My very good friend K. came from Dublin this week. K.’s husband is one of those mythological creatures you always hear about but never really spot in real life: fashion-addicted, wealthy and generous.

So he rang me, gave me a budget and asked me to take K. out to shopping. And, after a light brunch at Leonardo’s in Via Vincenzo Monti (very light indeed, look at the pic above), off we went. Here’s where I took her and would take you for a shopping afternoon in Milan.

We started from 32 Via Vincenzo Monti at Nadia Magnaghi’s Virgola32 (www.virgola32.com). Nadia is a lively, energetic woman looking very very much like a pixie. And she has a flawless and very hip flair. She sports practical, almost basic and yet unconventional clothes paying a particular attention to the quality of fabrics and the sartorial cut.

Actually almost every item in her shop can go with all the others (including shoes and accessorises) since her selection accurately reflects her own flair and is very versatile. I strongly suggest Virgolatrentadue if you are in pursuit of a good collection of clothes for your everyday life.

Then we crossed the street to drop by to-B at no. 27 Via Vincenzo Monti (www.to-b.it) since I really needed a new pair of Fiorentini+Baker’s boots. And actually to-B has quite a “rockish” stance. Further to F+B’s they offer some plain items of clothing mainly by Mauro Grifoni and some very “intriguing” proposals such as hyper soft, coloured leather jackets and hyper hyper soft high quality knitwear.

And that was not even the beginning…

to be continued