Somebody lurks in the shadows

Ten points to the reader who guesses what I therapy shopped from the online discounts a few weeks ago. This amazing designer piece is hanging on my clothing rack at the moment, and will get it's premier this weekend at the Monsters of Pop festival. If you are in the Tampere area, MOP is definitely something worth checking out!

More about this grey, shadowy dream piece to come. Now I'm off to watch one of the best TV-shows at the moment which goes by the name True Blood. Fits the mood of this garment perfectly.

Fluorecent grey

It's been a very long time since I had a weekend without any obligations or parties to go to. I feel so well rested and energetic, and for once there isn't a dark eyed zombie saying hello in the mirror, when waking up on Sunday morning. I'm also totally loving this weather we are having right now; it's sunny, yet cold enough to layer and start wearing all the fantastic fall clothes. Therefore, I decided to dig out a pair of jeans, my suede platform booties, a see-through top that I haven't worn in a long time, and to top it all a crop top that I got with my Nelly gift card ages ago (somehow I always felt that fitted better to the fall season). I love how the cropped top creates an illusion of a cape, giving the outfit just the right amount of extra pizzazz that's needed. Long live layering!

Crop top: Sunday Sun
See-through top: Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair
Jeans: Lee
Leather jacket: JSFN
Platform booties: Bullboxer
Bag: Saddler
Tungsten men's ring: Superior Wedding Rings

Cherry coloured funk

It's strange how the changing of seasons can totally affect the mood and the choices of color in people's dressing-up. For me a true sign of a fall is when I start craving for certain colors such as burgundy, green, orange and purple to my wardrobe's muted palette. Thereby this rainy, fall-like morning was the perfect opportunity for me to dig my dear cherry red oxfords (a.k.a. Cherry Bon Bons) out of the closet, in order to spicen up this otherwise quite generic work ensemble.

Button-up shirt: Monki
Vest: Zara
Jeans: Cheap Monday
Shoes: Global Essentials
Tungsten ring: Superior Wedding Rings (thanks Chelsea!)

P.S. If you don't know where the title of this entry is taken from, and haven't heard of Cocteau Twins yet, I warmly recommend you to listen to this (and everything they have ever done). Such a perfect soundtrack for the end of the summer.

The last day of summer

After getting home from work today, I decided to celebrate this exceptionally warm day by changing into relaxed shorts, and enjoying a cone of pistachio and green apple flavored gelato. While eating my Italian ice cream (best thing ever!), I noticed that some red and orange color is already appearing on some of the tree tops at the local park, meaning fall is just around the corner. In a way I am excited because I love all the layering and dark colors of fall fashion, but on the other hand I'm a bit sad to say goodbye to summer and all the easiness it brought into dressing. However, since there are still ten days left of what is officially considered summer, I'm trying to enjoy this second last summer weekend at full blast. I hope you are doing the same!

Top: MTWTFSS
Vest: Zara
College shorts: Zara
Combat boots: Dr. Martens
Ring: Kalevala Koru

Once more with a feeling

Someone was wondering why I didn't get on Hel-Looks whilst in Flow, but actually my boyfriend and I both did. So, here is once more Saturday's outfit, and of course my boyfriend's, too. The whole story can be found from here. Thank you Liisa and Sampo!

Picture via Hel-Looks

P.S. I've been asked to do blog posts about stylish office wear, our apartment, my shoe collection, and my top 10 favorite songs/bands at the moment. I will try to get to those as soon as I can. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to drop a line or email me anytime.

Dressed in black

A few weeks ago the Finnish Elle approached me, and asked if my boyfriend and I could participate in a piece about couples sharing a similar style. Along with two other couples, we said yes, and finally today the magazine hit the stores. As for the photos, we had to choose a party and an everyday outfit for the photo shoot, plus pick one of our favorite items.

The whole situation was actually quite funny because we had both decided our outfits separately without consolidating each other, yet we ended up in very similar gear. I guess when you have been together with someone for such a long time, intentionally or unintentionally, you start to resemble each other, more or less.

Picture is taken from the Finnish Elle 9/2009

Birthday competition winner!

My blog's birthday competition is finally over, and it's time to announce the winner. First I want to thank you all for the wonderful answers, all of you have such a good eye for fashion! Most of you would pair the bracelet with something simple and something black which would be my choice as well.

And now for the randomly picked winner (using random.org) of the competition....drum roll please.....The winner is the Anonymous commenter who commented on Agust 8th at 1:43AM. Congrats, I will email you shortly!

For those of you who didn't win, you can buy your own Perla Stockholm pea chain bracelet from Funky Marie's Design shop (just choose English as the language if you don't know Swedish). Check out her other items too, for example this silver bracelet and this chunky ring are so amazing!

Enjoy your Monday lovelies!

Going with the Flow

I'm back from Flow festival but so dead beat that my sleep deprived body is saying I should switch off my computer, and get some sleep instead of blogging. Even so, I want to share some pictures from Saturday.

Immediately after getting inside the festival area, I saw a familiar face smiling at me, and recognized it to be the ever-so-stylish Essi from the Fashion Overdose. I asked her to join us and soon we really hit it off, talking about music, fashion, Berlin, and of course, blogging. Doesn't she look so cute?

My own outfit for the evening was compiled by taking the weather changes into consideration, and adding some Robert Smith into the mix. The brand new white Docs actually served me extremely well during the evening, though my calves were hurting just a wee a bit this morning (nothing untolerable, for those of you who were asking). I'd give them a few more walks, and they should be just fine.

As for the bands, we ended up seeing Vivian Girls, White Lies, Grace Jones, Juan McLean and my personal favorite of them all, Handsome Furs. I don't think I've ever seen as energetic show as this stylish Canadian couple put together at Flow. I completely fell in love with Alexei's fringey knit dress, anyone know who it's by?

Picture by: Sampo Karjalainen















Button-up dress: MTWTFSS
Sweater: Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair
Vest: Two Percent 2%
Jeans: Cheap Monday
Combat Boots: Dr. Martens
Scissor necklace: Ann Demeulemeester
Packbag: Second hand

I also met up with the absolutely fabulous Stella before the festival, and enjoyed some drinks and good company at her place pre-Flow. We also had some business taken care of but more about that later. Now I need to go to sleep...

P.S. My blog's birthday competition is now closed, I will announce the winner tomorrow!

8 holes

A year long wait is now over and my new puppies have finally found their way home. These white eight hole Dr. Martens seem to be sold out everywhere, especially in my foot size but luckily my boyfriend managed found them and on discount, too. How great is that?! They will be so handy during Flow Festival this Saturday. Hmm... what to pair these with though? The options are endless, so you just gotta wait and see.

Combat boots: Dr. Martens

P.S. Don't forget my blog's birtday competiton. It will end on Saturday, so hurry!

Hope against hope

On Monday I woke up to an irritating sound which signaled me that unfortunately my summer holiday was now officially over, and it was time to get back to work. At the same time, I mentally prepared myself for the fact that during the weekdays "dressing in whatever I want" -phase was over, and the "dressing in the dullest pieces of your closet" -phase was back. Don't get me wrong, at least we get to wear jeans and sort of relaxed clothes at work; a full on dress code would be a total devastation for me. Even so, getting back to work is always an inspiration killer. All I'm saying is that thank God for weekends, I don't know what I would do without those guys.

Talking about what's "not fit for the office", I sported this outfit last Saturday. The Rodarte inspired fishnets (or rather spidernets) are something "new"; I got them from Stockholm in June but haven't introduced them until now. Tomorrow I will introduce some more of my new acquiries, I've actually burned out my credit card by online shopping to ease the pain. There is no better therapy than shopping, or how you say?

Top: MTWTFSS
Bra: Perfect Blazer Bra by Lindex
Zipper skirt: MTWTFSS
Tights: H&M
Wedge shoes: Vagabond
Bag: Second hand
Scissor necklace: Ann Demeulemeester
Shield ring: Kalevala Koru

P.S. Don't forget my blog's birthday competition!

Birthday competition!

I totally missed out my blog's first year anniversary in June due to traveling (happy belated b-day Fashion Flux!), so I'm compensating it by organizing a little competition for all my lovely readers. The price is this cute sterling silver pea chain bracelet which I personally picked (I wore mine here and here) from Funky Marie Design's collection, and it's by a Swedish brand called Perla Stockholm. The bracelet should fit all size wrists. It is brand new and will come in a cute gift bag.

If you want to take your chances on winning this beautiful piece of jewellery, all you need to is to leave a comment on this post and answer this question:

What kind of an outfit and other accessories would you pair this bracelet with?

Pictures via Funky Marie Design

Here is my example answer: "Since the bracelet has very simple aesthethics, I would pair it with a little black dress, a pair of black platform booties, a black blazer with rolled up sleeves and some more chunky arm candy to achieve the Kate Lanphear look"

To make this competition as easy as possible, you can answer the question either in English or in Finnish.

The competition runs from Sunday 9th of August until Saturday 15th of August, closing on Saturday at 9PM Finnish time. You have time until then to leave your comment.

The winner will be announced on Monday, the 17th of August, and will be picked by using an online random drawing generator.

Everyone is welcome to attend this competition, no matter where you live!

Anonymous commenters, remember to leave your email address so I have a method of contacting you in case you win.

Good luck, lovelies!

In this little coastal town, you can go around and around

Greetings from Hamina, a little Finnish coastal town near the Russian border. I had a great time there visiting my aunt (who is also a talented painter btw), eating the best strawberry pastries ever, spotting the Moomin troll in Tove Jansson's painting, greeting some drunken old sailors, and getting familiar with the history of this very beautiful Russian influenced town. It's like a little secret place that not so many people know about; even the main road signs don't point there, just to St. Petersburg. Strange but true. I also had my first encounter with a ghost whilst visiting this old smith's house (the building behind me in the first picture), and I wasn't even scared which is even stranger. Must visit this magnificent place again next summer!

Top: MTWTFSS
Zipper vest: Two percent 2%
Harem pants: Zara
Wedge shoes: Vagabond
Studded bag: Zara

Tomorrow I'm gonna host a little competition for all my readers, so stay tuned!

I'm turning Japanese

Last week my boyfriend and I took a little bike trip to the local botanical garden. The area is so breathtaking that I really have to go there more often to take the outfit pictures. There are hundreds of flowers, a duck pond and a beautiful mansion in the middle of it all; truly a wonderful place to hang out on a sunny day.

As for my outfit, I was inspired by the japanese style (think Comme des Garcons or Yohji Yamamoto for example). For some reason, I'm really feeling the knee length skirts right now, even though I don't own so many at the moment (note to myself: must to get more of those!). As you might notice, I straightened my hair a wee bit after a year long break (!) but I have to admit that I prefer it when it's wavy; it's so much more softer that way. However, the straight look completes the outfit on this occasion.

T-shirt: Selected Femme
Skirt: Monki
Shoes: Vagabond
Hat: Uniformal Warehouse via eBay
Ring: Kalevala Koru
Bracelet: Perla via Funky Marie Design (thanks Marie!)

Tomorrow I'm going to the capital city Helsinki to do some discount shopping, and after that I'm heading to a little coastal city called Hamina to enjoy the last days of my summer holiday. On Friday when I'm back from my trip, I will have a little treat for you guys, so stay tuned...