swing

A few years ago in London I saw one of the most beautiful things in my life: hundreds of riders of vintage bikes amazingly dressed in impeccable vintage style all along the city center. I then found out that this very popular and famous event was very famous in London under the name, Tweed Run. Since then I tried, without succeeding, to participate in one of the London events, but I was never able to manage it.

Until now!

During my summer holidays at home I found out about the Tweed Ride Italia: the concept was almost the same, but with a glimpse of Italian passion! I couldn’t imagine that there were enough people with this passion in Italy to create many events throughout the country, but I was wrong. I immediately contacted Ferruccio, the founder and the soul of the Tweed Ride, and he gave me the amazing news that the Tweed Ride was coming to Milan in September. It took me few minutes to check the site and subscribe to the event!

I didn’t have a vintage bike. Well, there was my old bike which I picked up second hand not too long ago. I didn’t have time to make it nice like the others by decorating it with flowers and all, and I wasn’t prepared to go all out with gingham clothes and handmade cakes, but I had some clothes that could fit the event! The main sponsor of the event was Avirex, the famous clothing brand and indeed everything started and ended at one of their shops in Milan. From Piazza San Babila we rode all around the city center, the liberty area, the Navigli, the Montanelli park to end up in the amazing Avirex store in via Comelico with a huge space outside to share drinks and something to eat. There was an award ceremony and a flashmob styled dance session showcasing some cool swing and charleston with the amazing guys of Non Solo Charleston!

Maintaining the heart of vintage, Tweed Ride Italia was also a charity event- donating a part of our subscription fee to the non-profit organization ProAdamo which helps in research for prostate cancer and supports those affected by this form cancer and their families.

It is hard to explain how great it was and how it felt because I was so full of delight and surprised of finally participating… in my own country. And yes, maybe also the fact of sharing like passions for cycling with style and for vintage dressing, ’40s dancing and music in Piazza San Babila while waiting for the ride to start, seeing happy faces of everyone participating, smiles and the waves of the people looking at us and just the atmosphere individually and collectively take all the great words to describe my experience away from me and leave me with: “I really had the greatest time! Now I am just waiting for the next one!!”

For my outfit… it isn’t actually vintage except for the ’40s bag that I found on Ebay, but I am wearing a J.Crew dress found for a ridiculous price at a charity shop in London, Topshop golden flats and an AMAZING turban handmade from my talented friend Ilaria (Madame Ilary). I added tons of fake and real pearls… but no diamonds!

Last year I missed a very important weekend in Milan because I was out of town: two events that I really wanted to attend to be precise. The first event was Swing’n’Milan, an event completely dedicated to the beautiful ’30s & ’40s dance Lindy Hop (swing). This event started last year- apparently with huge success, and I got an idea of what’s happening around the swing movement in Milan when I went and saw for myself how many people were there and how many of them were serious Lindy Hop dancers.

I admit, I am very bad at it: I can’t swing, but I started my very first steps during the free class for the beginners, like me, event on Saturday evening. It was funny as hell and I am still looking for the perfect dance school in Milan to start soon. By the way… do you have an idea of how many swing schools there are in Milan??? Loads!

Although I am not a dancer, I enjoyed the event very much: many bands took the stage during the two-day event and I saw the NP Big Band on Saturday night. People dressed in perfect vintage style were dancing to the rhythm of Lindy Hop in a lovely atmosphere full of vintage stalls of every kind: from the lovely girls of Place Minuit (one of my favorite retro shops in Milan) to the vintage pieces of Memory Lane and Telma Vintage, to the perfect retro barbershop (our friends from Bullfrog), to the lovely vintage corner full of American cakes by our friends from the Vintage Bakery!

Also, the location was near perfect: the Great Gatsby styled dancing room of La Pelota had the energy I believe was felt in the old black and white footage I’ve seen over the years. Well… at least until the end of the night, because like every night, at the closing of the ballroom- the party moved to a secret destination to sustain the atmosphere of an era past!

For the event I wore a lovely denim sailor dress from Pepaloves, brogues from Lazzari Store and a vintage bag that I found on Ebay!