Hugo Boss Fall 2011/Winter 2012

I have always been a sucker for Hugo Boss fashion even though it wreaks havoc with my finances. I also find it a bit hard to forget the piece of history that the company would most likely want to disappear and that is that the company made the uniforms for Hitler's armies. No matter of these two disadvantages I'm on the clothes like a dog on heat because, let's face it, they are really good. Through the last decade and a half they have used the Dutch model Mark Van Der Loo (above right) quite frequently which is a plus. Wouldn't kick him out of my bed.


We see alot of grey and black tailored pieces in the fall collection and that is as it should be because every man with the tiniest of fashion conciounsness should have that in their wardrobes. This fall we add a bit of a twist and match the grey and the black with strong colours like red, purple, bright blue and green. It might demand a bit of guts by the wearers but who ever said that either style or bravery would come easily or cheap?


//P.

Tron Legacy

I have watched it several times now, Tron Legacy. Not because of a fantastic plot or multidimensional characters but because of great scenography and mindblowing music by Daft Punk. I like the sharp contrasts of the black and the white, the dark and the light. I will use this film as inspiration for numerous projects.

You'll see ...

//P.

Wedding Dress???!?

I looked at some pictures from a wedding today. The happy couple looked stylish as one would expect. I expect the same of the wedding guests but I was stunned at the appaling lack of dress sense. A wedding is a celebration of love and commitment no matter if the two persons in question are doing it for just that, love, or for legal reasons or just as an excuse to have a great, big bash. It is a party at any rate and you should be dressed accordingly.


If you turn up at my wedding in jeans and a t-shirt you will be shot on sight.


//P.

Socks

The weather has been absolutely lovely today and people have been running around in flipflops, t-shirts and shorts. Perhaps not so surprising in some parts of the world but here in Sweden summer is taking its last breaths.

This afternoon I took a long and somewhat involuntary walk, treading on the cobblestones of Stockholm. I walked passed a shop window in Östermalm where they had these somewhat unusual socks. They had knitted patterns on the sole of the socks. Since I'm a sucker for all things English I fell for the socks with the Union Jack.

But frankly, how many people actually see the sole of your feet??


//P.

Pieces from Zara

To kill some time I decided to surf into Zara's webpage and look around. These three pieces were to my liking. I like the coat, the cut and the collar but do I need? Well, to be honest I need it as much as I need a hole in the head but that hasn't stopped me before.

The purple blazer I feel is a must have. I'm not enthusiastic about the material but I love the colour!


I also found this sweater but if I need a new coat as much as I need a hole in the head I need another even less. To date I have eighty sweaters. That should keep me warm through many winter days and nights.


//P.

Burberry Fall 2011

Since I was talking about tweed and England we have this more modern approach to these subjects from Burberry for fall 2011. Good, old Burberry. A brand we can always rely on. My tongue is hanging down by my kneecaps. I want these pieces. All of them!

No one can buy them for me.


//P.

English Tweed

Style never goes out of fashion and something that pops up as regularly as the coloured leaves in the fall is the English tweed. I can't exactly explain why but I fall for it and always have. When autumn arrives with chillier days what could be better then to wrap yourself in this what is quintisentially English?

Tailored jackets, shirts and ties which can be mixed with a pair of chinos and just as easily with a pair of jeans. Pocket flaps, patches for the elbows and beautiful buttons. You can wear this in the country side which was its original purpose but can also be worn the bustling centre of a great city.

If you don't have the items for this style in your wardrobe then immediately run out and buy them.

David Beckham wears the style well. Yum!

//P.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

The books about The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy have been filmed on more than one occasion. My favourite has always been the one with Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews. The scenery, the clothes and the music make an adventure that I have watched more times than I would care to admit.

I like the story of the man who plays the English fop in public and in secret saves French aristocrats from the guiliotine. There are disguises, danger, secret messages and mindblowing, complicated love. What's not to like?

I do really like the men's fashion of the late 18th century but I think I would turn a few heads if I came to work decked up like that. Not that I need any help in the attention grabbing department so why make matters worse? ;-)

They seek him here, they seek him there
Those Frenches seek him everywhere
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That damn elusive Pimpernel

//P.

Je ne sais quois ...

To capture the attention of other people is not easy. It is a gift. Why can't we stop staring at some people? Is it solely because of the way they dress and the way they look? Nothing can ever be that simple naturally. What is a face and a body without a personality, without a soul? Some have been blessed with bucketloads of charisma, that je ne sais quois that no one can really explain but we are drawn to them like flies to a honey pot.

//P.

Screen Godesses

Audrey Hepburn

They were loved by the camera, made up and lit to look like Godesses. Created by the old Hollywood system, shackled to contracts, preened and plucked, with their names changed to something more American and easily pronounced. They gained world fame, accolades and bags of money. Their look with their hair styles, their make-up and their way of dress influenced millions of women and still play a part in the fashions we see today.

Ava Gardner

Lana Turner

Grace Kelly

Greta Garbo

Ingrid Bergman

Beautiful girls with symmetrical faces flocked to Hollywood with the dream of being seen by millions on the silver screen. Naturally it was impossible for them all to succeed. Some had to go back to where they came from and others got stuck in bit parts in b-movies.

Signe Hasso

Not all actresses that got shipped from Sweden to the land of dreams reached the heights of Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman even if that had been the Studios' initial plan. Signe Hasso and Viveca Lindfors are two actresses that are just as beautiful as the ones who were and are hailed as Godesses. They starred in movies against Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn and Cary Grant but in movies that haven't become the great classics. Because of their accents they were somewhat limited and they didn't want to play the Hollywood game, the game that had to be played to enhance the opportunities of becoming Godesses.

Viveca Lindfors

//P.

Kristen Stewart on the Cover of W Magazine

Kristen Stewart, star of the Twilight series is on the cover of W Magazine and shows off a completely new look.

Hello! I think I'm in love!

//P.

The Many Faces of 2011 ... So Far ...

2011 has so far been an eventful year, a very eventful year, with good opportunities, meeting fascinating people, dropping some emotional baggage and going through some major personal growth. Pictures are a moment frozen in time and also a memory of what passed then. I have been called a chameleon, but in a sense so are we all. We are not exactly the same person from one picture to the next since we change as people, we evolve.


When you in the northern hemisphere you have to learn to love or at least learn to tolerate snow, cold and being bundled in layers of clothes.

A picture taken at a certain moment can end up in the most unlikely of places.

Having a meal and party with people you are fond off is an essential part of life.

Friendship and love are the most important things and my religion.

One needs to change hair colour sometimes.

Four legged friends are the best comfort in the moments of the greatest grief.

Fellow men are to be mesmerized,

We say that dogs give us unconditional love but they actually want one thing. They want to be loved.

One needs to see and experience new things, if for no other reasons than to find yourself and leave things behind.

A pair of cheap sunglasses can make all the difference.

And designer clothes will always be the best of treats.

To be chosen to be the guardian of a new life is mindblowing.

To escape to another world sometimes is necessary.

I have also been told that I'm a poser and that I'm bitchy. Naturally I'm a mix of light and dark, and sometimes one just lives up to the expectations set on you.

The rest of 2011 will be decidedly exciting.

//P.