søndag den 31. august 2008

Place of the month: Coffee Collective

That's right, place of the month of August is a coffee shop.
The street where this delicious little spot is located basically is an experience in itself.
Let me explain, Jærgersborggade, as the street is called, is sort of famous in my neighbourhood: Nørrebro. About 10 years ago the street was a notorious drug dealing street. A place where you did not wanna get caught - even during the day. Theses days Jærgersborggade has become a street full of small shops and cafes - and the apartment prices have naturally go up. But there is a small detail, the street still looks like shit.
Oh sure, the small shop windows have helped the overall appereance. But it has it's old worn down look .

The coffee shop ‘Coffe Collective’ is the place of the month in August for many reasons and not just it's urban location. This is a small place with only 2 tables inside, as most of the space is taken up by the large coffee roaster. Yep, here they roast their own coffee beans.

So, up here in the cold north, in a former drug street, you can actually smell the sweet sweet aromas of coffee beans from Kenya, Ethiopia and many other exotic places. Adding to the quality of this coffee shop is also the really cosy atmosphere and friendly baristas.You’ll find no coffee snobs or arrogance here, but in stead passionate coffee preachers, who love to explain the science of good coffee making and drinking.

søndag den 24. august 2008

Nerd Girl reads: 'The Sorrows Of An American'

This is the first novel by Siri Hustvedt that I’ve every read – and from what I’ve seen now, I’m definitely hitting the library to take out more of her works.

‘The Sorrows Of An American’ tells the story of psychiatrist Erik Davidsen who finds a mysterious letter from an unknown woman in his recently deceased father’s papers. Here starts Erik and his sister’s journey into their father’s past life, through his diaries and interviews with old family members – all immigrants from Norway. But the story develops and it combines the story of Norwegian immigrants in America with contemporary American sufferings.

Siri Hustvedt is an interesting writer and it especially shows when she ties the stories together in a psychological perspective. The issues are heavy – 9.11, psychotic harassment, childhood traumas and more, but Hustvedt delivers it all in a light and simple language keeping the focus on the characters – thus a personal perspective.
The characters are vivid and described beautifully, to such a degree that you feel know them. And you easily imagine what they look like.
What I appreciated the most about the book is its delicate balance between the deep and complex sorrows of death, heartbreak and terrorism and the descriptions of ordinary life. Siri Hustvedt’s writing is intense – the novel has no chapters - but for some reason she maters the art of making the reading experience fresh and crisp.

torsdag den 21. august 2008

Summer all over again

This summer has just disappeared and I don’t really feel like, I’ve really enjoyed it completely. For example I’ve only been to the beach once this whole summer.
Part of the reason is the fact that I’ve been working a lot and the other part is the weather which has, when ever I had my time off, not really been swimming pool-like. So now, when it already feels a bit like fall I still dream of a hot day and a swimming pool.
On that note it time to reintroduce to coolest bathing suits and bikinis – a little late, I know – but who can argue with the elegance of Ester Williams?
Honestly, her bathing style is the classiest ever. And I’m actually looking to see if I can find any bathing suits or bikinis in her style, even though it might just be for next year…
Check out this cool performance - who cares about looking good when your by the pool side, it’s all about how you look under the water!

søndag den 10. august 2008

Saturday: Vibskov – the hype, the hype

So far I’ve not written anything about Henrik Vibskov. He is THE media darling (- he and Stine Goya ought to get married, they’d be king and queen of Danish fashion)Anyway I hadn’t really figured out what I thought about him apart from what I was told; that he’s the most original designer so far, he the ‘enfant terrible’ of Danish fashion and that he’s the one most likely for a huge international breakthrough, voted best designer of the year and so on – basicly enough to he thinsk he’s too much already.
….Naturally all this hype for the oh so cool Vibskov has boosted my sense of criticism (Nerd Girl's attacks tougher when praise has already been given)
- There were the über popular scarves which all most everyone at Strøget (or at least in Krystalgade) wore a few yeas back, then there were fringes on every thing (in last season’s show), so he plays drums for electronic hipster Trentemøller – and now he also does children’s clothing. He is the image of Copenhagen I hate – I’m sorry, but it’s too much. Please tell me he’s an environmentalist and a friend of animals, because I wouldn’t be surprised.
And though his SS09 collection might not have been as high standard as usual for DANSK DAILY I thought I was great. That’s right, I’m joining the hype – a little late, but at least now, I get it.
This collection, I guess was when I found the time to enjoy the combination of interesting prints and his signature loose cuts. The colours are toned down now compared to what he did before, but I guess that's what I like.

fredag den 8. august 2008

CFW Friday: The drama begins

The MoonSpoon Saloon show at the Royal Theatre.
This label is completely new to me and I was very eager to see what the combination of wellknown Danish painter Tal R and designer Sara Sachs would bring. And I was not let down. As a fan of artistic,theatrical shows and clothing this was right up Nerd Girl's ally. And what bette location than the Royal Theatre with its classic sense of art and drama.
But the Moon Spoon Saloon's collection might be too costume-like for some buyers.
Anyhow this is a designteam I'm deffinately going to keep an eye on in the future.
The strong colours and patterns are straight out of Tal R’s artistic universe and the almost pantomime like figures added to the volume of the whole collection. The inspirations seemed to come form Comedia dell art and surealisem.
I especially liked the knits and small multi-coloured jackets. And I guess I enjoy the playfulness of MoonSpoon Saloon attitude to fashion in general. But I also thought the beautiful dresses and sharp cut suits were really cool

torsdag den 7. august 2008

Fashion week Thursday

Light and air from Camilla Stærk Danish fashion media went nuts when it came out that Carrie in Sex and the City wore clothes by Camilla Stærk in the last episodes. Seriously, I don’t think there was any magazine that didn’t have an interview with the London based Danish designer.
So almost over night I also became familiar with Stræk and her strong brand.Her show today brought forward a lot of beautiful dresses mixed up with loose jump suits. The SS09 collection was in general lighter and softer in shape, than what I’ve seen from her earlier.
There was no film noir or melancholic Nick Cave here, but instead symmetric v-neck details or light colours. – I’m almost tempted to say that the collection had a Scandinavian look to it.What made the strongest impression on me were the coral (or apricot?) coloured jumpsuit and her detailed dresses.

Photos: Saca Maric

onsdag den 6. august 2008

Stine Goya - The lost city

Goya’s SS09 collection 'La city perdu' was shown last night and again Stine Goya has created a strong collection true to her specific style. High waist pants, oversize shirts and again a shade of apricot –hmm… I wonder if this will become a trend?Otherwise the colours were watery or kind of smoky – leaving a bit of the same damp summer like feeling as Wackerhaus’ collection, but still much more arty. Goya’s hand painted prints add such depth to her style making the clothes much more than edgy silhouettes and delicious fabrics.Goya has always had some cool settings for her shows. Her last SS collection was shown in the beautiful decorations by Helle Mardahl and this one was no different. Small cut out houses were placed along the runway I matching colours with the clothes - very artistic.
Photos: Sacha Maric

Fashion week Wednesday

Hazy Jayne from Wackerhaus
Trine Wackerhaus showed her SS09 collection this evening. I love her original approach to clothes that mixes masculine and feminine styles. I’ve been a fan of hers ever since her 20s inspired dresses from her last collection. She has a really cool way of creating a strict and sharp look with loose and comfortable clothes.In this collection it was the rough cut dresses in soft materials and her boyish suits for girls that I especially liked.
Apricot is usually a colour that I’m not too fond of, but I think it goes really well with the grey and black here.

Photos: Sacha Maric

mandag den 4. august 2008

Great Expectations

No no, there's nothing about Pip or old mr. Charles D here except for the clash in titels.
Copenhagen Fashion Week is coming up again. I can’t believe it’s already August. And the line up is really impressive with still more new designers to get to know. The schedule is packed with such stars as Stine Goya, Rützou, Noir, Weckerhaus, Elsie Gug just in the first day.
And I’m glad to see the international success Camilla Stærk returning home to show off her SS09 collection here.
Naturally expectations are high – I mean the anti-nerd girl nr. 1 Paris Hilton has flown in for this... Well she’s probably just here to advertise for her own products anyway. But nevertheless my beloved city is definitely getting the world’s attention.
Thus Nerd Girl is off to try and catch all of the interesting fashion and also some of all the other cool things going on in Copenhagen in connection with fashion week.

søndag den 3. august 2008

A Nerd Girl and her shoes

Unfortunately my laptop has been highly unreliable in the last two weeks – hence no blogging. I’ve tried to write several posts, but have been cut off every time due to some technical error. So I’m praying that there won’t be any more of that in the coming week. But if there’s nothing on the blog for some time – now you know the reason.

Whilst in Berlin I did do some shopping. I got these nice shoes from Chie Mihara, who I just discovered. Unfortunately my camera is broken and only takes really bad pictures at the moment so I can’t show you any photos of me in my new shoes. But this is what they look like:
Mine are brown with lighter laces, and until I checked out the designer online, I didn’t know she makes so many different styles and colours. Now I'm totally hooked on her designs and a bit sad that I didn't get them in green as well.