Grandma...Can I borrow this?

As a little girl I used to escape into my grandma’s room, close the door and dive into her closet, piling on her pearls, wearing her classic cardigans, pinning her a-bit-too-big pencil skirts, and applying 5 coats of lipstick. That may be where my love for vintage came from, or shall I say obsession. The thought of wearing something else someone years, eras, and centuries ago wore is pretty damn awesome, the garment itself holds secrets, and memories…it’s been in places and in moments that no one else will ever know. It’s nice to think of a single maxi skirt produced in the 70’s in Italy make its way across the ocean with its original owner, and 40  years later make its way back, worn by a young American student at a nice dinner with her new found friends. Fashion is eternal, it shouldn’t be wasted, it should be kept alive and transferred from person to person, era to era…so buy and sell, trade and borrow…the jacket you wore when you got your first kiss may just as well be the jacket some other girl wears when she gets hers.

The Italian vintage stores here are unlike any I have ever seen…the window displays, the in store closet displays, the décor.  They range from the very expensive vintage finds of Chanel and Ferragamo to simple unknown brands that are more suitable for a student like me…I have my eye on a maxi skirt that is to die for…perhaps ill grab it for Milan Fashion Week on Saturday…you only live once right?

Emilia