Il soprabito

How's the spring cleaning of your closet coming along?

I completed mine this evening, on a pre-departure rush. (We are supposed to join my husband in London on Saturday, come back to Milan next Wednesday, and then head out to the countryside on Thursday evening for Easter weekend). Indeed this afternoon I have had the what-to-wear-for-Easter-family-lunch discussion with my mother. With temperatures approaching 25 degrees now, I proposed to wear for the occasion an Armani short-sleeves cotton suit that she got me for my son's baptism. Her answer to my proposal ("too summery") reminded me a bit what my grandmother could have said, especially when she added: "in spring, one should wear a long-sleeves light wool suit, or light dress with a soprabito". I think the best english translation of the latter word is "duster", although it does not fully capture the larger concept that this clothing item represents in an Italian woman's closet. You see, when my mom and my grandmother were my age, a lady would own three main pieces of outerwear: for winter, a cappotto (heavy wool coat); for spring, a soprabito (light wool or heavy cotton duster) and a impermeabile (cotton trench) for rainy days.

Nowadays I have become convinced that the soprabito is not often, if at all, used. When needed, a trench replaces it on rainy as much as on sunny days. Yet I kept toying with the idea in my mind after my mom raised it. Hence I hit the Internet! I have a few items in my Yoox wishlist but I keep wondering: how much would I really wear it?

Anyhow, through the closet cleanup, I confirmed to myself that there are too many neutrals and pants in my closet, and that I really do not need another handbag. Somehow, after a bit of internet browsing for a soprabito, this lead to one more hour of searching for a new pair of orange pants and a magic messenger bag that can hold my wallet, iphone, iPad and new camera (unfortunately none of the mini styles so much in fashion for SS12 fits the bill -- I am looking at you YSL mini-Muse). Go figure. :-)


Photo: Soprabito takes centre stage in 1966, via Burda Fashion.

On repelling men and moms

Do you know that 84% of moms in a recent online survey by TodayMoms reports to have been "meangirled" by another mom?

This result has got me thinking. I recalled a conversation I had in September with my mother-of-two best friend. "What do you want me to do about it, my husband is Sicilian", she had said when I praised her for wearing high-heel shoes. She was referring to the fact that men from Southern Italy are known to like women who dress feminly. At the time I remeber my mind immediately going back to an interview with Leandra Medine, blogger of the famous Man Repeller, which I had read. While we all agree that love should go beyond appearances, I do not like the alternative of either dressing for a man or dressing for myself. Why should your companion not be allowed an opinion, positive or negative, about what you wear? As my mom would say, sometimes the best assessment on your look comes from someone who can see you at 360 degrees.

Yet I feel less confident when other moms' opinion of my style is concerned (this includes my own mother's opinion, obviously). Do you remember the "momsters" in the movie "I don't know how she does it?" (which I recently reviewed in this post). They are the impeccably-dressed moms who can do anything, from baking the perfect pie to sewing the best Halloween costume. They are not overwhelmed, stressed, and constantly juggling. Even when they are, they do not show it. Who has not, at least once, wished to be that mom? Who has never feared their judgement and enjoyed their look of approval?

Now here's my theory: even if in your 20s you were a hard-core man repeller, you will never want to be a mom repeller. Don't you agree?


Photo: Man Repeller's Leandra Medine, via Ice Cream for Breakfast. 

SS12 trends | Mini love

Do you know that handbags have shrunk?

I am not talking about the small bag- big bag alternating seasonal trend (remember this post?) I am not talking either about handbags for little girls, which caused a stir when they came out. I am talking about the altogether new, recent trend for big brands to produce mini versions of their mainstream lines. I have seen several examples in the store, including (from top to bottom) Yves Saint Laurent's Mini Muse Two, Celine's mini Luggage tote, and Mulberry's mini Alexa.

As in love as I am with all of them, they present a couple of problems for me. First, there is their price, which often is not very different from the full size models. Second, there is their utilizability. In my scale, a handbag where I can fit just my phone, keys and change (God forbid, no wallet) is just one step above a clutch. I have to tell you though, they are amazingly crafted objects. Should I have that extra grand in my bank account, it would be difficult not to splurge on the mini Muse.

P.S. This is the fourth post of our SS12 trends issue. Earlier posts:

1. The mint, the pastel and the neon
2. The Cinderella syndrom 
3. Beware of the pyjama pants

Photo: YSL Mini Muse Two via Bagcraze; Celine Mini Luggage tote via Hisobag; Mulberry Mini Alexa via Mulberry.

Transitioning

Who are you? Someone who can mix and match effortlessly or someone who needs planned outfits to avoid falling into despair in the morning for not having anything to wear?

Let me begin by saying that I suck at transition dressing. I am definitely NOT one of those people who can mix and match effortlessly. As excited as I am about the fact that spring is here, I am thus in transition dressing hell. Take last week for instance. I wanted to go nautical, and wear a striped long-sleeves t-shirt (I was planning my trip to Paris, hence the inspiration). Upon leaving the house, I got worried that it might have still been too cold to abandon a sweater and I grabbed a cardi on my way out. Obviously, the cardi did not match at all the pants I was wearing! I did much better on my three-days trip to Paris, but the key was that I had planned my outfits in advance.

I thus decided to go back to square one: the organization of my closet. Somehow, after a big effort back in September to get it organized, in Fall and Winter I ended up ALWAYS picking from the same section of our walk-in closet -- the one closest to the entrance door. As glad as I maybe that fashion pros like Amanda Brooks seem to do it, too, I want to do better this season. It is almost painful to think about the money I spend on clothes and how little I end up wearing them.

Let's then review together:

• First, divide and conquer;
• Second, take stock.

While we all work on these two issues, in the next few of days I'll finish my review of the Spring trends so that we can start planning a shopping strategy for the new season.

Photo: Issa maxi dress (available at mywardrobe) + Jason Wu sweater (available at net-a-porter), via Glamour.

On my mind

Greetings from Geneva! I did a lot of traveling this week, and did not have much time to think, but this is what has been on my mind:

Living a bit out of a suitcase. I have a love-hate relationship with traveling (above: Vintage Voyager suitcase, no longer available; photo: Road Scholar). The part I hated the most this week was the one day I spent in Milan, in between the trips to Paris and Geneva. I am sure you know how it is: mountains of laundry, empty fridge, pieces of small Lego everywhere. I am glad I perfected my art of packing though (more on this in a later post).

Nature. Seeing Monet's Nymphaeas in Paris has awakened my longing for nature and being outdoors (above: Monet's gardens at Giverny, 1900, in the homonymous painting; photo: Modern Painting). Thanks to the wonderful weather in Paris, Milan and Geneva I have been able to be outside as much as possible (in fact, I am writing this post in the garden), and that has really improved my mood!

Shorts. Warm weather is upon us and the shorts dilemma has become the center of another discussion among moms (above: Sass & Bide SS12 tribal shorts; photo: Glam UK). I love shorts but unfortunately I have learnt that they are a big no-no in Milan for women like me... (remember this post?) I just wish we were going to the beach at some point before Fall to be able to wear them.

Dior's Apricot nail cream. It is one of Ines' Lafressange beauty essentials and it has made
 my nails and cuticles presentable even though I have not had time for a manicure in three weeks.

What a month!

I am so proud that this month we just surpassed 1000 hits! Here are the posts you liked the most:

The "American cousin" feeling
Marni for H&M: croissants and a personal shopper
Marni for H&M: the day after
Traveling to Paris
Crazy fashion

Thank you all for your interest and keep visiting! Next week I'll finish reviewing the spring trends and give you shopping advice for the new season.

Crazy fashion

Do you shop at Costco?

We do only sometimes, since there is no store nearby our house. In addition, in Montreal we would never dream of finding what newyorkers can! I had read about discounted Chanel bags a while ago (alright, I almost considered flying down there to grab the opportunity), and on Thursday Madison Avenue Spy reported about a $2.3 million pink diamond mined from the renewed Golconda mines on sale at costco.com. You read right. Why is it at Costco? Because this price represents a "discount" over the diamond estimated value of $3.3 million. Crazy uh?

P.S. More crazy fashion here.

Paris is always a good idea

"It took me time to understand my waterlilies. I had planted them for the pleasure of it;
I grew them without ever thinking of painting them." Claude Monet

Did you watch the movie Sabrina?

One of my favourite quotes from the movie is that "Paris is always a good idea." That's exactly how I felt when I arrived at the hotel in Paris on Monday afternoon, in spite of a not-so-great beginning, of the terrible sandwich I ate at the airport (nobody, not even the French can master this, let's face it), and of the stubborn ticket machine who would not take neither my credit card nor cash so that I had to stay in line for 20 minutes to buy my metro pass at the ticket office.

Using our faithful Mr and Mrs Smith concierge (which we have already used while traveling through France and to go to Florence), my husband booked for me one of the most fashion-forward and conveniently located hotels ever, the Hotel Le Bellechasse (yes, my husband can be that good). The hotel has been recently renovated by Christian Lacroix and its decor is a bustling, decadent environment that I would define Pompeii-style meets Monet (as it is well evident in the picture above of the breakfast room).

On Monday afternoon, after checking in I stepped outside, passed the Musee d'Orsay (which is really walking distance from the hotel as the advertisement reads), and crossed the bridge into the Luxembourg Gardens. The sun was shining in the middle of the blue sky over the seine and Paris. The light was so wonderful that I wanted to take pictures of EVERYTHING. My main objective was to see Monet's Nympheas at the Orangerie Museum (spectacular!). Yet I had a lot of time before dinner so I took a long walk from place de la Concorde to Place Vendome and the Galeries Lafayette. A wrong turn and I ended up also on rue Faobourg Saint Honoré. I ate dinner Chez Georges, almost got sick on French cheeses -- yes, they are that good, and that heavy on your stomach --, and called it a day.


After spending Tuesday at the conference I came for, on Wednesday I wrote off most other items on my list. For breakfast I ate croissants in bed while writing the post about our spring skiing trip. I then spent the rest of the morning shopping at the Galeries Lafayette, where a 30% off sale had materialized for no apparent reason. I ate lunch at Boco, a new Parisian hotspot that aims to offer fine-dining, organic experience -- Parisians seem as obsessed about organic food as the Milanesi -- at fast food prices (I personally think it misses the mark a bit on the fine dining though).


Afterwards, I discovered the history of the House of Louis Vuitton at a new exhibition at the Fashion Museum (thanks NM Daily for the tip and excellent review!). I finished off by paying a visit to the Christian Louboutin store in a charming Parisian arcade (the Galerie Vero-Dodat), having a coffee and macarons at Angelina in Rue de Rivoli, and walking back to the hotel through the Luxembour Gardens.


My feet were screaming bloody murder at the end! This is because I discovered that patent shoes do not let go at all when your feel swell after a long day... I am sure I will remember next time :-)

P.S. I obviously could not do everything I'd liked, so here is what I am leaving for my next trip: seeing the exhibition "Impressionism and Fashion" at the Musee d'Orsay (it runs from September 25, 2012, until January 2013), visiting the Musee Marmottan Monet (which houses the largest collection of Monet's works), the Centre Pompidou and the Le Courbusier Foundation; eating at Bon, which Philippe Stark recently redesigned; walking through Paris' new hip neighborhood, Le Marais, and going back to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica to enjoy the view of Paris from the top.

Photo: Monet's "Nymphaeas" at the Musée de l'Orangerie via Flickriver; Louis Vuitton's exhibition at the Fashion Museum via FTape.

The second time was a charm

Greetings from Paris!

I am getting ready for my last day in town (sob) and I realized I have not yet shared with you what we did last weekend. Many argue that one of the advantages of living in Milan is its proximity to the Alps. Not being a skiing aficionado myself, and having always gone skiing five hours away to Trentino Alto Adige, I have to say that this meant little to me, until this year. My mother-of-three best friend has rented an apartment in Chiesa Valmalenco, two hours away from Milan, for the whole season. We had organized our first skiing outing with her and her family about a month a half ago, and that a been a disaster. We arrived on Friday evening and by Saturday my son had 39 degrees of fever, so that we had to hurriedly make our way back to the city after a couple of hours of skiing.

We made our second attempt last weekend, and boy was that a success! The weather was wonderful and warm. Nobody got sick. We skied (even me, after more than ten years) the whole time. And I rediscovered the foundations of the Italian skiing experience.

You guessed right: fashion and food. In Canada, kids skiing instructors are 15-years olds in bunny costumes made of low-quality blue or pink fleece. In Italy, they are 40+ experienced instructors outfitted in the stylish uniforms provided by the Italian Skiing Federation. Always in Canada, food options are limited to one place, offering overpriced hamburgers and hot dogs, so that it is custom for most families to bring their lunch and eat in the well-organized picnic areas. In Italy, the main decision you gotta make around noon is what restaurant (or "rifugio", as it is called a restaurant in the mountains) to go and have lunch. None of the available options would even contemplate offering hamburgers, at most fries for the kids. No picnic is ALLOWED in any of these places. In our case, we could choose among three closeby restaurants (there were more if we would have been willing to skii a bit further): one self-service style (the worst one, according to my friend), one offering mainly five-stars selections of cold cuts, cheeses and jams, and one "agriturismo" offering local dishes made with natural ingredients from its own farm. We went for the latter and my mouth is still watering thinking about the pizzocheri and polenta taragna we ate. Too bad the season is over....

Gotta go now, au revoir!

Traveling to Paris

This morning I left early to go to Paris. The excitement I had built for the trip at the end of last week (everything French had indeed been a lot on my mind, as you may remember from my earlier post) drowned a bit into a bad beginning, made by the wrong tram I took and by an almost missed train as well as by the worry that my son will get sick again this week after going back to school today (a decision that I was definitely not in favor of). Let's also add to the mix the fact that EasyJet is an airline of luggage nazis that allows only one piece of luggage, so that I had to squeeze my handbag into my carryon.

Thank goodness for Louis Vuitton's Paris travel guide, which I splurged on last Friday in preparation for the trip and I throughly read while I was waiting for my flight. So many things I'd like to do, and so little time! When we came to Paris last summer while driving from Italy to Belgium, we had selected child-friendly activities enjoyable by the whole family. This time, on one of the rare occasions when I am traveling alone, the top item on my list is museum-hopping. I am a big impressionist buff and I cannot wait to go back to the Musee d'Orsay, and visit the Musee de l'Orangerie for the first time.

Item 1b on my list is fashion! I plan on visiting the two Meccas of French footwear, Christian Louboutin and Roger Vivier, and check out several other suggestions I found in the guide. Last but not least, the movie Midnight in Paris has made me long for the Parisian atmosphere of restaurants and bistros. One's gotta eat, right? :)

P.S. I forgot at home the cable I use to download pictures from my camera, so I'll have to wait to post them until Wednesday evening. This image is that of a little Paris painting by Paul Ferney. They went on sale last December and sold out almost immediately. I was too late to snatch my favorite one (above) but there are still a few available if you are interested.

On my mind

What has been on your mind this week?

This week my mind has mainly been wrapped around the hope of having a great time with my family during this crazy month of traveling -- that is, the hope we will all be healthy until the end --, but also:

          This yellow neon clutch from Werelse for Mango (details about this collaboration here)

Date night. A lot of couples with kids schedule "date nights" to keep their relationship healthy. If the worst that happened to you on one of thiese occasions was to walk out in a dress stained by your kids' chocolate sauce, you will laugh at how many other things can go wrong in this great movie.

Being a superhero. If you are a mom, I am sure you already knew this, but you may want to check out this article anyway. It is nice to know what others' superpowers are. (Instructions about how to make the card above on Gina K's blog)

I am not alone. Remember one of my earliest posts about not being alone? I just discovered one of the most hilarious blogs (and moms). If you want to feel better about your parenting skills and one of my earlier recommendations has let you down, point your browser here immediately.

Everything French. On Wednesday, I found out there is a really interesting conference in Paris next week that I want to attend. Bonus: I get to spend three days in Paris. I am leaving early tomorrow morning, so stay tuned! (Instructions about how to make the "Paris in a box" pictured above here).

SS12 trends | Beware of the pyjama pants

How do you feel about pyjama pants for everyday wear?

I knew I was officially over my unhealthy obsession for everything by Celine (which had started last Fall) when I looked at the brand's black-and-white silk pyjama pants in the SS12 clothing collection. I have to admit, I am not a big fan of pyjama pants. They can make sense for a beautiful model like Hanneli Mustaparta, but for the average mom will exacerbate the I-got-out-of-bed-and-did-not-have-time-to-brush-my-hair image that, I am sure, we all try to avoid even after a sleepless night with our kids. The other spring trend I will not embrace when it comes to pants and denim is the ultra-distressed style à-la Acne, which is (for reasons unknown to me) now sold out everywhere.

What do I covet then? Bottoms in pastels and muted neon hues, at cheap prices.  As for the cut, skinnies are back (aren't they always?), so don't sweat it. For a bit fifties flare, go for a pleated skirt instead.

P.S. This is the third post of our SS12 trends issue. Earlier posts:

1. The mint, the pastel and the neon
   
2. The Cinderella syndrom 

Photo: Celine's black-and-white silk pyjama pants via Iconico; Acne distressed denim jacket at Fashion Week via Telegraph.

SS12 trends | The Cinderella syndrome

Do you have a pair of sparkly shoes? Would you wear them?

Sparkle and sequins were much in fashion during the past holiday season. I was surprised to realize that both trends are still strong, if not stronger, for spring. Silver shoes or sneakers are particularly a must. If you do not already own a pair (from last summer), Neiman Marcus and net-a-porter have a good selection online of, respectively, the former and the latter. If only I'd have the chance to wear them, these YSL Tribute sandals would be on top of my list...

P.S. This is the second post of our SS12 trends issue. You can find the first one here.

The Spring Fashion Edit | The mint, the pastel and the neon

What inspires you the most when putting together your new season's wardrobe?

Last Fall I started off with a lot of soul-searching (as you may remember from this post as well as this one) and an unhealthy French obsession (all about it here). I had made big commitments to myself and my closet. Yet spring is a lighter season, so this time around I am mainly inspired about the season's colours.

It all revolves around three main palettes: sea-inspired blues, especially in the form of cobalt (remember this post?); classic spring pastels with a renowned accent on mint (as in Yves Saint Laurent's ad campaign at the top of this post); and neon hues, generally as accents to the previous two colors (you knew this was coming, since I have been obsessed with neon since January). The good news is that cobalt blue and pastels will continue to be strong hues for Fall as well (I will talk about this more in a later post), so they make a good investment now.


As far as color combinations go, last year it was all about color blocking (remember the Gucci ad campaign?) while this season it is about tone-on-tone dressing. Think a pale mint shirt and a "charged" mint pair of pants, or a salmon shirt and a pair of pale orange pants. Accessories will provide the pop of color needed to avoid looks that are too sugary (as Phillip Lim did on his runway, in the second picture above), although you may want to keep neutral accessories handy to avoid looking like you work for the circus. Think also about achieving tone-on-tone dressing by matching the colour of your handbag with that of your clothes, rather than your shoes, as you can see in the Marc by Marc Jacobs ensemble pictured above (available at Saks).


And did I mention that this season it is all about coordinating your nail color to that of your clothes as well?

Brunch all'italiana

Did you have a good weekend?

Allright friends, I will not deny it: this weekend we had a blast. We did not do anything outrageous and we stayed mainly in town, but after such a long period of my son's sickness we had so much fun doing things together as a family!

For me, this meant doing a lot of sports. Thanks to the awesome sunny and warm weather, on Saurday we went biking at the Park of Monza (where we had already been in September), which put to the test my sleepy muscles. We also had lunch in a high-scale restaurant inside the park (Saint Georges Premier) that I would totally recommend -- aside from the fact the staff was incredibly friendly with my son, would you believe it that they made a special Champagne risotto for him? Obviously, it is his new favorite dish :-)

On Sunday, we went to have brunch at Roialto (Via Pier della Francesca 55, Milano). I am not sure I mentioned before that the area where my parents (and we, this year) live has become one of the hottest spots for nightlife in Milan. Roialto is one of the clubs that offers aperitivo in the early evening and then turns into a disco club until the wee hours. We have recently discovered that, on Sundays, Roialto also offers brunch and three weeks ago I went to test the place with my parents. I did not have my camera then, so I decided to wait to write about it. This weekend we went back with my husband and it was the perfect occasion! The reason why I think it is worth mentioning is because it is the fanciest place I have ever been for brunch. The place could win a design award: it showcases numerous unique collections and pieces scored at thrift stores, auctions and on eBay, including an original Harley Davidson. The food is well... a brunch all'italiana, with several food stands that offer everything from oysters to ravioli through an amazing cheese, grill and dessert selection. Kids are welcome and have plenty of space to room around. The staff and the toilets are terrible, however, so be prepared if you go. Remember it is a night club, after all.

After brunch, more sports for me! Looking for a way to burn the calories accumulated with brunch, I hung my new Dolce & Gabbana leopard-print kitten heels in shoe bag # 3, and exercised on a trampoline next to my son. My goodness, wasn't it exhausting but so refreshing! A few swans and a prize later, we got back home in time for gelato and a bit more biking before dinner. Then, off to bed to get ready for our departure to Turin on Monday morning! More on this later...

On my mind

How many things are on your mind at any given time?

Work, parenting, family, hobbies. I process tons of information every day. I realized that I have a relatively well-working system to keep track and share work-related information, but not everything else. I am thus starting this series to keep track and share with you all non-work related information. I hope you find it useful!

Here are the things that have been on my mind this week:

Marni for H&M. You know how much I had been waiting for it, I was really excited to go to the launch of the collection and score a few pieces before everything got cleaned out.

The iPad 3 launch. Obviously, although missing Steve Jobs...
Another thing that goes on my tech wishlist.

Waking up before my son. Don't you just love that tiny bit of quiet?
That's how I catch up with my readings and my posts!

A new travel bag. Let me say, I have been obsessed with finding a new carry-on bag since last September. I had my eyes on a red MAB from the Rebecca Minkoff travel collection (no longer available anywhere), and I let it slip through my fingers when it went on sale. So I have been drewling since for Louis Vuitton "Eole" Monogram travel bag. Since we have three weekends planned, I thought it was the perfect time to get it. I could fit my entire spring and summer budget in the price of this one thing but... you know how obsessions go. Anyway. Once in the store, I realized that it is too small for my purposes. There. I got my spring and summer budget back. And I will be taking my old travel bag on the trips.

A new camera. You may remember that it is one of my resolutions for this year to learn how to take better pictures, and getting a new camera has been a part of it. Perhaps because I had to let go of the idea of getting a new travel bag, I decided to get the camera. I am testing the Olympus PEN, one of the new mirrorless cameras that have debuted last year. Will keep you posted! 

Fashion Week. All right, after New York, this a been a bit in the back of my mind,
but I will catch up with it real soon!

Rock the Red Pump. I honestly had no idea that yesterday in the United States it was National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It is such a great initiative and I totally support it, as a woman, a mother, and an HIV/AIDS researcher myself. 

Women in Italy. There has been a lot of talk about this in the papers in occasion of Women's Day and... well, a lot to talk about, but in another post.

Getting a nanny in the air. How do you feel about enlisting the help of a fellow air travel passenger to help you with your kids? A new "nanny in the air" service does just that. (Today moms)