Cows hold onto your nipples,Birds hold onto your wings

This year at London Fashion Week, designer Rachel Freire showed a provocative collection. It included a dress made from 3,000 cow and yak nipples (90% cow and 10%yak).Anyone that knows what a yak is,please share it with the world. It is created from patches of cattle hide recovered from tanneries(whatever they are). I think I may need to go and find a dictionary. The dress was shown on the Paris catwalk too. I dunno how the curly moustache, beret wearing striped t-shirt brigade would take it. If there are any French people reading,sorry for the stereotype. The collection also included an intricate bra made from layers of protruding cow nipples. 


As soon as the collection was shown, editors were typing quicker then lightning on their blackberries, while MPs and animal rights campaigners were getting in a tizz. It didn't take long for an MP to express their outrage. And can you guess which party the MP was from?? Drum roll.....Labour! What a surprise! MP Kerry McCarthy said 'It seems to me absolutely grotesque. I think most people will find it sickening and repulsive.' While eating a duck sandwich. I'm surprised she didn't also say 'This is all down to the coallition and Labour has part of their manifesto that we will not allow cow nipples or any other kind of nipple to be used for fashion. This is all David Cameron's fault and shows what has become of our society within this government.' As you can tell I am a bit of a cynical grumpy young women, especially about politicians. The opposition is always quick to slate the opposing party if they have done anything wrong. It's like a bunch of school girls bitching about the horrible girl with buck teeth and how awful new lipstick is. I'm surprised they don't have a stitch and bitch group. I can just see David Cameron sitting in a circle with his cabinet discussing Ed Miliband's new haircut, whilst doing knit one pearl two. Anyway I'll stop with the cynicism about politicians,well at least for now anyway.
An animal rights activist from the organisation Viva, Justin Kerswell added: 'Isn't the way we treat farmed animals bad enough, without turning their dead bodies into a runway freak show?'. But us english like our freak shows honey. Look at how many viewers Jeremy Kyle gets.


Rachel Friere said that she was excited about revealing her designs at Somerset House and is now defending her creations. She said 'They really make you aware of the animal itself. I create fashion using material that would otherwise end up on the scrap heap. What I am doing is recycling. The people criticising are clearly clueless about the amount of leather wasted on a daily basis.' I know we have it forced into our brain 'Renew,Reuse,Recycle' daily, but don't you think using cow nipples is just a step too far? What's next,pig's tails? Piglet watch out.


Rachel started her label in 2009, with a degree in Design and Performance from Central Saint Martins. Jealous much. Rachel has no experience in the fashion industry, but her unique collection has obviously been a hit. Well that's certainly one way to get your name out there. She prefers to be called an artist instead of a fashion designer. Rachel said 'I am an artist in wolf's clothing.' OK,I have no idea what that means but good for you.


I don't know where I stand on this really. As a hardcore vegetarian of eleven years and an animal lover,I do think its a bit wrong. But the eccentric wacky designer in me does think its a cool idea,so I am torn. Maybe I'm just missing Haribo. The point is that I'd rather the animal was not killed in the first place. However,it sadly is and the by-products left over would be going in the dump anyway, so I can see where the designer is coming from when she says it is just recycling. I don't think its what the government had in mind though honey. Is this  really Eco friendly?


I hate leather and refuse to wear it. I don't like the smell of it and I hate going near anyone who is wearing it. But then a lot of designers use leather for shoes including my love Christian Louboutin,along with Jimmy Choo. I could maybe justify wearing them if the animal was killed anyway and the leather is a by-product, but I wouldn't wear them if the animal was solely bred for the leather,the same with fur. But is wearing and using by-products of animals encouraging animals to be killed in the first place and increasing the demand? So, it means I'm torn between my vegetarianism and my total love of shoes. Christan Louboutin if you're reading this,not that you would be,please make some vegetarian shoes for me that doesn't make me look like a monk or an out of date social worker, so I can wear them without feeling guilty. I'm not that keen on having dead animal skin on my feet. Just the whole dead thing freaks me out. Of course my family are very supportive with me being a vegetarian. My dad pushes me in the butchers every time we go past and my sister said that we should all get cremated together and she would wear her leather coat just to piss me off. Families eh.


I came across another designer a while back who loves recycling animal parts called Jess Eaton. The Brighton designer uses pieces from animals that have died naturally or have been killed for food. Jess boils up bones from a sunday dinner and makes them into a necklace. Her Roadkill Couture collection shown at Brighton Fashion Week in June 2011, includes a fascinator made from rat skulls, a hat made from four magpie wings, a cape made from the tail of a shire horse and a belt made from a rack of spare rib bones. Yeah I can see them being sold in h&m.
Jess also creates fur-based pieces,inspired by style icons such as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. These pieces include a bolero jacket made from the skins of fifty white rats, whose flesh was eaten by her friend's pet lizard and a hat made from a fox tail with pheasant feather wings. She has also made accessories which include a necklace of 12 pheasant skulls,evening gloves trimmed with the birds' feathers and jewellery made from mussel shells. You can see the show here Roadkill Couture Collection.

Fascinator made from
magpie wings

Pheasant skull necklace with sparkly diamond

Jess said 'I'm certainly not squeamish. I have to skin all the animals myself. Because they lived natural lives instead of being bred for fur on farms,the roadkill is often scarred. Squirels seem to be particularly macho as they are covered in injuries from fighting. It means I have to work that bit harder to make them look beautiful.' I'm sure a blob of foundation and a sweep of blusher would do the the trick. Jess goes on to say 'I was recently donated a whole horse's head after the animal died. I carved the skull and used the skin and hair in several pieces.' It sounds a bit like the Godfather. I wonder if she woke up and found it on her pillow. 'People see roadkill and think of me. One friend rang in a panic because there was a dead fox in her garden. I picked it up and now it is a cape. It was lovely and fresh.' Now that is true friendship. 'My poor son Norton,seven is sick of the smell of flesh-eating bugs at home and my workshop at home is often full of bits of animal. But I am moving into a shop in Brighton soon, so at least it will be out of our little flat.' God I wouldn't want to live above that shop,give me an Indian takeaway any day.' Jess hopes her work inspires people to think about where food comes from and how much we waste. I don't really get how making a necklace out of pheasant skulls will make people think about where their food comes from and how much we waste, they will just think you're mad.

Rat skin jacket,rat skull fascinator & spare rib belt

This is another collection that I am in two minds about. The pieces do look good and I am the first in the queue to wear eccentric and unusual things,but its an animal. People could argue that the animals have suffered enough already by being killed and don't deserve being cut about,but they have not been killed solely to make the pieces. A lot of them are killed by silly drivers that are too busy fiddling with the radio and not watching the road. So what does everyone think,is this art and beautiful or is it wrong and repulsive? For the meantime,I just think I will stick to spikes and cameos.




Second Hand Rose
XxxX

Whoopsy daisy!!

I did a post well, more like a ramble really On What I Would Like This Week a couple of weeks ago, about my fashion detox and how I am trying desperately not to buy anything. Well honey's I fell off the wagon. My detox is no longer.
It started with Dorothy Perkins having an everything 25% off sale. I thought this was a sign due to me jabbering on for at least three paragraphs about how much I wanted their teal Jeans. I got a lovely email from Dorothy Perkins telling me I'm a VIP and I have been given a VIP code to have 25% off. What is it with the word VIP? Its three letters and can make you go on a buying frenzy,just because you are on of their 'special customers' and you are one of the very select few in the world who have been given this code to treat yourself with. Suddenly the fact that you have no money and can't even afford to buy 4 pints of milk, so you have to have horrible weak tea all week goes out the window. You think to yourself 'Hmm maybe I can afford something,I'll just buy something little and its 25% off the normal price and I was going to buy it anyway.' Well that's my thought process anyway.
 So you go on the website and all these clothes pop up at you at once, its a feast for your eyes. My hand has been trained to automatically click the 'sale' button. It's taken years of fine training,I would even go as far to say that it is an art. I've told you all about the hours that I have spent window shopping online, well the week of the Dotty P's 25% I certainly did some of that.
However the story takes a mysterious turn.I don't know what was wrong with me but I just couldn't click the 'Confirm' purchase button. Everyday I kept going on there,refilling my basket desperately hoping the jeans that I gushed about were still in my size.But when it came down to it suddenly the £47 that I was just about to spend on the jeans and some other lovelies, seemed so big. I must have been ill or something. I got my mum to check my temperature,but I was fine. I must be having a mid-style crisis. So all week I stared at this basket and woke up suddenly at 11pm on the sunday night (yes, I am asleep before 11pm,I'm an old lady I know),I went on my laptop to order the things hoping that my basket hadn't depleted. I kept my laptop on sleep mode practically all week so I could keep my basket. But again I just couldn't click 'Confirm' So that week I did not use the VIP 25% off code for Dotty P's. For a whole week I didn't not buy anything.Someone please call a doctor.

£2 was £10

£2 was £10

£2 was £12

Thankfully, the next week I seemed to recover from whatever it was that was stopping me buying and I bought some things off one of my favourite websites, Asos. I've been trying desperately not to go on Asos because I know I will buy something but I couldn't take it anymore,I had to write the four letters,two vowels and two consonents please Carol Vorderman. Since I haven't bought anything off Asos from the end of July,I thought it was time to treat myself. I'm obsessed with accessories at the moment, but sadly at the moment I do not have any room for any more jewellery and I have two kitchen roll holders full of bangles,don't worry I'm gonna make room for some more.So,the next thing to accesorize is my hair. I put five scarfs in my basket and it took me at least thirty minutes and an opinion from Mr.Boyfriend who was like most men totally bored out of his mind and as soon as I mentioned shopping his eyes glazed over. So these are the ones I decided to get. Everything I've bought was all in the sale apart from the socks,so I suppose its still kinda being good. It's like eating low fat chocolate whilst on a diet.
I got a great deal on the headscarves saving a total of £33! Of course actually doing them like they are in the pictures is a different matter! I have spent ages trying to perfect my headscarf bows, but I always end up getting a limp bow and screwed up folded over material. I am determined for my head to be bowalicious and when I've perfected the bows I will blog about how to do them. I'm sure I'm not the only one who struggles,even though I am a bit cack handed. I also found this lovely floral printed canvas trilby with a lace trim. It was a bargain at £4 from £15, so I was sure it would very much enjoy being part of my ever growing hat collection. My hat collection grows nearly as fast as Mitosis.

£3 was £10

£4 was £15

When I go on Asos I always look at the tights and socks. I found these groovy orange and black dogtooth patterned socks that were £5, which without hesitation I added to my bag. I am a big fan of patterned tights and socks,I had about ten socks or tights in my bag and I had the gruelling task of saying arrivederci to nine of them. My favourite item that I bought is this gorgeous Asos Africa Paperbag Printed Skirt. It comes in two colours Brown and Camel,I chose the latter. I know its not some people's cup of tea and everyone I asked about it was like 'umm yeah I suppose its nice', but I was set on buying it.
So the next day the lovely man from Asos delivered my delivery. Unfortunately my mum answered the door and she had a wonderful conversation about the weather and found out his life story. This is a regular occurence for my mum. I wanted to just snatch the bag out of his hand,but I knew I would get a least six hours of a lecture on politeness from my mum. I finally managed to get the bag off the man,after my mum had given him advice on his sore foot and straight away I tried my purchases on. The socks are great,I love the headbands even though I have no idea how to tie them, the hat is fab and the skirt is utterly gorgeous. The skirt came in a lovely rectangle fabric bag with a tribal print,which now holds all my knee high socks, thank you Asos. Asos donates £5 from every item sold to build a new workshop in Kenya, where the clothes are made to help the community build themselves a better life. That's me doing my bit for charity. I had a breathe in and tug moment with the skirt. It was a small version for the size that I am, which disapointed me a little. Its probably got to do with the couple of thousand biscuits I have been eating and that huge piece of cake I had at my Grandma's last week.

Its horrible when you buy something and it doesn't fit,its happened to everyone I'm sure. Well, except Kate Moss. It makes you feel fat and physically exhausts you when you have to breathe in to do the zip or buttons up. Just try not to do it for too long,I don't want anyone having to call 999. So when you have done it up you have to move the zip to the back. You have tried doing it at the back, but sadly us humans are not born with extendable arms. So you move it to the front and once you have done it up you have to do the breathe in and tug action. You find yourself tugging and twisting your arms so much that you are jumping in the air like a maniac. Putting clothes on can be an exercise in itself. I'm sure after you have done it you have burnt at least a biscuit worth of calories. So if you do get it done up success, but you then have to try and walk in it. You can end up walking like a constipaetd duck, which is really not a good look. It maybe all right standing up,but you can't stand up for the rest of your life.So you slowly try sitting in it and your hips feel like they are being squashed and all the fabric has wrinkles in it. If the zip breaks,fabric rips,or buttons pop then honey, I think you need a size up.

£12 was £30

£12 was £40

I have Asos Premier which is when you pay £25 a year and you get free next day delivery and free collection. So on to Asos I went to find if they had the next size up,thankfully they did. I also found this gorgeous bright orange textured lampshade skirt, that was £30 reduced to £12. So in the bag it went and the order was confirmed. I'm really in to orange,yellow and pastel colours at the moment,I don't know why though because in my dad's words 'I'm as white as a ghost' and I also have blonde hair and we all know how disastrous blonde hair can look with orange and yellow. Do you think that its ok to wear orange or yellow with blonde hair? If you are blonde do you wear them? and to anyone What colours do you stay away from because of your hair colour? This is officially open for discussion. 

So there we go there are my purchases from my destroyed shopping detox. I've never been much good at diets.

Second Hand Rose

XxxX

Jonesy, please try not to panic

7th September 1922-27th September 2011

Last week one of the greatest ever comedy writers sadly past away. That man was David Croft. He died at the ripe old age of 89 on the 27th of September in his sleep. David was a co-writer for Dad's Army,Allo Allo!,Hi-de-Hi!,Are You Being Served?,It Ain't Half Hot Mum and You Rang M'Lord?.
I know this post has nothing to do with fashion, but I felt that he deserved a mention since he did create my first love. He wrote Dad's Army along with Jimmy Perry and it is one of the best comedies EVER, in my opinion. It was only last week that I was talking about my first crush being Walker from Dad's Army in my A Nosey into the life of the Second Hand Rose post, where I let the world know 7 slightly cuckoo things about me.

I fell in love with Dad's Army at a very young age. It was a staple of my television viewing,that and Rosie and Jim. We always use to sit down to watch Jonesy fail miserably being called to attention,Walker and his schemes and Mr Mainwaring getting so wound up by the platoon you thought he was going to burst a blood vessel. I absolutely adored Jonesy and just fell in love with Godfrey. All the characters were amazing and it was so cleverly written. Dad's Army began in 1968 and lasted until 1977. It ran for nine extremely successful series with eighty episodes in total. Dad's Army took the world by storm and had a radio series,a stage show and a feature film. The series regularly reached eighteen million viewers and was shown in an array of countries including Barbados and Jamaica. I can just see a family sitting under a palm tree,in their straw huts and flower skirts watching Jonesy shout 'Don't Panic' every five minutes,can't you? Even though Dad's Army is repeated every Saturday on BBC2, I was very happy to get the box set for my birthday this year. It was a present from my cat,yes my cat does give us presents. Since then me and my cat have spent many many hours watching it and falling in love with the platoon all over again. When I have it on my room seems to be the hottest spot in town. Along with my cat stretched out on my bed,I regularly get my brother and my Dad coming into my room for 'just a minute' to watch the platoon lark about. I think I'm going to start charging them for taking up bed space. I'm starting to think the only reason Mr.Boyfriend comes over is to watch my Dad's Army collection.

My favourite episode has got to be the last one Never Too Old where Jones gets married to his love Mrs Fox, who he has fancied for 17 years. It is the cutest episode and when Jones says 'Does she love me for myself,or does she love me for my meat?' I crack up even though I have heard it at least a hundred times. During the war meat was very scarce and you did actually get women marrying butchers and doing umm favours for them to get some nice sausages.  If any of you were thinking 'meat' meant something else then you get a slapped wrist.

So we have sadly lost one of the geniuses of comedy, but he will live on in the laughter of the wonderful programmes that he created. Sadly there is only Jonesy, Pike, Mrs Fox, the Vicar and the Verger left now of the Dad's Army clan. When we heard on the radio that David had died,my oh so funny father came out with 'Well they won't be making anymore of that then.' Very funny father,there would only be two of them in the platoon. So David Croft,if you are reading this from comedy heaven,thank you so much for all the laughs you have given me over the years.Oh and say hi to Mr Mainwaring for me.
So all you lovelies out there if you get a moment I suggest you go and watch some Dad's Army,after a long day, it will certainly cheer you up. I'm off to go and drool over Walker for another hour.....

Second Hand Rose
XxxX

Wiggling bums and a whole lot of fabric

Now ladies and maybe gentlemen, we all wonder what our bum looks like in a pair of jeans or that gorgeous dress that we have saved up for. We have all asked ourselves in our life that infamous question 'Does my bum look big in this?.' I'm sure like me you have spent many hours trying to bend your head every way possible in order to see what your bum looks like in a mirror. Every time us girls go past a mirror we secretly check out our booties. I'm certain even some of you men do this but just cover it up by 'fixing' your hair. The bottom is a huge thing for women,everyone wants a JLo bum to shake on a saturday night. Some women are spending thousands of pounds to get the 'perfect bum' with but lifting injections,carboxytherapy which is when they inject carbon dioxide into your booty to get rid of dimples and there are even women getting fat injected into their bum to have more of a Beyonce wiggle. Girls you can have some of mine anytime.  While other women are going crazy at the gym and avoiding anything yummy to get rid of the stubborn fat. Just thank your lucky stars ladies that the victorian bustle dress trend has not come back into fashion.

There are thousands,probably millions of products out there promising you the 'perfect bum.' You have to apply the product to your bum like ten times a day and have to use a buffer brush that both cost a weeks pay to fight the evil cellulite, using a round circle motion that gives you a dead arm for the rest of the day. Or you have to do lunges,squats,clenches and the infamous plank that I swear took at least 5 years off my life the last time I tried it. Ugh,I think I'll stick to avoiding mirrors and long cardigans thanks. So what is the perfect bum? According to a very reliable expert a.k.a Mr.Boyfriend it has to be 'Round, squidgy,curvy,extremely soft and you have to be able to pinch and grab it. Oh and it can't be too hard.' No pressure there then ladies.

The reason I'm talking about our secret obsession and some what neurosis is because a very clever Korean artist, Aamu Song has created a dress that can be worn by 238 people,yes you read that right. It is created with lovely Kvadrat classic 'Divina' wool fabric.The dress is made with over 550 metres of fabric,stretches 20 metres in diameter  and spreads out for 10 metres in all directions over the floor surrounding the 3 metre high bodice. God imagine trying to get on the tube with that.
The dress was created for the London Design Festival at York Hall and was presented by The Finnish Institute in London, that ran from the 22nd to the 25th of September. So the Second Hand Rose is just a tad behind.

Aamu designed 'REDDRESS' for a performer to stand in the bodice of the dress and the audience to lie in the pockets under one of the four layers of skirt. Each performer had to climb up a concealed staircase to fit into the body.  Performers included Finnish vocalist  Emma Salokoski, guitarist Jarmo Saari and a string quartet from Britten Sinfonia. Aamu came up with the idea for the dress when trying to find a way of adding an extra dimension to an artistic performance. 'The gown-like the sound of a piece of music spreads and enfolds the audience,drawing them even further into the peformance.' So basically they just ran out of seats and had a load of fabric lying around. Aamu also said 'REDDRESS aims to question the roles we play as the participant or performer,as well as elevating the experimental boundaries of this versatile relationship.' If anyone can translate that into english,please send it in on a postcard.

The dress is gorgeous and amazingly well made with the clinched in waist and the puffy shoulders that Joan Collins from Dynasty would be proud of. If anyone doesn't know what Dynasty is check it out,full of 80s fashion and shoulder pads that make you look like a rectangle. Anyway, I think the poor people that had to sit at a sewing machine for not hours, but days deserve a big round of applause. So ladies the next time you have a bottom crisis,just remember that your dress does not have to consist of 550metres of fabric to cover your bum and there doesn't have to be a wooden structure made to conceal your assets. I'm sure those performers did ask themselves if there bum looked big in it. Anyone would if they had 238 people sitting in their dress. So all you small bums,big bums,soft bums,jelly bums,flat bums out there be proud of your posterier and flaunt your blessings. Just remember when you are on the beach or out at night,every other girl is so concerned about what they look like, they don't notice your wobbly bits. The only people that look are men and they just like anything that move lets face it. Even if your bum does look big in a pair of jeans and you could qualify for the squidgy bottom olympics,don't worry because join the club with another 3 billion women out there. I think I'll go and make some club t-shirts. Ones that accentuate the bottom of course.

Second Hand Rose
XxxX

Gucci Gala

Last week the fashion world got together to celebrate the opening of 'The Museo Gucci' the Gucci Museum in Florence,Italy. The museum didn't open to the public until last wednesday (the 28th) but some of the very lucky people including the goddess of fashion Anna Wintour had a sneek preview.

The museum was opened to celebrate Gucci's 90th Anniversary. Are you sitting comfortable? Then I will begin. Once upon a time a man from Florence called Guccio Gucci went to London. He worked as a porter in The Savoy hotel in London. While he was there spending his days transporting people's luggage,he saw the potential for luggage to be a must have for all the high and mighty guests. Guccio returned to Florence and began his own shop in 1920 that sold good quality leather goods with lots of classic styling under his surname 'Gucci'. Or as my Dad says 'Guk-ee'. Guccio employed workers that were meticulous and that maintained a traditional look to the products. When the business got bigger,sewing machines were introduced. I bet the workers were pleased,all that hand sewing does nothing for your hands.

Guccio had three sons,all with names that I had to double check three times that I had spelt right. What is it with these Italians and complicated names? So,Aldo,Vasco and Rodolfo helped their dear old dad to expand the business and opened up stores in Milan and Rome, as well as other shops in Florence. Gucci stores were popular because they supplied beautifully crafted leather items,such as handbags,shoes and his iconic ornamented loafer. They also supplied lovely silks and some knitwear in a signature pattern.

During World War II the company had to stop making leather handbags because of the shortage of leather. So instead they made handbags out of cotton canvas, which was given a signature look with a double G symbol and red and green bands. After the war a Gucci crest was designed,which included a shield and a knight in armour,surrounded by a ribbon inscribed with the family name. No sign of shoes or handbags there then. This became a symbol for Florence. By 1953 Guccio's two sons Aldo and Rodolfo expanded the business with offices in New York. The brand was so popular by this time that film stars and globetrotters were seen with Gucci bags,giving the brand a universal audience. You missed out there Phileas Fogg,you could have had some lovely luggage for your trip. Gucci expanded their brand to clothing, footwear and other accessories that celebrities were seen constantly strutting about in.

Gucci used a lot of controversial fabrics including pigskin,calf and exotic animal skins. Bamboo was first used to make handles in 1947, while waterproof canvas and satin were used for evening bags. In 1960 Gucci introduced purses made with a shoulder strap, with a snaffle-bit decoration. In 1964 they introduced luxurious patterns starting with a butterfly pattern that was put on silks, followed by lovely bright floral patterns. In 1966 they updated their iconic loafer with a snaffle-bit decoration.In 1970 the legendary and extremely popular Gucci Rolls-Royce set was introduced. Anyone who was anyone was seen with a gucci luggage set. Over the years Gucci expanded into watches,jewellery,ties,glasses and belts with the double G logos. In 1990 they hired Tom Ford to make a ready to wear line and since then Gucci has been a staple for any wardrobe. By 2009 there were two hundred and seventy eight stores around the world and Gucci is the most popular brand that is copied by the Del Boys of the world. The plastic label whores of the world revel in the fakes and love to pretend they have real designer. I'm sure you have met someone like this,everyone has. They do my head in.

Gucci has become 'The House of Gucci' and is one of the most lusted over labels. To be honest, I'd rather have a pair of Christian Louboutin heels then some luggage or a handbag that will have bitchy girls and queens around the world debating whether it is fake or not. But each to their own. So that is the Gucci story in a nutshell. Well a pretty big nutshell really.

The museum walls and ceillings are covered in 15th century Vasari murals telling the history of Florence. The museum contains some iconic pieces including a Gucci upholstered-car from the 1970s,early edition symbolic luggage and some monogramed scuba diving slippers. A wide range of things are on display including pigskin luggage ,bamboo handbags,sports equipment, trademark accessories and some beautiful clothes.Celebrities have donated some pieces, such as Naomi Watt's evening gown,Sophia Loren's handbag and Hilary Swank's Oscar gown. There are some beautiful black and white photographs lining the staircases,one of Sophia Loren in a crowd outside a Gucci store and another one of Liz Taylor in a white fur. The museum has had some mixed reviews, with people saying there was not enough information on the family,the history of the brand and information about the pieces.That's what Wikipedia is for.
The museum was opened with a black carpet with ivory candles,leading to the Palazzo della Mercanzia-some great words for Scrabble there. Celebrities were treated to cocktails,dinner and Blondie taking to the stage. Like all museums there is a shop.But this isnt the normal museum shop with bookmarks and badges. It contains a huge mix of designer handbags,accessories, Iphone and Ipad cases and 95euro t-shirts.

So if you need an excuse to go to Italy and gorge on pizza and pasta,this is a good reason to go and go crazy over all the beautiful items. Guccio Gucci was one clever man. I'm sure he never ran out of suitcases to take on holiday with him.

Second Hand Rose
XxxX