The Ladybug goes for the bronze medal

Bronze, gold, silver…how hard it is to wear these colors? I love them and I often wear golden or silver boots and other accessories but when it comes to clothing the story becomes quite hard.

Not that I use to move back from fashion challenges, I totally love to push it a bit when I can but this often means facing people comments or strange glances in the street! I’m quite used to that but every now and then it just gets on my nerves!

I knew all this when I decided to buy and wear this amazing culottes and turban bronze combo from Heka Couture but I tested it for the first time in Paris where people were absolutely loving it! But Paris is Paris and Milan is Milan…but you know what? Who cares? “Let people stare at you and keep being fabulous”: this is what I say to myself when a glimpse of doubt crosses my mind!

So I wore my combo for work and then a movie date with a friend, matching it with Topshop pale blue shirt and Mango leather biker jacket.  I added killer black heels from 8 at Yoox, cameo ring from Alcozer & Co. and handmade earrings by Metalica Creazioni.

So what do you think? Fashion yay or nay?

The Ladybug’s festive outfit for her first day of work after Christmas break!

I know being late is my personal mark, but hey! in Italy only yesterday we celebrated the last festive days of the Christmas holidays, so…as I was back at work this morning let me share my Christmas day’s outfit!

Even if I’m wearing red (in perfect accordance with the Christmas rules!), hearts and velvet, let’s imagine that it is a daily outfit, with the exception that, being in Sicily and being Christmas day particularly warm, I wore just a shirt without any coat or jacket!

I tried to create a retro style even if none of the pieces that I am wearing is vintage.

The heart shirt is from the Korean site Yes Style, a new discovery from a friend of mine who is a regular customer and proposed me to try it. I went for this lovely shirt and I am very satisfied with my purchase!

The velvet blue culottes is something that I have been looking for for ages: I finally found this pair at Diffusione Tessile in Milan, one of my favorite places to find the best unsold pieces from Max Mara, Max& Co, Sportmax, Marella and other brands of the group past seasons pieces for half of their retail price. If you can’t find a store near you make sure to have a look at their site.

I added my favorite 70’s inspired heeled shoes from L’Autre Chose (I found them for half their selling price on Yoox) and handmade red earrings from Lora Nikolova Bijoux.

The Ladybug and the uncomfortable question: are you a style stealer?

Let me ask you a question that I am often asked from (and often ask to) my girlfriends: do you mind if someone else buys something that she saw from you? Is it a problem if there is someone else with the exact dress or shoes that you are wearing in the same room as you?

Being “copied” is a sign of admiration: if I buy the same dress that you are wearing it implicitly means that I like the way you are dressed (at least that day!) or that your style is compatible with mine. Nevertheless I can name tons of people that are horrified if they see someone wearing something that they are wearing at the same time. And you? Are you a style stealer or you always strive for exclusivity?

Based on the assumption that the same dress (or shoes or any other piece) can be worn by two different women in a totally different way, I have the feeling that styling a piece is something very personal, as it is wearing a piece because you are the owner of the body and of the personality rocking it or killing it. At the same time, one of the reasons why I love wearing vintage and handmade is the same fact that I know that I will probably be the only one wearing that piece in the world!

As I have the chance to have many stylish and well-dressed friends (I guess this may be one of my criteria to choose my friends! ), it happens very often that we buy the same things, especially with my work colleagues with the elevated risk of arriving at work and see your colleague wearing the same thing as you! We all feel comfortable with what we wear and this may be the reason why we don’t care that much about that but we always ask each other the same question: do you mind if I buy the same?

I am talking about that because I “stole” today’s outfit dress from a friend of mine working with me who bought it online. I didn’t steal it for real, I just fell in love with it and with the retro shape at the point that I needed one too! I asked the usual question and I received the usual answer, so I felt free to go on Yoox and buy this 8 dress from the Kisua for Africa collection. (I still send her a little text the night before to let her know that I am going to wear it the day after!).

But this is not the only piece that I “stole”! I also stole the idea of the silver peep-toe ankle boots from a pair that I saw on my friend-colleague, but we have so many common pieces (especially shoes, on which we have the very same style and passion) that we decided not to ask each other the usual question because we already know the answer! These adorable ankle boots are from Fiori Francesi and I got them during the summer sales.

I paired everything with my diva Celine cat sunglasses (my own!!).

Apparently I am definitely a style stealer….and you?

The Ladybug and a vintage-without-vintage outfit challenge

This is one of my favorite outfits of this summer because it is a very good example of how to create a retro inspired look by using only new pieces. Even if I prefer to add always a little real vintage here and there this time I decided to challenge myself and try to look retro without using anything vintage.

All started with this lovely white silk top that I received as I birthday present from my colleagues at the office from one of my favorite shops in Milan, La Maison Momonì. I saw it while hanging around with some of my work colleagues and we made a joke about it because of the quote on the blouse and how it could apply on me and they decided that it was the perfect gift for my birthday (it was indeed!).

I decided to wear it with this pale pink circle skirt (bought from H&M during the summer sales for ten euros!) that I loved immediately for its retro inspiration (and for its price, of course!) and with another retro inspired piece, these pink and burgundy platform sandals from L’autre Chose that look like coming straight from the 50’s with the lovely peep-toes and ankle strap bought on Yoox.

I finished the retro outfit with my round Valentino sunglasses and Miu Miu bag.

What do you think? Did I win my challenge?

The Ladybug, her BFFs, a motorbike, Spanish tapas and a 9am-9pm outfit

Every outfit has a story and this is the story of a special night out spent with my friends/colleagues a few weeks ago to celebrate the upcoming holidays and some random August birthdays (yes, mine too!).

We decided to spend it in one of our favorite venues, the Spanish tapas bar Ajoblanco in the Isola area of Milan, so I needed a perfect outfit both for a day at work and for the night aperitif, with a retro touch, of course!

I went for this lovely withe shirt with short sleeves from Cos and simple cigarette black trousers from & Other Stories, to which I added a pair of pointy heeled shoes from 8 (bought on Yoox, one of the best heeled shoes ever as they are high enough to make me look taller and comfortable enough to wear all day and even after!) and a retro touch with one of my favorite necklaces, a bakelite necklace from the French designer Marion Godart with houses and trees . Bag is Miu Miu.

Guest stars of the day are my friend Lily, a real biker with her incredible motorbike who accepted (both, Lily and the motorbike) to pose with me and my friend Simona rocking her new 80’s inspired blazer from La Maison Momoni. Now tell me, can I ask for more stylish BFFs?