Wearing a Garden: Valentino Pre-Fall 2015

I'm going to need two posts to write about Valentino's Pre Fall 2015 collection, not because the show blew me away, but because there are 95 (ninety five!!) pieces in the collection. It's easy to split up the show into four categories, and two of them stood out to me most.

The first was the plethora of floral prints and embroideries, a contribution by Celia Birtwell, a British textile designer. She joined Valentino's design team this year and says that she was inspired by Botticelli's La Primavera (pictured below) while designing her pieces.

(photo via wikimedia commons)

Here are my top 3 favorites from the floral looks:

3. The "My Body is a Scientific Journal" dress.

This dress reminds me of the roof at the Natural History Museum in London. I usually don't like floral prints on clothes (unless it's cactuses, because cacti are awesome) but I absolutely love botanical sketches. I don't really like the victorian(?) turtleneck-y shape up top, but the print is amazing. 

2. The "Wanna Have a Nighttime Garden Dance Party?" boots

Black on black on black on these boots would look incredible. 

1. The "I Took a Tumble Outside but DAMN Look at me Now" dress

Bridesmaid for a fairy wedding? Flower child prom attire? I don't know, but I love the sheer fabric against the embroidered flowers. This dress would look awesome against really dark skin, I don't know why they used a light-skinned model for this one. (I mean, I know, but still.)

Browse Valentino's Pre Fall 2015 collection here.

2-Minute Peppermint Mocha

When I was in high school, I spent many weekend mornings pretending to be a chef on the Food Network. I never actually cooked anything cool ("and now I'm just going to sprinkle some of this cereal into my bowl of cold milk") which is probably why I still don't know how to cook a proper meal. Honestly, for someone who's spent as much time watching the Food Network as I have, it's pretty ridiculous that I can only cook four things.

This morning, instead of walking to a cafe to get my peppermint mocha fix, I decided to make my own. Not from scratch, obviously, but in a high-school Grishma's semi-homemade cooking way. 

Three ingredients. Two minutes.

I heated up a mug of 2% milk for 1:30 in my microwave, and mixed in 2 tablespoons of Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate and 1 tablespoon of instant coffee.

This particular hot chocolate mix is really creamy and has just the right amount of minty goodness. I like my drinks really potent, so if you want something a bit lighter, I'd recommend mixing in 1 tsp of coffee instead.

Happy sipping!