Hamlet - and a mint

Late summer in Copenhagen usually means a least one performance of Hamlet at either at the Elsinore castle or somewhere else in the city. And this year we had a very special guest Hamlet at Elsinore castle in the form of the very lovely Jude Law. Tickets of course were sold out in a blink of an eye, so I didn’t get to see it. And according to the reviews I didn't really miss any ground shaking experience.
–So to get my annual Hamlet fix I went else where, to see quite a different sort of Hamlet: A silent, female one: Asta Nielsen as Hamlet in the 1921 silent film version of the classical play. It was my first experience with Shakespeare as a silent film and I’m not sure I would recommend it. As much as I love Shakespeare’s plays in different versions and performances, it just doesn’t seem right when we don’t hear the words. The piano playing that accompanied it almost made it hard to stay awake for this 2 hour film.

The idea of Hamlet as a woman seemed in this film seems a bit of an excuse to get the great Asta Nielsen to play such a famous role. It wasn’t really used to explore any other aspects of the play or the characters, which I think was too bad. Asta, I should emphasise, really delivered a stunning performance and was not as accidentally funny as the rest of the cast was. The extremely exaggerated death scenes of both Gertrude and Claudius become really funny and comic relief-like.

So after such a heavy Shakespearian experience, Nerd Girl needed something to pick her up. So what could be better than an ‘After Shakespeare mint’? I’m sure they were invented especially for such an evening.

Macaron vs. Luxenburgerli

Like so many bloggers before me I'm very fond of the lovely French Macaron. When I was in Paris the last time I also visited Ladurée for a cup of tea and a taste of their ever so famous macarons. And I was not disappointed , apart from looking divine, they taste amazing. So of course I brought back a box. But very recently a friend of mine brought home a Swiss' delicacy that resembles the Macarons but are a wee bit smaller. They are called Luxenburgerli and are as far as I can taste almost the same, but just the little sister of the macaron. They are equally as tasty and with different types of flavours.

All though the small ones are really cute, I think I prefer the French macarons. The flavors come across much better in them as they are bigger. The biscuit is also more crunchy in the larger macarons.

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.

Can you be sharp and loose at the same time?

Vilsbøl De Arce have shown their clothes at Copenhagen Fashion Week for few years now and I missed them every time. This time I saw it along with a lot of other fashion interested mortals in a show made for the public.

I always liked their futuristic avant garde style and the SS10 collection kept true to their originality.
Based in black, white and wine-red colours the look was loose and symmetrical at the same time.
Still having their signature spacey bathing suits - but this time more wearable than earlier - the collection was simple and solid. The short jackets and leather shorts with elegant details in cutting were some of me favourites, but I also really liked the jumpsuits and the general cut of the pants.

Yesterday I saw that they were featured in Dazed and Confused for an interview, which is definitely worth reading.

The rainbow at the end of the tunnel

The first days of Copenhagen Fashion Week have showed light and loose garments. The dark gloominess from the fall collections have been replaced by light rainbow colours. Perhaps there is a trace of design-optimism in this financial crisis after all. According to the clothes next summer will be brighter.

Wednesday:

Rüzou showed a delicate and very feminine collection with hints of fun in the sprinkles of gold, blues and pinks. Beautiful flowing dresses were combined with loose suits and in general the clothes look relaxed, comfortable and wearable.

Thursday:

Yesterday Bibi Ghost showed voluptuous shapes and stiffer fabrics in a simple yet strict collection that made me think of Japanese Samurais. Nothing delicate about this, except maybe for the ligth and pale colours.

The graduates from the Danish Design School had created a very impressive show, with some really interesting prints and silhouettes. So far I must say that this was the most playful and fun styles, probably because these students don't have to worry as much about selling their things, as the established designers do.

The colours were very cool. The pure lavender and golden brown and orange were used beautifully. I really look forward to seeing what they will bring to Danish fashion in the future.

As I wrote earliere I was excited to see Batlak and Selvig's SS10 collection. In contrast to most of the designs seen so far they showed fitted and tight dresses and suits. They used heavy materials and created a very classic ladylike style. You might almost say that they did an updated and Scandinavian version of the Chanel suit and the 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' -look. I had been expecting more bright colours, but they too used a lot of watercolours and light grays. The raw edge from what I had seen in their earliere work was truned down here leaving the look more refined and elegant.

All photos by Sacha Maric /Copenhagen Fashion Week

Queer in the church

Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre is one of my favourite contemporary art museums in the city. Located in the old church Saint Nikolaj right in the middle of the city, just behind the main walking street Strøget, it has such a clam and secluded space which gives the art experience a certain clam and ease I haven’t found anywhere else. On a hot summer day it is a cool place to slip in to and they almost always have really interesting exhibitions.

These days the city is filled with homo sports fans as we are hosting the World Outgames 2009. For this occasion Nikolaj has put on a really interesting exhibition about memory and history in relation to gender and sexuality. The exhibition is called 'Lost and Found Queerying the Archive' and it combines many different works from international artists.

One of them is the artist called Cecillia Barriga who in her work Two Queens has taken two of Hollywood silent cinema's biggest stars Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich in each of their signature roles and put them together in a 'fake' on screen lesbian love affair.

I made Nikolaj place of the month because it's such a special place both for it's art and the actual historical feeling the building has. It is one of the oldest churches in Copenhagen- originally from the 1200s I think and it has survived wars, fires and its tower can be seen in the city skyline everywhere, even though the actual chuch is really small.

Looking forward to Copenhagen fashion week

Copenhagen fashion week has grown over the last few years and is attracting more Nordic designers. This year there are more Scandinavian designers than ever before and I really look forward to getting to know them. I am especially looking forward to Bátlak & Selvig from Norway with headquarters in Oslo. Last year this designer duo won the ‘Designer of the year’ award at Oslo fashion week last year.

I especially like the colourful dresses and sharp structure in all their garments.