LUISAVIAROMA COCKTAIL PARTY: FIRENZE 4 EVER 3RD EDITION. FLORENCE BOUTIQUE, TOP FASHION BLOGGERS, LUXURY DESIGNER CLOTHES.
Such an honor to be among the world’s 40 top fashion bloggers, invited to Luisaviaroma’s Firenze4Ever 3rd edition! I’m still wrapping my head around everything that happened in Florence. Hold onto the handrails; here come a million photos…
Thank you to Luisa Via Roma for featuring me in a Styling Lab page; I was among the first five bloggers to be profiled. “Choosing strong, directional pieces from the Fall/Winter 2011 collections, La Carmina’s show stopping style is not for the faint hearted! Working military inspired jackets, Versace and Alexander McQueen, the Japanese blogger mixed it up with fierce prints and some streetwear inspired elements.”
Let’s begin with my travel misadventure. I transferred in Frankfurt, and then the small plane couldn’t land in Florence due to strong tailwinds! So I had to land in Bologna and bus to Florence, followed by a cab. Since it wasn’t possible to drop me at the door, I wandered for 40 minutes looking for the hotel…
But Sebastiano Serafini and I can always pull it together. We dressed at warp speed and made it to the opening cocktail party.
Street-snapped by Jerome of On The Street of Florence (he took the pics below). Isn’t the city gorgeous?
Goth bat dress, flower hair clip and Horror necklace: gifted from Sourpuss Clothing
Black lace jacket: Moi-meme-Moitie, from Closet Child in Tokyo
Blue wedge sandals: b+ab, from the IT Store in Hong Kong
Wolf purse and Seba’s black/white shirt: gifted from Iron Fist
Inside the Luisaviaroma store… all your favorite fashion bloggers! We drank red wine with Bryanboy, Wendy Lam of nitro:licious, and the boutique owner Andrea Panconesi.
Saba and Camilla (bottom right) are the sweetest — they invited us to Firenze4Ever, put us in a charming hotel, and helped us in every way possible.
The Luisa staff made a welcoming speech. Every blogger received gift bags full of books, t-shirts, and more goodies.
Wearing Mulberry fox masks, while Cindy Crawford looks on.
Ate so much yummy Italian food on this trip. My Horror necklace from Sourpuss is my new favorite.
The fashion event got a ton of media coverage: Sebastiano and I were in GQ, Vogue Italia, Moda Online and more. His friends even saw us on Italian TV news.
It was fun to bring underground/Gothic streetwear to a designer-chic environment.
Not all the clothes fit my style, but the materials and quality can’t be beat.
And you can’t go wrong with Luisaviaroma’s minimalist-meets-animals interior design.
Luisaviaroma invites the bloggers try on and model the clothes in Styling Labs (photos to come in the next posts).
Penguins and tigers and bears, oh my.
Things got a tad naughty in the bathroom.
After the party, Camilla took us for gelato at La Carraia. Licking yogurt nutella and dark chocolate gelato, on the famed Ponte Vecchio (bridge over the Arno River)… heaven!
Luisaviaroma interviewed us on the first day; the short video is above and here.
Words can’t express how grateful we are to our new Firenze friends! Many more Italy photos and modeling photos to come.
What do you think of Luisa’s store, and their focus on bloggers/social media? Which are your favorite photos and outfits from this post?
Song of the Day: Versailles – Vampire (have you seen the full PV yet?)
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PANDA BREAD RECIPE: LESSONS AT A CUTE COOKING SCHOOL IN HONG KONG. RILAKKUMA BEAR, CAKE DECORATION LESSONS.
Cute cooking runs in La Carmina’s family — and here’s the proof! My cousin Amanda Yuen runs a Hong Kong cooking school, Princess Cake House, specializing in cute food and fun, decorated desserts. Sebastiano and I joined a class, where we learned how to make adorable panda bread, while chomping on Rilakkuma’s chocolate ear.
Seba’s yellow cat shirt: Hyoma, from the I.T. store.
La Carmina’s Goth-cute tank top: Black Peace Now, from Closet Child Tokyo
Pink and silver flower necklace: gifted from Soho Hearts
The workshop, located in Fo Tan, was bustling with about 40 students. My Rilakkuma bear apron matches Amanda’s chocolate bread creation.
Every weekend, the instructors teach students how to make adorable sweets, like panda bear bread.
Who came for the lesson? Seriously, everyone: kids, female friends, couples, a headhunter from the UK. Amanda won a cake decorating award in Japan, so she’s well qualified to teach.
Hazel demonstrates the steps while the students watch. Pop quiz: can you find Seba in this photo?
The layering of the black, white and green (matcha-flavored) dough…
… results in panda faces on every slice of bread. Kawaii!
As you may know, I wrote a cookbook, Cute Yummy Time (published by Penguin Books). It’s about how to make healthy food fun — by decorating it to look like cute characters! You can find more info here.
What a fun cooking school, with smiling objects everywhere. Using this wooden rolling pin, can you guess what I did to Seba?
Seba’s munching turned the cute bear’s face into a ghost. Using the torch, he made a creme brulee crust.
Amanda also baked dainty cakes and pastel macaroons. She let us eat whatever we wanted — and we did!
Whenever I travel to a new place, I enjoy taking cooking lessons; it’s a rewarding way to learn about the culture and pick up new foodie skills. And why not add some cuteness to the mix?
If you visit Hong Kong, I hope you’ll pay a visit to Princess Cake House. Cooking classes are held in Cantonese, but you can email them and ask for my cousin Amanda. She’ll make sure you don’t get lost in translation.
Have you ever taken a cooking lesson? Or tried cooking cute? My bento-decoration-inspired book is available to buy here.
PS: Seba and I have SO many photos to share… Milan, Rome, Venice, Florence with Luisa Via Roma. Plus two fashion design collaborations to be released this month. Patience please!
Song of the Day: Yelle – Safari Disco Club (French electro; you can stream the entire album.)
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LA CARMINA
