The Ladybug pays tribute to Imany, Imany style!

I can remember the day I discovered Imany’s music and style on YouTube.

I read about her in a magazine, about her story and her music. I was so curious that I decided to look for her on YouTube: well, it was love at first sight! It started with “You will never know” and it continued with “Take care” and “The Shape of a Broken Heart”. But it was not only her music that I fell in love with, but also with her style: very simple, effortlessly easy and with an African touch that I adored (wax turbans, headbands and skirts that I found absolutely perfect!)

When I knew about her being in concert in Milan at the Alcatraz I immediately asked around to find someone to go with me and I found my friend Sabrina who -at my biggest surprise- also is a fan of Imany. We really liked her live: great voice, wonderful songs from her new album (“The Wrong Kind of War”) and from her old one (“The Shape of a Broken Heart”), incredible covers and beautiful stories for two hours.

If we talk about style I adored her wax bomber (I found out later that it was from Xuly.Bet) and I decided that I need one too! By the way, we paid tribute to Imany that night and we wore our wax turbans from Madame Ilary!

The Ladybug’s retro fun at Archivio Vintage

Christmas is coming and the hunt for the perfect Christmas gift has already started: this is the time of the year when I start looking for markets, fairs and events to find something original possibly handmade to offer to my friends and family. I must say that Milan is the perfect city for that: during the weekends you can find all sort of event but I am always surprised when I find something new that I didn’t know about.

It is the case of Archivio Vintage at Arkivio Showroom: my friend Ilaria, who is also a seller at this kind of events always has a good eye to find the greatest ones. This is one of the reasons why I went to see her exposing at this event and once again she wasn’t wrong! I was so happy about my find that I wanted to share it with you!

Archivio Vintage was born as a seller of handmade pouches with vintage and modern fabrics. Now you can find there beautiful handmade bags and clogs and original vintage pieces (especially bags) along with pieces like French Bonne Maison socks (my favorite ones!). Susan, the creator of Archivio Vintage, also organizes lovely events at the Arkivio Showroom, putting together some of the best handcrafters: clothes, shoes, jewels and accessories all completely handmade! It is the perfect place to support local business and handcrafters while getting very rare pieces for yourself and your loved ones!

Of course it was also the occasion to see live Heka Couture 2016-2017 winter collection, one of the best so far: velvet pieces and turbans, big bows and volumes…we couldn’t help trying our favorite pieces like the navy velvet jumpsuit (my favorite piece) or the animal print top and skirt with matching suspenders; the big 50’s circle skirt and of course, the greatest turbans!

No need to say we didn’t leave with empty hands!  

If you want to know more about Archivio Vintage events you can follow them on Facebook (archiviovintage) or on their website http://www.archiviovintage.it

The Ladybug and her hat addiction at Studio Zeta (with Heka Couture)

One of the many things that I love about Milan are the little markets that you can find almost every weekend: from food to flowers, to clothes and accessories, especially the vintage and handmade markets. A few weeks ago I was invited to the Studio Zeta showroom event, not really a market but a sort of exhibition of creatives in this beautiful fashion showroom that every now and then opens its doors to different kind of crafters and designers for a weekend.

The location is lovely and the selection of sellers and exposers is always accurate: it is definitely a place to spend a Saturday afternoon with your girlfriends knowing that you will for sure buy something!

I was invited by Gemma and Ilaria, founders of Heka Couture, as it was their first time there, exposing their new collection of hats, turbans and many other beautiful things: coats, jackets, skirts, dresses, trousers, culottes, jabots, collars, everything absolutely handcrafted and with incredible choice of patterns and materials. I was madly in love with their new turbans, hats and headbands (I bought one, of course, but I could have done worse!) and it was hard to leave all those pieces there because most of them were incredibly awesome! The 30’s inspired berets or the golden turban, the maxi bow collar or the striped turban with bow were among my favorite pieces. I also loved the golden waistcoat and skirt, the fancy hooded coat and a beautiful dress that made me think of Erdem or the old Matthew Williamson for the wonderful sketched pattern.

But Studio Zeta event was also about vintage: my friend Laura from Italian Vintage Suite was there with her beautiful vintage pieces and a special corner was dedicated to get free vintage hairstyling. Plus, lot of jewels and fashion designers, live performance and a special area for kids’ fun and wine tasting!

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. Of course I also tried all my favorite headpieces exposed!!

The Ladybug’s first “marketing” experience: East Market Milano with Madame Ilary

In the last two years I have been asked tons of times why I didn’t start selling “for real” instead of only selling my vintage and thrifted goods online. I have been asked if I wanted to open a shop or if I thought of selling during vintage markets and events. My answer is yes! I still dream of having a vintage shop or of having enough space in my house to keep all my vintage and thrifted collection in a storage room and to bring it around during the weekends and selling it at funny markets all around Italy.

Still, as I’m not working on it for the next future, I am keeping open my Ebay shop (btw feel free to have a look at it whenever you want – you can find the direct link in the Contact page) and I am enjoying the online selling which allows you sometimes to start new virtual friendships all over the world!

At the same time, when my friend Ilaria from Madame Ilary asked me to share a stall with her at the East Market in Milan I couldn’t say no, for many different reason: first of all it was a “first” for both and I really wanted to make this experience with her as we often talked about that; it was a way to test our business and see how it worked “in the street”; secondly the place was really perfect: the area of Lambrate where the market takes place is vibrant and full of life lately and I thought it was perfect for our “launch”; last but not least, the East Market is for sure one of my favorite markets in Milan: full of interesting people, street food, flower market and a beautiful area outside to eat, drink and chat.

I wasn’t wrong as we enjoyed the experience pretty much and we had a lot of fun even if we felt like the beginners of the market as most of stallers were way more experienced than us! Still it was the occasion to meet new people, to find old friends (like my beloved Francesca from Metalica who had a stall not far from us!) and to sell some vintage accessories and the wonderful handmade turbans made by Ilaria. The atmosphere was really interesting, a lot of people of different age, interests and style, a kind of potpourri that I appreciated a lot, definitely a great experience!

This means that you better watch out as you will probably see me around again in a market near you…in the meanwhile keep having a look at my Ebay shop!

I wore Dixie black culottes, Topshop white shirt, vintage bag by Frendo Vintage, New Balance sneakers, Nepalese silver necklace and handmade African turban by Madame Ilary.

The Ladybug is Proud to Announce the Madame Ilary for Sofia Vintage Collaboration!

What happens when two women that you love, admire and support (both in life and work) combine their amazingness? Well; in my opinion, an awesome result which I’ll prove in this post!

So let’s start from the beginning: Ilaria, founder of Madame Ilary, is my beautiful friend that I met last year during a theatre piece for which she was making costumes (yes, she is a talented costume designer!). We immediately felt the connection and she asked me if I was interested in seeing some of her handmade headpieces (turbans in particular). I accepted immediately, and a few weeks later I was at her studio where she showed me her amazing creations. I fell in love with her and with her talent- and, I’ll have you know, I now wear her turbans and her creations in general almost every day! She just doesn’t stop surprising me with her talent and creativity! Roberta is the wonderful owner of one of the most beautiful vintage shops I’ve ever visited, Sofia Vintage in Como. I met her last year too, at the opening of her shop and there again I felt that “something!” She’s a Leo, incredible vintage lover and expert, huge traveler… we shared too many things in common to let this new friendship go! Her second home, Sofia Vintage, is exactly the shop of my dreams and I love every single piece that she picked!

I share with them a lot of passion, willingness, strength, ambition and hidden dreams- which made us good friends. So it was almost natural that Ilaria’s and Roberta’s paths through me would sooner or later cross. Fortunately this happened quite quickly (a few months ago) and it ended with a beautiful collection created by Madame Ilary for Sofia Vintage with an incredible retro touch. I had the chance to have a little preview of this amazing spring-summer collection, now available at Sofia Vintage, and I was completely blown away by the incredible patterns and style of the midi circle skirts, the amazing turbans and other pieces that I can’t reveal right now, but you’ll soon see here!

As for me, in the middle of this amazingness, I had the chance to model some pieces of this first collection! I was completely at ease in these circle skirts paired with knot turbans, vintage clutches and hats. And I can’t wait to show you the new pieces coming soon!

When Italian handmade quality meets vintage and retro style, when style meets creativity, when vintage meets handcraft, when talent meets originality… this is what can happen!

Good luck to my beautiful friends and to this new incredible collaboration that starts with the of best promises!

The Ladybug Takes a Sunday Off at the Navigli Antiques Market

If you live in Milan and you love vintage, the place to be every last Sunday of the month is the Antiques Market all along the Navigli. I talked about this place before and every time I get a chance- I head there for a lovely walk among the vintage and antiques stalls and shops for some great shopping… and why not?!

I have to say that due to busy weekends and traveling around, I can barely remember the last time that I was there. So when I was invited by my friend Ilaria (the incredible talent behind Madame Ilary designs) to Sunday brunch and a walk about the market, I accepted immediately!

It was a great day! We were celebrating her turbans being sold by the adorable Ms. Laura from Italian Vintage Suite, and we took some pictures with our favorite pieces before walking around for some great shopping and some vintage street style (I love photographing Ilaria in her vintage pieces)!

Ilaria bought some great vintage buttons for her creations. As for me, I finally decided to gift myself some Marion Godart resin jewels, which I dreamed of for a long time, from Lorena Taddei’s beautiful stall!

I wore Max&Co black coat and messenger bag, vintage denim shorts, Tosca blu ankle boots, La Maison Momoni tartan scarf and my new palm brooch from Marion Godart!

The Ladybug in Turbans Wonderland: The Grand Opening of Sine Modus

Sometimes being happy for other people’s success is really hard, I know. Most of the time, it’s because we don’t think it is really deserved and we pass our false felicity for their fortune with the notion that it is just good luck or make other haphazard excuses for their success. But believe me, when it is completely deserved and is the fruit of hard work, you cannot be anything other than happy and even a bit proud, especially when you were one of those who believed in it.

This is what happened with me for the huge success of the beautiful Manuela and Chiara, the amazing souls behind Sine Modus. But let me start from the beginning, which means December 2013 when I met them at the Lekker Market and could not move away from their stall of amazing turbans. You may know already my passion for hats, turbans, headbands, fascinators and anything that you can wear on your head, to the point that I often feel naked when I can’t wear something on it- especially in winter. And their handmade turbans were to die-for! I even bought one, not the one that I chose at first, but a turquoise one that they put on my head and I just fell in love with at that very exact moment. They were mostly classic turbans but very well done, with amazing variety of materials and with incredible shades and decorations. But what really made me crazy was the fact that their turbans were recycled from vintage dresses and shirts, giving them new life under the form of turbans. Since then I felt that they “had something:” they told me that they mostly sold at markets and events and that I could find them on Facebook if I wanted more handmade turbans. Which I did, of course. Every time they were at some market/event I went to find them to try new pieces (as they evolved to new more structured forms) and of course to get some new turbans to add to my collection. When I wear their turbans it’s always a smashing success (people stopping me everywhere in the streets and asking me about them – even in London!). We often talked about them selling online or even open a shop- and then it happened, almost a year after we first met. I was full of joy when I received their invitation for the opening because they were finally rewarded for their hard working and of course because I finally have a place where I can find them whenever I want!

It is a cute little shop in Milan on via Pomponazzi, 22 full of vintage pieces (from clothing to accessories) and of course loads of hats and their famous handcrafted turbans! You can recognize it from the big “ Vintage is in the Air” quote on their window and from the two beautiful and talented girls inside!

Well done ladies, very well done!

I wore Topshop silk shirt, Zara pleated skirt, Lazzari oxfords and of course one of my adored Sine Modus handmade turbans!