Jill and I used to work for the same magazine – that’s how we met. It wasn’t a glamorous job at all, but once a year our employers would send both of us to the Milan Furniture Fair. Rainy, busy, disorientating, boring and fun, I haven’t been for ages.

But this year I really felt I enjoyed it remotely through the magic of Twitter. Instead of product pics from PRs, you can now see people’s snaps of the big queues and packed parties. Almost like being there, but without the hangover.

Vivienne Westwood party queue. Image by 100% Design

My memories of it are trekking across town on the tram, following a sketchy map down wind-tunnel streets to find warehouses on the outskirts. Once there you’d pass handsome design boys playing football in the courtyard and wonder if you were in the right place. Then suddenly that PR girl from Fulham would appear and guide you through to look at three-legged tables and chairs made of balloons, or whatever conceptual thing was going on that year.

Milan trends montage by Kirsty Whyte

In the evening, off to parties in fashion boutiques where you’re in fear of spilling prosecco on the cashmere sweaters or falling down the stairs. Everyone scanning everyone over shoulders. Being left chatting to architects with a bee in their bonnet.

DJ at Vivienne Westwood. Image by Camron PR

If weren’t able to make it to Milan this year then I suggest you do what we’re doing, and recreate the experience at home. Pour yourself a super-strength espresso. Serve up a lump of parmesan, eaten off cocktail sticks. Turn down the heating so it’s just a bit colder than you’d like. And check out this bumper gallery of 100+ Milan highlights, from Wallpaper.

The whole thing of watching it on Twitter has made me want to go next year. I can picture it now. A bit of a mooch around Zona Tortona, then dinner at Bar Victoria (above), always, then bed.

Speed shopping in Scandinavia

Before I get into a shameless shopping-not-culture account of my short holiday in Scandinavia, check out the kind of view I had in Sweden. Vast snowy expanses, frozen lakes and cute, pitched-roof houses painted in Falu red, soft grey-blue or mustard yellow. I loved it. The holiday started with a quick stopover in Copenhagen to […]

Committee of Taste

I read Jo Waterhouse’s TootAsInFoot blog for inspiration, lifestyle envy and a laugh. Any project she’s involved with is a winner in my book, so I was excited to read that she is now working and selling at Stoke Newington’s Committee of Taste. What a great name. And having visited their Facebook page to check […]

Friday file

Where Jill and I worked, our friend kept what she called a ‘Friday File’. She put any post that came in that looked remotely interesting in her Friday File, to read as a treat during the dying hours of the working week. This was before Facebook and Bored Panda, needless to say. So here, let […]

Tallinn: scores of doors

Since my trip to Aldeburgh I’ve been thinking about the loveliness of the painted buildings there. I didn’t photograph the best ones because I was so cold, but the memorable thing was the intricate door frames and windows painted in surprising, contrasting colours to the walls. Pink and parcel-paper brown for example. So I was […]