February 15, 2012
Shopping in India
Items from my recent trip to India.
The box came with tea in it. I think it fits perfectly as jewelry box.
The expensive pillowcases I bought at the Mumbai Taj Palace Hotel for 20 dollars pr. piece and the cheap ones can be bought at pretty much every tourist souvenir shop for 2 dollars. There is, however, a clear difference in quality. The three on the left are the expensive ones.
February 14, 2012
Pashminas shawls, silk scarves and thoughts on India…
My first visit to India ….
Last month I spent three weeks in India traveling across the country. It was my first time in India and it certainly did not feel like a vacation at all! Perhaps if I only had visited Goa my experience of India would have been different but also poor. During my trip I managed to visit New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Ranthambore, Varanasi, Kolkata, Goa and Mumbai. The most exhausting and annoying part of the trip was having to deal with people there who constantly were trying to deceive me one way or the other. And sky is the limit when it comes to the creativity of their schemes. If you are going there or planning a trip to India make sure to plan your vacation well ahead and avoid tourist agencies as it is much cheaper to do it yourself. And don’t trust anybody except the Lonely Planet book! It is also a good idea to read it before you go there in order to be prepared for all the lying, deceiving and fake agencies when you finally get there. Also, never pay the full price for anything. Always pay less than 50% of the price they demand. If they are not willing to give in, then just walk away, trust me, you will find identical items in other stores in every city in India. They all sell the same crap! As for shopping, I followed the Lonely Planet guide in regards to my purchases of pashminas and silk scarves which I mainly bought in Jaipur and Varanasi. I must admit that I have developed a love/hate relationship to India. Even though there are a lot of negatives about India, to me, it still is a magical place with huge contrasts, both on the human side as well as its nature. I am already planning my next trip to the southern part of India …
The Pink City, Jaipur
The ganges river in India’s holiest city, Varanasi
Pashminas and silk
December 22, 2011
New buy: Vintage low back mohair jumper
I recently discovered ASOS marketplace at https://marketplace.asos.com/women where you can buy second hand fashion from people who either have listings of their items or a boutique. The boutique side of it is much more professional where the clothes is shown on people from several angels and therefore gives you a better idea of what it looks like when worn. I bought this unique blue mohair jumper with a low V back form Bird On A Wire boutique.
August 30, 2011
WACKERHAUS
One of the latest designers to enter the Danish fashion scene is Wackerhaus. In 2003, Trine Wackerhausen launched her own brand that since her first fashion show has been praised by many fashionistas. The designer Trine, is not interested in trends and has chosen to stay true to her self and create timeless pieces that can be worn across seasons and for years to come.
I first noticed Wackerhaus last year when I noticed a pair of lime green high waisted trousers and a very unique bulky orange blazer that seemed to fit perfectly together. I bought the two items immediately even though the blazer was two sizes too big but it was the only one left at the time.
What sets Wackerhaus apart from all the other brands is her ability to create wearable and comfortable clothes in simple styling that mixes both the feminine and masculine look or as stated on their homepage:
“Despite complementary materials and a versatile approach to silhuette, Wackerhaus succeeds in delivering a clean cut and cohesive look, which on one hand expresses a certain masculinity and on the other a fragile and feminine side of contemporary women’s fashion.”
August 28, 2011
By Malene Birger SS12
My favorite Danish designer, Malene Birger, has made her best collection to date, well, at least in my opinion! I already know which pieces I want to flaunt next summer, which is painfully far from from now. Nevertheless, I have something to look forward to beside the summer vacations – that brief period of sheer happiness and joy of being away from this cold cold country.
What I really like about this collection are the colors that include, beside her usual black and white, green, peach, wine red and light blue. There are not too many details this time and the design is preserved very clean cut and minimal. The silhouettes create the perfect illusion or call it fantasy if you will, of myself, on a yacht, on the French riviera…shopping in Nice, partying in St. Tropez and touring in Marseille.
You can watch the whole fashion show here.
My favorite styles:
March 13, 2011
Icelandic wool sweater
The above pictures show the sweaters that my mom knitted which turned out to be 15 times cheaper than buying at a shop. However, if knitting is not your thing and you don’t know anybody who can make one for you, you can purchase one here for a few hundred euros. The brand is called GudrunGudrun and was started by two Faroese women. The sweater suddenly burst into fame when an actress from the popular Danish TV drama ”Forbrydelsen” started wearing it on the series (the last three pictures). This exposure led to a wave of different kinds of Nordic sweaters suddenly appearing on the market and which are still popular today – or at least in Denmark they are. My favorite is the Icelandic sweater (the above pictures).
These are my favorites, all made of organic wool:
March 9, 2011
Temporary concept stores
Lately, a number of temporary concept stores have seen daylight in a lot of big fashion cities. Although the phenomenon isn’t that new, it’s only lately that I have come across these pop-up stores in CPH.
The idea is to open a store for a few days or months and have it designed in a particular and creative way that demands the attention of the customer. It creates a somewhat different if not unusual shopping experience.
The latest and most notable example is the Arnsdorf temporary store in Melbourne. The architect Edwards Moore was inspired by Arnsdorf collection which included thighs in nude colors which he incorporated into the design of the store.
More pictures on Dezeen
By Malene Birger
I bought this fabulous Malene Birger wrap dress at the Copenhagen Airport. It was the last one left. It would be a pretty simple dress if it wasn’t for the embellishments on the lower part of the sleeves and the shoulder area. It fits perfectly and creates the illusion of me being taller, which I really like 
Also, it floats beautifully below.
March 5, 2011
Istanbul
Last week I visited Istanbul and was amazed by this beautiful city of 14 million. I have to admit though that February is not the ideal month to travel to Istanbul; it was minus degrees, snowing, raining and extremely windy. I’ve decided to come again for a second visit in May in order to experience Istanbul’s full potential.
This was my first visit, so I was clueless about the city, well, not entirely though, I knew there were going to be a lot of mosques and I wasn’t disappointed. Luckily, some friends who had been to Istanbul before were able to give me some useful info about places to party, restaurants, attractions etc.
One fact one should know about Istanbul is, that even though Istanbul is a modern city much like the big cities in the West, the Turks’ English is very limited, especially within the older generations. Even at an international spot such as the airport the staff is left speechless when spoken to in English.
The hotel we stayed in was located in the hip Beyoglu district only 100 meters from Istiklal Cadessi shopping street. On the side streets you could find lots and lots of small bars, clubs and restaurants. We went to the Indigo bar and later on the Indigo club right next to the bar where we danced the night away to some house beats played by a Belgian DJ on that particular night. Beyoglu is the place to stay if you plan on partying a lot in which case, everything is pretty much walking distance or pretty close by anyway. The Beyoglu district however, doesn’t hold a candle to the beautiful historic Istanbul on the other side of the Galata bridge. The only negative is the non existent nightlife in that area.
Also in Beyoglu, not that far away from the Galata tower, we stumbled across a nice sushi place. The sushi was sooo good and of great quality, freshly made by a Japanese cook. The restaurant was also very beautiful with clean and minimalist interior. For all sushi lovers I recommend this place. It’s called Sushi Express and is located here.
There are a lot of other nice bars and restaurants close by here that are worth exploring. You will especially notice a lot of exclusive hotels in this area.
People in Istanbul love to shop! Not even 0 degrees can keep them from strolling around the city’s vast shopping streets. Right after crossing the Galata bridge from Taksim you will find a different kind of shopping center very unique to Istanbul: The Grand Baazar. It’s the world’s oldest and biggest baazar and includes more than 5000 shops. Here you can find jewelry, hand-painted ceramics, carpets, embroideries, spices and antique shops.
However, if you are interested in some high end shopping than go to Nisantasi where you will find a large variety of all the famous brands.
Another interesting part of Istanbul is the Bebek district which is an old fishers town. Make sure to visit the stylish post modern Lucca bar/restaurant which seems completely out of place when compared to the rest of the city. The clientele is overly chick. I have not been there after dark but according to their FB page it turns into a popular night club with some pretty hot international DJs.
Other popular party places in Istanbul, Ortakoy, are open clubs Reina and Anjelique which are right next to each other. I have to visit them during summer and then get back to ya.
