silk dress from Humana Vintage, ASOS cardi and socks, lovely brogues from Shoegasm in NYC, H&M skinny belt, vintage leather bag from the Vintage Workshop in Milan the week before and a lovely fascinator from Camomilla in Milan.

Other finds of the day:  gorgeous French vintage glasses from Oggetti Smarriti

Amazing orange “witch-hat” from Stondo Firenze

And… of course… a logoed Vintage Festival canvas tote to put all my new finds in it!