When in Milan: the Stella McCartney showroom, a Gipsy and other stories

When I am visiting Italy I have this strange frenzy, a FOMO urge of not sleeping just in case I am missing something. And although family is always a priority, this time was lots of friends catching up. 

Moving around in Milan means a bicycle with a wicker basket or the tram. This is how it looked, an usual Monday afternoon in July. More a July-going-on- November if you forget the temperature.

No panic: grab the Mackintosh or buy an umbrella for 10 Euros from the guy at the corner and hop on the n.5 with an all-day pass.

[I am digressing here for a sec for a taste of #italianstyle]

I walked by a tabacchino and bought the tickets. A sweet memory of my youth is the smell of the tabacchino, a mix of wood, tobacco and wrapped candies one of those specialty stores that only exist and survive in Europe, where they sell cigarettes and any legal smoking accessory, candies and chocolates, the lotto and phone cards, oh and public transportation tickets. 

So, by the time I made it to via Tortona it was still raining, just those sprinkles through which you can walk and not get wet. 

The sweet thing of having friends is that after years it feels like yesterday, you are phone call away. 

“Trends come and go, style you don’t buy.”
oh yeah, I snapped it ...

oh yeah, I snapped it ...

It was a late afternoon press day and the showroom was hustle and bustle, I was able to touch and feel the collection while buyers were still writing numbers and waiters serving sparkling water and cruditees. I was sitting on the couch next to the sign and was catapulted back to those Jil Sander summer breezy days. 

Pride, happiness, contentment all under the rain that was thin and persistent.

Friendships resist years and miles of separation can spark lively conversations about anything from life to vitamins.

Trends come and go, style you don't buy. Meanwhile Alice became a super blogger, a whimsical stylish one that cooks and 'speaks love' in poems while wearing lace and red nail lacquer: A Gipsy in the Kitchen aka OttaLoveMuffin.  

And you've got to love her as there's no one like her. 

 

Slow living: it's a movement

Is it a Dolce Vita lifestyle as relevant in Italy as Hollywood stardom is in the States? 

via Tortona 

Yes if that means the impromptu coffee because there's always a good reason for one, an old friend in town or closing a deal.

Yes if that means taking time for a real lunch free of rush and calorie counting.  

Yes if that means cherishing the bespoke navy cashmere blazer that makes a pair of ripped denim shorts look chic or sleeping in hand embroidered bed linen instead of keeping them just for special occasions.

the magazine & some vintage emblems 

Then yes viva la Dolce Vita, we just call it in a different way, the very Millennial 'slow living'. During my visit at la Biblioteca della Moda in Milan I was introduced to a magazine dedicated to it, called The Lifestyle Journal and its essence is a Diary of Slow Living as one of the editorial explains.

A movement that invokes living life by taking your sweet time. Think when you rewind a movie to detect details, colors, words, a musical note that were gone missing: when you rush through time with the pressure of beating time itself you end up disregarding all the senses. You miss the flavor of the unsuspected herb in the sauce, the subtlety of a fine fragrance, the bells ringing at noon.  Slow life is an authentic life, surrounded by items collected throughout the years and handed from generation to generation, without excess or waste. Slow life is made of traditions, heritage, gracious random acts that make your life a fine and luxurious one. Slow living is discreet and understated like a fine cashmere sweater with elbow patches.

(image from The Lifestyle Journal @ Pinterest)

(image from The Lifestyle Journal @ Pinterest)

When you grow up in the Old Continent and then move and live in the New World, you are keen to notice the cultural bias and realize the golden treasure chest you carry without knowingly admitting it. You are brought up being conscientious and thoughtful, to the point that it is hard to part from things that accompanied you in special moments or that remind you of a vacation, a person, a family moment.  It is common to cradle family memories that revolve around the kitchen, whether preparing the pomarola or story telling or just playing dress up and hiding in the cabinets. There's a gastronomic culture that goes beyond taking cooking classes (which you don't really do, on the contrary you learn by assimilation observing your grandmother cooking while life revolves around the table). Food is serious business and regulates the heartbeat of your lifestyle.

(image from The Lifestyle Journal @ Pinterest) 

(image from The Lifestyle Journal @ Pinterest) 

How does that connect with fashion? 

A typical interview to an Italian fashion designer ends up talking about food, fashion and family, the order varies the result is the same. We are passionate and can't help it. Memories of an armoire of haberdashery,  of summers spent cross stitching or creating the Carnival costume by grabbing garments from your mother's closet are common to all of us. Those are the rudiments, the roots that slow fashion wants to go back to. A time when things were done with time or like my grandmother says: le cose belle ci vuole tempo per farle bene, it takes time to make beautiful things.  Just guessing how many hours it takes for an atelier of alta moda to embroider a gown is a gamble, however it doesn;t mean that you have to wear couture, not at all. It is the exact opposite to voracious consumption, fast fashion. We are all guilty of falling into the temptation of walking into H&M and grabbing that trend trapper that will have a one-month lifespan before either disassembles or fades in the misfits lane. 

Moderating a fast paced life requires technique, tweaking modern habits and reinstating old ones like table manners, honoring time at the table for conversation, playing classical music. Let timeless elegance, style, culture, passion, originality go freely and savor the slow rhythm of quality. The pace of quality is slow and it helps touching an embroidery and recognize it from a print, indulge in a bite of a loaf of bread hot off the oven. 

Being Italian is a privilege, how hard could it be to acquire the sophistication of the Italian style?  Maybe if a book were written? 

Here's a day in Milan, when you are a tourist in your own country you look up and smell the roses.