boat to burano

We began our second day of Venice with a 'secret itineraries' tour of the Palazzo Ducale, which granted us entry to Casanova's cell, although we weren't quite prepared for how cold it would be!

We warmed up by treating ourselves to tea at Caffe Florian, which came on a silver tray with a vast array of crested chinaware, served by a waiter dressed in a bow tie and white jacket...

After a bit more wandering around the maze of streets and alleys, we decided to make the most of the sunshine and take a boat to the colourful island of Burano.

We then came back for a fabulous dinner overlooking the Grand Canal at night, and walked back through a wonderfully romantic St. Mark's Square, wishing we could stay forever...

view from a vaporetto

This weekend my boyfriend and I went to Venice, and it was absolutely glorious.

We stayed in a friend's apartment down a little lane opposite the San Giovanni Evangelista church, with lovely balcony views:

We began our first day with a lazy vaparetto ride in the sunshine, taking in the sights:


We got off at Piazza San Marco and had a breakfast of wonderfully thick cioccolata calda, Venetian pastries and zabaglione espresso with gold flakes at Caffe Quadri...accompanied by plenty of pigeons!



We then ascended the Campanile and enjoyed spectacular views across the Veneto:

We spent the afternoon getting lost in the labyrinth of streets and bridges, stopping for an ice cream (or two!) in the sunshine, before having a delicious seafood supper in a traditional trattoria.

blooming in black

I'd normally be inclined to lament the doom and gloom of a predominantly black collection, especially at the time of year when Spring simply won't come fast enough. But when black pieces are this beautiful, I'm more than willing to make an exception. The gorgeous dresses shown by Gucci and Alberta Ferretti had a sort of dark romance about them; I was won over by thorn-like embellishment, leafy lace, flowery feathers and organza petals.

 

 

lauren does downton

The beginning of Ralph Lauren's collection really reminded me of the costumes in 'Downton Abbey', especially the hats.

monotone, not monotony

I'm amazed at how creative designers have been this season whilst restricting themselves to a monotone palette. Naeem Khan presented a masterclass in an almost exclusively black-and-white collection...

...while PPQ's monochrome offerings were equally exciting:

 They might be Autumn/Winter collections, but perhaps it's not all doom and gloom after all.

she's electric

I absolutely love Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis', and the film's influence on Badgley Mischka's collection was unmissable. Danger, danger - these styles really are high voltage.