Cultural roundup - and scent of something different...

So, after the holiday that didn't quite go as planned, my first business trip in my new position and other stuff, I'm finally getting around to taking care of a few things. So while the hair dye is doing it's job on my head, I'm taking the time to write a quick entry here, just a roundup of random things.

Not much happening in my little vintage fashion world lately, but I have just received yet another comment on my Story of a scarf entry, which is kinda incredible. It seems Fisba scarves have made it all over the world, and there is not much information around in this whole wide WWW...

Also, I have a pile of vintage doll outfits and pretty Sindy dolls on my table, all waiting to be restored, identified, blogged etc. This is the result of a cosy afternoon spent with a good friend. Whenever I think that my doll collection is probably not going to be growing a lot anymore... a doll or two come from somewhere ;-). Well, this will keep me occupied over Easter I am sure. Sindy dolls are pretty good restoration objects - they usually clean up quite surprisingly well, so I will certainly blog some pics of the process here.

There are lots of interesting exhibtions on all around, so I had better make sure that I still get those for which I haven't yet planned a visit. I have already seen the "Winter Tales" exhibition at Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum last autumn, but now the exhibtion has moved on to the Kunsthaus here in Zurich (minus the Breughels of course - I would have been very surprised indeed if they would have let them go anywhere...). The Rietberg Museum has an interesting exhibition on African art on, which will certainly be well worth a visit too! The Landesmuseum meanwhile is still showing press photographs since 1940, which I think would be interesting to see too. And finally, just starting, is an exhibition on Renoir's early years at the Kunstmuseum in Basel, which I certainly don't want to miss.

At least I've been able to catch up on my "missed it at the cinema" list on the plane. Loved "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and can only recommend it to anybody! "Tintin" was lotsa fun and certainly well made. La Castafiore made quite the entrance! They have captured her like none of the cartoons ever could! Being warned that animation films that are mostly geared towards kids (but contain the kind of humour that adults enjoy at least as much) usually show up on cinema screens here in English for a week or two, and then are being shown only in German anymore, I trekked across town yesterday to see "The Pirates! Band of Misfits!". Great fun. Don't believe a thing in bad critics you read, it's lots of fun, and the jokes and the humour are often in the details. I have to admit though, this one probably has more laughs for adults in the end - so I'm not sure that the little kids in the cinema yesterday really enjoyed it that much or that the film company is doing the right thing by it by marketing it towards smaller kids, and seemingly not putting an age limit on it...

I admit to being one of those persons who always takes the little amenity items at hotels with her - like the little shampoos, shower gels, soaps etc. Why? Well, I paid for the room, I might as well... ;-) and sometimes, depending on the hotel, you get really nice stuff - like Pure Fiji or L'Occitane. Why not enjoy it. Okay, some of the standard stuff that mid-range hotels have really isn't very exciting, but every now and then there's a really pleasant product between all the other ones (like the stuff the Great Divide Lodge in Breckenridge has). Or hotels have their own brands with interesting stuff. I like scents and differently scented toiletries, so this too is a way to try interesting stuff. Be it perfumes, body lotions, shower gels or whatever, my taste tends to veer more to the spicy, tangy or "unusual" smells. Fruity and/or flowery, is with a few exceptions (like Pure Fiji's Starfruit Infusion products or Lauder's classic Pleasures scent, my summer perfume) less my thing. So I revel in all the L'Occitane stuff that I can get my hands on, I admit. Love that "fresh" scent. A friend had small toiletries from Hermès' Eau d'Orange Verte. Heavenly! This puts anything you've ever smelled that's supposed to smell of oranges in the shade. This isn't sweet, it's tangy and spicy and fairly strong, but utterly gorgeous. I guess it would be nice as a cologne for summer, but it's just as expensive as my "winter perfume" L'Heure Bleue. Yes, of course I alway pick the most expensive stuff! Getting even a little more unusual, the Hyatt hotels' own spa brand has "White Ginger" scented amenties - and boy, do they smell of ginger! But nicely. Too bad there was, this being typically American, no shower gel (but a soap instead). Just imagining what that would be like... on a really hot summer's day, that's what I'd like to have! Reminds me of ginger beer... nothing nicer to revive one's spirits by drinking on a really hot day... And if you ever needed anything to get you going in the morning, Yves Rocher actually has a coffee-bean scented shower gel. Not kidding. It's actually quite nice ;-). Having received a giftset of fabulous Weleda bath essences with natural scents for my birthday, I've also been spending lots of time in my bathtub lately. They're all gorgeous, and they smell actually the way they should smell - not artificial, but "real". My first try was the wild rose essence, that was just gorgeous. It smelled just like real roses and didn't lose the smell as long as my bath took. This morning I went for citrus, which is to me a bit unusual for a bath but it was beautiful. Rosemary was nice, kinda spicy, chestnut was unusual, but did it's job... now left are the two relaxing ones, lavender and fir tree, but I've not had a real reason to try them so far. Still, can't wait to try!

The last scarf!

So, here we are... it is December, so we have arrived at the last scarf! This has been so nice, being able to open a present every month! I feel like I need to find a new "monthly theme" for next year. Will have to think about it - and am open to suggestions for sure!

But now, without further ado - the December scarf: I also have one more new Barbie doll to introduce. The never ending Dolls of the World line has, after doing traditional costumes, festivals, weddings and other things, branched out to... buildings! Therefore, they have for the second time in their long history done an Australian theme, this time the Sydney Opera:
I think for once Mattel got it right - it's a good interpretation, but also still looks more or less like a dress... I like the shoes and the handbag, that carry the design on too - nice touch. Now if Mattel could only stop using thoses stiff ModelMuse bodies and the hair cement... oh I know, I always grumble about the same things.

It has also been time again for the annual big pre-christmas indoor flea market & antiques fair here in Zurich. The whole event is getting smaller each year (no wonder with those stall prices that one hears off - but then there are also things that I know I have been looking at for the last 5 years or more, and you'd think that maybe a seller should then starting asking himself, if maybe the price was too high...), so I now only buy one day ticket anymore and go in only once. It used to be that I'd go in at least twice - like on Thursday and again on Saturday, when it got into full swing. Oh well... But for once I was pretty succesful this time! One of my favorite sellers, who sells vintage American costume jewelery, this time had a bracelet that matches a pair of earrings that I bought from her a few years ago pretty neatly:
And, oh wonder of wonders, I have found a beautiful 1940s day dress, which did not cost a fortune! After having pretty much given up on ever buying vintage clothes here or at that particular event, as usually this tended to be totally overpriced. Well, last years' overpriced seller wasn't there anymore. I could imagine that she didn't do a lot of business with those prices she had... So the day ended quite satifactorily, though the dress will need a little taking in on the sides. Stay tuned for that one then!

Helsinki, South Pacific, another scarf & adorn yourself & your clothing!

Long time no post, I know... Well, things have been a tiny bit crazy around here. In Mid-August, I spent a few lovely days in beautiful Helsinki with my mother. I've been there many times already, but this city never ceases to amaze me. It is one of the truly beautiful cities in this world! Finnish National Style, Finland's own expression of Art Nouveau, and a building boom in the early 1900s created a great part of what the city looks like today, besides the Neo-Classical 1800s buildings around Senate Square and the Esplanade, and the imagination and ideas that went into these buildings, never cease to amaze me! If you want to have a peek, you can check out my photos here.

Of course we also did the obligatory shopping, which is great in Helsinki. Marimekko is a brand that needs no introduction... whatever they make, it's great quality and it looks great. We bought heaps of fabric, but also one of their classic stripy tees, colorful umbrellas - and we both managed to nab a pair of Converse in Marimekko look - now aren't these the bee's knees?! Pertti Palmroth is maybe less well-known outside Finland, but it's a traditional shoe company that's been in business for decades and produces in my eyes the best in fashionable winter footwear there is. Not only do they produce beautiful, timelessly elegant boots (and to add - some of them are also incredibly sexy!) that fit the foot beautifully, but those boots, no matter if flat or high-heeled, are all incredibly warm, and made from water-proof leather and fixed up with good soles. Palmroth is a must for me on every trip, and even though their boots are also made to last, I couldn't refrain from adding a pair of ankle boots to the two pairs of boots I already have. And best of all, they actually still produce their shoes and boots in Finland. Considering all this, they are more than worth their price...
We also took our time to check out some vintage shops - one we already knew, one was "the one that got away" - I had found it before on a previous trip but lost it again - one that we just about missed by one block the last time, and two that were completely new to us (though we'd been poking around one's area before too). Each and every one was what I expect of a vintage shop: nicely stocked with real vintage, well-organised but with full, enticing racks that one just loves to rifle through... Prices were realistic and shopowners ever so friendly - in short, it was perfect. So I did manage to pick up some beauties:

A timeless black 1940s crepe dress from Ruutu Rovua.

A grey 1950s jacket, bought at Nasta - a really cute shop who's owner is always dressed in 50s style. I've been there before, and one of my fave vintage summer dresses comes from there.

At Ansa (Visit their blog), another super-cute shop in an area that I'd never been to before, I found this elegant 60s rayon slip by Bali.

Play it again Sam was the shop I'd found before, and "lost" again, though it's just a few street corners from Nasta... My mom bought this great 1940s jacket there, which she fitted out with a new lining, and now it's ready to be worn again!

Just one and a half weeks later, which were filled with frantic washing, preparing, agonizing over what to pack and hoping that the whole thing would actually come together, I flew off to Fiji (I flew out on a Wednesday - on the Friday before I had a ticket, and on Monday I actually knew where I'd be staying...). Not for fun though, but on a famil trip for work. I have never before been to any of the Pacific islands, so this was all new to me. The Purpose was simply to get to know a destination that I sell to my clients daily personally, and visit some of the resorts that we sell, plus a new one we're considering - and one more we didn't know at all but as all else was sold out, I stayed there. Except for the two nights that I spent on an excellent small-ship cruise, I stayed in a different place every night. I was on and off boats constantly - a bit of an adventure sometimes, I admit! For all the traveling around, and some strange weather (at least for this time of year, it was a bit strange), it was utterly beautiful, I saw some absolutely stunning beaches, stayed at some incredible resorts and met lots of friendly Fijians (they really are so warm and friendly!).
Shopping-wise there was just one thing that I wanted to get, and thankfully the last hotel I stayed at had a boutique by them: Pure Fiji. Their bodycare products are made from coconut milk and other natural ingredients which they source from local villages. Each product is available in a range of tropical scents like coconut, frangipani, mango or starfruit (which is my current fave). All the products feel just gorgeous on the skin, and their scents are beautiful too - not overwhelming, over-sweet or artifial like many exotically scented products are that one can buy on our side of the world. In short, I adore this stuff, and I filled my bag with it, of that you can be sure ;-). Most of the hotels use their products too for the small bathroom amenities (unless they're 5-star and think they have to stock their bathrooms with L'Occitane products - they're good too, yes - but all the same, this seems utterly ridiculous...). The Sofitel Fiji even has a scent of their own - orange blossom - that Pure Fiji only uses for their ameneties. Needless to say, I took those home with me...

I have, not so recently, but for some time, been a real fan of kitschy "romantic" costume jewelery, like (fake) cameos. At H&M I found pretty small cameo earrings, but the coolest stuff I have comes from flea markets and Etsy. It doesn't matter they're not real - that is actually part of the appeal to me - the kitschier, the better is my feeling right now. And to make a real statement, I don't wear just one - I wear a whole collection, together with other pieces that look good with them:
This classic pinstriped waistcoat is an old fave - it's only by H&M, but has survived all purges in my closet for the last 12 years or so... (yes, I had been thinking about throwing it out a few times...)

So, I gave added to the three fake cameos (two flea-market finds and one of said H&M earrings, which I bought twice): one fake "miniature" - another flea-market find, a cute vintage 60s porcelain brooch (courtesy of The Spectrum - there's also a necklace with a matching pendent) and my mom's Kennedy Dollar, which she has had set as a brooch, and which I have worn on and off over the years. I just feel these things need to make a statement ;-).

The other option of course is to have just one really, really big fake cameo to add some pizzazz to an ordinary jacket:
Speaking of pizzazz, if you're looking for unusual jewelery that's sure to grab everyone's attention, may I suggest you have a look at Chryssala's Chic Chips? They look just great and are so much fun! Her try-out collection is on her Facebook Page now (be sure to "like" it!), and there is certainly more cool stuff to follow!

Before I finish this here, there is of course the Scarf of the Month that we shouldn't forget!
This month, it's a chic piece in all shades of purple (did I mention that I love purple?!) by Vienna's designer fashion store Fürnkranz. Beautiful!

Tidying up, a lot of do it yourself, and one more scarf

The last few weeks have mostly been about doing my own projects - and doing a lot of tidying up!

In the running up of our yearly going to the flea market as sellers, I'm always looking at every closet etc. - I don't want to keep anything for another year that I could be selling, besides, thanks to my recent tax bills, I could use some extra money. I guess I always had the gene to collect things, sometimes going a bit overboard on the collecting idea. As long as I had my old apartment, though it was tiny (at least the living space), there was a kind of unlimited storage space - there was a nice, dry, clean basement, and a storage room too. So I guess things sometimes got a bit out of hand, though never to the point of being a hoarder. By teaching me that to sell (Barbie-)things that I didn't want anymore to make a bit of money and space for new things, my mom not only taught me as a kid on how to deal with money at a time when I did not get pocket money, she also taught me that to give old things away you could make room for new space. It may sound a little simple, but I guess the lesson stuck, and I'm glad for it. It also taught me that it's ok to part with things that one's heart doesn't hang on to it anymore. I always had clean-up phases when I would go through all, or at least a certain part of my things, and throw everything I didn't want anymore away. One such big phase brought on the idea of selling my stuff at the flea market. There was a monthly flea market in the next town, for which I used to see the ads regularly. I visited it and thought it was quite neat - lots of local sellers, not just professionals. I also discovered that one could rent really nice stands for only 50 CHF, which is not a great deal if you don't have to organise your own table etc. So I signed up for the last one that season, in October. My mom thought it was a nice idea, and so we ended up going both, one very, very cold October morning. How we managed to put the stand up between the two of us is still something of a miracle, and thinking back how we went there with our stuff by taxi... well, how crazy do you get? But anyway, our stand was a runaway success, and before you knew it, we had signed up again for the next summer, when the weather would be nicer (no cold feet!) and dad could help too. We've been going once a year ever since, and it usually takes two car drives to get everything there. We split the costs for the stand between us, so it's easy to make a tidy profit. My cousin has come a few times too, and this time on of my best pal will be joining us too. We always pack an esky with enough food & drink, and some camping stools, and then we're ready for a fun day. It's not just making money, it really is a lot of fun - watching people, guessing who's buying what, haggling - and hard work keeping everything under control when it gets bizzy. No kidding, you really need at least three people when things get really hot! I wouldn't want to be doing it every week, but once a year is great – it’s really something I’m looking forward to, and it keeps me keeping my place tidied up!

One of my ongoing projects is to tidy up all the projects and things that have been floating around my sewing table seemingly forever. One first thing was to do the photo albums of about three and a half years past. Since I worked so much this winter, I have a lot of overtime to compensate and have already had some holidays at home, which I spent doing my photo albums. Plus all the holidays that the spring months are so generous with have added even more time, also to repair/change some of my vintage clothing finds and make them ready to wear. My most recent such project was this vintage 80s silk dress by Akris, which I found at the Caritas (where else?). I guess it was in reality about a size too big for me, and the huge shoulder pads really were too much, but I liked the fabric. It does show some wear, so I decided to make just the best of it and wear it as long as I like it. I took out the shoulder pads, made the skirt a bit tighter, shortened the sleeves, and added a wide belt. It doesn’t look as good on the manni, but I really like it when I have it on (will try to post pics when I do so for work or whatever – I don’t makeup etc. just for a quick shot when I’m at home…).

Before...

... and after!

In the course of all this, I have also gone through my sewing & craft cupboard. Oh dear! How on earth did I hoard up so much stuff?! There have been things that I must’ve had for the last 20 years or so! So, I pulled it all out, sorted it new and very decidedly threw everything out that I couldn’t think of making something with it. I can’t keep everything in the small chance that I could maybe use it one day… I had already been in the process of making necklaces and bracelets for the flea market, which I already mentioned in my last post. Now I found even more stuff to work with, and so I have created even more things, and also freed up space in said closet:

I’ve been able to rearrange the things I’m keeping in a way too that I will actually find things when I’m searching for them. My knitting wool bin has also been the target of this process. All in all, it feels great. Light! So much stuff is gone that has been knocking around and that I’ve looked at for years…

Right now, I am going through those two boxes that contain the doll stuff that still needs work – unfinished projects and vintage Barbie clothes that need to be sorted, mended, washed or whatever. Sound crazy? Well, I don’t have the money to buy all the vintage things for my dolls in mint condition, so I do end up with things that need a little bit of mending sometimes, or that have gone grimy with the years. And there are a few (non-Barbie-)dolls too that still need a little bit of TLC. A more recent acquistion that still needed a little bit of that is this pretty 1970s Sindy doll with rare ash blonde hair, wearing an original 80s outfit.

I’ve spent the better part of today wit this stuff, and it looks quite good now. I am actually getting somewhere. I know I have the tendency to start new projects when inspiration strikes, but right now really is the time to take care of the things that haven’t been finished yet.

And before I finish here today - last but not least - the scarf of the month:

A season for vintage

I think it's gonna be a very, very vintage autumn (and maybe winter) for me this year... sometimes, it just all comes together. Searching Etsy for one thing led to another which... to make it short, I am right now waiting for more than one 1940s dress (plus a suit) to arrive. Plus I am still working on the skirt for a 50s suit after an original pattern (whilst mom is working on the jacket).
Then Nicole's post on her adventures in vintage hairstyling had me think back to... heat curlers, and made me decide to not go to the hairdresser after all. I don't think I've found the right styling product yet, and my hair is still a bit short for curlers, but I *think* I'm getting there. At least it's worth a try. I need a change of look every now and then, and I have been feeling lately that it's been overdue - either it would be back to the shorter hairstyle like I had last year around this time, or something new would have to happen. I get bored of my current hairstyle at regular intervals it seems.
Now I just need to get the furniture in my bedroom into shape (time to introduce more style to the place!) and things are gonna look great all over. I need something to look forward to - it's gonna be another heavy season at work I fear...

Karin