Photo frenzy!

Yeah I know it's been a while, so to compensate I thought I would empty my memory stick to let you know what we've been up to. Here you go:

Playing dress-up with my sis

Playing hair dresser with my niece

I was trying to make a 'lussebulle' of hair. Hmm..

I have a talent for this!

French kissing

Casual Sunday

The best Christmas tree ever!!

Floral Wednesday

THAT'S IT!

Look of the day

Dress: [nümph] in store now

Tights: black 20 den + black 100 den Twilfit

As you may have guessed my inspiration for the hair-do came from the dots of the dress. Not sure about it but hey, at least it's fun. Love the dress by the way. It's made out of the softest wool (not itchy at all!) and helps to keep me warm during this 4th day of -15 C or below..

Survival guide

Ok, so if you're anything like me and you live in a country where the sun has left the building, then you must follow my steps to be warm, and chic, this winter.

I wont be hypocritical, I too have days when I say 'F*CK IT. I'm wearing my warmest and ugliest clothes, I don't care how I look' but then I remember how much better I feel about myself when I look good and I try to make the effort at least once in a while.

So here are my best tips:

LAYERS.
I'm sure you all know how important this is but I'll remind you on how you can go about it in a practical manner, without looking like Michelins.
When wearing pants, don't forget to but on tights underneath.
When wearing dresses or skirts, always wear a thin 20 den panty hose underneath your regular tights. It helps soo much.
Wear a singlet top underneath your blouse. If you're wearing a short sleeve dress, try a long sleeve top underneath, or combine it with a warm cardigan.
While you always want to keep you feet warm you do NOT want them to get wet or moist. So make sure your shoes are waterproof and make sure that they're not on too tight because that will actually make you feel even colder. A thin cotton-wool mix sock is often enough if you have good shoes.

This is me wearing a puffy shirt underneath my vintage dress. My legs are kept warm with a pair of cotton/wool mix stockings and a petticoat.

While getting ready to go outside I need my cardigan.

These are my survival boots. Totally waterproof, with a 2" heel and with the softest woolen lining. Vintage, of course.

My survival snoodie. I wear it as a scarf/hoodie. One wrap around my neck and the other around the head. No need for a hat. Perfect.

My coat isn't the warmest of its kind, but with all of the layers I'm wearing it's warm enough. Oh, and if you're thinking of getting a coat to wear in the coldest days of winter, buy a size larger than you would otherwise so you can wear a bunch of sweaters underneath it. 

All that's missing are my gloves which I put on after going outside. Warm, comfortable and feminine! Enjoy the holidays people!

Look of a day not too long ago

Dress: old H&M, bought it 2nd hand

Tights: Vogue

Boots: 2nd hand

 I like the effect of a monochrome colored scheme. I've worn this outfit before and I usually like to combine it with red lips and red shoes, for example my low rise Chuck's or red heels. None of those are fit for -20 C so I had to wear my survival boots. Swedish winters make it difficult to stay pretty.

Look of the day

I finally managed to put together something pretty, even though the picture doesn't do it justice. This sleep deprivation does nothing well for your fashion sense, I'll tell you that.
Lately I've been obsessed with this fuchsia color, but it has to be the perfect one, with a bright purple touch. Great to combine with all kinds of grey, mustardy-yellow, lilacs or as shown here; black.

Dress: HM (last year's)

Tights: HM

Socks: Aldos

Belt: ?, second hand I think

Watch: CASIO

Shoes: Nilson

Happy birthday sister!

   LOVE YOU!

You know you're in denial when..

.. your watch is still on LA-time one week after you've come home.

The sun is about to rise in California and I've been up for 10 hours already (jet-lag..). Life isn't fair.

Handbags

Adios Stockholm

So this is my last day at the shop for a good  3½ weeks. Tomorrow I'll be somewhere over the Atlantic ocean, on my way to LA. Weeee! My stomach is twitching from all the butterflies that reside in it... hate flying..

It's all for you, though. I'm gonna be out buying lots of great things for the shop, and I'll be updating the blog more often than before (I wont have a shop and customers to attend, no distractions :)

If you see some article you like, write a comment and I'll reserve it for you. Great huh?

Love, E

me and mom at a flee-market. love it!

M is for Monday

A new week starts today. Sorry for poor updates last week, but with the sad news I received, I just didn't feel at all inspired to post trivial things about clothes, customers and such. I hope you understand. 

If something is to be found in all of this it would be the lesson that nothing lasts forever. That life should be lived to the fullest. Every day counts, and every day should be memorable. We have all been given the gift of life, let's make the most of it. We never know when the day will come when we have to say goodbye. Tell that special person that you like her/him, life is too short to be shy. If you had a fight with someone, make an effort to make up, it's not good to hold a grudge. And of course, tell your friends and family that you love them.

Fanny was one of the most vivid persons I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Always smiling, always going somewhere. Working two, three different jobs at the same time. Just for the fun of it, just because she was fortunate enough to make a living out of doing things she loved to do. Through her busy schedule she still managed to find the time to visit me at the shop regularly, always interested in hearing how I was doing, if I had found the love of my life yet (we had some interesting discussions about some persons of the male gender we came across during our single years) if business was good. The kind of genuinely interested person. We also had our obsession of vintage dresses in common. We could talk for hours about our latest find. The colors, the cut, the buttons! No one wore the 50's silhouette as well as Fanny, with her hour-glass figure. I will never forget her. A person like her, you don't come across twice in a lifetime.

Now she's in heaven, far away from the pain, at peace. 

Until we meet again

Today is a sad day because a dear friend of mine has passed away. I met her thanks to the shop, she was a loyal customer with impeccable taste and a heart of gold.
She, like many others, lost the battle against cancer. But thanks to research, more and more people survive their diagnosis. If you want to contribute in her name, please do so here. Even a small donation goes a long way. Together we can help make sure that less families need to say goodbye to their loved ones due to cancer.

If you don't live in Sweden, please contact you national cancer research organization and make your donation to them.

Solen skiner för dig, Fanny. Tills en gång när det åter ljusnar.

Weird day

Today was somewhat of an unusual day, even for me. Not so many customers because of the shitty weather but the most wonderful woman entered and we had the most amazing conversation, so that made it worth stepping out of bed this morning.

She was visiting from India, and today she was in search of a jacket (like I said, it's frikkin' cold and rainy here) and we just began talking. After 20 minutes we had laughed, cried and just connected like old friends. We talked about our life stories, places we've visited, people we've lost. The kind of meeting I live for.

................ UPDATE
OH. MY. GOD.

The old man was just here. He wasn't a hundred years old, more like sixty. But he came with a woman (wife?) and they were just about the strangest two persons that have ever entered this shop. He was not fully developed mentally (I don't know the political correct expression for it, but he smelled like piss) the woman was well and normal but very stern. Anyways, the bags they brought were things I wouldn't sell even if they were for free. Much less pay for it. She started arguing about how they had travelled far to bring me the bags, and I simply said that the bags had little or no value, that they were better off as a donation to a charity shop.

I shouldn't have said that. She got really angry while the man started to throw around the bags all over the floor. It was a chaos. They just left after sitting here for while, protesting.

These things always seem to happen to me. The store still smells of urine.

Look of yesterday and today

Maybe I should have cleaned up on the floor..

Today's inspiration was a blueberry.

NO, IT'S NOT YOUR VISION THAT'S MESSING WITH YOU. THEY'RE BLURRY. 


I MIGHT BE THE WORLDS WORST PHOTOGRAPHER.

Reason #164383 you want to pack your bags get the heck outta here

.. the sun must be shining somewhere else..?

The fragrance fetischist

I promised to tell you all about the strange and wonderful people that stop by this shop daily. Here's me keeping that promise.

Today this older man in his sixties-something entered and went straight forward towards the counter. The man gave me a big smile and my immediate thought was "He wants to sell something, or recruit me to a cult, could be a scientologist. Or polygamist like the ones in the show 'Big Love' or maybe..." I didn't even finish my speculations about his intentions 'til he bursted:

- WOW! It smells great in here. Is it you? Do you exhume this lovely scent? It's coming from you, isn't it?
- Oh, thank you, but no. It's probably the store.
- NO NO! It's you! You smell sooo good! Let me smell you!
- Uhhmm, no it's ok. It's not me, I don't know what it is but it's not me.
- I know it's you! You smell so good! Exotic! Like inscence! You know what?
- No, what?
- You look like someone. Let me think who you remind me of... uhmm... what's her name? Ingrid Bergman's daughter. The one she had with the Italian man. Do you know who? She's old now, but she was a model.
- No, I'm sorry (although I did know who he was referring to, I just didn't want to encourage him) But it sounds like a compliment, so thank you very much.
- Yes, YES! It's most certainly a compliment! It's my way of saying you are beautiful! Can I please smell you now?

Dear Lord.

                                         Stunning woman with her own perfume line

Just for the record. I look nothing like Isabella Rossellini. I am very aware of that.

Look of the day

Dress: vintage (from Emma Loca)

Braided leather belt: HM

Shoes: Scorett

My hair is a combination of lazy Sunday and bad hair day. It's very matchy-matchy with my belt, and that't not a good thing.

On repeat right now

Converse -A love story

I bought my first pair of Converse Chuck Taylor when I was 15 years old. They were navy blue and white, just like the ones above. I remember that I felt very 'punk' and alternative in them and that my boyfriend at that time made fun of me for looking like a communist (obviously, I broke up with him in exchange of a more understanding boy). Those were the days.

Now maybe you're wondering why I'm writing this. It's just that I put them out for sale yesterday and a woman just bought them. After 9 years of doing everything together they are now with someone else. I was THIS close from snatching them from her hands and telling her that there had been a mistake. That they weren't up for sale. 'Cause even though I couldn't wear them (they were in horrible shape) I didn't want anyone else to have them. Would she be good to them? Show them places I never did? Maybe change the laces even?
But I didn't say a thing. Just took the money, said "Thank you, please come again" and waved good-bye.

God. I have to stop relating to garments as old lovers.

Am I crazy to feel like this?

Another reason to love Stockholm

Look of the day

Blouse: vintage (I 'bought' it yesterday here at Emma Loca. Loves.)

Velvet leggings: Rut mfl (in store now)

Boots: my favs oldies from Wal Mart

Forgot to snap a pic of myself yesterday. Could be because I looked like a bum trying to look fancy in red lipstick. Picture this: baggy jeans and a leotard top that's a bit too high rise for my oversized pants (you could literally see naked parts of my hips). And a sparkly necklace. Hahah. It sounds even more horrifying now that I'm typing it. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

On another note. I need to start practicing on my poses. I'll let this one slide for now, but seriously? A hand on my chin? What's that about? Maybe it's saying: "I might be vain but I'm still deep."

Yeah. That's it.

Now why you wanna go and do that, love huh

Got a visit from my friend Selma. She works at a café right across the street. Apparently they had a break-in last night. Nothing was stolen, they keep the register empty at night so there was no cash and nothing else of interest. Let's face it. Who in their right mind steals a 130 kg heavy espresso machine? A bodybuilder/weight lifter in need of some serious caffeine maybe. Well, this burglar was neither that desperate nor strong, so he kept on trying to break in at right about every single shop along the street. Except mine.

WTF!? Why, burglar? Why didn't you even try to break in? You wouldn't have to really go through with it (actually, I would prefer if you didn't) but you not even trying makes me feel left out and rejected.

So rejected.

---------------------------------------------

Spotify link to the title's inspiration song

Look of the day

Dress: [numph] fall/winter 09

Oversized cardigan: Rut mfl (in store now)

Platform ballerina shoes: Scorett

Watch: CASIO

A call from beyond

Oh my.

Today was a day of efficiency. I started this new blog, edited a few important things, took care of bills AND diverted all incoming phone calls from the shop to my personal cell phone. Why, you ask. Well, this last thing might have been a mistake. As some of you know, and you others will learn, I get lots of strange (to say the least) visitors and callers. But the shop's telephone line has been out of order for some time now and it's just not professional to not be able to receive phone calls.
I haven't missed having a phone here at all, since 90% of the callers are sellers or freaks, but I understand that I might be missing lots of important calls so I took care of it.
The first phone call I received was  from this man that had some bags to sell (?) I don't know for sure if that's what he was saying, he had to repeat it at least 7 times. He sounded all muffled, like talking from under a blanket or something. Yikes. And he also sounded very, very old. Like ancient old. Like this-must-be-a-practical-joke or this-man-must-really-be-at-least-100-years-old.
He wanted me to come to his house to see the bags. I'm afraid that the best case scenario involves him showing me his tea bags. Oh no mister, I've learnt my lesson since the last person that invited me to her house and then sent me a death threat. Remind me to tell that story some other time. It's quite amusing now in retrospect.

And that old man? Yeah well I didn't have the heart to say no all together. He's coming next week.


old man

In need of some new tunes

I've had the shop for over 3 years now. Since then there hasn't been one silent day, let alone minute. I listen to music all the time. Luckily, I have a very broad taste and I also have Spotify. Two things that make my music listening that much easier.

But now I've just gotten tired of every single known melody. I need something new. Some new group or artist to get to know and love, if only for a few weeks. Please, help me. I love pop and soul, but anything will do.

I just listened to David Guetta. That's how desperate I am.

New blog, different language

Since my swedish blog wasn't working that well (my posts lagged several DAYS) I decided to start blogging again, but this time at blogspot and in english! We'll see how long it takes before I explode from not being able to express myself accurately in a foreign language (thank god for google translate!!!). As long as my wit doesn't get lost in translation we'll be fine. I just hope that more of my customers and friends will be able to follow it now that it's in english.

Anyways. WELCOME! Tell me, who are you and how did you find my blog?

it's me, the smiling girl behind the counter