Uncluttered

This morning I have been doing some browsing through different blogs, and I liked their uncluttered look. So, I decided to make a few changes to this blog. Here it is, our improved face! I hope you like it. Still working on including links to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Bloglovin and Pinterest...

Flick Chicks

You may have already read this today, since it has been passed around the web quite a few times. If you have not, you cannot miss Emmy-nominated Mindy Kaling's take on women's stereotypes in Hollywood in this New Yorker's article.

My favourite quote is from the Woman Who Is Obsessed with Her Career:

"Since when does holding a job necessitate that a woman pull her hair back in a severe, tight bun? Do screenwriters think that loose hair makes it hard to concentrate?"

She also has a book coming out. I checked it out on Amazon and what I found most inspiring was her bio:

MINDY KALING is an Emmy-nominated writer and actress on NBC’s The Office. You can find her on Twitter (@mindykaling), or at her desk pretending to be writing a screenplay but actually online shopping with a memorized credit card number. She resides in Los Angeles. Her billing zip code is 90067.

OMG, this could be me sometimes.

To trend or not to trend?

One of the main missing piece from my Fall closet is a light coat. This is somewhat of a chronic problem for me, which I have tried to remedy to at least a few times. For instance, a couple of years ago I snatched a lovely Burberry coat from a sale. I thought it had all the characteristics for being a success: cashmere blend (read: warm but feather weight), trench colour (light enough but more resistant than white to stains), mid-length and high collar (the latter two being important for sudden drops of temperature as we are used to experience in Canada during this season). When it arrived in the mail, it was beautiful but I immediately realized it could have not been an item of daily wear, because both the material and the colour were too delicate. I thus bought a black felt coat from Guess and used it for almost two years straight in Fall and Spring.

I was anticipating that, due to the milder climate in Italy than in Canada, I would have gotten more use out of a "transitional" fall coat, which is thus one of the main items on my wish list. My idea was to add a classic Max Mara grey of blue coat to my outerwear collection, but I got overcome by a daring spirit and decided to look somewhere else. Not that I got too far out the classic realm: I ended up taking home a pale grey Valentino coat. Unfortunately for me, on the way home I encountered real coat love in the form of Stella McCartney's navy blue cocoon version from this year's collection.

I turned to my mother for advice. She strongly encourages me to keep the Valentino coat, because it will never go out of style and it is age-appropriate for me. As for Stella's coat, well, she said I am not 25-years old anymore, so I should not get so hung up on items that are too trendy. What to do?

Bloglovin'

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I just discovered a great way to follow my favourite blogs, and you can use it to follow us as well! From now on, at the bottom of each post, you'll be able to share on Bloglovin whether you liked it.

MFW: What I saw and what they saw

Milan Fashion week started on Thursday. Since I will likely not have neither the chance nor the time again to check it out, I took the day off and went downtown.

If you followed me on Twitter you already know what I saw, but let me recap and expand on a few points. When I got to center city, the show was getting set up. The core of it all was a big tent, the Fashion Hub, which had already been assembled right next to the Duomo with a list of all shows and events hung on one of its sides. Passerbies stopped to check it out, although all shows and events were invite-only and none of them probably could attend them. In fact, since the fashion insiders were at the shows, the shops were mainly empty. I stopped by in a couple of places to check out the Fall fashion (I still owe you a report on this, don't I?) and what made me smile was that the sales attendants were always surprised when they realized I was Italian -- a rarity amongst all the foreigners they were probably expecting this week. In the street, the color that people were wearing the most seemed to be red, with other brights following close. Especially in Via Montenapoleone I also saw many photographers, who were probably waiting for their next scoop on "street style at MFW" or other famous sightings.

Indeed the reason why I waited to finish this post is that I was curious about what was spotted and reported by the fashion insiders (which today means mainly bloggers). They saw a circus, if one has to trust the pictures that appeared on Fashionologie's daily reports (here is the full series: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6 and a recap).

Would I do it again? Probably not. After all, I am not a fashion blogger, I am just a mom. But I am glad I did it once!


Photo: Fashionologie.

Fashion, style, and the Fall trends

My 95-years old grandfather passed away this summer. He followed my beloved grandmother by a couple of years and their house, where I spent most of my childhood, is now empty. My mom has decided, for good reasons, to sell it, so that today I spent a few hours sorting through the things I would like to keep.

It was actually the first time I had gone through my grandmother's closet since her passing. I remember her as a woman of style, with her hair always perfectly coiffed and her makeup without a smudge. Her signature were her silk scarves, tied at the neck with a golden pin, worn atop a silk blouse or round neck sweater. She never wore pants, only pencil skirts, kitten heels (no lady of her time would have ever worn flats!), and a camel or fur coat in winter. Yet she never bought clothing of famous labels for herself. She treasured her Trussardi handbag just because I had gotten it for her one Christmas.

At the bottom of the chest in her bedroom I found this handbag, which is the best incarnation of her sense of style: a burgundy handheld frame bag, with matching leather gloves still tucked into the outside pocket. This encounter brought to my mind an article I read in this month's Vanity Fair, their 6th annual Style issue. It was an interview with fashion icon Ralph Rucci who, when asked what the difference is between Fashion and Style, said:

"Halston who was a genius, said: One season shouldn't be Field & Stream chic and the next season you're in Mainland China. That's fashion! Style never changes. It's a straight line. It's a refinement of the same vocabulary. Style takes you from day to evening, season to season."

Being bombarded by commercial messages on the latest fashion trends can, however, be quite distracting in one's quest for style. Indeed, what Ralph Rucci said could not be more appropriate for this year's Fall trends, which span from the forties to the eighties, and pretty much everything in between. How to chose what trends to follow, and to incorporate them in your own style? Think about who you are, and who inspires you. I know I will think about my grandmother.

A new place to live

That's it. We are settled down. After a couple of meltdowns because we had no idea where our stuff was (back in Canada? forgotten in Belgium or at the countryside?), our things have found their place in our new apartment in Milan.

Getting our clothes organized was definitely the most difficult part. Our apartment, where I lived with my parents until the age of 17, has a walk-in closet. Yet it was obviously built in a different time, when my mom succeeded in being stylish with fewer clothes than I own (I will post about this as soon as she gives me permission to use her pictures!) and my dad must have had little clothing-- how to otherwise explain that I could have easily taken over the whole space and I still have the feeling of nothing to wear on most mornings?

Yet I succeeded. My dresses and few items of eveningwear are in one space (as you can see in the picture above), which is separate from my main closet. This was too small to hang my jeans (something I always do to find them more easily), so I folded them and put them in a shelf compartment with my handbags. For now, my winter sweaters and heavier clothing is still stored and (hopefully) I will not need it for a while!

New York and London Fashion Week's wrap-up

I guess that, as much as me, most of you will not get interested in Spring fashion until, well, spring arrives in several months. Yet I find interesting to follow the main events of Spring Fashion Week for a couple of reasons. First, the attendes obviously make it a point to sport the latest (read: Fall) trends. In New York, one of my fashion icons, Hanneli Mustaparta, was one of the best dressed examples (as you can see in the top two pictures above, via Fashionologie). She was spotted wearing earthy fall tones, bright yellow, and wedge sneakers, as well as Phillip Lim's ubiquitous Pashli handbag in the satchel cream version.

London's street style was slightly more subdued, but classy nonetheless. I like to follow Spring Fashion Week also because knowing what's coming helps me decide what to invest in the Fall. For instance, at New York Fashion Week, one could see a continuing abundance of (mustard) yellow, orange and nude, and handheld bags (you can see here the best ones as edited by Fashionologie, and here Shopbop's edit). In fact, I found the Burberry Prorsum show (online at burberry.com) almost "fall-ish" in its colour palette, which coupled mustard yellow to burgundy, navy blue, deep purple and moss green. Investing in these hues this season should prove a smart choice.

As for the new collection themselves, I was not very impressed by the American ones. Same as above for the collections of the British designers, with one main exception: Burberry Prorsum. I am a huge fan of this label and it did not disappoint me. Plus, I found incredible that, right after the show, outerwear and handbags went straight to pre-sale through the label's website. Now, that's 21st century! The pieces can be ordered through September 26, if you can afford the price tag.

Mulberry also presented a couple of bags I am lukewarm about (the full collection can be seen here), but the show should get the award for the most kid-friendly display -- I mean: giant ice cream cones?

Today, Fashion week has arrived in Milan. Since this is the one and only occasion I will have for a while to be so close to the event, tomorrow during lunch break I will go check it out. Stay tuned!

When does child safety become an obsession?

I was having lunch today while checking the latest news on one of the main Italian newspapers, Corriere Della Sera. In Beppe Severgnini's column "Italians", I stumbled upon the letter of a mom that I found very interesting. She was telling how, this morning, one of the attendants at her son's school did not want to let her on the premises to talk to the teacher. The attendant indicated that, for safety's sake, the school rules sanction that parents can speak with the teacher only during general meetings. The mom insisted, and she was able to deliver her son directly into the teacher's hands. The reason of her insistence had been that she was delivering her son's birthday cake.

The memory of my first visit to my son's school in Milan came immediately to mind. My mom, who had come along, had been then particularly impressed by the security of the establishment, which has a doorman around the clock and closed gates that one's needs permission to enter. Fast forward to the parents' first general school meeting a few weeks ago. The school director is explaining that, after the beginning of classes, nobody except the children and the school personnel is allowed inside the classrooms for safety reasons. All these security measures make me feel that, when my son is at school, he should be safe. But banning a mom from meeting her child's teacher? That is going too far, in my view.

Fall is here!

Today the weather cooled off quite a bit. When I took my son to school this morning, the temperature had dropped below 15 degrees, but the afternoon is still sunny and warm. Fall has begun. It is my favorite season, with its first chills and that feeling of new beginnings, which this year I have more than ever.

In Canada, what I do not like about Fall is that the weather is too unpredictable: it can be freezing one day and warm the following one, and it can even change from minus to plus temperature on the same day. For this reason, there I need to keep all my summer and winter clothing in the closet at the same time, which makes it even more difficult to get dressed in the morning. On the contrary, here the transition from summer to Fall is more "organized", I'd like to say. Right now I need to add a jacket for the morning chills, and I should probably have one light layer underneath. I need to store summer colors and items such as strappy sandals, and I can start introducing Fall ones in their place.

That it is officially fall is indeed evident in women's changed clothing choices. Today, at our weekly seminar, which has become my window on Italian fashion, women started sporting earthy colors and metallic accessories. Although this time I was appropriately dressed in neutrals (after last week's shorts debacle), I wished I had added one of the two trends to my clothing choices.

In sum, it is time for Fall shopping and dressing! I'll take a look at the Fall trends first, stay tuned for the next post.


Photo: Cieli di Parole.

Our weekend

A few days ago, I received GOOP's newsletter. It was edited by guest Julia Leach of Chance, who shared her typical routine on a Fall weekend. I found it fascinating mostly because it gave me a feeling of old times, when I could sleep in on Saturdays and then go gallery hopping in the afternoon before heading for supper in hip places.

The newsletter got me thinking about how my typical weekend now is. During the week both my husband and I have little time to spend with our son, so we deeply cherish our family time together during the weekend. Yet especially when kids come in the picture household chores and errands can easily become a plague. We thus all make an effort to make sure that these are kept to a minimum so that weekends can be filled with fun activities.

Back at home in Canada, Fall weekends are the last chance to fully enjoy the outdoors before the long and cold winter comes. We take advantage of this period to go apple picking, to watch the Fall foliage in nearby forests, to go pumpkin picking close to Halloween, and to take as many walks as possible. Here in Italy, most families who live in the city will try to flee to the countryside or the beach until late October, in order to make sure that the kids enjoy the fresh air as much as possible before the winter time. Leaving on Friday night for the countryside to come back on Sunday night has indeed been my typical weekend activity when growing up. It has been my parents' expectation that we would do the same while we are here. Even though we love the countryside, bucolic weekends in the countryside can easily turn into work camps, and all the traveling we have done recently has not put me in the best predisposition to get out of town for a couple of days every week.

Since my husband will be traveling for work starting next Friday, this weekend we decided to stay in Milan, and these have been our discoveries and explorations.

SATURDAY 9:00am: Lazy morning
My son slept in and came into our bed around 8:30am. I find it amazing how children can be immediately up and running after waking up, but that is definitely not the case for me! I was grateful that my husband took the initiative of reading a book to my son so that I could get an extra hour of sleep. Finally, we all woke up and had breakfast. It was nothing fancy but on top of my list is to make our weekend breakfast a bit more special, maybe with fresh croissants from the bakery around the corner. After breakfast, we hung around the apartment. I still had to get few things organized and my son enjoyed being at home and playing with his toys after his first week of school.

SATURDAY, 10:30am: Getting dressed, weekend style
I will quote Julia Leach here, because I could have not said it better myself: "Saturdays are all about being comfortable and just polished enough-you never know who you're going to run into." Since the weather is still quite warm, my weekend uniform are skinny jeans, simple tees, sneakers, aviators, and my faithful Louis Vuitton tote (you may remember it from this post).

SATURDAY, 2:00pm: Outing to the park in Monza
After a quick lunch, we had planned of spending the afternoon in the park of Monza. You may have heard of Monza's Formula 1 circuit, but you probably do not know that the two are one and the same. Monza has a vast urban park, within which one can find the famous race circuit. Monza's park is one of the "milanesi"'s favorite destinations in the summer, because it is quite close to the city (it took us 20 minutes to get there) and it is generally not crowded. We spent our time biking around in a funky pedal car, and we then got a panoramic train ride. We explored the small playground and ended up at a giant inflatable slide that I am sure was my son's favorite attraction! On the way back, we got an amazing view of the upcoming storm and we spotted few beautiful lightenings in the distance.

Photo: Osteria della Vongola Strafatta

Photo: Paperblog

SUNDAY, 3:00pm: Crayola hand-painting workshop
On Sunday morning it was raining, so we had to get creative. Luckily a nearby store had organized a Crayola hand-painting workshop for kids, which my son really enjoyed (without getting too dirty).

Crayola's hand-painting workshop

SUNDAY, 4:00pm: Elephant parade in center city
Afterwards, the rain stopped and we all headed for center city. Our first discovery was the Elephant Parade, which has arrived in Milan from Copenaghen on September 16. Indeed, my husband had brought me one Isaac Mizarhi miniature from his most recent trip there, and today he got me a new one to go with it.

Miniatures from the Elephant Parade

Lush's robot bath bomb

We then made a stop at the Lush store on Via Dante, where we stocked up on bubble bath products. My son is looking forward to try his lavender and camomile bath bomb, cutely disguised as a robot.

Risotto according to the tradition of Milan with chunks of saffron

We made our longest stop at the Imaginarium store in Piazza Cordusio, not because of they toy selection but rather because of the reading corner. My husband was delighted that there were both English and French books on display and entertained my son for almost an hour. We ended up at the Risotteria of La Rinascente, just in time to avoid the pouring rain and to regain our energy with pizza and risotto "alla milanese", one of the best in town. Next time, my son said he wants to eat at the sushi bar.

Getting ready for Fall, part 3 // Discover yourself

Taking stock is just an inventory, a necessary step to bring you to a more important phase. Indeed, the contents of your closet are, first and foremost, a reflection of who you are, of your likes, dislikes and obsessions.

The first question you need to ask yourself after taking stock of your closet's contents thus is: am I happy with it or do I have the feeling I have nothing to wear in the morning? If you are satisfied, and you just want to add few new pieces from the latest Fall trends, I ask you to be patient and wait until my next post in this series. On the contrary, if you need some help in your quest for discovery, or you just want to smile at the tales of us unhappy-closet people, read on.

I would like to believe that my present unsatisfaction is due to our move to a new place and its new fashion culture (remember yesterday's post?) but I cannot. One of my goals this year was actually to take advantage of this new environment (and my mother's unforgiving but generally accurate fashion sense) to cast away unsettling feelings when I get dressed in the morning.

Let's take a look at my annotated list (you can download the template here). If I would have to describe my closet I would say it is monochrome and boring. Most of my blouses are white, and my jackets and pants are either black, blue or dark brown. Same goes for my handbags. Gosh, I think there is more variety in my husband's closet! When it comes to shoes, I have brought mainly ballerinas, that likely I will not be able to wear because of my foot injury.

That's the diagnosis. What is the cure? Here will be my commitments and commandments for this year:

1. I will not invest into any monochrome item or pair of jeans.
2. I will learn how to add color to my closet.
3. I will explore footwear alternatives to flats.

Am I not lucky that color and skyrocket heels are trendy this season! Obviously though the challenge of "curing" your closet is that, with few exceptions, you do not want to throw everything away and start from scratch. But my advice is to do it figuratively.

For the next few days, imagine that your closet is empty. Then do some research. Look at what your fashion icon is wearing, or in fashion magazines, or online, and set aside what inspires you, what you could see yourself wearing and be happy. I'll do the same, and I'll report back on this "homework" in my next post.

Missoni frenzy

The much anticipated collection of Missoni for Target hit stores this morning. I wonder who were the few to actually see it, since most of it has already sold out in most locations (as Madison Avenue Spy reported earlier today).

Since we are in Europe and Target's delivery options are non-existent across the Atlantic, I have tried not to think about this launch too much. But I could not resist, and I just checked online. After few minutes of happy browsing, and much drooling over items that are long gone (home collection and kitchenware) and those surprisingly still available (most of the women's clothing line), the site crashed. As I am waiting that it comes back online, I have to confess I cannot help but thinking how can I possibly get those remaining salad plates.


Photo: Target.

The "American cousin" feeling

Last week has been a frenzy of school-related activities and errands, as my son was adjusting to kindergarten. Add a couple of trips to IKEA to get the last few things we needed in our new apartment and you have no time left for blogging! I thus apologize to my readers if I neglected you, but I am sure you understand my position.

The series on Fall fashion will resume shortly. Meanwhile I would like to share with you my today's fashion story.

Since it is still 30 degrees outside and I was inspired by the looks spotted at New York Fashion Week (where shorts are ubiquitous according to net-a-porter.com), this morning I decided to wear shorts to the office. It was a pair of tailored black shorts (that I bought right before leaving Canada, as posted here), which I paired with a silk Theory top, tailored blazer, Sigerson Morrison strappy black sandals and black Miu Miu hobo. I left home feeling great.

Yet my mother's disapproval on the choice of shorts for the office was not a good omen. As I walked into a seminar I was attending at lunchtime, one of my colleagues (father of five) told me: "I had not recognized you! I was wondering who was the student wearing shorts, but then I realized it was a professor!" I laughed but I wished I could disappear from the room.

In other circumstances I would have cheered myself up with an extra serving of the delicious sandwiches that were offered at the event (Italians do know how to do the food stuff). But I did not, since I thought this would have only worsened my situation. All other women in the room had had only half a sandwich, while I had already had two...


Photos by Mr Newton as seen on Harpers' Bazaar.

Bag display

Today my son started kindergarden in Milan. I am sure it feels more of a milestone for me than for him, so I was quite nervous when I woke up. And did I mention that he is going to a French private school? I felt incredibly under pressure to be dressed appropriately for the occasion. (Dressing my little boy was quite easy, with a polo shirt and dressy jeans combo). After long consideration, I ended up opting for a silk blouse, chinos, strappy gladiators for a hip vibe, and one of my two Louis Vuitton shoulder bags (you cannot go wrong with LV!)

When we arrived at the school and we were waiting outside with the other parents, I distracted myself from the tension of this milestone moment to look at the other moms. I was most impressed not by their clothing choices but by the handbag display. This ranged from Louis Vuitton to Hermes Birkin bags, with everything in between -- even Alexander Wang's latest collection. Half of the moms paired classic ballerinas to their purse, but another half had sky-high wedge sandals that made me a bit jealous...


Photo: photo5814.