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.

Inspiring City Cinema

On my summer holiday I visited the charming Dutch capital Amsterdam and there I had the chance to enter one of the most beautiful movie theatres I have ever seen. The Pathé Tuschinski Cinema, located in the centre of Amsterdam, really looks like something out of a gothic novel. My instant reaction was that it didn’t matter what movie we saw, as long as I would get to go inside this palace like theatre.

The Tuschinski cinema was created by Polish immigrant Abraham Icek Tuschinski and opened to the public in 1921. Its interior as well as the facade is an overwhelming mixture of art deco architecture and jugende style details. Especially the foyer has amazing details of lamps and wall decorations. Even the door handles and carpets are special.  

The Tuschinski as a piece of history

There are several auditoriums in the Tuschinski cinema. The main one has room for 1200 people and was designed to also work also as a theatre stage. Originally it had an orchestra of 16 instruments to accompany the performances. And in its time the Tuschinski has been visited by such glamorous stars as Edith Piaf, Marlene Detrich and Josephine Baker.

It is not only in art and entertainment history that the Tuschinski cinema has a legacy. The personal tragedy of founder Abraham Tuscheski connects the cinema to another and graver part of world history. During the Nazi occupation of Holland in 1940-45 Mr. Tuschinski and most of his family was killed in German concentration camps. The cinema was then given the non-Jewish name ‘Tivoli’, however after the war its original name back was returned.

It was not difficult to imagine myself back in the 20s and 30s as I wondered around the empty halls of the main auditorium. There are several side rooms to that work like small lounge areas all with exquisite interior. There is supposed to be a Japanese tea room there somewhere too, but I did not get to see that.
Whatever movie you are about to see in that cinema the magic of the place gets your imagination working. I only wish that more modern cinemas would  be more bold when it comes to inspiring decor.

When Swedish girls go crazy

It almost never happens. Swedes are some of the most well-behaved and self-controlled people I have ever meet. But I recently found myself in a situation with some pretty aggressive and intimidating Swedish girls. Yes, believe it or not, these beautiful blonds really have quite a temper when you meet in the right circumstances.

The circumstances were of course a shoe sale. Now cheap shoes can make any girl crazy I guess and so when it comes to a sample sale on the ever so hyped Swedish Hasbeen-clogs, you really have a lethal cocktail.

This Nerd Girl has never been good at sale-shopping. I just don’t have the killer instinct. But for these really cool shoes, I thought I’d give it a try and as nice and civilised as the Swedish girls are I thought it would work out fine... But oh how I was wrong.

These 1970s retro style sandals have been popular the last few years and were seriously put on the fashion map when Sarah Jessica Park was seen wearing them in the streets of New York. 

Swedish Handcraft

The Swedish Hasbeens are according to the website handmade in old local shoe factories around in Sweden. The production focuses on sustainability and only uses natural leather and wood. Quality that lasts is the motto for these shoes and quality costs...  Which is why the early morning sample sale was quite popular. 

The sample sale I was at offered very, very cheap prices – more than half price on almost all of the many different models. So it should be worth standing in line at 8 in the morning a long with a lot of other eager girls – some of them in fact already wearing pairs of the much hyped sandals.  

Actually I should have known better: A shoe sample sale at 8 in morning is so not a Nerd Girl-thing to do. That early my pace is about that of an elephant and I'm not i a good mood. So of course I was way too slow. Bumping into the other girls who had already snatched up 5-6 pairs of the colourful hand-made sandals they would angrily hiss ‘these are mine’ if I came too close. In the end I walked out empty-handed, wide awake and a pretty intimidated.

So when I do buy my pair of Swedish Hasbeens, not the sandals but these lovely ones -  I'll make sure to do it in a nice and calm shoe shop.

Alone in the world

Stockholm is the most amazing city when it comes to photo exhibitions. Obviously the city in itself is amazing too – that goes without saying - but the amount of museums and galleries focusing on photography is much bigger than I am used to from Copenhagen. And as a cherry on top, some of them are free!

One good example of that is Kulturhuset, where you can right now see works by Gregory Crewdson. Creepiness and loneliness are pretty much the feelings you get when seeing these photographs. Make no mistake they are intriguing - yet you feel like you’ve entered a scary movie.

This one (above) really stayed with me for a long time after. The woman on a bed looking at a small naked baby. I wonder if the child is dead or alive... why is the door open and what is it about the woman that is so disturbing?
This series of photos is called 'Beneath the roses' and really looks like movie stills. You feel the tension in these shots.


Feel the light

Another thing that is striking about these photographs is the lighting and way it captures the weather. You can almost smell the cold of the snow or feel the damp rain and through that the loneliness of these landscapes and people also creeps out.
These everyday-like environments from small-town America also remind me of motives in Edward Hopper the American painter from the 1930s-40s. The feeling of emptiness and loneliness are also created through light in Hopper's paintings. For example this one 'Summer Evening' from 1947.
But the feeling of something lurking beneath this extremely well polished surface is strong in Crewdson's photos and I guess what get's under you skin.

 

Royal Vintage the Amory

Stockholm’s Royal Armoury takes us on a fashion journey, showing how Royal vintage is part of a recycling present where quality fabrics and design can last through generations.

When I saw that the Royal Amory here at the Royal palace in Stockholm was hosting an exhibition called Royal Vintage showing vintage dresses worn by members of the Swedish royal family I had to go see what the fuss was about. Lately the term 'vintage' has been used to cover everything that he reused - not considering the quality or the age of a garment. But in this exhibition there is a clear idea about what 'vintage' refers to: exceptional and highly quality clothes from the 1900s to 1960s. 

The exhbibtion does not focus on style or fashion, but more on colours and materials.It featured dresses mostly worn by Swedish Princess Sibylla.

My knowledge about Swedish Royalty limits itself to the actual king and Queen and their three beautiful children. Princess Sibylla is the late mother of the current King Carl Gustaf. The exhibition has matched dresses in colours, so each room is devoted to one colour. Showing us first shades of white and cream and moving on the blues, reds, greens and black. We see how the dresses are made and what materials are used. Withou attention to 'the style of royalty' or pictures of any of the princesses, the exhibition instead show us that quality in texture and shape is what really lasts for generations.

The exhibition is on untill January 2012 at the Royal Amory in Stockholm

So she's back – attacking slowly across Stockholm

Nerd Girl is back after a year of re-adjusting herself to a new country, a new city and a new life. Thus now with a different battlefield to attack: the ever so perfect Stockholm.

Located in an amazing scenery of water and islands this city is special. It has a buzz that is completely unique and I feel privileged to live here right now. I was smitten with this city from the beginning - but especially in the summer time Stockholm aweakes like a sleeping beauty from a dark and very cold winter.

The first thing I want to share with you is this very old video of busses driving around Stockholm to the music of 'Sakta vi gå genom stan' song by beautiful Monica Zetterlund.



Imagine yourself walking home through the city one summer night. Up here in the northern Scandinavia we have very, very light summer night. Nights when the sun comes up at 2 in the morning - just when you are on your way home from a party.

Going over to the other side

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. but there's been some pretty big changes in my personal life lately: Nerd Girl is leaving her beloved Copenhagen. I leaving pretty much everyone I know and love and starting all over on the other side. The other side being Stockholm, Sweden.

Fate has decided that it's time for me to have some adventure and try out a new city, so that's why I've been a bit absent this last month.

So Nerd Girl will from now on be writing to you from the other cool Scandinavian capital and as I'm totally new in town I'm looking forward to exploring a new territory.

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.

Nerd Girl wishes you a happy new year

Resolutions for 2010:

Read more:

Poetry.  For some reason I tend to forget the amazing pleasure poetry can give you. I read novels and magazines, but the intensity and simplicity just isn’t there.  So 2010 will be a year of intense feelings and short sentences. So far on the shelf for 2010: Naja Maria Aidt: 'Alting blinker'. 

Wear more:

High heels.  Sneakers are still my preferred type of footwear, which is a shame as I love girls in heels and actually own quite a few lovely pairs of high heeled shoes. So Nerd Girl will do her best to walk and talk in heels in 2010.

Eat more:

Cake. Of course! You can never eat too much of really well-made, delicious cake. Small patisseries are popping up all over Copenhagen at the moment and I think 2010 is the year to visit them all.

See you in 2010!

Lets eat the tree

I love Christmas cookies and I love to bake them. This year I got some new cutters to add to my rather modest and very old collection of Christmas cookie cutters. The cookies I’ve baked this year are simple Danish butter cookies and I’ve baked them both for eating and to use on my Christmas tree as decorations.

I inherited my glass Christmas ornaments from my grand mothers. And I really love them and take extreme care that nothing happens to them. They are my most cherished items, I guess because they are so fragile, old and rare.

It is an old Danish tradition to put Danish flags on the Christmas tree - I think that there are paintings of some of the earliest Danish Christmas trees in about the1850s with Danish flags on and I have no idea why. – From my point of view there is absolutely no patriotism or nationalism involved. I guess it's the same with the way we use our flag for birthdays and other celebrations.

Hopenhagen: the place to be this December

Copenhagen is a crazy place to live at the moment. The trafic is totally changed and a lot of the large roads are blocked. All because of - of course - COP15. One of the most special places in the city right now is the City Hall Square where a whole new city has emerged for the climate summit. It's 'Hopenhagen live' a city within the city where the peoples climate activities are taking place. Lots of things are going on - concerts, small special events and you can read all

about it all here: Hopenhagen live.

In all the small green houses there are all sorts of things going on for example environmentally friendly x-mas decorations and you can buy the special Henrik Vibskov 'climate-fashion' scarf and hat to keep you warm in this cold winter.

Advent: to stay and to go

Christmas is my favorite time of year, especially because of the traditions and the candles. Advent is the four Sundays before the 24^th and the Advent wreath with four candles are very popular here as a way of counting down the dark days until the light returns to the sky. Originally it might have been a Christian thing, but for me it mostly a was of have some candles and light to fight the darkness.

This Sunday is the third Sunday before Christmas and so there are two candles lit. My Advent wreath is very old. It used to belong to my Grandmother and I guess it's from the 1940s or 50s. It is made of iron and has room for clementines decorated with cloves. It always makes my apartment smell like Christmas.

This year I found another type of Advent wreath. - A more modern version than mine. This is a ‘take-away’ Advent wreath in a handy little box, so you can put it in your purse and take it to your friends when you go visit.

So while your candles are burning and you're enjoying some delicious Christmas cake and tea what better time than to send your friends and family a vintage design Christmas card. I found these beautiful ones at End of the Day Crafting on Etsy.