Rachael MartinThe Fashion Lover's Guide to Milan

I live in Milan several months a year and for anyone visiting the very fashionable city ,this is an indispensable guide !

Do you have books that make you smile? Sometimes it is because they are visually pleasing, sometimes it is because they make you feel good when you read them and others because they remind you of a special place or time.Well, for me, Rachael Martin’s “The Fashion Lover’s Guide To Milan” was all three!I was sent a digital copy to review, but I loved it so much I bought it in hard copy, as I wanted to have it by me to dip into at all times!It quickly became my guilty pleasure - I looked forward to long journeys or wet days, as it gave me an excuse to curl up and lose myself in my favourite city.Milan is my place of work, Italian style and fashion is a huge part of my business, but I have only been able to get there sporadically over the last couple of years (for obvious reasons), so to have this wonderful book land in my life has been such a treat.Broken down into geographical sections of the City, Rachael gives a history of each of these areas and insight into the shops and boutiques that reside there, with wonderful stories of the owners, designers and origins of each of them.She has also added lovely snapshots of not only the designers who have been so influential in putting Italy and in particular Milan onto the map, but the traditions and psyche of the Milanese and their attitude and connection to style and beauty, which is as important and necessary to them, as is breathing.The pictures throughout the book make you want to jump on a plane and walk down those streets, sit in those cafes and more importantly, to me anyway, spend hours browsing around those shops!Each section begins with a map of the area and fantastic recommendations of where to eat and drink, to recover from your shopping spree and to sit and watch the fashionable crowd pass by. The end of the book has a great section on practical information, such as dialling codes and how to get a tram!So - for a book to make you smile just thinking about it, add this one to your collection!

Such a lovely book with lots of snippet of fascinating information and great pics. Really informative and interesting and easy to dip in and out. I now can't wait to plan a trip to Milan.