by:larm 2011

this weekend it was time for by:larm again. i worked a few hours as a volunteer, just like i had done the last two years, and in turn had a good time with friends, made new friends and got to see lots of concerts and great bands. these were my highlights:

most danceable: pow pow



most charming: pascal pinon
i even went to see them twice. and bought their cd. these teenage girls simply made me so happy with their unaffected performance and pretty lyrics. plain wonderful.



most interesting: forza
i'm usually not interested in hip hop. however, i do like musical influences from the balkan. this was a perfect mixture. definitely the most energetic concert ofthe weekend and best surprise.



most listened to since the concert: me and my army
kleerup plus her majesty, this just couldn't go wrong.

curtain skirt pillow

this friday i finally got my sewing machine out again. it's not like i don't have any ideas of what to sew, but i just never seem to get myself together and take the time to actually sew something. even my mountain of clothes that need to be fixed has grown higher and higher this past year (however, i took care of a larger part of it yesterday. now it feels like i have a whole new wardrobe!). however, on friday i found this nice little store with sewing supplies (buttons!! trim!! more buttons!!), bought some elastic band and, once home, took out a curtain i had bought during christmas sales. the curtain then became this:



and this:



now i have a skirt to match my pillowcase. or the other way around. whichever you like best.

blouse: h&m
cardigan: thrifted
bloomers: thrifted gudrun sjöden
tights: rossmann
boots: goertz via ebay

frøken else

i've just come back from an evening at the theatre. i saw, and heard, and felt, a monologue, a stream of consciousness.



frøken else, originally a novella by arthur schnitzler, is an innocent young lady of 19 when she is invited to stay at a hotel with her rich aunt. she receives a letter from her mother, telling her that her father is bankrupt and asking her to see with an old friend of the family, who also stays at the hotel, if he couldn't help out with the much needed money. else, who is disgusted by the man, fights with herself if she should do what her family asks her to. the man offers to give the money, but only if she will undress for him and let him look at her for a quarter of an hour. being forced to decide between her family's ruin and her own integrity as a woman, she panics, creates a scandal and then takes her own life.



the way all this is transported by only one person during the course of little more than an hour on an almost empty stage is fascinating. the one dominant thing on the stage is an overdimensional birdcage, which becomes almost something like a dancing partner for else. it encloses her, like her life until that point has been something of a golden cage. it is a prison, and one that she realises she can never escape from, whatever she does, however she reacts. she may escape for a short while, but is always drawn back, and even though it sometimes casts her out it is also a protection from whatever lies outside waiting.



elses story is not only put into words. the play is a monologue gone physical, and it was this physical intensity that struck, that almost shattered me. shyness, anxiety, panic, disgust, every possible feeling was displayed through short, intense movements, like ticks that your mind cannot controll. as if your soul seeks your muscles to express a deeper truth, and cuts off your brain before it starts showing. it was eerie, frightening, and stunningly beautiful. true art.

pictures from detnorsketeatret.no

imagining emanuel

on monday evening i had the chance to view the premiere of a brand new norwegian documentary at the oslo cinematek. it will be screened on tv tonight, wednesday 26.01.2011, on nrk 2. the topic of the film stands at the center of norwegian attention right now, so the production team worked day and night for a week to finish it as early as they possibly could. focal point of the film is emanuel, an illegal immigrant living without papers in norway, just like my friend maria amelie who got deported to russia on monday. his fate is just as unclear as hers. while their personal lives and histories are as different as could possibly be, they both stand up, with friends and helpers, to shine a light upon an injustice and wrongdoing by norwegian authorities and government against some of the weakest members of norwegian society.



emanuel comes from liberia, says he. he is a young man, who fled from war in his home country to ghana as a child. after his mother died he somehow managed to get onboard a ship and ended up in norway, without passport, birth certificate or anything else. authorities decide that he does not come from liberia but from ghana, imprison him in the refugee camp in trandum and attempt twice to send him there. authorities there don't agree and since then he has lived his life in norway without a chance to earn his own money or even visit a school to learn how to read or write. he would like to return to his country of origin, but since authorities are apparently unwilling to contact liberian authorities to check if what he says is correct, there is no chance that his wish will come true anytime soon. he, like maria, falls between every possible available chair.



one could say that "imagining emanuel" has two focal points. emanuel is clearly the core subject of the film, but at the same time director thomas østbye is occupied with the process of imagining, the making of a picture, the process of how a persons identity and a persons story is built by what we know, what we see and hear. does the lack of identification mean that emanuel does not have an identity? what do we know about him when we see him standing in the studio, when the camera traces his head in a close up? this documentary reflects about its own genre, it doesn't take any point of view for a universal truth and at the same time fights for the human right to nationality and identity that its subject is being denied. it gives the audience time to reflect. it celebrates the close-up as a possibility to connect and to disturb.

maria amelie

two days ago, one of my best friends here in norway was arrested, to be deported to russia as soon as possible. she came to norway 9 years ago with her parents, has not been to russia for 13 years and doesn't know a soul there. they went underground when their plea for asylum was declined, and ever since she has tried to live a more or less normal life - despite the more than difficult situation she found herself in.



for me, as i wrote before, she is more norwegian than some norwegians i know, and i would gladly offer her my residence permit for this country. she is one of the bravest people i know. by writing a book about her life's story, she dared to give the group of illegal immigrants a face, she dared to speak up and point out what's wrong in how this group of people is handled here. norway prides itself for their high rate of deportations, and their politics when it comes to refugees seems to be more to protect the authorities and laws than to act humanely and protect people in need.

maria amelie has done nothing wrong other than coming to a strange country as a child, and adapting to the situation. she learned the language, got herself an education, made friends. is that wrong? she was honest and is now being punished for wanting to live a good, normal life with work, paying taxes, eating out and meeting friends.



if you have a heart for a young women standing up for herself and her situation, please sign this amnesty international petition on her behalf. it takes you only a minute and will make a difference for her and other refugees. it will mean a lot to me. thank you all.

pictures from here and here

winter walk

last weekend we had wonderful cold weather. we went to a small lake just outside oslo to take a good walk and get some air and sunshine in our faces. i recently bought myself a typical norwegian sweater, called "lusekofte". they cost a small fortune since they are handmade of really thick wool and reqire a lot of needlework. i couldn't find one with a pattern, colour and price i liked in our local secondhand and vintage stores, so i got this one from etsy - you could say it returned home after several years abroad...



of course i had to match the lusekofta with my beakboots and norwegian handmade mittens!

jeans: voice of europe
beakboots: lapikas by topman
lusekofte: vintage, via etsy
mittens: handmade, bought on a market
hat: h&m
scarf: thrifted h&m
belt: diesel

happy new year

a happy new year to all who read this! i hope your year 2011 will be just as fantastic and wonderful as you wish it to be!

from iceland

i've done a lot of travelling lately, first to germany to visit some friends, then to sofia in bulgaria, and last week we went on a trip to iceland for five days, to celebrate the birthday of my favourite person in the world. iceland was wonderful. cold, stylish and kind of unreal. magic.

if anybody would ask me now which city i would prefer for a short shopping trip, the answer would definitely be reykjavik. with so many small interesting boutiques, vintage shops and designers, it was really hard for me to limit my souvenir-shopping. this is what i bought:



a pair of vintage frames by yves saint laurent. i'm not sure yet whether i will put in clear glasses or toned ones for sunny days...





just across the street from our hostel in the middle of the city, a young designer called rakel hafberg sold wonderful accesories made from chicken leather in all sorts of colours. her wristbands and chokers are really something special, and on her homepage you can even design your own ones! she custom made a choker in my choice of colour and delivered it to the hostel before we left for the airport, so her service is fantastic.



i had read a lot about kronkron before i left, so of course i had to have a look at their store. i would have loved to buy a pair of their colourful shoes, but my budget said no, so i only got myself one of their brand new designed patterned tights. i love them! now i just wait for warmer weather to wear them...

style experiments, part I

ida skovmand was looking for bloggers and others to take part in some style experiments, and since i felt like i needed a kick to get blogging again i thought i'd take part. to present ourselves, she now asked us to chose one outfit from the past which we felt was meaningful to us in one or another way, and to take a picture of it lying on the ground. meaningful could be that it was what we wore on a day that means much to us, or also that it makes us feel special, or whatever else we would interpret as meaningful.



i chose the outfit from the day when i got together with my boyfriend. or rather, the day after. i was newly in love and went on single vacation to the norwegian fjords, and i felt such joy and happiness even though i was leaving him behind for some days. we hadn't slept that night and i almost missed my train to bergen at half past six in the morning.

i had bought the dress a week or too before, at myrorna on tomtebogatan in vasastan, stockholm. i remember that i only could afford one dress, and had a hard time deciding between this one in terrycloth and a longarmed number with a tartan pattern. it was june and warm so i took the white summery one. my converse are not the same ones as i had 4,5 years ago - they were green-pink-white-striped and died a year later. the t-shirt was almost brand new, it is by h&m and must be one of the best t-shirts i bought ever. i love it a lot, though i don't use it so much anymore. i had the t-shirt on top of the dress so my backpack would cut so hard into my shoulders. together, we went on the same journey to the fjords for our 3 year anniversary - although with other clothes, but equally happy.

imogen heap

we went to see imogen heap on tuesday. earlier in the day she had visited at the opera. of course the lucky devil to show her around the house was my collegue who didn't even know who she was, while i was having lunch at the cafeteria. i could bite my butt for not being there when she turned up!



the show was wonderful. i have never experienced a person on stage who is, at the same time, so playful and elegant, but also extremely professional, kind and entertaining. in swedish there is an expression "att bjuda på sig själv". it means literally to make yourself a present to others. imogen heap really did this, she was herself on stage and let us all take part in her life at that moment. there was not a single moment that felt rehearsed, just plain musical magic.

crystal

i wrote that i like big rings. this is not totally true. i love big rings. this summer, i bought the biggest ring on earth. also, it surely must be the heaviest ring on earth.





it all started when i saw this ring on etsy quite a while ago. of course i couldn't decide to buy it right away and it was gone in a second. so i started searching and looking and was never quite happy with what i found. so. i decided to take steps and ask the perfect seller for a custom order.





the ring was made by laura, the most wonderful metalsmith, who runs her shop specimental on etsy. she loves crystal-specimens and odd jewellery and is such a pearl! the order proved to be a long and complex process of decision making: which size, which colour, which form, which finish to chose? laura is, honestly, the most patient seller i have ever met, and she went to great lengths to find the perfect crystal for me. she provided lots of pictures and ideas and also cut the stone herself. it was great working with her on a piece of jewellery which is truly unique and which i hope to wear throughout my life. thank you!

autumn

autumn has come, and after some really cold days they finally turned on the heat in the house. so i'm not freezing so much anymore. however, i still don't want to wear my winter gear, so i stick with cardigans and autumn-jackets for the time being, at least until november. however, i think i might need a new hat and mittens.




also, i have fallen in love - again - with all sorts of folkloristic clothing, like my bavarian cardigan, dirndl-dresses and norwegian sweaters. preferably vintage.




dress: indiska
scarf: selfmade
cardigan and bag: vintage
jacket: thrifted
boots: zara

mad about mad men

lovely dotti invited, together with maikitten, once again to a virtual party: aren't we all mad about mad men? it seems, we are. of course i showed up in my best vintage dress, and took my best drink with me.



















my absolutely best drink right now is the kir royal:

1 champagne glass
2 cl creme de cassis
12,5 cl champagne (or any dry bubbly wine you have at hand)
pour champagne into glass, carefully add creme de cassis, enjoy.












































what an evening, and such a great crowd! tomorrow there'll be a voting for best drink, best look-a-like and the-guest-i-like-best. exciting!

an afternoon at the park

working 7 days in a row is not good. if i say that, believe me. it is no good idea. i've been there. twice within 6 weeks. today was my free day after such a 7 workdays week. i would need another one of those free days tomorrow, but that's not possible. so, today i slept forever, had a good brunch and then we headed out for a walk in the park. the sun shone brightly and we enjoyed the brisk autumn air. it was almost like vacation, with waffles and everything!











































also, i started breaking in my purple mint vintage justin boots. the leather is hard as hell, so the breaking in will take a while...



















there are so many nice spots in the park, it's always hard to decide where to take pictures. the stairs seemed like a good place today. and the bushes. they're still green. i might just be able to convince myself that autumn hasn't arrived yet...











































skirt, scarf, bag: vintage, thrifted
boots: justin, vintage via etsy
jacket: thelin
rings: vintage and etsy

pictures by pixelpark

winter vintage

at last weekend's fleamarket, i did not only score three very pretty african inspired vintage dresses, i also found a perfect vintage dress for the upcoming fall/winter season. it is woollen (well, i guess there is some acrylic stuff involved as well), very comfortable and has this wonderful dark red colour.


























also, you can make a pretty bow with the collar, and what more would a girl want?

























apropos winter - a couple of weeks back i also found a wonderful vintage winter dirndl at a thrift store:

























it has this fantastic victorian feel to it, with these huge puffy shoulders and wide skirt. and of course it reminds me of the alps, the mountains, things i long for sometimes.










































i also love the silver coloured buttons (they are a good sign for it dating back to the 80s) and the red and black trim at the seams. the dress is a little long though, so i'll shorten it quite a bit (to knee length), and i might need to add some snaps if i don't want to wear an apron with it. anyhow, now i am really looking forward to wearing more dresses this winter!!