LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DOG

SWEET TEMPTATIONS

Just look at these beautiful bags, handmade in Modica, which were on sale at Raffaele the hairdresser's on Saturday:

Mine's the cream one with the brown flowers - or it would be, in better times.   Which do you prefer, ladies?

And how's a girl supposed to get her summer shape back if Raffaele keeps offering treats like these pastries

and chocolate-coated strawberries?

These mini semifreddi even have sticks made of chocolate!

 

 

Alas, there is no hope....

MATCHING....

Well, I know we aren't quite, but we will be, by the time my colour has had its first shampoo tomorrow.

I never did buy the flimsy-handled bag I fancied a few weeks ago, but could not resist this sequinned number yesterday. The trouble is, I got it home and realised that I did not have a single pair of shoes that would "do" with it. So today ....

We are doing rather well for panettone, as Gina and family turned up earlier bearing this strawberry-flavoured one. [I do like this year's pretty tins.] All are gratefully received and I think we'll be having griddled slices with quince preserve for breakfast for quite some time! Italians, when they enter the flat, amuse me as always, asking the usual question at this season: "Are all your cards from this year?!"

NOW, THIS IS A BAG...

... which is very much in the "Welshcakes" style. I don't know how long that strap would last, though. Why don't I just wear a blindfold when I have to pass these shops? Please convince me, dear readers, that [a] I don't need it and [b] it is utterly impractical as the strap would break quickly.

SOMETHING I WANT HERE...

Yes, it's the black pair with the red heel detail on the right and the pretty matching bag. [Sorry about the quality of the photo: I was standing to the side of the window, on which the sun was shining, in order to avoid getting my own reflection in it. I probably looked rather furtive!] There is a lot of red and black around this season - very Paloma Picasso - and I am glad to see the return of black patent leather. Sigh! - I don't think even I could walk for long in heels of this height.

Metallic accessories are still in and, for the first time, I have seen gold daytime bags displayed in autumn. There are also still studs all over many bags. Personally I don't go for these as you only need one to fall off and you have an unuseable accessory. I also find that they don't go with the sort of jewellery I wear.

Plaids and checks are everywhere, especially on shoes and I am delighted to see fewer kitten heels [bloody nuisance things].

Some time ago I mentioned that it is virtually impossible to find an ordinary, serviceable shopping bag here. I think this is because everybody drives and so they don't need such an item. But in many shop windows at the moment you see bags labelled "Shopping" - and whilst they are, admittedly, large, they are expensive, elegant and would not last a moment if you were to attempt to stuff your food purchases from the market in them!

ONE FOR THE ROAD..

... or the air, I should say. It is not easy to find a handbag with a long strap these days so I snapped up this one from the new Carpisa collection this morning. I'd seen it in their window in maroon, then saw in their catalogue that it is available in black as well. I am not an indecisive woman when it comes to clothing or accessory purchases, so today it took me about 30 seconds to buy it: "Have you got that in black and can I check the length of the strap?" "Yes" to both, right, sold. I do like a long-strapped handbag when I'm travelling [quick trip to Britain next week] as I can then wear the bag across my body with the clasp towards me when going through airports and coach stations [safer from pickpockets]. I hate trying to do this inelegantly with a bag with a short strap. [I conceal most of my money elsewhere, though!] There is nothing like the smell of a new, Italian leather bag.

MADE FOR EACH OTHER

- This squashy, shiny, white bag and I.

ARM CANDY

I definitely want one of the cheerful, casual, glossy bags in the first picture. In the second are some more expensive, sporty ones - not really my style - and in the third, the pretty little silvery bags I mentioned last week.

FASHION NOTE - 12

The new shoe collections are in the shops and I want some! There is still a lot of bright red about in accessories but the definitive look for spring seems to be shoes in gold and silver - predominantly silver. The toes are still rounded and the shoes are flat or kitten-heeled. [I hate these heels as they get stuck in pavement cracks.] The matching, sequinned bags are absolutely to die for, ladies and the ones I've seen have not been all that expensive. They are, however, small and this is a favourite party trick of mine - I buy a small bag to be fashionable, then have a fight with it and rearrange things to get them back in every time I open it! [Will I ever learn?!] I'd like to take photos of some of the shop window displays for you but I don't know how to do it without getting my own daft reflection in the images!