OHOY!

I hve a new sailor top form Tara Starlet.

Sailor stuff always makes me go a little wild. Hey ohoy!

And see, as soon as the sailor hat is gone I'm all nice and calm again.
So I left it at home and put my beret on again for outside (I think I'm going to have to do at tag called 'my beret' soon).

(Had to leave the red shoes at home too and go for my winter boots too as that damn snow still hangs around.)

PARDON MY BLACK & PARDON MY BERET

But yes, ahum, there's been a lot of that lately.

No spring vibes here no!
Welcome to the black-blog where you can get inspiration on how to wear basically the same tuff in similar ways!

No, but seriously, lately I've done a lot of proving ones point regarding black ensembles as the easiest to go for when doing long days and in a hurry -I'm really waiting for some time off... I just always seem to get involved in or take on new projects after one is finished. And most of them are fun or interesting to do. But I should learn to take it easy too!

Here are some of the things I've done and will do lately, packing my bag the night before and leaving home at 05.40 in the morning for work: Thursday - to the studio for the PS show after work and home in the evening. Friday - did a burlesque themed shoot right after work (in the harbour! It got a bit cold after a while :) And this weekend I'll spend 25hours in the harbour as usual (that's the way it goes when on weekend duty, every third week) and on Monday I'll go straight from work to the Casino where we have an evening show. And on Tuesday I need to go to the accountant to get last year's declarations signed and then on to a shoot and then a meeting.

But you know what? I seem to have Wednesday and Friday free (although I'm sure I will come up with something..) so I can actually go to the gym and finally tidy up at home! Droool.

(Oh, I almost forgot as somebody will ask anyway: skirt by Olivia Rouge, shoes Melissa, top from H&M just a few weeks ago so yes they probably still have them :), belt by Vivien of Holloway. The bag & beret are vintage.)

CHERRY IN DEEP WATER

Photo by Kerttu Malinen.
(From the swimming hall shoot last December.)

GIFTS AND NICE THINGS

I received a wonderfully sweet little present some time ago – a vintage cameo brooch from Agatha. Thank you ♥

We’re on the winning side now – they day is longer than the night and we are going towards lighter all the time!
It's such a great feeling to notice that it is light already around five when I get up for the morning shift! No sunshine, but a light sky and lots of bird song. The huge moon still hangs around until about seven. And the evenings are still rather dark.


So the swallow reflector brooch I got from my mother still comes in handy! It works with a magnet so you do not have to make a hole in your jacket in order to wear it.


Also, you have time until tomorrow night to vote for your favorite styling! I'll head over to the studio tomorrow, me and the other stylist will hang around in the background of the show, which will air live at 18:30.

You can still help me win you know, so if you haven't voted yet - do it! if you have, thank you, and please go again:)
Find my styling here. Vote by clicking the green Tykkään-button.

And...
Last but not least the nice ladies of Vivien of Holloway are once more offering all you readers of The Freelancer's Fashion Blog 10% off your onlone purchase. THe code is VOH_F4shionF4b and it's valid until June 30th. Happy shopping ♥

BALLET

Things I did yesterday: booked tattoo time (to May, the boys over at Legacy are popular…), bought a thick interior magazine and enjoyed it alone with sushi, edamame and a beer (sometimes dining seul is just the best thing), went to the ballet with Tinker and Aino, wore black and had before all of this spent a long time wet set waving & drying my hair only to notice the nice waves go rather straight very fast due to the moist air..

Going to the ballet was beautiful - I haven't seen a ballet in years. A long time ago I sang some seasons in the choir at the National Opera for the Nutcracker ballet. We got a personnel discount and I went to see the ballets running at that time. Anyway, tanding on the side of the stage in the choir I was surprised to hear how the weightless appearing dancers actually sound rather heavy when they hit the floor after the jumps and how the male dancers sighed of exhaustion when lifting the ballerinas. And also, how sweaty they got.

This time we went to see Manon. It had some very beautiful scenes and the costumes and setting for some of them were superb, the bordello scene for example. Which I unfortunately don't have any pictures of. But it was a lot of pastel tulle there I tell you.

I suppose one reason for us finally managing to see a ballet was the Black Swan - there has been more talk about ballet lately due to that movie. I've seen the film and wasn't blown away, but started liking it a little more the next day and thought about the film for a while, which I guess is a sign of good cinema in a certain way. What I did like right away however was the set of posters LaBoca made for the film:

(Three of them shown here. I left out the one I didn't like that much. click for a bigger view.)

I like film posters made the old school way, drawn, like Fairey's Walk the Line. I have a look at Polish Posters every now and then. But what annoys me a little bit here (listen to the expert talking here now) is the ballerina in the poster the most to the right... there's something about that silhouette that just bugs my eye but I suppose I can live with that.

Well, back to me. Black always works if having to do stuff during a day that will end up more fancy at, for example, the Opera. Well as you know I think black works pretty much at whatever, whenever. My top is from H&M - I really like the cut - it's rather early fifties. Just as the striped top this one has a big zipper halfway down from the neck that I'm thinking of removing and changing to a button and loop instead. Zippers are apparently trendy now.

(And yes, you saw correctly, trousers!)

BEATLES AND LAMBS

I've been watching over and feeding baby lambs with a bottle most of the weekend, and it's pretty close to impossible to get any good pictures of any little lambette at this point. And here's some Beatles in Spansih for all of you for Sunday. Has nothing to do with little lambs but is pretty nice anyway:

PUOLI SEITSEMÄN - HALF PAST SIX

So, as you know I was part of a fashion themed week at TV1's half past six show PS, styling the hostess of the show as did three other bloggers. You can see and vote for my styling here, by pressing the green "Tykkään!" (=like) button.

As few of you have had a chance to see the show or furthermore, understand what's being said I'll give you a wick brief -
My idea for the outfit was a fun, chic and playing-with-clichés spring in the late fifties Paris themed outfit. I wanted to make a rather timeless look inspired by the theme, that would look good on the wearer, but as she is the host of a show I did not want it to be too flashy in order to outshine any guests.

My actual time to do this was rather limited due to work, I planned well ahead but had only on day to get it together, so most of what's seen here is mine.

The skirt is vintage, part of the walking suit I picked up a couple of years ago at my aunts..

The blouse is a basic striped long tee I got at H&M for this occasion. I sew a collar and cuffs for the blouse from a fabric almost similar to the one of the suit (you saw bits of it in progress some posts ago) - the story of the blouse never made the cut for TV though.

The mini beret is crocheted by Molla Mills and the bag is made out of recycle materials by Viivi Vein.

Although the actual planning sessions and our clips were shot earlier the show itself is sent live. I got a chance to visit the making of during the day of the filming:

My drawing of the hair, one I forgot to bring but explained in words instead.

Marja, the hostess, getting her hair and make up done. I think the hair and make up artist did a good job - many may be skillful but still not able to pull of a vintage inspired look, but in this case the reslut was just like I meant it to be. I rather wanted the look to be inspired by the late fifties and early sixties than copying it to avoid her feeling like being dressed up for a masquerade.

Shooting pics for the internet voting site. (As a n extra little joke I brought the sailor hat, you know, if perhaps she'd been in the mood to let loose and go for a party afterwards… it turned the whole outfit into a bit pinup.)

The results:
I had picked out seamed stockings, of course.

She had a Chanel no5 perfume and slim cigarettes in the bag (Paris! the fifties! The sixties! of course!) but the later ones did not make it into the show, surprise :D


The outfit in action.


The control room is calm, but when you listen to the director it sounds a bit hectic - every second counts.

You can see the show on Areena, but only form a Finnihs server. On Olotila however you can see at least the longer version of all actual stylings worldwide.


I think it's interesting and fun to see how the looks of a person changes according to how they are styled. You can view all stylings and vote for your favorite one here.

Since the others blog in Finnish for a Finnish audience, and since it in the end will be blog readers that stand for the voting, I thought my chances were pretty slim. But, turns out you can vote world vide, which means also my readers can vote !

Vote by clicking the 'Tykkään!' button on the right side beneath the picture. You can keep on voting until the evening of Thursday March 24th. Find my styling here.
So, send me off to Paris will'ya!


The photos of the final styling and of us were shot by Pertti Raama.

RED BLACK AND BLUE

So, now I'm off to TV1's Puoli Seitsemän show for the styling. The planning and my actual part was filmed last week already, I will just go there today to see things from behind the scenes. The show will air at 18:30 and you can watch it afterwards from Areena, but only in Finland I'm afraid. Longer versions of all stylings will be available on Olotila; where also the voting will take place, starting from tomorrow.


My hat is by fabulous Fiona Timantti and the skirt is Vivien of Holloway.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW : WEDNESDAY EVENING

I'm talking a little bit about shoes and posing in three favorite pairs in the latest number of Trendi magazine.


I've caught some sort of virus cold, giving me an annoying headache and making me terribly tired. Just as I had a few days off work and intended to do lots of stuff. Damn! Apart form a visit to the doctor and the store I've been resting at home and playing the piano with Lulu, mostly Satie.


I was feeling something fresh and spicy so I made us a nacho salad. With mixed green salad, beans, hot salsa, home made guacamole, sour cream, some cheddar and lots on nachos. For a vegan version skip the sour cream and the cheese, it works alright without. One can also change the beans to soy meat.


It really annoys me that many nothern bloggers have been whining on about spring this and spring that and how we all hope it will come soon for quite some time already. Well, I kind of do that too I'm afraid, a little at least. So; spring bla bla blah I got myself a springy little plant today.

HERE'S WHERE I COME UP WITH A SMART HEADLINE IN FRENCH OR ABOUT SPRING

But not this time.

Winter is not quite over yet, but we're getting there - the days will soon be longer than the nights and the wonderfully bright light tells us that warmer days should be arriving anytime now (and also that I should wash my windows).

A high ponytail and striped shirt is a combination that not only has spring all over it, but also screams Capris! Ballerinas! Bicycling in the sunshine! French 60's pop! The last two I can fix but I do not own any capri pants nor ballerinas. Not sure about flats, but I would like a nice pair of cropped pants, only there are none to be found here and with my amount of derrière it gets a little risky relying on the internet to deliver.

Also, a nice way to pimp a basic striped tee (or just any basic shirt) is to add bait of lace to it, as a collar, or just as part of the blouse. While I let some people in the third world do the work for me on this one it should be pretty easy to do this little kind of revamping oneself.

The blouse is H&M and the bangs are not real, as you know.
EDIT: yes, the blouse is from H&M this season, the ecological cotton line. It however has an annoying zipper in the back but it's easily removed, in my opinion it serves no function (but then if you remove it you need to sew it together or add a little hook).

A WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

last weekend we went out to the farm to celebrate Eddi's eldest sons birthday. Eddi goes out to there almost every weekend but due to shows and works I rather seldom come along. This time however I made it and I spent two days baking and fixing for lots of people in the kitchen. Which actually was rahter nice as I don't have the time to cook that often. I was also hoping that the sheep would have had their baby lambs during the weekend but they were not due quite yet; the sheep were jut really big, hungry and going BÄÄÄÄÄ all the time. We intend to do a little more fixing up in the house later this spring so I guess I'll get my chances to check out the little lambs then!

STUFF I GOT AT HELSINKI VINTAGE

Pardon my French but I could not come up with anything more creative in the headline up there...

A table lamp for that corner specifically as it always lacked something. (As one can see form the picture, one thing it does not lack is cats.)


A little glass surfaced pinstriped 50's flower table, one of those you could see in my Helsinki Vintage post. I originally intended to put the lamp on it but it sat better on the other little table (which is bought form the same guy earlier btw), so maybe I will use this one as a flower stand instead; that's what it is intended for in the first place. Although right now it serves as kitty stand.


And a little basket. I have quite a lot of baskets and bowls lingering around at home, that tend to fill up with just whatever but bowls and baskets are quite easy finds and that my hands tend to grab. My sister said this one would at elast be really good for when I have three apples around but it actually only fit two.


I got Eddi a pair of 60's deadstock sandals. The brand is Fredrik which is also Eddi's name! They were a little bit too big though and he was not that thrilled about them. (Yet, he'll grow in to them.)


He was however very much more thrilled over the cheerleader suit I got from Americana (which looks surprisingly good on!) but a little disappointed to hear that I do not intend to wear it around town. One might catch it on stage at some point though...

OVER EXPOSED IN BLUE

I love big puffy skirts and wide hems! And red shoes too; if I may add.

This is what I wore today when filming details for a styling-thing I'm participating in at TV1; my part and outfit will air next week's Thursday (Puoli Seitsemän). But more on that later! Now I'm off to Lahti for a gig, ta-ta!

(The dess is vintage from Love Miss Daisy and the shoes fom Andiamo.)

A LONGER LUNCHBREAK AT HELSINKI VINTAGE

So, yesterday it was the same procedure as last time Helsinki Vintage was on; off with the working gear and on with the skirt and the lipstick for a quick lunch break visit of browsing, admiring, super fast shopping and some mandatory socializing at the fair.


I pretened my hair was short; rolled it inwards towards the neck.

So many things, so little time...
Thanks to Gina at Americana for the give away tickets!

Then it was off with the lipstick and back to work.

But I actually managed to buy something; it was a good thing I had the guys from work pick me up with the van. Possible photos to come later on.