50FT. WOMAN

Dum du dum dum, it's all nice and calm but then uh-oh it happens: the attack of the 50ft woman!



The inspiration was of course this film, or more accurately; film poster:
You can catch the same number tonight at Helsinki Vintage opening club! And later at LeBonk October 1st and at Blues Trash Cabaret (at On The Rocks) on October 9th.

Photos from Psychorama by:
Rik Stavale (1,2,5), Marko Hämäläinen (3), Laura Kansanen-Stavale (4)


(Google tells me the 50ft woman also has an attacking baby! I can't tell if it's disturbing or sweet :)

ARCHIPELAGO WEDDING / EARLY SIXTIES INSPIRED UPDO

I have to break that image of me as a cabbage head and save myself for future references in the internet. All the following images should be named ulrikabacherulrikabacherulrikabacher.jpg to be sure they are the ones to hit the search engine first.

Well anyway Eddi and I went to a wedding last weekend (yes there's been a lot of weddings this year, my friend asked if we've done anything else this summer) in the far-away archipelago. I had a pretty dress and a nasty flu with me and did this 'do inspired by the early sixties. Mad Men if you so like (I have to start watching that show!).

The hair do takes under ten minutes to make with pre-culred hair and the help of some Bumpits'. The pearl bow hair comb is from Frollein von Sofa.


I think had the nicest outfit I've worn this year so far, but as you really can't have your picture taken all the time I don't have any proper shots of that. The dress is trashy Diva however.

I don't smoke anymore btw. Only sometimes. Like when I have the flu because it helps, eh.

FOR YOUR INNER MERMAID / PEARL OYSTER GIVEAWAY FROM TYRA

The pearl oyster brooch (or well, pearl mussel actually) is from Tyra Therman...

...and you can win a similar one for yourself!

I always thought Tyra's pearl oyster-jewellery were beautiful and a brilliant idea; like something a mermaid lost, washed up on the shore to be found by some lucky girl passing by...

You can buy her mussel brooches, necklaces and earrings as well as other jewellery and accessories from her shop; Punavuoren Putiikki and now also online from Made By. (Made By is like a Finnsish Etsy, still taking it's baby steps - it is possible to order abroad but so far Made By can only calculate the shipping fee for Finland.)b But first, try and win one for yourself!

The brooch is made out of mussel shells and pearl-beads.

To enter the give-away, as usual, just leave a comment on this post.
If you do not have a blog or website trough which I can reach you, remember to leave me your email.
And please, as I will draw the winner on random, only ONE comment per person!
If you link to this give-away in your blog, on your site, on twitter or some forum you hang out on you may leave me one more comment (per link) telling me that you've done so, and of course linking to the post/site in question.

The competition is open until next week's Sunday evening, July 25th!
Good luck!

(PS. Love you all! ♥)

THINK DRINKS WITH PARASOLS AND LOTS OF FRUITS IN THEM

Today it's really warm and sunny, in ohter words perfect day to go a little tropically kitsch covering my frizzy curls from yesterday's show with a turban and a whole lot of flowers.

Like this!

Which wil be perfect for an evening to spend at Storyville's terrace sipping rosé wine and listening to great music ( at their summer Sunday club). Even though I guess a drink with parasols, pineapple slices and rhum in it would suit the outfit better...

Or then I might just skip all the city fun and drive out to Eddi in the countryside; after all, the man surprised me with pancakes, ice cream and strawberries in honour of my name's day this morning.

We'll see.

VIVIEN OF HOLLOWAY WEDDING WEEKEND pt.2

-the yellow edition!
Or, as I also like to think: the lemon licorice one.
(How come I always want to combine dressing up and candy? I'm not that much of a candy person after all.)

I made the daisy hair comb to go along with the dress, which has small daisies on it.

La la la la with the bolero on.

Ladi dadi da without it on.

As it obviously is bound to happen sooner or later* I might just say it straight away: bring on the matching track suits!


So it was a Vivien of Holloway binge once again; everything is Vivien of Holloway except for the vintage bag and the shoes. (And no they did no sponsor my trip.)


*)No not really. The tracksuits I mean. I don't think they'll ever happen no matter how much we match shirts and dresses. Or? I mean, could be fun to kitsch it up Royal Tenebaum style once in a while (not the common Finnish jerk style though). Well, on Halloween perhaps.

(I FORGOT TO PUT A HEADLINE ON THIS ONE)

My hair was pin-curled under a scarf for a couple of days to achieve a great big fluff (which it did, which the moist weather destroyed).

I tied the scarf with a little extra twist to get some more of those slightly exotic vibes into the grey sogginess* of the season; making a huge layered bow on top. (It was also a nice way to add some Carmen Miranda flair to an inspiration trip to the home decor and furniture supermarkets of the far-away suburbs.**)

I wear a scarf like this one with a pair of high waisted slacks and a basic shirt or boat neck tee for a less dressed-up, less carnival-like feeling (not that there's anything wrong with that, but anyway).



*)Note: ranting about ice and freezing cold is over, I will be nagging about how wet, soggy and slippery it is from now.

**) Can't wait for the big renovation and MOVE, my new kitchen, bedroom tapestry, mint green smeg; our new home. But as said before, more on that later.

LISA's HAIR ORCHID TUTORIAL

Lisa Freemont Street did a video tutorial of the hair orchid I did for my sister some time ago, but for shorter hair. (And she also gave me a sweet nice puff :)

The orchid turned out beautiful. I'm always happy to see readers try out the styles I've presented!


You can check out more of Lisa's vintage style tutorials on her youtube channel, they are very good.

EDIT : if you're afraid it won't look good with dark hair, add two ribbons to the ponytail, so that you put the elastic around the hair and the ribbons as well,the ribbons folded in half so that the middle of those are where the elastic is; you'll get four pieces of ribbon hanging along your hair. Grab one of these for each upper roll, making sure it shows in the curl. Let the last two ribbons join the lower bigger roll. That way you'll get some contrast to your dark curls. This should be a nice add to light and red hair to, of course!

THE HAIR ORCHID

Hairdo #5:


Some weekends ago my youngest sister V popped by my harbor salon to get her hair and make up done for a student ball (in other words, I took a break from the loadig and turned my office in to a temporary studio ).

My sister is not in to vintage but her long gown had a 30's cut and vibe to it so I made her something timeless but still slightly inspired from that era; a orchid shaped bun on one side of the head and the hair in front laid into and S-shaped curl resembling a marcel wave.

You can do this in six rather easy steps:

1) Part your hair on the side of your head. If your hair is damp start in good time by separating the front section of hair and comb the rest into a ponytail or such at the side of your head. Add some gel or serum, depending on what you prefer, to the front and pin it into a S-shaped wave along the side of your head. Wait for it to dry. If you start off with dry hair you'll just make the curl with an iron and pin it when the rest is done.

2) Add some mousse and curl the edges of you hair.

3) Comb your hair to the side and fasten it into a ponytail just behind your ear. If you had your front section pinned wet carefully loosen the lower pins to make the ponytail sleek to the other side.

4) Part the ponytail in three sections; two smaller ones on top and one big at the bottom. Roll them around two fingers, the upper ones upwards and the lower one downwards, fasten them with a couple of pins inside the rolls. Try to hide the pins as well as you can but be careful not to make the roll loose or frizzy while you do so. Spray.

5) Secure the curl in front; if you started out with damp hair it should stay in shape pretty well; you can remove the pins but keep/add one to the bottom of the curl to secure it. If you curled it with an iron, re-shape it a bit against your head and pin it in place. In both cases, press the curl gently towards your head and spray.

6) Add an orchid (or some other flower or decoration, a feathered pin perhaps?) in the middle of the bun to cover up the snood of the ponytail possibly showing in between. I used a synthetic flower without any hairpin attached to it, that I just stuck in the bun. I secured it with one pin I tucked in from the inside of one of the rolls.

Then just on with your heels and (fake-)fur boa and head for the ball!

VINTAGE STUDS

As time has gone by I have become less and less interested in fashion and trends, not to mentioned influenced by them. But of course I notice trends and such, and studs have been seen a lot lately (did it start with Carries studded belt in the SATC movie?), perhaps it's still really in, or perhaps the biggest boom is over by now, but anyway; behold, they had studs in the 1930 already! And not just shoes or bags but a studded dress!

Even though some of the studded stuff may be delicious per se I haven't really found it my thing but this one I could wear!


Lanvin from 1935. (Scanned from a book of mine).

CANDY SUNDAY

I have a bag I refer to as my ice cream bag. It's the colour. It makes me think of ice cream. So does my pink cardigan.

So dressed like this I felt like a bowl of ice cream (vanilla, strawberry licorice sauce. And some pistachio ice cream too, underneath. Not that I really like licorice sauce on ice cream. But anyway). Or Fazer's French pastilles in my grandmothers porcelain jar from when I was a kid, since as you know I like to dress like candy from time to time. And what a candy Sunday I had!

First I went to an elderly relative of mine who was wealthy and into fashion in the 50's and 60's and collected hers and her aunts old clothing she wanted to get rid of. Stuff you'd kill me to get your hands on I tell you - a 30's long evening gown in velvet, an amazing 50's satin brocade cocktail dress, a promenade suit with the perfect fit in mint condition plus some more dresses and skirts. (Yes I will twist the knife even deeper and add some photos eventually.)

Afterwards I met up with one of my sisters and my parents for a late birthday celebration; we had some cakes and pies and you name it at a café in a 18th century villa in a park just outside of town. Nice.

To top it all off I had marzipan and champagne for dinner.
As I said, candy Sunday.

(For those who wonder; the skirt is thrifted, the cardigan from Gina and the bag from one of the shoe shops in Kamppi.)

SUBTLE AUTUMN COLOURS & SUNDAY BIKE RIDES

The warm afternoon sun could almost make one think it is still summer, but there are still some things giving autumn away: the shade of the light, a colder breeze and colours starting to pop up here and there, less green, more yellow.










And of course, the fallen leaves. More and more of them.
A great weather to bike in however!

NEW THINGS OLD LOOK

Every now and then I like to dress up according to some theme or inspired by a certain decade, without taking it too seriously. Fun and easy you know. That's the whole point actually. To take what you like an make it yours.

So here I went somewhat around 1930. None of what I'm wearing is vintage, but mixed and matched semi old items from my wardrobe to create a vintage look.


Dress - Selfmade, Wrap-around knit - old
Bag - Global Acessories/Stockmann's, Headband - Ekawear
Shoes - customized ModCloth, Belt - made from a leftover piece of cloth
(The lace stockings are Norlyn's I think)

Here's my modernized verision of a late twenties look, from last year btw.)

STRIPES - DOTS - CANDY

It seems spring is the time when I dress inspired by candy.

But as said before, I don't even like candy that much, other than to look at it. I'd much rather have an apple.
(Or chocolate. Lot's of it. That's not candy you know. Chocolate has a category of it's own!)


Skirt - My Mother's old, Leather Jacket - My One and Only...
the rest is old stuff

THE MASTERFUL LINE OF GRUAU

I'm continuing on my very un-chronological and no-logic-whatsoever series of featuring my favorite fashion illustrators. (Previously mentioned are Erté and Ohgushi.)

Today it's time for perhaps the greatest of them all; Renée Gruau!

I've always admired the 'less is more' when it comes to illustration (that is, if you know your way around the paper and pencil) and Gruau is a true master in the use of negative space, somewhat continuing the japonisme-inspired style of Touluse-Lautrec. Gruau was also a master with his use of color and patterns, but most of all, his trademark line - strong and simple but total perfection.

RenéeGruau (1909-2004) was a French-Italian artist and illustrator who worked mainly in Europe but also in New York. He did numerous high style magazine covers, ads and haute couture illustrations for such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Flair, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Dior... He also did posters for The Moulin Rouge and Lido for years. At some point he even did some fashion design himself.

Gruau worked with Dior from the fifties until the late eighties, even at times when fashion photography and digital art had already taken over. Images above from the sixtes.



Obviously an inspiration for the iPod ads?


Great work of pattern and space from the sixties.



I had a hard time picking out images for this post leaving a lot unshown here, so be a darling and go google up images by Gruau! Do it! Now!

WEDNESDAY BLISS

What better way to arrive back south from the north and its snowy slopes than to arrive to a warm and sunny spring day? And even better; to find a small package from lovely Rascal Kosher waiting for me at home? With a lovely pink brooch of a small kissing couple and matching earrings in it, form her etsy shop! In fact, it was all so nice that I did not update any software or fill in my company's tax declaration like my schedule said. Instead I had a long lunch with K, enjoyed some carrot cake and ginger tea with Ina and spent the rest of the day looking at my favourite books.




One of my absolute prettiest books is Rob Ryan's This is For You. I think a lot of you know it already, but if you don't, go get it, or at least take a look at it it! Rob Ryan is an artist who cuts his work out of paper and they are amazing. (So amazing it almost gives me a headache, you know, thinking if I were to do that. But I try to forget about the making-of-state and just enjoy his results :)

(Bolero - customized H&M, Skirt - vintage, Scarf - from a left over piece of fabric, Brooch and earrings - Rascal Kosher)