Muuse – original fashion at its core

Experience fashion before the stylists tell you what’s hot. I just found this cool Danish website that has now removed all the filters of trendsetters, retailers and stylists and brings you the newest in fashion design directly from the young designers themselves.

Muuse.com is a site and web shop that shows and sells the creations of young designers straight out of the leading designer schools across the world with the possibility of buying these limited edition garments.

I think the concept is intriguing and I love the idea of slow fashion where the quality and style is based on the actual craft of the garment and not just what is popular at the moment. Muuse is based in Copenhagen and work with local tailors who sew up the designs in limited editions, making each piece original. The styles and designs are all very different, but all equally interesting and creative. So check it out!

Stylish Stockholm

Stockholm is a very stylish city. People are always extremely well dessed and composed. And now that it is fashion week of course The Sartioalist 's Scott Schmann is around town to document the most stylish of the Stockholmer inhabitants. Stockholm has a lot of beautiful people - they are allmost too stylish sometimes. To a level where it looks like they just worked out of a fashion magazine.It's astonishing and impressive, but often not very original. More like people slavishly following the latest trend in fear of being out of the 'fashion loop' or god knows being 'unfashionable'.
Yet I really think the Sartioalist found some good examples. He manages to catch the original and personal style of people, which can be difficult to find.

These girls all have a personal style that is really original - and a little off the mainstream.
A lot of Stockholm pictures taken by the Sartorialist are apparenly taken on the street where I live - Götgatan. But unfortunately I still have not managed to see him in action.
The Sartorialist could however not hid his usual weakness for young men with bare feet in their shoes. He tends to find them and photograph them all over the world. I think if I do catch him in the street one of these day, I'll aks him why he likes that so much.

Finally Chanel

I finally got to see Coco avant Chanel. Denmark must be the last country on earth where this movie premiered and for that reason the expectations have been building up for far too long.
I thought it was a beautiful and stylish film, but the story didn’t really interest me. Apart from some amazing photography and beautiful colours the story was thin. I mean it was about Coco before the glamour life of her fashion empire, but all we saw was her love life and only a few glimpses of her actual fashion talent. The reason I wanted to learn about Coco Chanel was not to see a story of her failed love interests, but to understand how she became such an influence for fashion designer in the years to come.

Yes, we saw how she had an eye for original style and how she picked up inspiration from men’s wardrobe and working men’s materials. But where did her skills come from? I mean it seemed like she was just born with it and learned to sew a bit and suddenly puff she had her own shop and went on to stardom.

But I guess that’s what the movie business will show of her life – even though I had thought that as it was a French film it would have had more emphasis on her artistic features than on a love story.

The importance of female role models

My mom turned 62 today. On that occasion I came to think about female role models. The women in your life who have inspired you, helped you believe in yourself, and taught you things about life you didn't expect to need. I have been blessed with incredibly strong women in my family - so for me female role models have been very easy to find- my mom has and is still a huge inspiration for me.

My idea of a female role model is a woman who helps you figure out who you want to be and shows you how to be happy with yourself and not take yourself too seriously, both as a women and a person - whether it's intellectually, personally or in style.

Fashion and style is always preoccupied with youth and the idea of looking young and fresh. But whatever happened to looking wise or like you actually know something about life?

That look - the style of wisdom and maturity- is something that in my mind never goes out of fashion. The women that I look up to aren't tall, skinny or have firm skin - but they look amazing because they feel comfortable in their own skin.

Without becoming too sentimental about age, style and the beauty of the wisdom of life, I will direct your attention to a really cool blog I found a few days ago.

Advanced style is a blog dedicated to the personal style of the older and more courageous people, than you'll ever see on the Sartorialist. Here you'll see the kind of really cool, wacky, streetwise, yet old school chic kinda style, I want to have when I get old. Here are som examples from Advanced style:

Being 62 and still looking great, has something to do with your attitude to life and the people around you. It comes with the courage to trust your own taste completely, feel comfortable and just going with it. I really admire those women.

The Ultimate Summer Dresses

Looking out the window here it seems like summer is not coming to Copenhagen any time soon. It has been raining nonstop for the last two days. So instead of looking out I’m turning my head back to the computer and convincing myself that sunshine and warmer days are just around the corner.

Fashion-wise I love summer. Summer means dreamy dresses, sunglasses and cool sandals. Basically it is a chance to finally get rid of all the heavy winter layers, we wear here in the north, and dress elegantly and feminine. I’ve been watching Bottega Veneta for some time and I really like the way this spring style is sharp in texture and fabric and still looks really comfortable.

Bottega Veneta’s style always reminds me of Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. The sway of the loose dresses and a general attitude of relaxed sophistication is what I think is a brilliant style for this summer. So as I hear the heavy rain on the window, I just keep dreamning...

Nerd Girl dresses up for the family

My cool aunt Sally is celebrating her 50th birthday this month and she’s throwing a great party, which I’m sure will be great. But what to wear? Seriously, this Nerd Girl usually doesn't have a problem with picking out her outfits, but when it comes to the family-things I'm always sort of lost.

And for some reason what I seem to dig out of the closet is always too formal, too casual or too sexy – in short: not really good for the family occasions.
So instead of going through the usual fashion magazines, I went on Polyvore to get inspired and create my own outfits and family birthday kind of style. And here you are: my three examples of what to wear for the next big family thing:

In my family at the moment it’s not 4 weddings and a funeral, but something like three 60th birthdays, one 50th birthday, one wedding, one 25th year wedding anniversary and a funeral– all in about one year.

Not that I don't enjoy hanging with the oldies - Nerd Girl loves old people - but on the fashion front you get tirde of the same type of dress for all those gatherings.

I think my next project on Polyvore will be the perfect 'meet-the-parents'-outfit.

The return....

Ever since I saw the poster for it I've been excited about it. From the poster 'Brideshead revisited' looked like it would bring more of that wonderful 1920s follies.
I must admit that I've never read the book or seen the whole TV-series. But I do remember the setting, which was brilliant - and the costumes.


In fact I was a little disappointed by Julia’s costumes, who I loved the TV-show for the exact 20s chick style. In the movie version it was the men’s fashion that I found the most interesting - well apart from this Julia in this lovely dress below:

The men's fashion focused around the old British college style, with which I guess you can never go wrong. It's the scenes with Charles and Sebastian that make this film interesting. Matthew Good as Charles and Ben Whishaw as Sebastian have a beautiful balance of both intimacy and distance.

I’m however never really convinced by Charles’ fascination with Sebastian’s family and wealth and ufortunately the lovestory between Julia and Charles never seems real - I'm not sure why.

A style tribute to the 20s and 30s

It’s not secret that I, at the moment, am a big fan of the whole 1920s and 1930s style. So much that I decide to dedicate a complete post to my two favourite style icons of that period: Louise Brooks and Marlene Dietrich.

First up is the lovely Louise:

She is the best example of the 1920s hairstyle and fashion, that I can find:

I’ve already got the hat and the haircut – more on that another time – so what I need is the smoky eyes and the wild and decadent dress.

Marlene Dietrich

I think she’s the only woman, I know who really looks good in a tux, a part from maybe Catharine Deneuve. but in this context, she's too innocent and fragile. Marlene is intimidating and luring – half of the look I guess is the confidence and sex she oozes.

The whole masculine look with, suit, tie and a hat really inspires me. Usually I’m not a fan of women wearing a shit and tie – the balance of being feminine in men’s clothing is just difficult.

But with Marlene, I think I’ve discovered the trick. It’s all about feeling sexy and confident. And with a cigarette in your mouth and a halo of smoke around you, what could go wrong?

Summer shoes

Brand new silent sneakers

I finally found a pair of shoes that I like to replace my poor old All-stars. Yeah.. I know that shoe shopping is supposed to an easy thing for a girl, but this Nerd Girl a picky cheapskate- a bad combo in this case. As much as I adore interesting fashion, I also stink at shopping for the specific things I really need. Inspiration usually leaves me, when I know I have to get a specific item and then I just can’t make up my mind. Anyway these are from Bobby Burns and I especially like the pointy shape. They look so friendly and silent, that now I'm sure I can sneak up on anyone, without making a sound.

20s for spring:
Shopping in my search for sneaker-like shoes, it was of course easiere to find many other things I wanted.

Not only in shoe-design, but in fashion and style in general I’m getting more and more inspired by the 1920’s and 30’s. I love Wackerhaus’ style and her loose dresses like this one.

I've been looking at old pictures from the 20s and 30s to see what kind of shoes women wore back then and their are usually very simple, almost a bit boring shoes. But I've found some shoes online that I think fit well into the 20s and 30s style.

From Topshop:

From Asos:

Vilsbøl de Arce

I just discovered this really cool Danish designer duo called Vilsbøl de Arce. Judging from their website they’ve had a good share of attention from the Danish fashion media over the last few years. And they even had an article in Miss Behave Magazine featured along side the usual cool suspects of hip Danish fashion – Vibskov, Stine Goya, and Wood wood. Unlike those three labels Vilsbøl de Arce has not yet found its way into the Danish mainstream fashion. But it can’t be long before their awesome jumpsuits and tops become a part the Copenhagen street style in the same that that Vibskov’s scarves are now. They show such originality in the silhouettes the dresses and jumpsuits are almost like sculptures.I’ll definitely be checking out their things in the future.

60s cool: Francoise Hardy

I just found my old Francoise Hardy CD and I’ve been listing to it all day. She’s the coolest both in music and in style. I know she still makes music, but I like the 60s stuff the best. I’m also a fan of her general style; this clean cut beauty who writes her own songs has the ultimate combination of the unspoiled girly and the rock look. And she’s sexy and she has this cool intellectual air in her voice. Her simple hair style with heavy bangs has really had a comeback, but I also think her natural and relaxed style is also the reason she’s still popular.

Among my favourite of her songs are ‘Le Temps De L’amour’ and ‘Dit lui non’ – and of course ‘Tous les Gracons et les fille’. I found the sweet video for you just to get that good feeling of weekend and spring started:

For your eyes only

Even though I perceive myself as the ultimate Nerd Girl I’ve never actually had to wear the ultimate nerd girl accessory – glasses. My parents both need glasses, strong ones, but for some reason I was blessed with (so far) perfect eyesight. Anyway I’ve always been fascinated by cool ways of wearing glasses. So when three design students from the Danish School of Design created a special limited edition collection of eyewear it really caught my eye. Their collection called Framework is now available at the Danish optician chain Synoptik.

I first saw their sketches for glasses at the annual Danish School of Design graduate exposition last summer at Øksenhallen. What I saw there was a completely new way of turning the frame into artwork; Glasses upside down with very elaborate graphics. Forget Dame Edna style, this way of designing new eyewear really has potential for new trends.

As I left the exposition I remember thinking that they were incredibly original ideas, but that the designs had such a distinct and elaborate look that they would probably not go in mainstream eyewear. However, now it seems I was proven wrong. Synoptik arranged a design competition and the three designers Sofia Ohlsson, Leena Lundgard and Ulrik Martin Larsen won with their project ‘I Would Wear’- now turned into the Framework collection. The designs for Synoptik are much simpler and down to earth than the ‘graduate’ sketches I originally saw, but as you can see (the first photo above) they still have the cool asymmetric lines and shapes.

I’m not sure I’d buy these if I did need glasses as they are very arty and make a strong statement. On the other hand they are so cool and bring new life to whatever look you have.

Sneak attack

It's time for new sneakers. My old black Converse All Stars are at a stage where they’re making a squeaking sound - almost like they're begging me to replace them - every time I take a step. - It's actually becoming pretty embarrassing walking around like that, people turning their heads to see who’s making that weird sound. Yes alright, I get it they want to be put to rest.
But I’m just so bad at buying new sneakers. I tend to stick to one pair for years and years and grow so attached to them, that it takes me weeks or even months to decide on new ones. If these weren’t ‘complaining loudly’ I’d keep them.
So I’ve been hunting the internet for some cool suggestions for new ones. Now, I’m tempted to go for the classic Converse, but some new blood would be good too. I mostly go for the black and simple look - I like my sneakers sneaky.
The ones above are are from Pointer and I like that thier understated but still have a super cool print.

I really like Peter Jensen’s rabbit-print too even though rabbits aren’t exactly sneaky, but more of a bouncy kind. These sneakers come off as happy and comfortable yet elegantly simple. But uh, I hope those rabbits don’t start grunting.

What all Nerd Girls are really like underneath:

40s Burlesque Goddesses

I got some underwear from What Katie Did for x-mas and it’s the coolest underwear I’ve seen in a long time. The designs are inspired by 40s and 50s lingerie with girdles, corsets, stockings – the works. However the different styles make it possible to tune down the burlesque a bit if you want.

But the coolness of What Katie Did is not only in the designs – even though that’s what attracted me in the first place.

The fact that the cup-sizes range from B-E (UK sizes) made me happy as well. Here in Denmark the lingerie market for curvy girls is quite limited. I loooove lingerie, but I still have a problem with spending more money on one bra, than I would on a pair of boots or a plane ticket to London, for that matter. H&M still haven’t come around cup-sizes larger than C and popular brands like Triumph and Femilet still, in my view, put comfort above style.
The lingerie from What Katie Did is sexy and affordable – especially when it’s on sale.

So deep down and underneath it all, who can resist looking and feeling like Rita Hayworth or Marlene Dietrich ?