I must confess that I had this post and pictures under kidnapping since a while ago. We took them at the end of January, but I had the craziest February related to University, a similar beginning of March in which it snowed in Firenze and in which I went home to Valencia for a week to see family, friends and fallas in addition of having some pending posts and publications from sponsors which couldn't wait any longer, and which I had to prioritise over this and other looks which I'll be showing you very soon.

However, it's still a bit cold (at least in Northern Italy) so I think I'm still in time to show you this outfit with a 70's vintage green wool mini-dress, which I bought in my visit to "Vintage Selection" fair which took place in Stazione Leopolda at the end of January, and which I personally thought was AH-MAZING. Imagine two whole industrial warehouses with high ceilings covered with iron trusses filled with hundreds of stands, cupboards and racks with a selection of jackets, trousers, accessories, and all vintage and antique clothing pieces you can imagine from statement brands as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior and some other international and national Italian brands with marvelous designs. I think I approximately spent there half a day and went back home very happy with my old-new acquisitions, among which there was this fun and bright dress! I thought it was a nice idea to add to my closet.

It really caught my attention since I saw it in the distance because, besides being in a very good vintage condition (it had some little white glue stains on one side, but nothing that a visit to the dry cleaner's couldn't fix) it looked like that average clothing piece that you can wear in a thousand different ways, both in Winter or when it starts being a bit warmer, and it was also suitable for both the months I'll remain here in Italy and for my Spanish comeback. I wore it with this DIY Gucci inspiration brooch, which is super easy to make just using a piece of wide satin ribbon in your favorite color and any old brooch around home (maybe tutorial about it coming very soon!).

Of course, I'm also wearing my rain ankle booties, which have already turned my go-to shoes and an indispensable piece in my day to day wear in Brunelleschi's city, the one with the huge and beautiful cupola, the breathtaking marble churches' façades and 360 days a year of rain (sometimes I doubt London is known as one of the rainiest cities in Europe. Don't be fooled: it's Firenze. Trust me).

I love to experiment with clothes to achieve different looks. This happens way often everytime there's a holiday around the corner, like when in Christmas. I think one of the most wonderful things of being a fashion addict is that it lets us show super unexpected of ourselves, and this way, it allows us to highlight aspects of our personality that we wouldn't show in a regular basis. And as an example, this maxi dress from Zaful. I think it's something that fits quite well into my fashion taste, however, I wouldn't dare wear it on any occasion on my day to day routine. But nevertheless, here I am wearing a maxi dress + turban headband with super bold makeup in the daylight. I do think that we all should do this at least once in a lifetime!

This maxi dress with flower embroidery from Zaful came a few days before leaving to Spain for Christmas holidays, and came home with me to shoot the pictures as the fabric is quite thin to wear in that freezing Italian Winter. But, I like it, because for Valencia's weather is quite appropriate: when you live in a city that has soft temperatures for most of the year, a long sleeve dress (although the fabric might be thin) is a great deal in your closet. But, my advice here is that, if you like this dress as much as I did when I ordered it (run for it!) my recommendation is to size-down, as the size I usually order is L, but this one came a bit too big.

I'm coming back to Firenze in a few days for Pitti Immagine and I must say I'm pretty curious about how everything will develop there, and how it will be. I'm super excited about sharing everything  about this Italian fashion event with you! Truth is, after being in Valencia for a couple of weeks I'm not really in the mood of freezing out to death with temperatures below zero degrees, but I'm taking with me tons of super cozy pullovers and sweaters, as to help me deal with rain and super cold winds in the capital of Renaissance.

And I think that's pretty much everything today! I encourage you to try on different clothing styles and have fun with fashion. It is a wonderful tool to show the best in us!

Designing and creating things from scratch are on my soon-to-be architect's DNA. Creating my own clothing and accessories is something I've always found fascinating, as it turns something into an unique, personal piece with hints of our personal stories and souls. Once I entered to Architecture School, I discovered I could design not only for myself, but also win prizes and create brand new concepts for contests and competitions, both talking about architecture and fashion design. This orange and black fake-leather clutch I'm wearing was the result of one of those design competitions, and I loved so much how the prototype ended looking that I'm making plans for it.

I don't really agree on how the contest organization managed the deposit, shipping and returning of the pieces, but thanks to a friend I got the clutch back and so, I wanted to share the idea with you.

The clutch outline is basically related to the concept of the modern era and early years of the 20th Century industrialized cities, as some illustrations of italian architect Antonio Sant'Elia depict on a series of black, grey and orange drawings. The design follows the basic shapes and process I followed on my early clutch prototypes but this time I added these black, vertical stripes evoking chimneys. It is a quite simple and plain design, but I ended happy with the result and the experimentation process, which I always encourage people to try on their own.

I've always liked how orange and green look together as bright colors. Paired with some black details, it ends as an interesting color block outfit approach, don't you think so?

Place your wide, non-black-fabric headband on the black velvet or the black fabric and use it as a guide for bias cutting a piece of fabric. Place the headband as if you would like to roll it on the fabric, and cut along the imaginary line the headband makes, leaving 3 to 5 extra cm along the width and the length of the headband. This will help you glue the fabric to the headband!

Step 2 (optional):

Put two pins on the ends of the headband, and carefully glue the black fabric to it being careful with the ends so they look neat and clean. Once you arrive at both ends, carefully leave a pin at a time, and finish covering your headband.

Step 3:

Now that your headband is covered and we have a nice and neat background to work at, let's start gluing the pearls, stones, and jewelry. First, try on your headband and carefully place two pins when your ears are. One pin each side. That will mark where you're going to start putting jewelry.

In my case, I must say I finally ended sewing them. It takes a bit more of time, but it assured me a much better result than glue (looks like my fabric repealed the glue, and all the jewelry ended falling off) and the security on the beads was indisputably better.

If your fabric covering the headband is a satin, or a slippery kind of fabric, I would go for sewing the beads. Otherwise, if your fabric is a kind of velvet or cotton fabric, then go for glue.

Did you try this DIY tutorial? Will you share your design?

There're days when keeping it the simplest way possible is the best. I truly do love colorful outfits, but sometimes you just feel like keeping it minimal and chic without too much.
Jeans are too warm and heavy for summer. And more for Valencian summer, which is too humid and sticky to wear nothing than your most flowing and light dresses. So, when wearing trousers thin fabrics like this white cotton are a nice idea to rock your outfit on a different and comfortable way.

In addition to this, the Bimba & Lola top (which is minimal enough, but still manages to have those awesome details like the V-neck and the slight peplum) and this striped clutch I made myself which adds texture and the fun part to the outfit! Pairing a total black or white outfit is a real challenge for me: I never know how to make it interesting enough because when pairing monochromatic looks, you still have to achieve the main point. But when it's about mixing black and white, the key is layering different patterns, fabrics and textures, always following those B&W lines. And DIY your own accessories can really make the difference!

There we go, guys. The tutorial about making this "Toile de Jouy" vintage skirt is finally here! You can't even imagine how long it took us to shot every picture, and also draw the diagrams so everything was clear and super understandable for you to successfully sew it and get along with the instructions. So, enjoy and remember to share with me via social network (Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter) the results by using the tag #somethingfashion!

Supplies you'll need:

Step 1:

You're going to fold your huuuuge fabric in half, allowing a seam allowance following the next scheme:

The seam is about 2 or 3 cm on each side on the inside of the fabric (or the side you're not going to see once it's finished). You're going to pin it before folding in half the fabric. Then, sew it with your sewing machine.

Step 2:

Once you're done with the seam allowance, pin almost all of the fabric down to up, and leave about a 20cm (high) space on the part that will be your waistline. You'll need that for the zipper on coming steps, but don't worry too much about that! You'll get something similar to this:

Measure carefully the bottom, and pin following an imaginary line. Depending on how long you want your skirt to be, you're going to cut more or less fabric once marked and pinned. I recommend not to cut all the fabric excess at once, just in case. Remember to leave a seam allowance so you can sew it on final steps and obtain a neat final result. Set aside the leftover fabric, don't throw it because you'll need it soon!

I recommend you to measure directly from your waist to the point you want your final skirt to be (usually midi skirts end at your knee) and then add 2 cm for the seam allowance.

Step 3:

Start pleating. This might be the most labored step and the one which is going to take almost all your time. Start on the center of the fabric you sewed together pinching the fabric and folding it to one side as seen below. Do a large stitch and keep pinching to one side doing the pleats as regular as possible. The bigger the pleats, the more volume you'll get on your skirt. And the smaller the pleats, the less volume. Once you're done with one half of the skirt, do it on the other side.

I marked down the center of the skirt with two pins as seen on the pictures so it would be easy to find the two halves of the skirt.

Step 5:

Remember the piece of fabric you cut some steps before and you kept? Now you're going to use it. Once sewn the zipper properly, you're going to take that piece of fabric and pin it on the waist of the skirt. This way you'll start finishing your piece on the neatest way possible.

Fold the piece once pinned on the waist.

Do long stitches to secure the waistband you've just done and close the sides near the zipper as well. Sew by hand or machine.

Iron the pleats and waistband carefully. I adjusted and finished the waist by adding two buttons or clips near the zipper.

Step 7:

YOU'RE DONE! CONGRATULATIONS! Enjoy your new handmade midi skirt, and remember to share it through the social network by using the tag #somethingfashion