"This blog post was sponsored by Rosegal"

One of the things I've realized since I first put a foot in Firenze for this year studying abroad is how much my ears suffer from cold, and how I've been dragged to the acquisition of hats, turbans, fur diadems and so on always to keep them (and my head) from freezing. Like, in this day we went to a tiny town in the Tuscan hills, almost in the limit between Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, to meet the mayor with the class for a new project and book release which is on its way. The velvet turban wasn't really worn because of fashion or for the sake of the outfit, but instead, for the sake of my head health and to keep warm!

In this pictures, I'm showing you my regular go-to attire for class days or even regular days out if it's freezing outside (which is usually, always. Hi, coldest March ever in the city of Firenze) consisting in turban or diadem or hat (actually, anything covering my head. Hey, a girl's got to keep her neurons warm and working in order to be productive), plus a cozy thick wool sweater, plus a blazer (preferably woolen as well), plus coat, plus over the knee high-boots with a couple of socks underneath. You can easily tell I'm from a coastal city where 350 days a year temperatures are above 15ºC.

While here, I've realized how much you can tell the difference between a nice quality jacket or coat and those which aren't as good quality; not only because these last aren't as warm as the first ones but also, because of the number of wrinkles and pellets once you wear them a couple of times. And you don't always have to splurge! This checked blazer I'm wearing here is Armani, and as I found it at the very end of sales season in a local vintage store, it cost me near to one-third of its original price. I think it's the perfect example of that extra layer you'd want to wear in cold places like this, because once you're stripped of your coat, sometimes it's still too cold just to be around in your sweater.

What about you? Any nice tips or advice to stay warm while having freezing temperatures outside?

There's something amazing happening every first Sunday of every month here in Italy, and that is free museum day! Every monument, museum, and place belonging to the state (like the Academia, where the David Statue is, or Palazzo Pitti as an example) has free entrance for everyone. As an architecture student (or anyone who studies arts or design), I have a free pass with my university enrollment certificate anyways, but it's nice to find great and new places to visit this day for free if, like my friend and I, you absolutely forgot the enrollment certificate at home. So, we headed for the town of Fiesole, which doesn't only have a very impressive archeological site with an ancient arena, but also, hosts a nice vintage & antiques market on its main square every first Sunday of the month. This town is a small place in the hills where you can see the whole city of Firenze from the heights, and it's actually very close and easy to get there by bus! Definitively, a thing to add to your bucket list if you're planning to visit Firenze/Tuscany/Italy anytime soon.

So, we headed by bus to the town of Fiesole to take a look at the vintage market and take some pictures with the impressive Tuscan landscape as a background, as well as enjoying the freezing but still nice day we had, as it's been pretty cloudy and hasn't stopped raining for almost a week. As you can see, I put on my best Michelin Man attire consisting in a wool skirt, sweater, wool vest, cozy coat and knee-high boots to survive, although it finally wasn't as cold as I first thought. I also used for the very first time this orange hat that I bought a couple of days prior. If you've been following me on Instagram lately, you might have seen how obsessed I've been lately with hats and vintage headpieces, which there were plenty of in this market!

Actually, I feel quite the vintage-hunter-thing around here! Since I came back from Christmas holidays, I haven't stopped spotting (and buying; guilty here) cool vintage and antique thrifty things both in markets and fairs (cheers to the Vintage Selection fair at Stazione Leopolda a couple of weeks ago). I couldn't remember when was the first time I found something worth investing on in Spain (although there are great vintage and thrift stores, too!), but Firenze is such a nice place filled with ah-mazing vintage stores, markets, and spots to go take a look and fall in love helplessly with nice clothing pieces or accessories. I just couldn't help it. The fun thing will come once packing my bags for my Spanish comeback. THAT is going to be quite the event, but anyways, I'll keep you updated on that.

As there's nothing I can do to avoid the chill whipping against every corner of Tuscany (and almost everywhere in Europe), I've come to embrace the cold by learning how to layer clothes like a master. As my set of clothes being abroad is quite limited, I've had to embrace my most fashion-bloggeresque cleverness these past weeks to get the most of my wardrobe in Italy, to look as comfortable and classy as possible but still not freezing my ass out. Not an easy thing to do, but still possible! For today's outfit layering clothes to survive Winter in Italy while strolling Boboli Gardens my starter piece was this V-cut neck knit top from Shein, and which I'm super happy I ordered because it's not as thin as a regular T-shirt, but still great to start layering with cozier knits, or right below a wool jacket. I find it a very versatile clothing piece as the color is pretty neutral, so I still can pair it with more brighter pieces I bought with me to my home away from home here in Firenze.

Then, I kept layering: a wool medium length vest (I wore it previously here), an envolvent scarf, also a woolen coat. Don't forget the gloves! My hands usually get very damaged when cold weather gets closer, so a pair of nice and warm gloves in a fun color not only will help your skin stay safe, but they will also spice up your whole outfit! I think the trick here is to coordinate every layer in your look while playing with similar tones and colors, but getting a bit crazier with textures and patterns: add fur, wool, tartan... The key here is having fun overall!

So, what's the best advice you can give when layering clothes?