Sitting cozy in a green turtle neck and grey skinny jeans
It was a rainy Christmas this year in the south of Sweden, which was somewhat alright for me since the patter of the rain on the glass windows reminded me of a tropical Christmas. The temperatures outside are just about 1 deg. C very far from tropical temperatures. Indoors, an open fireplace keeps us all warm.
Continue reading “Green turtle neck to rain”
Prada’s perfect pair of the modern Audrey Hepburn skimmers!
To me fashion is always about exploration, finding your own style and daring to try something new.
Just two years ago, I would never have considered wearing a pair of pointed skimmers, let alone patent leather pointed skimmers. Continue reading “Slipping into pointed skimmers”
My own ‘Tiffany Yellow’
Just a few moments ago I listened to Candy Pratts Price on Candycast, on the feeling of parties. She’s the Executive Fashion Director of STYLE.COM, the online home of Vogue and W magazines; a popular fashion analyst and trend spotter, who in her latest commentary of parties mentioned Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) with Audrey Hepburn as one of the ultimate party movies of all times.
Continue reading “A different fire to brighten up the winter darkness”
Here’s an example of an Italian sized and cut wool coat from Patrizia Pepe – a find in Sweden for the petite framed woman (ref. DN). I think I would have preferred a solid red colour, something more primary toned, rather than a pink rose coloured version of this coat. But I had a difficult enough time to find myself any red toned coat in Sweden this season, so this will do nicely. The clean lines and the shorter cut of the coat is what I appreciate most in this coat.
I previously wrote about this skirt, here. And in the picture above, I’m wearing the smocked skirt as a dress, having a concentrated conversation with a girlfriend of mine on a Sunday morning. Continue reading “Sunday casual: that skirt as dress”
After having enjoyed an evening watching the 1957 movie Silk Stockings with Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire, doing a number of fantastic dance scenes amongst their “cold war” banters, I got inspired to go out and look for – silk stockings.
Nothing brings as much glamour to your party wear or daily outfits as a nice pair of stockings. In the above picture, I paired a vintage brocade skirt with a pair of festive looking stockings with gold glitter thread. Since the fun ones could be quite pricey, I will share a little secret with you if you happen to be around Gothenburg; that is the little lingerie shop called Rebecca Underwear at Södra Larmgatan 13, Göteborg.
Vintage black and gold brocade skirt
with Lycra black with gold thread stocking, by Kunert
Asta, the helpful and friendly lady at the store, took plenty of time helping me pick out some festive stockings, since Christmas and New Year’s are along the way. I also wanted to know what’s in store this season. There was no messing around with pricey items or stockings, she brought me straight to the REA (sale) box filled with sized XS / S stockings; sizes which she said hardly sell in Sweden.
I was absolutely delighted because I find it fairly difficult to find Asian sized and cut clothing here in Sweden. The only brands that fit my frame here are Italian made and cut items. Asta told that she imported mostly Italian brands, so it seemed I was destined to buy a few stockings at her place!
I came back home with several half priced buys, including the pair by Kunert above and this bordeaux net stockings by Le Bourget, Paris.
Bordeaux net stockings with gold glitter thread, by Le Bourget Paris.
I have thus far, been a mighty fan of Wolford, in fact, I have a similar looking pair to the Kunert’s black tights with gold glitter thread from Wolford:
Versailles black and gold glitter tights, by Wolford
On a regular basis, both Kunert and Wolford are in comparable price brackets, but since there was a sale ongoing, I clinched the Kunert pair for a third of what the Wolford is currently costing.
Construct and texture wise, the Wolford version has a much subtler gold sheen to it, is softer to the touch and is much more sheer to the eye. Whilst the pair from Kunert is less sheer, thicker to the touch and due to the lurex gold metallic threads, brushes against the skin when wearing, a feeling perhaps some may not find too comfortable.
Still, a major minus on Wolford here is how the soft luxurious pair really doesn’t take much before snagging and pulling (some snags can already be seen in the picture above). It is so gossamer delicate that almost anything will cause the material to pull; and you’re sadly out of a pair of festive stockings even before you step out through the door. Kunert’s version is much more durable in that I hardly found any snagging after wearing twice; so Kunert’s are definitely more price worthy!
That a Wolford pair of stockings snags / tears on me before I even get a chance to wear them out the door is not a one off experience for me. Considering the hefty price I would personally stick to their string bodies and skip their stockings.
So if you’re out for parties this upcoming season, why not go for a gold / silver threaded stocking to your liking at your local shops? And if you’re in Gothenburg, try dropping by Asta at Larmgatan 13, for a few pairs of patterned stockings in your liking for that little bit of festive glam! And it doesn’t need to be top price for top quality, as I have experienced.
Sweden is known as “The Land of the Midnight Sun” for that during summer in the north of Sweden, there may hardly be any night. In the past summers, I’ve had the opportunity to sit and witness the sun barely touch the horizon and then go up again. While that is a most amazing thing to watch and romantically sigh over, the downside is winter where in the north of Sweden, there can hardly be any day at all. Sun rises at about 8 am and goes down by 2:30 pm.
But with the dark, comes a sense of festivity as well, that Christmas is around the corner. The stores start to put out their Christmas decorations, the theme parks light up with Christmas cheer and a thousand watts of lights blaze merrily each night for children and adults alike to gaze in amazement at its beauty.
The top I have on today is rather, festive. A pre-festive festive feeling perhaps? Well, whatever electric that’s in the air right now, I’ve caught onto it!
I would love to myself!
There was a time for me when the concept of ‘animal print’ clothing brought to mind images such as these shirts and blouses below, and made me cringe. Continue reading “Saturday Inspiration: Animal prints that swing!”
