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Obsessing Over 80s & 90s Moschino
Elisa Ferrarini, 44, has one of the most biggest Moschino vintage collections in Italy.
“I have always had a particular style, much to my mother’s disappointment – she expected me dress like my friends, but I never followed fashion. Since I was a little girl, I have preferred original and colorful clothes, preferably secondhand. But at the time, in the late 90s Italy, there were very few flea markets and second hand shops and they were seen as something ’for the poor’. But I never cared. I saw value in the used clothes, and I bought them anyway.
One day one of my dearest friends from university, now a stylist, told me that it was time to get serious about my style and told me: ’Now you have to move to Moschino’. I fell in love with the brand but there was only one problem…I couldn’t afford it! So, I started collecting vintage Moschino.
One day, I visited the only second-hand shop in my hometown, Mantova, and found a long, shiny knitted dress with long sleeves and a turtleneck collar. I checked the label: it said Moschino Couture! It was 2001 or 2002, and I had just bought my first vintage Moschino designer dress.
I mainly collect Franco Moschino collections, spanning from 1983 to 1993. I also like some of Rossella Jardini’s later collections. Franco Moschino thought that a woman should dress as she wanted and not as the fashion of the period indicated. It’s a vision that I share. Coming from an art background rather than fashion, he had an open mind free from fashion rules.
I love Moschino because it is fun, unconventional, and ironic. It’s anti-fashion.
Moschino aimed to convey important social messages against racism, war, AIDS, pollution, and the fashion system.
Currently, I have around 170 Moschino pieces, including clothing (around 30 blazers), accessories, costumes, shoes, and even catalogs from those years (one is even signed by Franco Moschino!). I think I’m one of the biggest Italian Moschino collectors. If anyone in Italy has more pieces than me, give me a shout; we can compete with the number of blazers!
There are still many pieces that I’m hunting. I have seen them in fashion show videos but rarely see them for sale anywhere. Jennie Walker has many pieces I would like to have, and I hope to meet her one day.
I wear all my Moschino pieces and get a lot of compliments! Combining clothes from almost 40 years ago with more recent ones is so much fun. My outfits always have at least one or two pieces from my Moschino collection.
This is one of my favorite outfits. I thrifted the 1995 Moschino Couture jacket at the Chateau D’Eau flea market near Place De La Republique in Paris. It was buried under a mountain of clothes. I also have a matching skirt and the same black and white blazer. The top is a swimsuit from the 1992 Moschino Mare collection. It has the writing “La classe non è aqua” (class is not water), an Italian saying which means that a person’s refined way of behaving and dressing is a rare and uncommon characteristic. The tulle skirt is by an emerging Venetian designer from about ten years ago. I found the iconic smiley face bag from 1992 on eBay Australia.
The Moschino Couture dress is from 1988. This series of dresses and skirts with patches saying “Kiss My Patch“ or “Whaam” were re-proposed for the fashion show and the Repetita Juvant collection on Moschino’s 10th anniversary in 1993. I found the bow necklace and bracelet at a street market in Manchester and the rabbit ring and earrings on Vinted. The glasses are from Moschino by Persol and have side crystals – Lady Gaga wore them a few years ago! The clutch is from 1988 and produced by Redwall for Moschino. The shoes are by Irregular choice, purchased in London several years ago.
All my friends know about my passion for Moschino. One Sunday, one of them went to a market in a nearby town and, as soon as she arrived, started sending me photos of this dress, asking me if I might be interested. I didn’t even ask her the price; I told her to buy it at any cost. She had to argue with a lady who arrived after her and offered a higher price, but in the end, my friend won! She then confessed that it was her husband who first spotted the dress. The dress is from 1988, and it was seen in the fashion show with a matching jacket. The crazy shoes with flamingos are also Irregular Choice, found on eBay many years ago. The glasses with rhinestones are Moschino by Persol.
The wool puzzle jacket is Moschino Cheap and Chic. The Cheap and Chic pieces are difficult to date because they were not shown on the runways. Luckily you can judge by the labels if they are before or after 1994. This jacket is from before. The skirt is Moschino but it doesn’t have a label so I don’t know how to categorize it. I’ve never seen one like it (but I have seen a matching jacket). I found the oversized vintage striped silk shirt at a flea market. The earrings are Moschino and so are the glasses – there is a text saying Occhiali on one side (meaning glasses in Italian). The bag in the shape of an inflatable beach ball is from Moschino by Redwall. Unfortunately I don’t know the year as it is very rare. I have seen it sold at crazy prices. I found mine on Vinted.
This jacket and skirt set was on the catwalk in 1990. I have a lot of fun recreating outfits from fashion shows. The leather biker jacket is a super piece from my collection. I found it on Etsy from a Polish girl during the COVID pandemic in 2020. It has a hand-embroidered collar made of beads and rhinestones that make up the writing “Colletto” (collar in Italian). The top is from 1989 and was seen in that year's spring/summer show. The earrings are one of the few pieces I have from Moschino from the Jeremy Scott era, but I like them a lot because they reflect the classic design of Moschino rings, to which Scott added the ears of the iconic bear. Glasses, clutch, and belt are also Moschino. The necklace bears the writing “100% FAKE ORO” (100% fake gold).
This outfit was inspired by a look seen on the fashion show in 1994. Moschino has designed many dresses and skirts that are influenced by Spanish flamenco. Unfortunately, I have never found any of these pieces, so I bought a real vintage flamenco skirt to wear with this look. To play it down, I put on a t-shirt from the numbered and limited edition of the Repetita Juvant collection. Both the “EXPENSIVE JACKET” and the fringed jacket are Moschino Couture.
I found the pink Sports Girl blazer on Vestiaire Collective, thanks to Gem! “Gazzetta dello sport” is a well-known sports newspaper in Italy, the only one with pink pages. Franco Moschino was inspired by this newspaper to create this jacket by distorting the name into “Ragazzetta dello sport” (sports girl). The pearl buttons have a smiley face, and later, I found the matching earrings! The blazer is from 1993.
The T-shirt has a sleeve on the neck and a neck hole where you would normally have the left sleeve, isn’t that crazy? It bears the words “CI SONO T SHIRT CHE NON POSSONO ESSERE PRESE SUL SERIO (There are t-shirts that cannot be taken seriously) and is by Moschino Jeans. The denim trousers with pleated tulle legs are also Moschino Jeans. Moschino Jeans is also difficult to date, but these pieces are definitely from the 90s.
Fun little fact: I think I have every Moschino item with this print! In addition to this outfit, I have the pencil skirt, white and blue pencil skirt, and white and red dress. The print says “TI AMO – TI ODIO“ (I love you – I hate you), you know, for those days when you can’t decide! They are quite rare items and if the price is right, I always buy them. The line is Moschino Cheap and Chic from the 90s. The bag has particular details: a thimble from which beads emerge as a closure and a handle with spools of pearl threads, incredible! It is in perfect condition, I think it has never been used. It is Moschino by Redwall from the 90s.
The skirt from the 1988 show is nowhere to be found, but I managed to find a similar sarong! In fact, this is a beach cover-up that I wear as a skirt by wearing shorts underneath. Everything else is vintage.
Collecting vintage clothing is beautiful. You can find new gems every day, and you have the opportunity to dress in a unique, sustainable, original, and, very often, cheap way. If you want to start collecting Moschino clothes or other vintage designer clothes, it is a good idea to study pricing and collections to recognize the years and collections without getting ripped off.
There is only one way to be disappointed: to search for one item obsessively. That will be exactly the thing you will never find. If you are curious and open your horizons, one day you might find the item of your long-sought dreams hidden by a poorly written listing description!”
Follow Elisa on Instagram @therealstramba
Elisa’s Etsy store LaStrambaFinds
Photos Fabio Toschi and Nicola Bonanno
Find with Gem
80s Moschino- Moschino Couture
- Moschino bag
- Moschino necklace
- Irregular Choice
- pearl necklace
- Moschino dress
- printed cocktail dress
- Moschino Cheap and Chic
- Moschino suit
- inflatable bag
- leather biker jacket
- Moschino t-shirt
- Jeremy Scott
- vintage flamenco skirt
- 80s blazer
- cow t-shirt
- 90s Moschino blazer
- Moschino earrings
- Moschino Jeans
- Moschino handbag
- Moschino sunglasses
- vintage sarong