Until recently, the weather has been unseasonably warm here in Rome—so I found myself pulling out this skirt-and-shirt combination. And then realized that, ta-da! It was another outfit that just so happened to be made up of only handmade or vintage items. (Yay!).

The accordion-fold skirt is from Pulp, a vintage store in Rome that just happens to be on my favorite shopping street. And the shirt is from Le Nou, that fantastic boutique where shirts, dresses, and more are handmade for prices that compete with those at the High Street shops. (And yes… Le Nou happens to be on the same street as Pulp).

By the way, if I didn't love Le Nou enough, when I tried on the shirt on the rack, it was too big and boxy. When I asked if they had another size, they didn't—but were more than happy to make a few snips and resew it, to the custom size I wanted, while I waited right there in the store.

Now that's service. 

And isn't the pattern cute?

Another handmade part of the outfit might surprise you. Because it's this necklace. Which I bought at Topshop.

I know, I know. I swore off chain stores for a year. But when I heard that Topshop was carrying a couple of handmade jewelry lines, I was curious. 

So, on my last trip to London, I checked out the huge flagship store at Oxford Circus. And I found this gorgeous necklace, part of the line Topshop is now carrying by MADE—a collection of jewelry and accessories all handmade in a fairtrade workshop in Nairobi. (If you're not planning a trip to the U.K. anytime soon, you can shop MADE online; they ship both to Europe and abroad).

I'm still avoiding chain stores. But I'm really happy that the big guys are starting to work some lines of handmade goods into their collections. Well done, Topshop.

Total outfit cost: €144.

Like it? Then check out another one of my recent handmade-and-artisanal outfits, and find out more about where I got those shoes!