Denim is Dead

A new Swedish jeans brand Denim is Dead is on the rise. The company is run by Pelle Aldestam and Robin Westrin and their concept is to offer afforable jeans at prices from £60 to £90. In the near future they will versatile into denim shirts and jackets, but jeans will always be the important base. You can find their products on www.asos.com.


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The Swedish Prince and Princesses

Crown princess Victoria

At the moment royals are on the mind of many and I got to think about my own. We are more far off on the map than Great Britain and our history is not as illustrious. We are a small population speaking a language not understood by many outside of our own borders. On the other hand if you compare our royal prince and princesses with other royals in Europe ours are far more beautiful. Don't you agree?

Prince Carl Phillip

Princess Madeleine

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Two Yorkies and Me

My photographer Johan has two Yorkshireterriers. They came from an abusive home and he has taken care of them. They are lovely. Of course they are as Yorkshireterriers are, stubborn feisty and believe that they are three times their actual size. I have a special fondness for Yorkshireterriers because we used to have one when I was a child. These two made the perfect co-models.


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Caroline af Ugglas

Swedish singer Caroline af Ugglas is unusual and in a league all of her own. You could say that she is a real live grown up Pippi Longstocking. Her style of clothes is very personal and unique. I wouldn't call it beautiful but it is definitely her. Caroline's stage persona is wild, unorthodox and like an Energizer Bunny. I didn't think so much of her until last summer when I heard her during an outside concert. The warmth and the love she projected thoroughly seduced me. Now I'm hooked.



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Princess Diana

On the day of the English royal wedding I naturally think of Princess Diana who never got the chance to see her sons grow up. She really changed the view of the royal family and was a large contribution to the heightened interest of said family among the public and the media. A true style icon who burned brighter than the rest of the royal members and burned out too fast as it came to be.

She will always be remembered for her beauty and style but just as imoprtantly for her kindness and compassion. She was a sort of a guardian angel for victims of war and famine. She also contributed a lot for HIV and AIDS victims. She was one of the first public figures to visit HIV-patients in hospitals and she held their hands. In one big sweep she did more for the view and handling of these patients with this simple but significant gesture than anyone else.

Diana was in the best sense of the word a true lady.

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Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier

It's quite expensive, eye catching and mind blowingly popular. Christian Audigier and Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier sell like hot cakes and I suppose I'm a bit dumbfounded. Personally I think the style borderlines on trashy. I have never really needed attention grabbing items. When I was in my twenties I used that trick sometimes but now I'm aware of that I don't need it. This particular clothes are more apropriate for twenty something and they could tend to look quite ridiculous on someone who is forty plus or older. It's definitely for the young and naturally the young who are rich or have access to daddy's plastic. The sad thing is that the items are expensive but the risk is quite apparent that you come out looking cheap.





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Hermès Belt

How nice of Hermés to have the same initial as my surname. A nice addition to my near exploding wardrobe.


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Fellow Blogger 2

Another blogger that I want to a spotlight is my friend The Wicked Widow. The blog is mainly for those who master the Swedish language or you could have go with Google Translate even if I hate that thing. She is quite new to the blog world but she really masters the written. Since she a Swedish and English teacher she bloody well should. I like her blog and it fascinates me and amuses me. We share the same sense of humour, dry, sarcastic and cynical. We understand each other very well.

In the rough patches of life you find out who are your true friends and who are not. The Wicked Widow and The Prince of Darkness belong to first category.


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Fellow Blogger

I suppose it's time to highlight other bloggers. Why not? It's a jungle out there and finding the gems in that mess can be hard. What is a gem is of course entirely individual and down to taste. One blog that I have followed for years is Tony the Swede or as I know him, Tony Ryttar. He's not a fashion blogger but I read others as well, believe it or not. He writes about himself and events that touches or aggrevates him. He knows how to play with words. Too well sometimes, perhaps. Recently he has recycled old postings because his fan base has grown. I can thoroughly understand it but it's a bit boring for an old reader like me.

That is one thing that seperates us. His memory is like Swiss cheese. Full of holes. Mine is as safe as a bank vault. I remember every word he has uttered or written.

Read his blog and see that he has the ability to touch people with words.

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Photo

If I remeber correctly I told you about a photoshoot I did in Stockholm a few weeks back. Here is one example of the result. A big thank you for a brilliant photographer, Johan Dunder. He really knows how to take a good picture and most importantly he makes you feel comfortable during the shoot.

Now I just want to end up in your coffeetable book. ;-)

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Number 333

Time really flies when you are having fun. Posting number 333. Imagine that and I'm not in the least bored. Just the opposite. And now I have slightly darker hair and a tan courtesy of the summer heat in England. A change, even if it is something so simple as a different hair colour, can give a new lease on life.

Editorial meeting tomorrow and I will of course dress to kill.


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Kate Middleton

The day after tomorrow we will have a new English princess, as William the Prince of Wales marries Kate Middleton. She is a really stylish girl who will be a welcome addtion to the English royal family. I think that a lot of people see a new Diana in her but I think we should let her be Kate. The wedding will be a spectacular thing and London is arming itself to the teeth in more ways than one.

All the blessings to my very distant relation, Prince William. ;-)



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Taurus

We have entered the time of the Taurus, my star sign. The most common thing known about Tauruses is stubborness and I got it by the bucket load. I have a friend (in a lack of a better word) who thinks he is stubborn but he can't hold a candle to me. I have a note on my fridge that says; Never give up! If I want something you better not get in my way or the only thing remaining will be a pile of ash.

Said about the Taurus is that they are faithful and generous friends with a great capacity for affection, but rarely make friends outside their own ranks. They are gentle and even tempered but if they are provoked, however, they can explode into violent outbursts of anger in which they seem to lose all self-control. They have a strong aesthetic taste, enjoying art, for which they may have a talent, beauty and music. Allied to their taste for all things beautiful is a love for the good things of life pleasure, comfort, luxury, and good food and wine. They are more than averagely amorous and sensually self-conscious, but sexually straightforward and not given to experiment. Well, I don't know about that one.


Welcome, and prepare for a bumpy ride.


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Louis Vuitton Bag

A Louis Vuitton damier graphite bag would cheer me up at the moment. Not that I really need cheering up but for that bag I can decide to be sad for a moment or two.


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Sruli Recht

Through the fashion blog, Style Salvage, I stumbled across the designer Sruli Recht and I fell utterly in love. He was born in 1979 in Israel but has spent most of his life in Australia where he also studied design in Melbourne at RMIT University. He is now based in Reykjavik, Iceland. What a journey that must have been. From Israel to Australia and then to Iceland. Three countries that are so unique and far apart in culture and environment. That has most likely put a huge influence on Sruli Recht as a designer.


He is innovative to say the least and with a style of his own. He is influenced by Science Fiction, Futurism, Cyberpunk and Russian Constuctivism to mention a few. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the clothes was Vikings.


I love the clothes. I would like to have every single piece. I would most likely attract a hell of a lot of attention but for these clothes it would definitely be worth it. I WANT!!!


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Geri Halliwell

When the Spice Girls were at the height of their career I didn't run out and bought their records but I thought it was fun with a girl band. I didn't have a favourite or anything but they were everywhere. The money they earned on advertising alone is mind blowing. My real interest for the group started with Geri Halliwell leaving. It had nothing to do with her real departure but I saw a documentary she made just after leaving and I fell in awe of this woman. Documentaries can be biased and distorted but I felt that it showed a good natured and good hearted woman. She was the wannabe who made it but who still wanted more. Even so she presented a certain vulnerable quality that appealed to me. She has also changed her looks several times and that always gets my boat rocking.

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Gossip Girl

I have a guilty pleasure. Gossip Girl. The characters are somewhat onedimensional and the plot is over the top so say the least but I suppose that is why it is so delicious. It's fifty minutes of empty calories. Watching beautiful people has never hurt and watching beautiful designer clothes aren't too bad either. I really dig the clothes the actors are wearing and I find the style inspirational and heart quickening.


Kelly Rutherford and Matthew Settle are two other splendid reasons to watch Gossip Girl. Both are easy on the eyes and they have killer chemistry.



Watch out Upper East Side. I'm coming to conquer you.


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Lars Wallin

When it comes to Swedish fashion Lars Wallin plays in a league entirely of his own. His influences are said to be 1950s couture and Hollywood glamour and that is quite evident in his creations. They are in truth beautiful, spectacular and in a lack of a better word dreamy. Many are the women who would want nothing more than to slip into one of Lars Wallin's imaginative dresses and who can blame them. He has no real competition in Sweden and could rival any couturier in Paris. Personally he usually wears stunning velvet and silk suit jackets that makes me green with envy. Lars Wallin has impeccable taste and for that he needs to be applauded.





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Red Riding Hood

A couple of days ago I was at the cinema in Ashford for the first time. It was a nice experience and of course that was due to the delightful company. Director Catherine Hardwicke has remade the old fairytale Red Riding Hood through the lens of Twilight and except a few pointers from the old tale we are served with an entirely new story. The film has got mixed reviews but I liked it. You could say that Catherine Hardwicke has brought back some of the initial darkness from the version of the Brothers Grimm and I have always been a firm believer that an infusion of darkness into life makes it so much more interesting. In a way the film touches on the subject if darkness and evil are hereditary or if they are influenced by others, and no matter which if you decide to take a taste of it or succumb to it entirely.



The photage is great, the nature and surroundings breathtaking and the medieval clothes are nothing short of inspirational, especially the bright red hood.



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Love

"The Kiss", photo by my friend Tanya Chalkin

If you want to be able to be loved and to love fully in return one thing in particular is required - courage.




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The Beauty of Swedish Spring

Blue Anemone

Wood Anemone


The Beauty of Swedish Spring.

Come and I'll show you ...



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Megan Fox

This Tennessee born actress really lives up to her surname and has put the C back in ... caliente.


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A Tribute to Alexander McQueen on Easter Sunday

It's Easter Sunday and my neck is killing me. Reading Irina's copy of "Devil in Disguise" by Julian Clary that I accidentally (or not so accidentally) forgot in my bag. A perfect read on a sunny and lazy sunday. Today I felt like making a tribute to the late Alexander McQueen. Probably the only designer who never sent a single boring garment down the catwalk. Theatrical, imaginative, over the top but in a good sense and absolutely one of a kind.

The pale alien look from 1997 is spectacular.

From one of the latest collections. Who but Alexander McQueen would think of making an umbrella as a hat and put a smaller one on top to boot.

This nothing short of sheer genius. Shalom Harlow walks out to the middle of the stage, steps on the turning platform and as she turns the two robots spray the white dress with black and yellow making a unique pattern. Hail to the master!!!

I love skull prints on clothes and one made out of flowers is extra special. I need to get a hold of a t-shirt like that.

The catwalk shows of Alexander McQueen were the best in the world.

So where ever you are now Alexander McQueen I hope that you have peace of mind.

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