The Clothes Whisperer: the fashion blog with wit that sparkles: The Chicest Place on Earth: 10 Corso Como, Milan

Even though I had invites to Ferretti, Gucci and Fendi, the most mind-boggling, chicest thing I saw in Milan, hands down, was the innermost recesses of chicdom, where fashion meets design meets art meets library: 10 Corso Como. While London dwellers may best know of them via their collaboration with Liberty (oh the glorious union of iconic prints), 10 Corso Como is in fact the holy grail of concept stores, a place into which I could lock myself forever and not ever ever ever come out. Jefferey and Colette what? It's the sort of place where you feel as though you've lost yourself in a fashion wonderland, stepped inside a magical campaign or drifted off to sleep to dream sweet stylish dreams upon a cushion of Oscar de la Renta chiffon. Founded by Carla Sozzani in 1990, sister to the one and only Franca (whom I spotted lunching in the cafe on my last day), 10 Corso Como features an art gallery, a bookshop, a fashion store, adorable cafe and small hotel (with only three rooms) all around a central courtyard area.

Where one starts and another ends, is hard to tell. The space is overgrown with foliage and ivy, the cafe spills out into the center courtyard, where the ultra-chic can snuggle up in blankets whilst smoking beneath heaters in the winter months, and the store spills out into the cafe.
The chic factor here is 100% organic, its in the very bones of the centuries old converted residence. Every inch is a feast for the eye, perfectly merchandised not in the same was as Barneys or even Liberty's, but as if each and every item, be it a $10,000 Alaia snakeskin dress or a $100 Sonia Rykiel vibrator, was in its right place, left there by its glamorous owner without a second thought.

Giles Deacon dinosaur bags...I want I want but not for 1000 euro!!

I had long since thought that, should I ever be faced with an opportunity to recreate a grown up fashionista's version of beloved children's book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankeweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, that I'd without a doubt take up residence in Barneys, New York's fashion equivalent of the Metropolitan Museum. I take that back. If the opportunity should ever arise for me, someone get me the mixed up files of Mrs. Carla/Franca Sozzani and I'll be as happy and free as a child left to her own devices in wonderland. Brace yourselves, this is going to be a seriously long post--too many cool images, I can't help myself!!

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THE GALLERY

On exhibit during Milan Fashion Week: British photographer and former Avedon assistant Tim Walker and his delightful array of whimsical yet serene fashion photography. It was without a doubt some of the most striking and wonderful fashion photography I've ever seen. Props from the various shoots, including a two story high skeleton, enormous snail and more were also featured in the exhibit.