What do you wear to take your kids trick-or-treating?

Happy Halloween!

We are having a great day at the countryside. This morning, contrary to expectations, we decided to carve the pumpkin we had picked on Saturday. My husband did really a wonderful job!

We spent the late morning to restock on Halloween supplies at the local drugstore, and we were quite impressed about the stock. We have now plenty of balloons, a skeleton hanging from our doorbell, and pumpkin-shaped garlands in the house. Our shopping outing was useful also to find out the local happenings: it turns out that this evening there is a Halloween kids' party in a nearby village! God bless globalization :-)

Since we will definitely go and check it out, I have been giving some thought about what to wear. Indeed, I never noticed a particular preference among moms to get dressed up for Halloween when they take their kids trick-or-treating. As opposite to Hollywood's stars, who are always photographed in the weirdest costumes, the rest of us may go for some makeup or for a special accessory. I guess we are all aware that the sexy nurse is not an appropriate disguise if you are accompanying an under 15.

Since I love to dress up, I have always taken my son trick-or-treating in a watered-down witch's costume made of a hat and a cape, which I can wear even with heavier clothing underneath if the weather is too cold. This year I am really at loss to decide what to do. I searched through my inbox and my favorite fashion websites, and I realized there is obviously more interest about how to dress our kids for Halloween, rather than ourselves (great last minute ideas from Martha Stewart here). I think I will thus go for the witch's hat. What about you?

Cowboys and witches

As part of our Halloween weekend in the countryside, we decided to go back to Cowboyland in Voghera (PV), which my son really loves and where there were supposed to be Halloween-related activities (you may remember our last visit during the summer).

The latter were limited to a girl dressed up like a witch who was roaming around the park handing candies to children. We turned into a mission to find here, but my son was a bit disappointed because he got just a couple of hard candies. Yet the ranch show was enjoyable and my son had a blast by going numerous times on the roller coaster. For me, the most amazing thing every time I come here is still finding these pieces of American folklore in the middle of the Italian countryside!

A cooking craft

Pear millefoglie

My son is not a big fruit eater. I obviously blame this on myself, because when I was weaning him I never insisted on either fruit purées or sliced fruit. Right now, I have been able to get him to like fresh apple and banana purée and some sliced bananas, but that's pretty much it. So my husband and I are always looking for creative ways to get him interested in fruit.

Through my son's French school, we have subscribed to two kids' magazines. In the latest issue of one of them (Toboggan) there was an interesting recipe for pear "millefoglie", which my husband drew my son into preparing for his grandparents this evening. I find it is a great thing to keep your kids busy in the kitchen, so I'll share the recipe here. Enjoy!


RECIPE: Pear millefoglie
Ingredients (for 4 people): 4 pears, 4 slices of prosciutto, 12 teaspoons of Philadelphia, a bunch of chives, a bunch of basil.
Instructions:

1. First, wash the chives and mix them in a bowl with the Philadelphia cheese.

2. Cut each prosciutto slice in stripes and set aside.
3. Wash the pears, and slice them in six pieces beginning with the bottom. Remove seeds if necessary.

4. Lay the bottom piece of each pear on a plate. Spread the cheese-chives mixture on it, then layer one slice of prosciutto and a couple of basil leaves.

5. Cover with the next pear slice (be careful with the order!), and repeat until you have finished all pear slices.

Pumpkin picking

In Canada, each October we make an outing to the fields surrounding Montreal in order to pick our Halloween pumpkin, which my husband is then responsible for carving. Orange pumpkins like those one can find in North America are not very common in Milan, so we decided to give up on the carving. Yet we wanted to get a pumpkin in order to cook some fall specialties, such as pumpkin soup and risotto (one of my absolute favorites!).

This morning we thus headed to our local farmer to accomplish this task. I find it always fascinating to check out the seasonal produce, because in Canada the weather is too cold to appreciate it. This time we also got an interesting story: the farmer was saying how, when he was a child sixty years ago, the locals used to celebrate the 31st of October with spooky decorations, and the kids used to go house by house to ask for treats. Kind of Hallowinish, don't you think?

Spooky weather

We arrived late last night at the countryside and this morning we woke up to a very spooky weather -- perfect for our Halloween weekend!

Halloween preparations

Lush's skull-shaped bath balls

As a kid, carnival has always been one of my favorite festivities. I still remember the emotion of having celebrated it once with my parents In Venice when I was about 12, and I hope to be able to do the same with my son next spring, since we will still be in Italy. Halloween as thus obviously become another one of my favourite times of the year, which gives me another opportunity to dress up. Since my son was born, we have always celebrated Halloween with trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Last year has been particularly special because we had just moved from an apartment to a house, so we had all the fun of decorating it and handing out candies as much as receiving them.

Halloween has become increasingly popular in Italy as well in recent years, but not among young children. Youth and adults celebrate it in disco clubs or organize home parties, but trick-or-treating is definitely not popular in big cities, where most people leave in big apartment buildings and do not necessarily now their neighbors.

Swarowski's Halloween-inspired windows

Since for us Halloween is a very special time of the year, we thus had to get creative. We started today by making a stop in center city. We got a couple of spooky reads at The American Bookstore, and checked out the stores. A few, such as Swarowski, had Halloween-inspired windows, but most did not. We were pleasantly surprised to discover a lot of fun stuff at Lush, in the form of skull-shaped bath balls and slimy soap gel. We are heading to the countryside later on today, and we are looking forward to see how small Italian towns deal with Halloween!

Our Halloween books

iPad handbags rising

Valextra iPad "Isis" clutch, available at the end of November

For me, it all started with Valextra. At the end of August, I read a small article about Valextra's new iPad handbag, launching just in time for the holidays. At the beginning, I thought it was a great idea, but then I started thinking when I could possibly use it. At work? I would not put my iPad in a handbag to take it two doors down to a department meeting, and for out-of-office meetings I need to carry more stuff than I could fit in it. During free time? If that involves my son, it is unlikely. If I am by myself, maybe. But for the going price of an iPad handbag (Valextra's retail price will start at 800 euros), I rather invest in a "proper" handbag. I thus shelved the idea and decided to stick with my Apple magnetic case.

Yet there must be a market for iPad handbags, because they are one of the latest hypes in the handbag department.

Dolce & Gabbana sequined pouch (1175 USD at Neiman Marcus)

Marc Jacobs quilted case (495 USD at Neiman Marcus)

Chanel quilted case (1555 USD at Chanel stores)

In all cases, these iPad handbags are big enough to hold your iPad and "your cell, compact, and small wallet", as the description of Dolce & Gabbana's pouch above indicates. For this reason, I am strangely drawn to Diane von Furstenberg's "Harper Connect day Bag". Instead of having to take out the iPad from inside the bag, you can just slot it in the special compartment at the back, which includes a special zipped-up flap. At 695 USD, wouldn't it just be easier to buy a regular bag though? Or is there maybe a use to this kind of bag that am I missing? How would you use an iPad handbag?

Diane von Furstenberg "Harper Connect Day bag" (695 USD at Neiman Marcus). Photo: Fooyoo.

P.S. If I you pull my ear and make me forget about all these issues, I would definitely go for the Proenza Schouler PS1 iPad clutch...

FW11 trends | Handbags

Valentino Rockstud tote in python

As far as fashion addictions go, I think most women are either obsessed with shoes (remember the movie with Cameron Diaz "In her shoes"?) or with handbags. Ever wondered why you seldom hear somebody say that she is obsessed with pants? According to an interesting article I once read, it is because handbags, in particular, are the least judgmental piece in a woman's closet. An handbag will not make you feel too fat, too skinny, too tall or too short. Indeed, to transform an old look all is needed is often just a new bag, or a new pair of shoes.

Perhaps you guessed by now that I am in the handbag-groupie crowd. (This year I am even more so because of my foot injury, which has revolutionized my shoe closet, as will tell you jn my next post.) I do not remember how my passion for handbags started, but I remember how I came out: the Fendi Spy bag, my first true object of obsession. I was just a student then and I could not afford it. I managed to buy a cheap knock-off in Italy from a street vendor, that I wore proudly for two days before it broke. I even got a version on eBay a few years later.

One of the most important changes in my handbags preferences' after my son was born has been that I realized small bags just don't do it for me anymore. It is not because I stopped loving them (my last impulse buy has been a small red, ostrich-embossed DVF clutch, which I just could not resist), but because I really have limited opportunities to use them. My go-to style now revolves around two main types of bag. For a typical workday, I use a shoulder bag. It has to be roomy enough to hold my wallet, beauty bag, keys, phone and a couple of packs of tissue for the occasional runny nose or dirty hands. A shoulder bag leaves my hands free to carry a computer bag, if I am taking my laptop to the office, and to hold my son's hand during the school run. My favourite one is Miu Miu's matelassé hobo, which my mom got me for Christmas a few years ago, and that proved incredibly resistant in spite of the extra-soft leather it is made of.

My Miu Miu black matelassé hobo (still available through net-a-porter)

For the weekend and holidays, I rely on a big roomy tote to hold my stuff plus my son's necessities such as a small change of clothes, toy, you know what I mean. Since my son's birth, I have pretty much used only my Louis Vuitton Monogram "Never Full" tote, which has just acquired a substitute in the form of the Damier, my new favorite that I can use to go to the office as well.

My new Louis Vuitton Damier "Westminster" tote (available through louisvuitton.com)

I often combine these two types of bags for traveling with my son (I look a bit like the woman in this great picture by Jak and Jil).

Mommy and me style (Photo: Jak and Jil, available through Kirtsy)

This season, you can choose to have either a small bag, a big bag, or both. So much for undecidedness. Similar to clothing trends (that I discussed in my earlier post), the key element seems to be the color: burgundy bags are super-trendy, as much as yellow and orange ones. Colored python gets a lot of hype too, if you are willing to break the bank with a tote like Valentino's. I had my eyes on Celine's iconic luggage tote, which, as Madison Avenue Spy correctly puts it, "this season is hotter than coal on a BBQ."

My favourite Celine's luggage tote

Since this year I have access to multiple stores selling Celine, I had the chance to check it out. I was quite disappointed though, because the handles are too small to carry it on the shoulder -- big no-no for me. The vacuum created by this realization has not yet been filled...

FW11 trends | Go with the bow

Bow blouse in fiery color on Gucci' runway

Even Fall's most androgynous look has moved beyond the simple shirt-blazer pairing. The silk blouse is the essential top to go with your Fall bottoms, preferably if they have a bow. Indeed net-a-porter has deemed the "pussy bow blouse" one of the essential items of Fall's new uniform.

I have started collecting bow blouses three years ago, so if you want to join in the trend here is my advice. First, go for silk. Second, opt for a semi-sheer style that will not awkwardly show off your bra (this is my mantra for all tops). Third, avoid leopard-, cheeta-, and similar kind of prints. Fourth, if you need to choose an essential and timeless style, go for white or cream color. Now you are ready to go with the bow!

Collections, collections

Photo: Bergdorf Goodman

Resort is here. The homepage of Bergdorf Goodman announced it a few days ago, so I guess it must be true. Hold on: didn't Neiman Marcus just unveiled the Christmas Book, with a few of its ridiculous-as-usual extravagant gifts? Worse: didn't I just buy a coat, which I have not yet worn because it is not coat season yet? What's going on?

I once read a Facebook poll that asked women whether they thought the cruise collection was only for people who are actually going on a cruise. Interestingly most people said no, that the cruise collection anticipates the spring and summer trends, so everyone is eligible to shop it. My question is: why do you need to shop for the spring trends in the dead of winter or, worse, when Fall is barely starting? Somehow I feel like I missed the memo about pret-a-porter turning into high fashion, with its rules about preordering at the time of the fashion shows.

Should then the rest of us care at all about the cruise collection, whether or not we will be going on a cruise anytime soon? I looked through the trends for Cruise according to Bergdorf Goodman and I got a bit discouraged. Cruise is a return to the neon hues and eye popping colors (I have a feeling of deja vu with spring 2011). Is it then worth to invest in forest green and burgundy for fall? I am feeling more and more conservative about this, but I am still obsessed abut a burgundy bag. There is hope for yellow and orange though, as seen at Burberry Prorsum and others for Spring 2012. Now more than ever I regret not bringing my Francesco Biasia orange tote.

FW11 trends | Hues and blues

This season is all about colors: how to mix them and how to match them. I have adopted as my color guide the five palettes put together by mytheresa.com. Here the emphasis is on matching colors, but I am discovering new mixing options everyday. Keep checking my board on Pinterest for updates! You can also get inspiration from the colour charts at Net-à-Porter and Bergdorf Goodman.

Sunday soccer game

Milan's San Siro stadium

Since we arrived in Italy, my husband has been talking about going to see a soccer game at Milan's famous stadium, San Siro. Today my father-in-law was visiting and he thought it was going to be the perfect moment. I was a bit reluctant at first, but then we discovered that there was one of the two child-friendly games of the year, so we decided to go. It turns out that two times a year one of Milan's home teams, Inter, schedules games in the early afternoon so that kids can attend as well.

Even though I am from Milan, I had never been to the stadium. In fact, my parents do not follow soccer regularly, and I have grown up getting excited only about the World Cup. My son was born the year that Italy won the title and I still remember, while pregnant, watching the last game with my mom at the beach.

Tales of violence at soccer games are endless, so the first thing I was impressed about is how civilized the event was. Security was impressive. You needed an ID to buy your ticket. In addition, the ticket was nominative and ID were thoroughly checked at the entrance. My father-in-law correctly pointed out that it would have been easier to get on a plane!

Overall, the game was bait boring, but the whole experience was quite interesting. We got really good seats, so close to the field that, while it was being fixed up for the game, I could smell the freshly cut grass.

Fixing up the field before the game

We also got a good view of the children that paraded through the field during the intermission.

Growing up "interisti"

I thought it was also interesting that here they do not play the national anthem before the game (Italians feel quite ambivalent about it anyway). Inter's theme is a light pop song: "Crazy Inter, gotta love her!", which everyone around us seemed to know by heart, especially the children.

I was educated that ladies do not go to the stadium. Yet modern moms seem to like to take their kids there, and they do so in a range of outfits: from the die-hard fans showcasing their team's paraphernalia to those in fur coats and Luis Vuitton bags.

There were two things I did not like. First, smoking is allowed and several people puffed away for the whole duration of the game. I am not used to the smell of smoke in public places and it really bothered me. Second, I did not know women's pay a reduced admission ticket, together with kids and people over 65. I have not yet decided whether to feel offended about this.

FW11 trends | Knits

Jil Sander colorful chunky knits (Photo: Fashionologie)

With dropping temperatures, knits are the other thing that everyone is talking about together with coats. I find it interesting how, in the past few years, knits have evolved from a cold weather necessity to fashion item. If I recall correctly, it all started with knit coats and sweater dresses a few years ago. This year the trend continues with chunky sweaters in bright colors, as at Jil Sander, and with chunky dresses, as at Stella McCartney.

Stella McCartney's chunky sweater dress (Photo: mytheresa.com)

Let me share my bit of wisdom about knits, as I have bought many and many different types over the years. It also so happens that my mother's best friend, who is the mom of my two best friends, is in the knitting business. She used to hand-knit when we were little and one of our favorite games was to imitate her. She also taught me a lot about yarn, and caring for knits.

I will start with the fact that nowadays knits sell for impossibly high prices. A knit coat by Stella McCartney can be over 1000 USD and Jil Sander's chunky knits above are close to that mark. The problem is that knits do not age well, and their price is often inversely related to their durability. Take cashmere, always one of the most expensive knits. It does not matter how careful you are when you wash it, it WILL sooner or later be prone to pilling. In this respect, chunky knits (the ones so much in fashion now) are the worst. Knit dresses have the additional problem that they will lose their shape after a couple of washes.

I have spent way too much money on knits that I had to throw out after one season, so here is what I do now. First, I NEVER spend more than 300$ on a knit item. This is my upper end, and I rarely reach it. I prefer to invest in cheaper knits, so that I can replace them after one or two season and not feel too bad about it. Second, if I want to invest, I buy merino wool. This is the absolutely most durable type of yarn out there. You can dry-clean it or hand-wash it as many times as you like and it will never pill or lose its shape. Since I moved to Canada, every year I have bought 70 CAD merino V-necks from Club Monaco in a range of colors, and they are the items still in my closet, while the expensive cashmere I got as gift is long gone. Third, the next best thing after merino wool is mixed wool. For instance, wool and cashmere or cashmere and silk. Fourth, be extremely careful with designer items. A couple of years ago I got as a gift a beautiful Phillip Lim fine cashmere sweater with a silk bow, which was worth about 400 USD. At the end of the season, after just three washes, it had pilled so much it was unwearable. On the contrary, two merino cardigans by Milly I bought the same year for half the price are two staple items in my closet today. Actually, I just found in Milan one of my old Moschino cardigans. It is made of black merino wool and carries its age (fifteen years) with delight.

This year I plan to get a few colorful knits from one of my favorite supplier: a no-name brand that is sold at one of Milan's department stores. Each sweater costs 50 euros, cashmere goes up to 80 and last dignitably for a few years. Yet I have had my eyes on an Erdem sweater for a while, and the reason why I have not gotten it is because I follow my own advice and I am a bit afraid of the price tag, which is around my upper limit...

A few things to remember on your bad days

"Pardon my sensible flats. I was not expecting to be photographed at the market.
 Clearly, Katie wasn’t planning on being seen, either." (Photo: Suri's Burn Book)

A bit more browsing of Suri's Burn Book have made me realize a few things that I vow to remember on my bad style days:

1. Even if they are the toughest critics, it is unlikely that your kids will be as critical of your personal style as Suri is of her mom's.

2. Bad hair and bad clothes days happen to everyone (did you see the picture of Katie Holmes I posted yesterday or the one above?) -- be grateful that in those moments you will not to have your picture taken and circulated all over the Internet for everyone to see.

3. Access to truckloads of cash does not equal a better sense of style.

FW11 trends | Coats

Today the heating was turned on for the first time in our apartment building. Indeed the temperature has dropped and the Indian summer we have enjoyed in September has, sadly, not come back. I feel thus now entitled to talk to you about coats, which seems what everyone is talking about right now.

Not that I have seen many coats around. According to my mother, it is not coat season yet. Now, I come from Canada but, perhaps because our apartment has been quite cold lately due the lack of centralized heating, I have been freezing my butt off and I could not conceive to leave home in the morning without at least a duster. Which I have done, but I have also looked around and discovered that my mother is right. Last week most moms outside my son school were wearing either a trench or they were layering jackets with scarves, or knits with knit coats. Nonetheless I bet that by early next week, when the minimum temperature is supposed to approach zero, more and more coats will surface.

Burberry Prorsum

Burberry Prorsum

Stella McCartney

Jil Sander

This season coats are all about colour and cocoon shapes. Colors span from earthy fall tones such as orange and red (Burberry Prorsum) to grass green (Stella McCartney) and cobalt blue (Jil Sander). In sum, I would say that any color goes. If you have one bright piece of outerwear in your closet, it is thus time to take it out! If you do not have one, and you are obsessed about color this season as much as I am, you need to be careful before venturing out shopping for such an item. Most colorful coats out there are cocoon-shaped. The combination of these two trends in one item results in something extremely trendy, which may be difficult to wear again another season.

Lanvin's structured take on the cape trend

I will just mention in passing another of this season's trends I am a bit ambiguous about: the cape. Capes, as much as color and cocoon shapes, are not new. They surfaced a couple of seasons ago, and keep getting reinvented. I love the look of them when I see them in pictures, and I had a cape on my wishlist for this season. But after trying on a few, I discovered I am not the cape type. The less structured ones make me look like a superhero -- and, although certainly most moms are, I am sure they prefer the subdued look of Clark Kent. What I do not like about the more structured ones is that my arms stick out in a weird way from the slit sleeves. I thus scratched that and finally decided for my object of affection: the Stella McCartney's coat I have had my eyes on for a while. Although it is cocoon shaped, I think the navy blue color will make it timeless in seasons to come as well, making it a good investment and worth the price. In addition, I do not own a black coat and this could be a good choice for more dressy occasions -- who am I kidding though? I never go out in the evening.

Just for laughs

I spent the past three days locked up in the house tending to my son, who was sick, yes, for the second time in two weeks. My week is starting with sleep deprivation and serious crankiness, so you can understand if a needed something to cheer me up.

This materialized in the form of an email that had accidentally ended up in my junk folder. My husband had forwarded me the link for "Suri's Burn Book", a blog of, supposedly, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's daughter.

The subtitle reads: "Just because you don't have a Ferragamo Handbag doesn't mean you can behave like a child (I'm looking at you, Shiloh)". Some of the posts are even more hilarious. One of my favorites is about her take on Kate Middleton's future offsprings:

I can’t publicly oppose a policy that gives women the respect they deserve, but I also can’t support a policy that’s going to make a monarch out of my unborn nemesis. I suppose I’ll just have to grin and bear it — and pray that, boy or girl, this eventual child gets the Windsor hairline.

You should not miss this one either, the explanation that goes with the picture above:

No, this is not my official Halloween costume. But it is October, after all, and that means Pumpkin Spice Lattes and public dress-up. Gosh, I wish magic was real. If this wand was actually effective, I’d be accio-ing Katie better jeggings and some dignity.

It got me thinking about what my son will think of me when he is a bit older. Will he think I am a cool mom? Or will he be ashamed of the way I dress?

FW11 trends | Length & leather

Stella McCartney's layered-slit skirt (Photo: stellamccartney.com)

After pants and denim, it's time to talk about skirts. In the past few years, while the world of denim has been taken over by the skinny cut, it has been the reign of the pencil skirt. Perhaps due to the return to a ladylike elegance (which continues strong this season not just for skirt, but as a more general style philosophy) or to the fact that it is difficult to get a pencil skirt wrong, here we are still talking about the latest update to this trend.

As far as length is concerned, a couple of inches above or below the knee are the most common styles even this season. Yet, continuing with SS11, longer skirts that hit at the ankle or a bit above have been popping up here and there, especially at Chloé. Here are my two cents about this trend: unless you are tall or you wear high heels, longer skirts will make you look like a dwarf. Rather, if you do not have a pencil skirt, go out and get one! It is practical, elegant, fashionable, you name it.

The newest style you may want to consider if you do is the layered-slit skirt. I have tried a version of the one by Stella McCartney pictured above (which had two lateral slits rather than a central one) and it did not fit me well, since the layered fabric is a bit thick and the slits were opening in an unnatural way. I am still looking for the one in the picture, but if I were back in Canada I would probably try to hunt down this one by Elie Tahari, which seems made of a thinner material and is much cheaper!

If you want to make a good investment, I would privilege an old classic: leather. Leather is always in fashion for the fall and the spring because it is one of the best transitional materials. Leather is not cheap though. A designer leather skirt will cost at least 1500 USD (Neiman Marcus is selling  a Ralph Lauren one for almost 2500 USD), and there is no limit for the cost of a leather jacket or, worse, a dress or a trench. Besides the price, I would also feel uncomfortable wearing "too much" leather. Even if I have been obsessed with a leather dress since Angelina Jolie wore her Michael Kors sheath at the Inglorious Basterds premiere in 2009, I would not see myself dropping my son off at school or showing up at the office in such an outfit.

I find that a skirt maybe the best choice to embrace the leather trend, followed closely by a jacket. From my experience, research is key. What you need to look for is leather that is thin and soft, and that does not fall much differently than regular fabric. Cheap leather will look just, well, cheap. I went on this expedition precisely a couple of years ago and it took me a while to find something I actually liked. The price tag attached to this Elie Tahari's find, 600$, made me think about it for at least two weeks. Then, taking advantage of a sale event, I got it and never regretted it. I have worn it countless times, and it is still perfectly. It makes me feel sassy but it is still appropriate for taking my son to school, and I can wear it in any season!

FW11 trends | Denim

Denim is always in fashion, what changes are the cut and fabric. I find that having the right jeans closet can be a make-or-brake sign of style, as much as the right shoes.

This season, mid-waist and high-waist jeans are making a big comeback, by (thankfully) taking the place of ultra-low rise styles, which do not flatter anybody but models, in my view. I talked about this trend in my previous post in this series, and here I would rather like to spend a couple of words about two other denim trends.

J Brand advertisement (Photo: jbrand.com)

GAP skinny riding pants (Photo: GAP)

J Brand, one of the biggest players in the denim market today, launched the fashion of jodhpurs (think: riding pants) and GAP has picked it up. Indeed, jodhpurs have been featured by other brands as well. When I think about it, my mind immediately goes to Ralph Lauren, who has been making them for a while. This is for the good reason that jodhpurs are most appropriate if you are planning an outing at the country. In sum, not something I would wear to the office or to bring my son to school, unless I could find the ones these two girls are wearing...

There is another denim trend looming on the horizon that I am not embracing this season: the double denim. This consists of wearing different denim pieces such as a shirt and a pair of jeans in the same outfit. Katie Holmes and a few others sported this trend, and the rest is (fashion) history, you may say. I am sure it will not grow on me as Katie Holmes' boyfriend jeans did though. I tried the double denim once, when I was fourteen, and my mom told me I looked like a machine worker. She was right.

Katie Holmes in double-denim (Photo: Splash News)

Denim on denim at New York Fashion Week 2011 (Photo: Fashionologie)