Elinor in Italy

Have you ever walked into a room at an event, wedding or party and realised that you are dressed completely incorrectly? Maybe you have mis-judged the dress code, or maybe you have something on that doesn’t feel anything like the real you – or maybe you weren’t told that the dress code had changed! When I was in my early twenties, I had this happen to me. I was invited to a party with my then boyfriend. It was for a group of his friend who had moved into a loft conversion i

Sprezzatura: The Italian Secret to Looking Effortless There is a wonderful Italian word that has been borrowed by the fashion world for years. Sprezzatura. It is often translated as “effortless elegance” or “studied nonchalance”. But I think those translations miss something. Because sprezzatura isn't really about looking as though you haven't tried. It is about knowing exactly what you are doing — and then making it look as though you haven't. And that, to me, is one of the

What Italy Taught Me About Saving Things for "Best" There was a time when I had clothes that hardly ever left the wardrobe. I had lovely dresses that I was keeping for that “special occasion”, the expensive perfume I thought I would never be able to afford again, so I kept it on my dressing table to be worn two or three times as year. We had a whole cabinet full of china we we were given for a wedding present, but only came out for dinner parties – which we rarely gave!