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Pietro Brunelli Maternity Appeal
Bump movie stars right off the best-dressed list with body-skimming designs that showcase your latest creative endeavour. The aqua silk dress with tiny pleats right below the bustline would make JLo jealous, and the belly-baring olive green halter could upstage Angelina.
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Piumelli Guanti
These gloves come in the softest Nappa leather imaginable and every conceivable colour, and some inconceivable ones besides. The silk-lined chocolate gloves with contrasting lavender piping and tiny buttons will make you want to stand up and applaud, if only to admire your Piumelli-clad hands.
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Pralines Leonida
Skip the sweet talk and head directly to this inventive artisanal chocolatier, where around €10 gets you a golden gift box of spicy pepperoncino chocolate, or super-smooth Belgian chocolate with nutty, chewy centres. But fair warning: Leonida closes from July to September each year to travel and find inspirations for new delights.
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Salvatore & Marie
The fashion musts of the future have already arrived here: outer-space orange Lucite collars, bronzed porcelain candelabra recently evolved from primordial ooze, and tank tops with detachable soft-sculpture cats that would be right at home on Tim Burton.
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Telerie Roberto
The striped Jaipur silk scarves are a stylish steal at under €20 , but the ruched, pleated, quilted local Como silk stoles ( €50 plus) tempt with irresistible sheen and extreme thread count - Roberto will proudly whip out a magnifying glass to show you. This is the stuff of couture dreams, and Milan's finest curtains too.
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Trace
Ingenious indie designers turn old school into new cool here: yellow and brown silkscreened stripes make you stare longer than is decent at sheer, pleated white cotton schoolgirl skirts, a newfangled traditional Japanese jacket comes with an ingenious built-in ruched belt and diagonal pleats add a contrarian twist to a skirt made of regimental tie fabric.
