My best friend Benedetta in Milan is a true fashionista. She is always on top of every trend and as long as we have know each other, we have always shared the same taste in fashion and often bought the same clothes without even shopping together! As now we are living in two different cities, the way we can share our fashionable findings is sending pictures of our new purchases to each other and this blog is becoming quite handy also to share with other fashionistas as well.

The other day Benedetta sent me an email saying that she bought this fabulous pair of “sneaker heels” and I was curious to see the pic, and here it is!

A white sneaker with a neon pink pump drawn on it! I haven’t seen them worn here in NYC, but she told me that in Milan is becoming a trend. The brand  Be&D has introduced the “sneaker heel” that plays tricks on the eyes with a hot pink silhouette of a sexy stiletto along its side. Unlike other heel lace-ups, these shoes are actually real sneakers; meaning your feet will be planted safely on the ground at all times. Some might argue that Be&D is running along the same lines as faux evening wear, such as “à la tuxedo” T-shirts, but Benedetta and I like them a lot as a clever, clever, and fun alternative to this season's trend high fashion sneaker, featured in various fashion magazines as well. 

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/bazaar-blog/were-obsessed-be-and-d-big-city-sneakers-022812

So, if you want to give a twist and not wear your colored Converse this summer, go for this fun pair of sneakers. The price is pretty affordable too, Be&D Brightlight Big City sneaker, $128, on beandd.com. You can view the Moda Operandi video below directed by Bettina Santo Domingo and including all the graphic-printed sneakers in the Be&D collection. Enjoy!

In my previous post about colorful flat sandals, Cécile asked me if I could pick some high street options that could be as trendy and fun. And here are my favorites:

http://www.stevemadden.com/Item.aspx?id=94493&np=710_390

This pair of flats is quite similar to the Balenciaga ones I bought, here I chose green, but it is offered in dfferent color as you would see from their website and the price is $79. The brand is Sam Edelman, a brand I discovered here in NYC. He is an American shoe designer and I believe his collection follow carefully the trends of each season, and then he adds a special "edgy" and "rock-and-roll" touch to it. He has a lot of celebrity fans, like rachel Bilson, Lauren Konrad and Kim Kardashian. And I found out that one of my favorite style icons, Kate Moss, is a huge fan, and I ran into this great yet wearable outfit with the designer's embellished flat sandals.

http://www.shoespotlight.com/2008/06/20/kate-moss-loves-steve-madden/

The next options are from TopShop, a brand that we all know of and has always great eclectic findings to add to our wardrobe. I selected two pair of flats. The first one here below is a coral greek-like chiffon sandals, which I believe are quite dramatic for a summer evening and very playful, even to wear with a simple jeans short, or a total white or black outfit.

http://www.topshop.com

This other pair is instead super simple and super chic, and recalls the Fiona Jimmy Choo Sandals i previously posted in yellow (but for your reference you can find the same style in gold as well). And the price is great, too: £10 on the UK website!

http://www.topshop.com/

Chinese Laundry is another great brand and e-commerce to find budget-friendly shoes, but still very very fashionable. Here I chose the basics white and black sandals, at a very great price of $39.99.

http://www.chineselaundry.com/chineselaundry/sandals/gotta-have

Last but not least, my favorite pair of Aldo collection: a bright pink embellished T-strap sandal (in other colors as well), a style that  was seen on both Blake Lively and Solange Knowels. A colorful embellished sandals can add a little edge to every outfit.

http://www.aldoshoes.com/ca-eng/women/sandals/flats/89568953-cheshunta/55

http://trendmill.com/celebrity-style/13546-blake-lively-in-red-balenciaga-sandals-by-stalker

http://fashionbombdaily.com/2012/05/14/splurge-solange-knowless-mothers-day-azzedine-alaia-studded-suede-flat-sandals/

Hope you enjoyed this selection!

http://www.efashiontrend.net/bourbonnais-shoes-ballet-flats-and-sandals-made-of-pvc-for-spring-summer-2012-color.html

I have been anticipating this trend in a couple of previous posts, but now the time has finally arrived to talk about Bright Color and Neon Sandals.

In New York everyone – and I am not exaggerating – is wearing flat sandals in every possible color and style. There are so many styles this season to choose from — two-strap, T-strap, ankle-wrap, and gladiator — so the trend here in NYC is to opt for a fun style with bright colors to celebrate the warm weather. Trending this season are attention-grabbing neon jelly sandals, to subtler classic thong sandals, tricolors sandals and T-straps.

Colored flat sandals are chic, comfy, and very versatile, and you can wear them anywhere: work, weekends, nights out, Sunday brunches, summer weddings… They work both for more casual outfits – like shorts and tank – and for more elegant ensembles – like long summer dresses. To prove it, here I a sharing with you my two recent purchases of the “flat sandal fever” – a trend that I am really enjoying a lot!

This above is my first purchase: Jimmy Choo’s Fiona Flat Sandals in bright yellow. I believe they are super chic and classic, with a very simple and elegant crossed design. I believe they really can be worn with anything and they can pull out also the most casual of the outfits.

For my second purchase I opted for very bold Baleciaga Eletric Blue Flats, adorned by the distinctive “studs” of the Giant Balenciaga bags. These sandals are really edgy and attention grabbing, but I love them!


What do you think? I would like to read your comments on this!

In Milan, the bright color trend is all in the accessories. Chic Milanesi cannot give up the beloved monogrammed Italian designers bags, with the famous and ultra-recognizable logos like Fendi or Gucci. People in Milan are well known to opt for the classic beige/neutral nuances (like these monogrammed classic Fendi bags), declined in all possible materials from classic leather to canvas.

But this summer next to the classic color collections, designers and boutiques have introduced also the boldest colors of the season. In this pic for example, a bright yellow patent leather Dolce&Gabbana “Sicily” bag, paired with matching yellow ballet flats. This bag and shoe choice would usually be paired with very understated colors for the clothing outfit, for example all black, or black-and-white, or denim and white.

The mainstream color blocking trend in Milan is majorly focused on accessories, rather than on matching together contrasting color in clothes, or adding complementary colors for accessories as seen in New York City. The bold choice in Milan is adding color to a neutral outfit through accessories.

And matching the color of shoes and handbag would be the best way to experiment the trend. There was a time when matching your shoes and bags color used to be a hard and fast rule. Even though most stylists may say it can feel somewhat old fashioned, I believe matching shoes and handbag creates a unique and chic fashion statement, and it also adds more personality to a more basic outfit. And it certainly gives an instant polished and timeless look, whatever color you are choosing. I believe it is one of those timeless fashion choices especially if shoes and handbag color match exactly.