ON THE WHITE DUNES

Last weekend Jackie, Lola and I headed up north to the plains of Pohjanmaa for a nightclub gig. The morning after, before taking the train home, we took a walk on the snow covered sand dunes. It was very cold, all-white creating a dramatic scenery. The photos turned out almost like stills of a film .(Well especially after I added the borders, heh)

(I'M RIDING A TRAIN TROUGH SNOWY LANDSCAPES RIGHT NOW)

I almost had this song destroyed for me once. Although I have turned it into a laugh instead.


Some years ago I was, how should I put it, occasionally seeing (if even that) the Big Artist for a while.
Once he called and said he'd come over and asked me if I had a printer at home. I wasn't thrilled, but fine, come on then. When he came he had a guitar with him (I wondered why) and asked to use my internet and print something. And then. He had printed out the chords and lyrics to Lonesome Town and started singing it, slowly, playing on his guitar, not good, not that bad but bad enough for it to be embarrassing; trying to get the chords right, out of rhythm, correcting himself. I was concentrating on my cigarette and then trying to focus on something outside my window, wondering what the hell was going on and how to get rid of him. I'm telling you, it was no romantic serenading, just awkward. He sang that poor song twice. Then I think I told him I had to be somewhere else.

50 DEGREES C AGO

We're up in the north of Finland about to perform at a nightclub. It's close to minus twenty degrees (Celsius) outside. Made me think of a gig and road trip we did last July to the middle of the country. It was hot, sunny, humid; more than +30.
That's a fifty degree difference between four months.
But, that's the way it is up here.

Off we go.

Coffee break.

The yellow fields of summer.

Lots of props.

The "retro-glamourous" backstage.

My trustworthy reds are dying.

Lola before.

Coffee.

The warmth makes me sleepy.

Lola afterwards.

Maria Lund & Sweet Jeena.

IN THE KITCHEN / ICING THE CAKE

I made a cake for my father's birthday (date- banana with apple yoghurt frosting) which we celebrated at our place. My sisters and their boyfriend also came over, it was very nice. The cake turned out real good but I only got a shot of the last piece afterwards.

(And yes, I know Sir Pekka is performing his evening 'grooming' procedure in the later pictures but hey, that's natural; what cats do, so no need to photoshop him out in the name of prudence or so :)

THE EERIE GIRLS IN THE DRAWING ROOM - A GHOST STORY

The ghosts of Jackie O'Lantern, Vera De Vil and Tinker Bell by Marko Saari.
Make up and hair by Liina Junna.

You can see more pictures from the shoot over at the Itty-Bitty Tease blog!

WHEN JUST AT HOME pt.1

Every now and then, quite often actually, I get the question weather I always dress up, what I wear when hanging around the house, do I ever wear jeans and sneakers (no, but I quite often go to work like this) , do I " always look vintage" (I hope nobody gets offended but that question amuses me a bit, as you know, I do not aim to look like anything except than just good although my inspiration may come from the old days) and so on.


It of course really depends on the day and my schedule, but if I'm not going anywhere in particular I naturally choose not to wear the most delicate clothes but go for those more durable and, most of all, comfortable pieces in my closet. I prefer those kinds of items that can easily go from leisurly dressed into being dressed. In winter for example, my vintage knitted skirt that stretches in the waist.

Here is a new favorite of mine; the black soft Vivien-dress made by my friend Olivia Rouge:
Comfy as a night gown, but easily dressed up with some lipstick and heels! (note that I asked to have mine made a bit longer, the model on this dress is shorter in the shop)


And also, note that Olivias shop can be viewed in English nowadays and she also ships worldwide without you needing to write some extra emails, just click and buy!

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW

(Or, actually, Four Things Friday. But time wasn't enough to post then)

I want to get our balcony to resemble something of a Mexican bar, Christmas season or not (meaning the lights will most likely stay all-year round). Might have to change these though into som other kind of lights, as there is too much chord and too few lights in order for the lamps to hang nicely.

I went to the post office to pick up some Vivien of Holloway goodies! One of the items came in the wrong colour though, and I was too f.. curvy for another so I'll have to return those and wait - I hate waiting- for the right ones to arrive. Gnah. Perhaps I go to the post office too otfen btw; one of the workers handed my parcel over to the desk clerk as soon as she saw me, before I had even opened my mouth.

Exciting; received my first letter from the little boy I sponsor in India! You know, I do put my money on other things than clothes and home decor too. But they do not get to show here that much...

Rolled my hair into faux bangs (before going to perfprm at the shittiest show of the year). Haven't had my hair like this forever! And yes, I know a lot have been asking for more hair tutorials - let's see what I can come up with :)

TWO YEARS AGO

This Saturday two years ago exactly our first big burlesque-related interview was published in Volt magazine.



And our then so active music quiz team had a so called "Little Chirstmas party" and we all happened to be dressed in red ad black. Our taxi driver into town called me Marilyn Monroe.

Later that same night it started snowing, first snow of the year, and it snowed a lot. I was strutting around in my small red patent heels in all the wet white.

And that was also the night that I met my Eddi.

RIDICULE AROUND RITA

Some time ago there were headlines over here, and smaller notices elsewhere, about Ivana Trump suing the Finnish fashion company IVANAhelsinki claiming the later was taking advantage of her name. This was when the IVANAhelsinki collection was presented at the New York fashion week. While many considered it a PR trick from Trump's side, it was considered plain idiocity over here : IVANAhelsinki was founded in the late nineties by Paola Ivana (yes, that's her name too) while Trump registered her name as a trade mark as late as 2002... And back then few even knew about any of the Trumps over here - and even fewer cared. I noticed that some of the non Finnish articles mentioning the case, while over all neutral, were wondering why someone would want to use the Ivana name anyhow as the thing is a bit "old and used already". (To be pointed out is that there seems to be several Ivana-named brands in NY already, like an Ivana Vodka for example). Which shows of bad research of those authors - apart from the facts already mentioned the thing with IVANA helsinki is that the brand of course has nothing to do with any other Ivana than the one designing the clothes, and does not really have any need nor desire to be associated with anything else than itself.

Well, I don't know how the case has continued as the news front has been silent so far. But yesterday a new case made the headlines (something I noticed already has been appearing in posts by many fellow Finnish blogs during the past day too); Adidas has demanded Minna Parikka to withdraw her Rita shoe from the market, claiming the three stripes are copied from the classic Adidas sneaker.

Minna has explained that the three stripes are the ribbons of the bows in front of the shoe, but she still chose to withdraw the boot as "a small entrepreneur stands little chance against a huge corporation". It seems her matching Mistress gloves are also no longer available.

Of course companies and trade marks should watch out for themselves and their copyrighted products and look (for example the Marimekko vs. D&G case was rather obvious), but not by being obsessive - or cocky. I think comparing a high heeled boot from a chick designer to a classic leisure sneaker is, well, ridiculous.

For me those striped boots resembles a covered version of some of her pumps with three or more straps. But never in a lifetime would I have thought of Adidas! What do you think?

PREPPY IN PURPLE

Today I've been shopping colorful lights for the balcony (Kitsch! Crazy! Wooh!) and now I plan to spend the rest of the evening not tidying up but browsing interior design magazines instead. Those are the only ones I order and read (almost) nowadays. I just cant get enough! Might have myself a glass of red too now that I think of it.

It's so dark at five o'clock already it's pretty much impossible to get the colours of any outfit but there's a lot of purple in this one. Or, maybe not that much, but the cardigan and the tights. A little more than just some.

(Here I'm illustrating how it looks with me not tidying up but reading those magazines. Sans the red though.)

The skirt is the one from Zara, shoes vintage and the baby blue blouse Freddies of Pinewood.

And yes, can't help it but I think things like this is very funny. Sneaking in to photos.
Haha.

TIME TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER

Ok.
So the Hoochie Mama Jane Art Deco earring give away is over.
And.
The winner,
who will receive these,

is...
(drumroll; trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
Pinup Candy!

And for the rest of you, there will be more give away's coming up still ♥

TIME TO TAKE OUT THE WINTER BOOTS AGAIN

And so I have; taken them out and in to use. Although it still is pretty warm* and wet over here; I wouldn't have had to quite yet.

*)=That of course depends on what you compare it with. Warm as in plus degrees yes, but the weather is still totally, like we say over here, from the arse.

I got these boots last year as I needed shoes for winter and thought they were pretty ok, although a bit 'trendy' for my taste due to the extra zipper on the side without any use. However, they turned out to be super comfy, kept warmth surprisingly well considering they are made out man made materials only, they fitted an extra pair of socks and still made my feet look super tiny and they did not let any water in when it was soggy and wet. Nor did I really think of that zipper either. So, it was a smart buy, I wore them a lot and I almost worn them out. That's why I was smart at the end of last winter and bought myself another pair! So far I'm still wearing the old ones, and saving the extra pair for later.

Anyway, I have received lots of questions from people elsewhere about the boots and where to find such; mine are from Din Sko, a shoe chain here in Scandinavia with rather cheap shoes, often considered to be of rather low quality. (Funny thing is, the shoes I've worn most for daily use and have lasted a long time have been form Din Sko...). The company makes new collections every season so I'm afraid they do not carry these shoes any longer (although they seem to have an uglier version available).

But, perhaps this will interest some of you; I spotted a smiliar kind of skiing-inspired boot on ModCloth; the Bowery Boot!



Oh, a little PS. still concerning shopping : Shabby Apple is offering the readers of The Freelancer's Fashion Blog a 10% discount for thirty days; Monday November 15th to December 15th! Shabby Apple has lots of lovely dresses, jewelry and other accessories. The code is freelance5810 and the shop can be found at shabbyapple.com.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW

The smartest shopping I did this autumn was two lined A-line skirts form Zara, the same skirt but in different colours. I've been wearing them all the time.


I found some coasters in Stockholm, matching the patterns and colours of our living room.


Since the renovation and move I have paid surprisingly many visits to Etola, where I haven't set my foot since mom was there bying plastic baskets, jars and such in the eighties. They are still all about plastic baskets and practical things for home, but they also have a lot of surprising and cute items nowadays! I got these small boxes for my sewing parnaphelia.


You can read an interview with us Itty-Bitties in the latest issue of Kotilääkäri :)