Thursday we arrived late afternoon, and checked into our flat....I had already drooled over the nearby shops on Via Manzoni as the taxi took us to our flat. We left our things and originally had planned for a museum visit for the afternoon, but scraped that idea since the weather was so amazing (it was criminal to be inside on this day with such perfect weather).
We walked towards the duomo, and down the pedestrian street of Vittorio Emanuele II stopped for a vini and a bite to eat, then we walked back and into the Galleria of Vittorio Emanuele II where we popped into Prada and Gucci. Just getting the lay of the land basically. After our vini I think we were a bit tipsy and made a few purchases at the Trussardi (where I could have spent my entire budget, everything was gorgeous). We walked away with these amazing shoes, and a rain jacket for the hubs.
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| New Trussardi shoes...aren't they gorg? |
Friday, things got more serious. I wanted to get started at the outlets and then work our way back into the city center. So we walked the 2 or so miles to Il Salvagente. We actually nearly walked past it, but there were some touristy looking folks ducking into this random looking building. And it WAS random. You walk down and into what looks like a parking lot and then you see a building with racks and racks of clothes. We knew we were in the right place. At the beginning are the womens designer racks which are a bit random. They are organized by designer, and it's honestly a hot mess. Plus you add greedy women trying to claw their way through it. Honestly I did one quick lap and decided it was all ugly and not my size, so I kept going. Next are the other clothes that are decent manufacturers organized by size. My size: 38 was one pathetic looking rack with gross t-shirts. Again I just kept going. SHOES: HEAVEN!!! Shoes are again organized by size, and it's a free-for-all with women standing in front of each other grabbing for the same shoes. A little bit stressful...but I was able to successfully find some Greymer shoes marked down from 370€ for 150€. Then we walked up to the mens section, again organized by size. Hubs found a nice Hackett shirt and we were done.
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| you can kinda see the shoes here...they're amazing! |
We came back to Via Manzoni for lunch, so we started that way after lunch. Our next designer outlet store we stumbled upon was D Magazine (on Via Manzoni). Don't be fooled by the picture on the website, it's another hot ass mess with shit everywhere and people reaching over each other to grab at clothes. Here nothing is organized...you have to go through EVERY SINGLE item of clothing. At this point my patience was running thin. I said screw the clothes and went to the shoe section. Which for me was quite small, but just the right size to find the Charlotte Olympia shoes I had been ogling for quite some time. They were a steep €350 (down from a ridic price of €650)....so I guess they were a steal. I tried them on and looked like a tranny, they were just too high for me. So I passed up these bad-boys and continued the shopping excursion.
Next we ventured down Via Mantepolone and strolled into Dolce & Gabanna, Moschino, Mui Mui, Roberto Cavalli, Sergio Rossi and others, it was funny after shopping here for 3-4 hours everything started to look the same. Each store with their own bizarre twist on women's fashion...none of which was wearable OR affordable. Bleh, I had lost complete interest until we went into the Prada accessories store where I found a nice handbag & sunnies. Then we went into Fendi. I loved EVERYTHING. Unfortunately it was all out of my price range save for the wallet that I bought. After that we called it a day, and headed back to get ready for dinner. On the way, we passed a store XXX with the most amazing sweet little dress in the window and I had to go in! I picked out some dresses thanks to the lovely sales woman & even found some cute options for the gala that we're going to in October. So I went into the dressing room to try everything on. Mid-clothing change the sales lady knocked on the door to the fitting room asking if I was going to buy the dress from the window. It had been the first thing I tried on, and I liked it and was planning to buy it...but now that someone else wanted it "OF COURSE I WAS BUYING IT" hahaha. Apparently there was a lady who tried the dress the day before, and had come back to purchase (too late, my friend). I not only bought the dress from the window but a gorgeous lace gown in dusty rose for the gala. I was thrilled....the lady was even nice enough to arrange for alterations (to be picked up the next day). Here in France and Monaco overnight alterations absolutely does not happen. Oh how I love Italians!!!
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| New Prada sunglasses |
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| The dress from the window!! |
Saturday was another big shopping day that we kicked off at La Rinascente just 10 steps from the door to our building where we were renting the flat. This department store is amazing, and is something straight out of New York. With a juice bar, like 3 restaurants an amazing clothing selection and really helpful staff! Again, the day started off slowly, until I got to the Sandro section where I bought 2 tops and some pants. Next I ventured into the Missoni section where I quickly picked out a handbag. Honestly, I could have spent the whole day in this store...but I forced us to keep moving and we went to the Burberry section of the men's department. David picked out some things that he was needing and then we decided it was time to move on for lunch and other stores...so off we went.
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| David in his new Burberry shirt & me rocking my new Sandro top! I know, it will look better with a sun tan. |
We ended up near the San Marco church for lunch, so our post lunch shopping started from there. We ended up back on Mantepolone and Via della Spiga and found the most amazing store I have ever been in: No 30 Milano. It had interesting clothing, with normal prices and a sales woman (Lucretzia) who is absolutely amazing! It's set back from the main street of Via della Spiga in a small courtyard. There was a necklace in the window that caught my eye, so in we went. I tried on the necklace and loved it...picked out 5-6 other pieces to try and into the fitting room I went. Everything fit perfectly, almost like the items were made just for me. At the end, I decided on 2 gorgeous dresses and the necklace. I know that I will never see anyone wearing these dresses, so I feel so special and beautiful in these items. I can not wait to find an amazing event or dinner to wear them to!
Sunday we had just enough time for brunch and then caught our train back to Monaco. I'm sure we will be back to Milano for more shopping sometime soon, and I will look forward to it until then!
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