After staying in Milan for a few days Chelsea and I headed out for a day trip to Venice. From Milan, Venice is about a 3 1/2 hour train ride. It makes for a long day but it is so worth it! 

It was a super hot day so we walked around until we got tired enough to stop and take in the sights.

I highly recommend sitting on the steps of where the Grand Canal flows out to the ocean for this!

One of my favorite things about Venice are the textures and colors of the walls and shutters.

I could stare at the stained and distressed paint all day!

Chelsea couldn’t resist picking up a masquerade mask and trying it on!

 Every time I go to Venice I can’t believe that the guys in the gondolas actually wear the striped shirts and hats like you imagine them wearing as a kid!

One last thing about going to Italy…

If you are going there and don’t speak the language then you should check out these free language videos made by Girls4Teaching. They are funny and down right cheesy but will prepare you for some begining Italian!

Ciao ciao ciao from Italy!! After Croatia, Chelsea and I headed over to Italy.

We flew to Pisa for the night, where we stayed long enough to see the leaning tower, and then jetted over to the West coast.

Our destination was Riomaggiore located in the sleepy coastal towns of Cinque Terre (translates as the five lands in English). The Cinque Terre are five small towns connected by hiking paths. Tourists and backpackers go there to spend the day hiking and swimming in the summer heat.

The trails wind along the coastline and are set into the steep hillside making for one of the most beautiful hikes you could imagine.

Above is the quaint harbor you walk through to get to the water where there is a nice pebble beach. Below Chelsea is wearing the Pamela Body Suit by Alternative Apparel tucked into a high waisted skirt and some sandals from Lulus.com!

 We happened to arrive in Italy in the middle of an intense heat wave so me and Chelsea made sure we kept cool eating lots of Gelato! 

 When the sun set over the ocean it was a remarkable view that we won’t soon forget.

<!–

In my pursuit to keep up with the international art scene (which is much harder than I anticipated) I did a blog a while ago on an artist named Duty Gorn. Duty has continued to keep my attention with his success and prolific creation of paintings. The portrait on the left is of Duty himself is one of my all time favorite portraits and was taken by a friend of mine from Milan, Alberto Zanetti.

These paintings are the work of a writer and are drawn quickly and surely with confidence. A writer (graffiti artist) has to paint large scale designs with limited tools that have many parts and colors very quickly.

Duty’s painting addiction began when he was just 14. Duty is not only an accomplished and recognized Italian artist but has painted and spread his artwork all over the world.

 ”In his paintings full of passion, the chromatic statements try to catch the precision of a line that accumulates the several expressions of a muse.”

“Color is a way of expressing light, not so much as a physical phenomenon but as that light which exists in the mind of the artist.”
-Henri Matisse

Color, and the exploration of it in all of its abstract forms, is the bread and butter of the famous Missoni Family of Italy. The Missoni fashion house and its colorful history were founded in the province of Varese, Italy, where a factory was founded around scarves and embroidered fabrics.

After the first runway show in 1958, the decorative patterns — including multiple colors, stripes, abstracts, shapes, and florals — became the staple of the Missoni House. The utilization of various textiles, such as silk, rayon, linen, cotton, and wool, is another signature Missoni attribute.

 For Fall 2010 Fashion Week in Milan, Missoni showed a variety of crop tops, knit wrap skirts, and blanket-like coats that had pin closures. What was really interesting about Missoni’s collection was that the pieces were totally versatile. The pieces could be worn reversed, with the back changed to the front, as well as being able to be pulled up or down in any direction.

My favorites from this collection were the the big wool jackets and wraps accessorized with sun glasses. The wraps were draped to hang and frame the beautiful faces of the models in just the right way.

I WILL ONLY STAY 3 DAYS!

Hot new news has just arrived from the forefront of Milan’s Fashion Week! The breaking news: Anna Wintour decided to stay only three/four of the five days of Milan’s fashion week.

What does that have to do with anything?

Well, first of all, after the launching of The September Issue (the documentary about Anna Wintour) following the popular The Devil Wears Prada (also based on Anna Wintour), Anna Wintour has become synonymous with VOGUE instead of being the editor of Vogue. The blessings of Miss Wintour seem to change the outcome of one’s success within the fashion industry instantly, and as Rodarte has seen, this blessing can be the basis of a fashion career itself.

This being said, it is VERY important that Anna Wintour herself is at the fashion shows of fashion week, which has become in many ways, Wintour’s week!

This year five days worth of shows in Milan have now been moved into three/four days. That is 88 shows crammed into no time at all! The consequences of this is that models, stylists, designers, and photographers will be hard pressed to make even half of the shows (which will be running just minutes after each other).

What was Milan’s response to this dictator-like approach to influencing fashion week? Thanks to Attila Bene Ortz, a flash mob of Anna Wintour look-a-likes was organized to stand in front of the shows!

Anna Wintour… I will only stay 3 days in Milan catwalks

Although many of the reviews state that this flash mob was done in vain, it was reported on almost every single major fashion blog and site around the world! So, girls, was it done in vain? Doesn’t look like it to me! I’m glad to see that fashionistas aren’t willing to settle, even if they are “told” it is necessary.

Viva LA MODA di MILANO!!