// Shoe steals from Yoox.com

Posted on | July 30, 2009 | 1 Comment

The girl should always save some dough for Yoox.com final sales. Well I did not. But here’s few of my favorites, most of them from the low end of price scale, picked the autumn season in mind.

: Cuoieiria 39€

: Fausta Moretti 47€

: Bruno Premi 49€

: Diesel 55€

: Pierre Darre 59€

: Pedro Garcia 59€

: All Black 59€

: La Sofitta de Gilda 65€

: Diesel 70€

: GIanna Meliani 79€

: Marc by Marc Jacobs 79€

: Marios Schwab 89€

: Chloe 215€

If I could pick three pairs out of these, it would be the gray suede sandals from Bruno Premi (brilliant pair at this price), those weird futuristic-romantic peeptoes from All Black and *sigh* those great Chloé platforms with neat metal inset in heels.

All images from Yoox.com.

Posted on | July 30, 2009 | 1 Comment

// Extraordinary jewelry

Posted on | July 30, 2009 | 1 Comment

I have still some neat Etsy finds left from the rainy summer day surfing spree.

The fascination for all things shiny is not unfamiliar to me, although my everyday outfits are sparingly decorated with jewelry. But I do like large, extraordinary pieces, they have the power to upgrade the simple outfits to interesting ones.

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This headpiece is from Venus in chains. How great it would look over a poker straight long hair? Unfortunately mine is slightly wavy — and it fights surprisingly strongly against straightening.

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Shadow Cutter Jewelry handflowers are inspired by chainmail armor. This plate mail structure looks fabulous.

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I’ve been thinking about doing some chainmail items by myself, but it will be a long time before I could even think of doing anything like thisMetalAndThread’s chainmail scarf is so lightweight that it truly transforms to fabric like.

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ATHD makes really rad jewelry design. This mask is simply striking. It’s far out from my price range but that does not stop me admiring it. For a very different bride, perhaps?

All images from seller’s shops in Etsy.

Posted on | July 30, 2009 | 1 Comment

// Purchase planning

Posted on | July 29, 2009 | 2 Comments

I want to start to plan my clothes purchases. My income is not what it used to be, plus I really want to focus the quality over the quantity. To preserve the joy of impulse shopping I can reserve a small sum for second hand purchases and DIY materials, but everything else should be carefully planned.

For this autumn I probably need a pair of simple booties that go with as many outfits as possible — my current ones are quite worn. I don’t want to invest in these, the weather conditions in Finland are ruthless to shoes. Slush kills. Of course I have rubber boots for the worst days, but in this country you never know what’s next — weather-wise.

Image from Vagabond

I’m quite tuned to these platform booties from Vagabond. They are simple, but I can easily make some detachable chain / stud adornments to upgrade them to something more special when needed. Walkable and DIY inspiring = good.

Image from American Apparel

I have one of these American Apparel ruched bras — and I really need couple of more. These are excellent for women who can’t go without some sort of chest support. They resolve the bra strap problem in most cases while offering enough support for regular light activities (barely, but still). And they flatten the chest, yay!

That’s the “necessities” part. Then the options.

Image from Lumi Accessories

After all I’m not that into bags — and I think that my small collection serves the most purposes. For everyday needs I usually reach for my trusted Topshop bag. It’s black, roomy, does not weigh too much and collapses to a very small space when I don’t carry much in it. But to be honest it starts to be quite worn and might fall apart any day. So I’ve been eyeing some options and the strongest candidate might be this Lumi Accessories XL Supermarket bag. Same attributes to my current favorite, even more minimal appearance and good quality. I actually own the smaller one in teal, but it is not large enough to be my everyday holdall. And it is not black.

Finsk shoes from Asos.com

To be honest, I really don’t need any more pumps or sandals. But I don’t own a single pair of bold platforms — and I feel incomplete without them. This pair from Finsk is perfection, but I’m open to suggestions. At least other Finsk suggestions. Image from Asos — these are in sale there and my heart bleeds.

Before winter sales I have to sort out if I need any seasonal pieces to be updated so I can be better prepared!

Posted on | July 29, 2009 | 2 Comments

// The simplest DIY idea ever

Posted on | July 28, 2009 | 2 Comments

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How great this little remake is? Just a pair of pantyhose with hole in a crotch (ouch, I might get some interesting search engine traffic for that) and shortened legs — or should I say sleeves? Punched and unraveled to desired state of destruction. A perfect piece for layering. Plus can you imagine all the possibilities with fishnets, colored tights, embellished tights…

Via Looklet, a great interwebs app found via Susie Bubble — see what you can do with it. I haven’t been this amused by my computer since my first encounter to SimCity. The best part — you can vin a pair of YSL cage shoes just by playing with it!

Oh, I found there another great piece that I really covet. Unfortunately this is not as simple to DIY, possible though.

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A beautiful laced suede vest by Lick My Label. Now I feel that my wardrobe is not complete without it…

All images via Looklet.

Posted on | July 28, 2009 | 2 Comments

// Summer laziness

Posted on | July 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

Although I love summer it is really not my favorite season to dress up. Heat makes me lazy. I’m almost unable to fiddle with separates and end up throwing on a simple dress with super simple accessories. Here are some of my favorites; nothing fancy but tested against time:

dress drape

Cotton dress with silk details from All Saints. This is at least three years old. I really love the faded pink color, pockets in side seams, raw edges on neck and sleeve openings — and how the dress does not have a single straight seam. The skirt part arranges itself to sculptural drapes automatically. I like it most in wrinkled, scruffy state and I love to combine it to black leather in cooler days.

Skip the next if you hate to see toes =).

sandals

A pair of ultra minimal sandals from local department store. I guess that the brand name is Flutter or Fluffer — never heard it since. Anyway, I love the whole leather construction (sole too), the small and weird Swarowski detail on the sole, the fact that they have held together at least four years in spite of the delicate structure. They leave almost no tan lines and are surprisingly comfortable.

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The greatest summer straw bag from Vero Moda, this has seen two or three summers, too. The little metal discs make the most beautiful faint sound when I walk — an instant boost to a summer feeling. The bag is large enough for couple of books, iPod, water bottle, knit and a blanket for sitting down in a random park, my basic equipment for lazy summer days in the city.

And no, I don’t care too much about coordinating the metallics.

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Edit:
I feel pretty bad that I photographed one of my fav summer dresses just on the hangar. Here with Zara cardigan, DocMartens (obviously quite excited about them) and cycle shorts (cut from regular sheer tights). Not the best angle for my legs but you get the idea.
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Posted on | July 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

// Steampunkd’?

Posted on | July 26, 2009 | No Comments

Okay, I’m not into too costumey dressing and steampunk style is certainly not particularly close to my heart. But there are times when I find some brilliant, intriguing pieces outside of my comfort zone. I mean, what isn’t there to love in this beautiful steampunk ring from Edmdesigns?
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Would those little cogwheels move, would they?

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I also love these bracelets, where pieces of old watches have gotten a new life. Available also in gold.

If you are into steampunk things, this shop has the most amazing vintage goggles, accessorized to steampunk perfection.

Posted on | July 26, 2009 | No Comments

// Lace print

Posted on | July 25, 2009 | No Comments

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I would say that H&M is getting better all the time. Designer collaborations have been great (if not all for my taste), but also the main line gets more interesting. I really like all the autumn pictures that have been floating around the net. Leather obi belts and interesting tailoring — this print on these pants was the definite eye catcher for me, though.

Photo: Peter Gehrke, found via imageshack.

The whole Divided Exclusive collection looks particularly interesting, too.

Posted on | July 25, 2009 | No Comments

// Organic, industrial

Posted on | July 24, 2009 | No Comments

Nervous System makes some delicate jewelry from industrial materials. Stumbled them via the Uniform Project (worth checking, too!).

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Radial Necklace, laser cut felt.

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Radiolaria Necklace in silicone rubber.

Posted on | July 24, 2009 | No Comments

// MMM

Posted on | July 23, 2009 | 2 Comments

Although we have fashion design schools in Finland the problem in here is that the textile industry almost died in seventies and eighties — excluding Marimekko and very, very few other established smaller companies. I guess that it is quite a challenge for young designer to set up the line and build up the production abroad plus the shrunken local industry does not offer too much possibilities to get some experience in real working life.

To my delight I found Maria Matintytär Maattola’s clothing line this spring. If somebody would have described her style in words — “there is lots of sweater fleece” — I probably would not have been too enthusiastic. Fortunately I happened to see her clothes in real life, because I haven’t really seen the sweater fleece being treated like she does.

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To be fair her commercial capsule collection included also some very nice fluid jersey clothes, neat leggings with bold color blocks and these amazing pants from the image above. I got ‘em!

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This tunic I would welcome to my wardrobe, anytime!

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Posted on | July 23, 2009 | 2 Comments

// Slipped the stitch

Posted on | July 22, 2009 | No Comments

Sandra Backlund. I really don’t know why her ss 09 collection slipped my eye. How can the cable knit wrong side be so right?

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And few of the older favorites. Just can’t help myself.

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Images from Sandrabacklund.com.

Posted on | July 22, 2009 | No Comments

keep looking »

About

Location: Helsinki, Finland

Contact: kamicha (a) gmail dot com

I'm especially interested in young designers creations, non-established labels and indie fashion. So if you have something interesting to show, feel free to contact!

You can find Finnish design from both specific and some outfit posts - but both are tagged.

You might be also interested in DIY posts, How-to posts, DIY ideas - or my adventures in Etsy =).

More about me and this blog.