Guided by soft tones

The past few days have been pretty lazy since my boyfriend is still recovering and we have been unable to go out.


On days like these, relaxed and simple dressing is what most would crave for. These Monki pants which I have both in grey and black, are perhaps the most comfortable garment in my closet. I paired them with a powder pink tee that I had purcahsed from H&M in Helsinki. The tee is actually really well-made with a double layer, different patches and it even contains the shoulder pads that are making a huge comeback. To make this look more chic and less soft (=more me), I added the black suede platform booties.

It's funny that I have been rocking this look for awhile now and when I recently bought the latest Elle UK, I noticed a piece about trying out the "harem pants" trend. The outfits they came up with (basic tee, the pants and platform booties) were very similar to mine; now I wonder, coincidence or telepathy?

T-shirt: H&M Trend
Pants: Monki
Shoes: Bullboxer

Different shade of black

If you've been wondering where have I been for the past week, well quite a lot of stuff has been going on that has prevented me from blogging. My boyfriend went through surgery and I have been spending all my spare time with him at the hospital. Luckily he is home now but him being my photographer, getting pictures taken might be hard for awhile. There was also a death in my family during this period as my grandfather passed away. So blogging has been on a little break but now I'm back.


This photo was actually taken last week but I have been wearing this very same outfit this week as well. I wanted to play with the different materials and tones of black since it creates depth to otherwise a one color look. As the fall progresses, I feel like wearing more and more black...

Mc jacket: JSFN
Jeans: Cheap Monday
Cardigan: Roberto Cavalli for H&M
Turtleneck: Ellos
Platform shoes: Bullboxer
Bag: Saddler
Scarf: Second hand
Hat: H&M
Leather driving gloves: Seppälä

PS. You still have time to bid for the great vintage clothes in our eBay vintage store!

Tell Me a Story Vintage grand opening

Finally it's here, the much talked about opening of the Tell Me a Story Vintage eBay vintage store. Some of you may have thought this was a case of "much ado about nothing" but no, it's open now for sure. Ranna and I also opened up a blog and Myspace (please add us as your friend in Myspace) for the store where you can see the latest listings and more info about the bidding. We have tons of cute things in store, so don't miss out: Bid now!

Banner: Made by me

Overall, it's a jumpsuit

An order of fresh looks coming up! Yesterday I went to an indie club and wore a second hand jump suit that I found from a local Salvation Army nearby my parent's place. The sales lady guestimated that it's from the 70's and I'd say she's about right; although, it could be from the 80's as well. For some reason I have been hiding this gorgeous thing in the closet for quite awhile now, saving it for a special occasion. Now, I don't know if last night was anything extra special but I felt like it was finally time for this jump suit to see the light of day. My boyfriend and I had a little photoshoot and for some reason this outfit made me really playful in front of the camera. Therefore, you can even catch me smiling on one of the pics! This is progress...

Jump suit: Second hand
Belt: Gina Tricot
Shoes: Skopunkten
Bag: Vintage
Headband: Selfmade

Layers, layers, layers

This outfit is actually from a couple days ago. I've been wearing the combat boots like crazy since I got them, they will definitely be my new fall/winter favourites. It's getting colder in Finland so layering is important, especially when I have been suffering from a flu lately. Tomorrow I promise to come up with some fresh outfits because I'm going out again. I'm so excited about it since last week a club gig that I really wanted to go to, was sold out. This problem is eternal though: What to wear?

MC jacket: JSFN
Jeans: Cheap Monday
T-shirt: Cheap Monday
Sweater: Sunday Sun
Belt: Second hand
Bag: Saddler
Boots: Kenkärepo

Wacky or just plain tacky?

N.Y. fashion week continues. Betsey Johnson is one of those designers who's pieces I absolutely adore or hate. Unfortunately the latter seems to be the best verb to describe how I feel about her S/S 09 pieces. The bowler hat is about the only lovable thing about her creations this time.

Source: Style.com

I also checked out what the much awaited Marc by Marc Jacobs had in store for us. Well, I have to say I was a bit disappointed. Everything was very sporty and sort of blah. We have seen this so many times on the runway, Marc! The dresses looked like they were fitted to make the models at least three sizes larger which I doubt to be the intention of any great fashion designer (or every woman's nightmare as Michael Kors on Project Runway might say).

Source: Style.com

I guess I have to give all props to Alexander Wang this year. He was the only one with a fresh angle and something new to offer (OK, the Rag & Bone was pretty good too but they are not a major name). I have to admit though, that spring looks have never been my favorite, so this might have a slightly negative effect on my views. But just slightly. ;)

Announcements

I guess some of you noticed that there was a problem with my images. I had exceeded the bandwidth of a free account at Photobucket. I signed for couple of new ones such as Imageshack, so let's hope it works. If anyone knows a good image host website with unlimited bandwidth, please let me know. I'd like to keep the pictures on this site and keep them coming. :)

Also, something else you might have noticed is the little "FF" favicon I created in the URL field. I was getting tired of the Bloggers "B" Favicon and wanted to create one of my own. Hopefully you will like it.

It's so Unik

My blog being featured on the Frisky this month was a true surprise and an honor. Today I noticed that an interview that I gave a few weeks back to a Finnish magazine called Unik Paper was finally published. The article can be downloaded here (page 6).

The story is in Finnish but basically I'm talking about this fall's trends such as leather, chains and black color. The piece was titled on the cover as "Dark fall fashion: Fashion Blogger's Tips" and the actual interview as "Sweet, Dark Fashion" (both my own translations). The story came out really good, except there is a little confusion about the figures on how many people visit my blog; the amount is actually based on monthly results, not weekly, as it might let you interpret.

It is a pity that I didn't have time to provide them with any pictures (due to a tight deadline) but I guess my blog speaks for itself. Anyway, I am really honored that my blog is titled as "one of the most interesting Finnish blogs". Thank you Sonja for this title and the great opportunity!

Source: Unik Paper

A knit dress, fashion meeting and lots of second hand clothes

Saturday's pictures are finally up so here we go...

Once again it was quite a busy weekend. On Saturday I went to a fashion/style meeting organized by Tyylitaivas. I decided to wear a knit dress that I got from Sweden and it's by a brand called Pour (more info and products can be found from here). I love it's ripped, almost harness like look and its little leather buckle detail in the back of it (unfortunately not shown in the pics). I combined this fabulous dress with my new combat boots (which by the way I decided to keep for good) and the MC jacket. I got a bad flu going on, so layering this look with a cardigan was mandatory in order to keep warm

Dress: Pour
Undershirt: Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair
Cardigan: Roberto Cavalli for H&M
MC jacket: JSFN
Bag: Saddler
Combat boots: Kenkärepo

About 30 stylish ladies and few fashionable guys entered the Fida second hand outlet in Helsinki for some good food, drinks and lots of digging through old clothes. The second hand clothes were organized by a kilogram price and separated into 0.20, 0.50 and 1€/kg piles. The minimum amount you had to buy in order to get the discount was 10 kilograms. So I ended up bringing 10.2 kg of clothing back to Tampere. I made some truly amazing finds such as a YSL blazer and the cutest lace gloves which I noticed to create quite a lot of jealousy among the other pile diggers. Here are few pics from the meeting.

Source: Tyylitaivas

Purple love

I was browsing though my favorite street style website, the Stockholm Streetstyle. They are organizing a competition to win the cutest little Acne bag. I feel that this purple baby definitely needs to find its way into my closet because I have a serious thing for purple accessories this fall, and it would complement my collection of purple tights, hat, necklace, and bracelet. If you are a blogger, you can take part in the competition on their website.

Since I am suffering from a flu and have to stay at home, no daily outfits for you today, sorry. I do have some pics from the weekend's festivities but I don't wanna post them until I get more pictures from the fashion event I attended (they should be up soon). I hope these inspirational pictures from Stockholm Streetstyle will warm your day up like they are warming up mine.

PS. All of a sudden I have the urge to get an oversized sweater, a Kim Wilde inspired long black blazer with rolled up sleeves, and a long dress for winter...

Edit! Saturday's pics are available so I'm able to post outfit pics!!!

What Europeans do first, Americans do next

I have never been a true fan of the N.Y. fashion weeks. I feel that majority of the time there is nothing new to offer, everything is very conventional and boring. When I was younger I remember the latest fashion always coming from U.S. People admired things like college shirts, Levi's jeans, Gap, Calvin Klein, Cindy Crawford and Beverly Hills 90201. U.S. had money and us Europeans were jealous of it. Even though the biggest fashion houses have always been located in Europe, the 90's streets were occupied with Nirvana obsessed grunge kids with ripped jeans, bleached hair and over sized flannel shirts. America was everywhere.

By the end of 90's the course of fashion had changed and Europe started being "cool" again. Small designers started to pop in places like Belgium, Sweden and Denmark, even in my home country, Finland. All of a sudden, underground was mainstream and determining the latest trends. By the 2000's Europeans had gained more purchasing power and many designer stores opened their doors outside of the Paris-London axis.

By viewing the fashion shows of the N.Y. Fashion Week for S/S 09 (Ready-to-wear) that started last Friday, once again there is nothing that we have not seen in Europe first. For example, Donna Karan showed us the paper bag waist pants with cropped legs - A look that has been introduced already in Paris last year and that has been very popular in Scandinavia this summer and fall. A look, that has already been brought down from runway into street style and being sold in the commercial stores with the fraction of the price of, say, Donna's work.

DKNY S/S 09 vs. Monki F/W 08

Source: Style.com

So far, the most positive surpriser of the N.Y. Fashion Week has been Alexander Wang. I still can't believe how young he is, only 24, and how at so young age he has managed to create such a strong brand under him. It truly amazes me. His collection has the rock aesthetics that really please my eye and the pieces have great detailing from head to toe. Very good work indeed, Alex!

Alexander Wang S/S 09

Source: Style.com

Tomorrow is Marc by Marc Jacobs' turn which for me personally is the one I'm awaiting the most. We'll see if Marc can pull it all together and what his vision for S/S 09 shall be.

Frisky business

A couple of days ago I received an email from the lovely Annika of the Frisky.com stating that she had chosen my blog to an article about "Bloggers Whose Style We Envy". I am very honored to be in this bunch since I'm there with style icons such as Lulu from Everybody is Ugly and some other very fashionable ladies. Thank you so much for featuring me, the Frisky!

Mc jacket mania

Guess what the postman brought today? Well, its black, it has zippers and its made of leather. It's my very own Mc jacket! No more borrowing from my boyfriend, this baby is all mine. I know I'm a bit late with this trend but the perfect jacket has not come across my path until now. The cool thing about it is that I got it -50% off and actually it was free due to little "winter must haves" story I wrote for the Style Agents. The jacket is made of pig nappa and it feels so wonderful and soft. Cometh rain, cometh fall, I got my Mc jacket to keep me warm!

Source: Ellos

I just came back from Mosters of Pop festival where I wore the outfit pictured below. I decided to wear a second hand red dress and my new studded belt along with my platform Fendis. My inspiration for this outfit came from Carrie in the SATC movie, I think the studded belt definitely gives the outfit a rock attitude, don't you think?

Dress: Second hand, altered by me
Mc Jacket: JSFN
Belt: Suomen paras vyökauppa
Shoes: Fendi

The combat boots 2008

Last winter I made a huge deal about getting myself a pair of platform booties. This winter my obsession is combat boots; well, in fact the obsession started last year but I had to choose between platforms and combats. Girl can't have it all at once, right? Anyway, I have been looking for the perfect pair from every single store in my town, and today I came really close to what I want. I'm still debating though, wondering if there is something better around the corner (I'm sure you all know the feeling). I'm quite content with my purchase, and I think these do look great BUT.. there is always the big but...

Dress: H&M Trend
Belt: Suomen paras vyökauppa
Combat boots: Kenkärepo

I would like them to be more like the Ann Dem ones, with a longer leg. I know there is one place in Helsinki which might have something like it but one can never be sure. Also the thing is, that I would like to wear the combat boots to a fashion meeting organized by Tyylitaivas on Saturday (which is the initial reason why I'm going to Helsinki). What to do? Shall I keep these or keep looking? The more I try them on, the more I grow into them...

I also got this cool studded belt a few days back. Originally it was too long but the store customizes and shortens the belts to be suitable for their new owner. What I was looking for was something Lulu from Everybody's Ugly is wearing. However, I had no chance of going to Zara so this belt had to do. It's not the same exact thing but I like it a lot anyway!

Soon I'm off to see Everything is Made in China, a truly great Russian indie/shoe gaze/post rock band.

Jonathan Saunders for Target

It is so unfair that I live in Finland because Jonathan Saunders is this year's designer collaborator for Target. I like every single piece of this collection but the jacket with the leather lining, the black skirt, the purple ombre dress, the color block dress, and the black & white dress are just pure love. Ok, all of them are!

Source: Nylonmag.com

When the time comes, does any lovely reader living in the States want to help a girl in need of some Jonathan?

Spotted: Gossip Girl is back

Oh yes, the season premiere of Gossip Girl was last night and of course I had to get my hands on it right away. I was a little dissapointed that the outfits were still so summery because the school looks make the show much better. I'm not giving out any more spoilers though, I know how angry it makes those who have not yet seen the episode.


Speaking about Gossip Girl and back to school looks, I decided to dress up in the theme of the show. I don't know if I can ever leave the place in such a short skirt, so I might end up selling it at the Tell Me A Story Vintage. These burgundy tights are today's purchase, they really are this fall's must pick. I also found a cute second hand hat and an argyle shirt (which would btw totally fit the theme as well) but I will post about my findings sometime later.

Jacket: Vintage (stolen from my boyfriend)
Turtleneck: Lindex
Skirt: Second hand
Headband: Gina Tricot
Bag: Second hand
Shoes: Wedins