BlackBook Magazine

Marcella Marzona, the designer behind Marzona Milano, likes her cashmere colorful and custom-fit. While she deals mostly in sweaters, jackets, and multi-use shrugs, she also crafts the occasional silk top and pencil skirt, all made to order. She'll even take overseas orders as long as you send her your measurements. Her tiny shop in Milan is cluttered with color samples and works in progress, and her baby beagle has the run of the place. Prices are reasonable -- a custom skirt runs about €115.

Just off (another) cobblestone road, shy Selene Giorgi, artist turned designer, churns out ethereal dresses in a tiny workshop, with giant spools of material hanging from the ceiling. Her workspace is modern, clean, and filled with sunlight and light wood. Rows of white and black frothy frocks hang around the room, eliciting coos from visiting females. The aesthetic of her work is vibrant, and the dresses seem to be almost moving, whipped into their current states. Her custom designs run about €600. See more pics after the jump.

Nottingham Forest is a quirky little bar, perfect for the daily apertivo in Milan. The drinks are nothing short of bizarre. Menu highlights include the smoking absinthe cocktail, the syringe-filled watermelon "cube" drink, and a chocolate-rum option that comes with a little vial of peppermint spray (evoking memories of Binaca sprays from the 1990s). Like the menu, the setting is eccentric, filled with tchotchkes from all over the world. Golden Buddhas sit next to fossilized sea animals next to African masks. Perhaps the ultimate beverage on offer is the truly odd Archimedes Light.

Even though the car is coming at 7:30 a.m. to take me to the airport, I still answer the 1 a.m. call to my hotel room. I know it's my Milanese friend trying to entice me to some can't-miss dance club. Sure enough, he tells me that I should get in a cab and head across town to this late-night tango spot. I hesitate until he tells me that they also serve good pizza. Pizza and tango? OK! Thirty minutes later, I agree -- it's worth it. The entrance to Comuna Baires is a bit sketchy, as it's down a long, dark driveway hidden behind residential housing. The cabbie is reluctant to let me out alone, but I wave him away and walk down and around and to the lit patio. The interior is dark and speakeasy cool, with heavy curtains and loud tango beats.

Filippo runs Le Baccante Tours, pretty much the finest custom tours in Italy. He’s a wine fanatic -- easy to see if you get him started on the topic, as his dark eyes get wide, and he starts emphasizing his words with fist pounds on the table. He’s a portable concierge, knowing exactly who to call if you want to stay in a private villa for a month, sample the best aperitivo in Milan, hit the hottest clubs in Turin, or the imbibe the newest wine bar in Florence. Le Baccante caters to a variety of interests: shopping, eating, partying ... whatever your pleasure, he knows how to feed it. He’s also supremely connected; he’s hosted private dinners in Salvatore Feragammo’s home, and can get you into the kitchen of any restaurant you care to name. You want this guy on speed dial if you’re in Italy.

Point of Origin: Florence, Italy. He spent five years working in London (hence his charming British English accent) and one year studying in Holland, which he touts as “the year of my life” -- perhaps due to the fact that 85% of the students were “beautiful women.”

The popular apertif, Negroni, originated at Caffe Casoni (now Caffe Giacosa) in Florence, Italy about a hundred years ago. The Milanese promptly bastardized the drink by substituting Spumanti in place of the gin, hence the name "sbagliato," which translates to "wrong." Make one of your own:

• 1 part Spumanti (or other champagne)
• 1 part sweet vermouth
• 1 part Campari (or other bitters)
Pour over ice and serve. €7.

Greetings from Italy -- I'm here for a week getting the lowdown on the latest restaurants, scoping out the hippest shopping outposts, and catching up on what's going down after dark. First up is Florence, then Turin, and finally Milan. In Florence, I'll be meeting up with Filippo Bartolotta of Le Baccanti Tours, the go-to guy for behind-the-scenes Firenze. Specializing in food, wine, and after-dark tours, Filippo promises to give me the proverbial keys to the city (or at least an aperitivo or two). Also in Florence, I'll be checking out the Grand Hotel and brand-new Westin Excelsior. In Turin, I'll plunge into the burgeoning nightlife scene, described both as fraught with "underground situations" as well as "magical." We'll see. Once in Milan, I'll run the gamut of nightlife and restaurants -- Magazzini Generali, Nobu, Serendepico, and the Dolce & Gabbana restaurant literally made out of gold. Stay tuned.

Sacha Baron Cohen has been spotted all over Milan Fashion Week. Filming for his upcoming movie, Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male, Cohen has made stops at Iceberg, Mariella Burani, and Roberto Musso. WWD reports that, while backstage at Iceberg, Cohen “feigned a fashionista crisis, throwing himself on the floor, appearing to tear off his clothes.” Not only that, it seems in the midst of an interview with a model, Cohen also began “dragging down a rack of clothes that tuck to his Velcro-trimmed getup.”

Diesel XXX -- not be confused with that unfortunate chrome-domed actor and his unfortunate secret agent movie -- is segueing from industrial clothing brand to international party starter, with a 24-hour global shindig on October 11. The intercontinental soiree will begin in Tokyo and successively stumble to Beijing, Dubai, Athens, Amsterdam, Milan, Zurich, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Oslo, Helsinki, London, and Sao Paulo. No New York unfortunately, except for the 5,000-person grand finale we've been granted along Brooklyn's scenic waterfront, hosted by that Mistress of Seduction, Joey Arias, and featuring performances from M.I.A., N.E.R.D, and Hot Chip.

Milan, you saucy little thing, you silly fashion gender bender. Fashion week wrapped with Silvia Fendi pitching platform wedge shoes for men. Why not go all the way with a nice heel or stiletto?