Jacket, Dress, Bag – Coach SS16.

Had I known micro-trips is to be the running theme of January, I’d have at least nabbed some tiny stocking-filler toothbrush & toothpaste sets and kept some advent calendar chocolate aside over the holidays. The thing about these overnight stints is that it puts you in somewhat of grey area of ‘purposelessness’, because you decide it is too short of a trip to take your usual ‘purposefulness’ kit which helps you be productive, if not be entertained. So you end up sitting in that window-seat like a potato, thinking of potato things.

One thing I did notice: shorter the trips, smaller the carry-on handbag. Passports come out their elaborate, monogrammed, multi-pocketed travel wallets and into a coat pocket; same with ticket stubs and any other paperly goods – dog-eared and unidentifiable by the tenth time Ryanair checks that you are indeed you. Cue the Saddle Bag, key player for Coach Spring16 collection and a nod to the classic design from the archives, just in time for the brand’s 75th anniversary. The smaller size (Saddle 23 – £325) got me through a 22h stint in Florence just last week: big enough to scrunch in a silk blouse I scored at a vintage shop off the beaten track, and perfectly concise enough to enjoy a brief-but-glorious moment in the Italian sun.

In collaboration with Coach as the season’s digital ambassador.

Blazer – Acne. Trousers – Rodebjer. Bag – Coach Saddlebag.

All items Coach. Scarf – Acne ‘Canada’.

Florence, Lungarno Collection Suites; Patrizia Pepe show & dinner; Boboli Gardens; Jacket – Zara, tropical cardigan – COS, Fluffy skirt – Topshop, Jeans – C/O Raw Denim Bar, shoes – Chloe Sevigney x Opening Ceremony

Dear Florence,

May I call you Flo? I feel like you and I are buddies already and I’ve only really seen you twice; well I did Google you a few times but don’t we all nowadays? I also have a flattering pic of you in my phone, but surely that’s not creepy… Yes sure, I can call you Ms. Florence Italy.

The first time I met you with the hubby I remember we tried to find somewhere nice to eat off the beaten track, maybe a snug little trattoria that’s slightly tacky but one run by an old man the locals call papa and knows the secret to every pasta dish. Of course, we took that wrong (or right? we’ll never know) turn and ended up redrawing your maps for 4 hours before we gave up and ate in the hotel (that we somehow managed to locate). So the next time I saw you, courtesy of the lovely Patrizia Pepe‘s invitation, I knew the streets and landmarks as if I’ve been living there for 20 years. Alas, I was also able to concentrate on other lovely features of yours: the beautiful nose bridge you call Ponte Vecchio and a very well groomed garden called Boboli down south.

I do wish to see you again soon. Perhaps when the weather is warmer, a down-jacket in a suitcase to Italy is what the fashion girls call soo-not-in.

Gotta Boogie,
Shini

p.s You have really weird street system.

[Rings shot] Toolsis Cocktail Ring via Boticca; True Birds Leaf Ring, Courtney Kaye Cocktail Ring,  Michelle Oh Twig Solitaire Ring via Boticca; [Outfit on stairs] Zara Coat; Uniqlo Top & Trousers, Sam Edelman Booties; Kurt Geiger Clutch;  [Outfit ‘red Jeans’] Goldsign Jeans, Coach Bag, Zara Hat, Topshop Boots;

Taking into account that my social skills resemble that of a blind hamster… oh that reminds me, my neighbour now purposefully avoids me after the few occasions I couldn’t grow a pair (of melons, what are you thinking) to say ‘hi’ in the narrow corridor so each time I pretended to be temporarily blind and deaf before shuffling past. Ah, there’s also that time I was giving a uni presentation and thanks to my scrambled nerves (or deadly toxins from the product design studios, not certain) I was known to speak in tongues. (and thus helped the overly abstract project to be even more convincing! (not really)) Anyhow, taking ALL THAT into account and looking back, an event like Firenze4Ever seems sadly not my cup of tea. Granted, I had fun with the girls and a blast trekking Florence with the hubby, but when you put too many world-famous bloggers in one room it’s inevitable that those lesser known (and socially awkward) will eventually end up benchwarming in the sidelines. It reminded me a bit of highschool with all the cliques and gossips, so the hubby and I did what we did best back then, slipped away unnoticed and made out in the bike shed…

Thank you Luisa Via Roma for the invitation & hubby for the photos

Dress – MGSM, Shoes – Casadei, Jacket – Burberry Brit, Rings – Sardo; Makeup by MAC Cosmetics

First StyleLab outfit of Luisa Via Roma’s Firenze4Ever, featuring the worth of mother + brother + this London flat that I don’t even own in garments & accessories. Funny thing is it doesn’t even make you feel more glamorous or particularly important… anywho. At one point during the shoot there was a man with a puffy red jacket that kept peering through the opposite window of the car and the hubby finally yelled HOLY MOZZARELLA, MAN, WOULD YOU PLEASE MOVE at which point I yelled back at him BUT YOU TOLD ME NOT TO MOVE WHEN YOU’RE TAKING BAJILLION YEARS FOCUSING. And of course, while we were bickering the man eventually buggered off to take photos of a naked statue and chuck gelato at pigeons and such…

Thank you Yosi for your assistance and my dear hubby for helping with the photos.