Bea Szenfeld

We have a young, very talented designer here in Sweden, called Bea Szenfeld. The cool thing with this girl is that she often makes her creations out of paper! I like the way it mixes art and fashion, and here I'm going to show you her "haute papier" collection "Sur la Plage".

On Bea's web site it states that this collection "contains 12 outfits, each and every one manufactured by hand and out of paper. In the hands of Bea Szenfeld the paper undergoes a complete metamorphosis. The compact cardboard is cut and fold into tiny architectural concoctions, which are assembled together by hand into incredible creations that leads your mind to Jules Vernes (sic) fictitious sea demons.

Among the rolling waves and uninhabited islands appears also the mythological folklore of the seamen. It is a male dominated existence with water sprits (sic) and sea nymphs that fascinates and seduces the men and drags them into the deep seas and rivers. With this simple resources as paper (sic) Bea has created a beautiful and delicate collection of garments. Dreamlike textures and elaborately layered wisps, precise paper cuts and expressive forms. Everything is pleated, stuck, sewed, and glued by hand.

Are these garments wearable? No.

Washable? No.

Strangely exquisite? Yes!"

I don't know about you, but I would gladly wear one of these creations to a beach party! If I could sit in the shade of course. I don't think getting sweaty in the sun would be such a good idea if you happen to be wearing something made of paper... 

Prada SS12 Shoes And Bags

Some of you might already have seen what Prada did to their SS12 shoes. But for those of you who haven't, you seriously must to see this!!! Of all the places designers look for inspiration, Prada found theirs in cars from the 50s! The result is shoes decked out with car parts like spoilers, wings, lights, chrome accents, and flames. Look, wonder, and drool!

And there are bags to go with them too!

As you can see, these are all very craveable stuff! 

"Dear Prada, I happen to be a shoe-oholic. If you're considering making donations to the poor people suffering from this affliction, I just wanted to tell you I'm here, and I would be very grateful for a donation."

Sincerely,

Miss Meadows

Coffee Time!

Yesterday I met my dear friend Jens for coffee. As a true gentleman he brought a present for me! When I unwrapped the brown paper package...

...decorated with tassels! I found this:

The book consisting of Marilyn's own diary entries, poems and letters. It will be a joy to read!

During our conversation Jens said something very wise! He said that our feet feel best if they change shoes a lot. So we should all have at least seven different pairs of shoes - one pair for each day of the week. I think we should have one pair for each day of the month! To make our feet stay healthy of course. He also mentioned something about rose petal marmalade...

Fabergé Friday

Imperial Egg number eighteen: The "Dowager Egg", or "Imperial Pelican Egg"!

This is one of the few eggs that isn't covered in enamel. Instead it is made of red gold, engraved with motifs of the Arts and Sciences, and the inscription "Visit our vineyards, O Lord, and we shall dwell in thee". On top of the egg sits a pelican in opalescent grey, blue and pink enamel and diamonds. As a symbol of maternal care, the pelican is feeding her young in the nest. The egg is then supported by a four-legged stand of varicolored gold.

This egg was made for the centennial celebration of the patronage of charitable institutions by the Dowager Empress of Russia, and this can be seen when the surprise unfurls. When taken off it's stand the whole egg opens up and unfolds into eight oval panels, each rimmed in pearls. 

On the panels are tiny miniatures, painted by Johannes Zehngraf. All these paintings depict the institutions of which the Dowager Empress was patroness, founded principally for the education of young girls. On the back of the miniatures the names of the institutions have been engraved. 

This egg can now be seen as part of the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's European Decorative Arts collection.

New Shoes

Guess what! I just bought a new pair of shoes. Surprise!!!...Well, I did have a good excuse to get these. Not that a girl ever needs an excuse to buy new shoes, but anyways...

They come from "Miss L Fire", and are called "Tartaruga". The reason I simply had to buy these shoes right now, is because "Miss L Fire" is having a total sell out on their site, to prepare for the upcomming spring/summer collection. They won't restock the ones they sell out (at very good prices I might add), and I've had my eye on the "Tartarugas" for some time now. So you see, there was simply no way I could not buy them!

At got them in black, with the heels wrapped in leopard print vinyl/plastic, and bows in the same material on the vamps.

They have that perfect vintage shape with both rounded heal and toe!

Just like the other two pairs of "Miss L Fire" shoes I have, these are really comfortable. The white things at the inside of the heels are just heel grippers I put in myself. I got the same size I usually order from them, but I needed to fill out these pairs a little bit to make them fit perfectly!

Here is a picture of the lovely Bernie Dexter wearing the shoes. The sale has been going on for quite some time now, so if you want to pay half of what you usually do for "Miss L Fire" shoes, I suggest you hurry up!

Black Lace Dress

In December I told you about a pattern had bought from "What-I-Found", and that I was going to make it in black lace.

The pattern! Finding the time to actually sew it took a while. But when I started sewing it went really fast!

This is the result! The reason it went so fast is because I wanted to leave all the edges - neckline, sleeve edges, and hem - raw. So all I did was sew the pieces together and put in a zipper. Done!

Since it is transparent I wear my black slip from the 40s underneath. The good thing about this dress is that it can be varied a lot by using other-colored slips underneath the black lace for variation. Or why not just some nice lingerie...

The belt I did of the same fabric, in four layers.

I couldn't find a fitting buckle for it though. And one day when I was visiting Fanny and told her about my little problem, she quickly pulled out this lovely "ring-thing" from one of her treasure troves at "Kellerman Vintage". We're not sure what it was used for in the beginning, but she gave it to me. With the help of three snap buttons I made it hold the belt together. If I breathe too much while wearing it, it pops open though, so I might have to change the buckle in the future. Far now though it works!

Event At So Stockholm

Last Thursday I worked/interned at an event at So Stockholm for the "Maria Montazami Collection", "Fairy Tale", and "Hold Me".

The first thing they did when I arrived at So Stockholm in the morning, was to rip my clothes off, and put me in a white, transparent dress from "Fairy Tale", and a corset-belt from "Hold Me". Not really my style, but it worked. I was wearing a slip (vintage, from the 40s) underneath the dress I arrived in, which got to stay on underneath the transparent dress. What a shame! I bet my "What Katie Did" black garter belt and seamed stockings would have looked great through that gauzy fabric! Oh well...

A few girls showed up later to mingle with the guests, all clad in "Fairy Tale", with Maria Montazami bags.

As Maria Montzami is known for her love of tassels, these could be found on all of her bags!

This clutch - also from Maria Montazami - I wanted to bring with me home. But alas, it didn't happen...

Leather bracelets form the "Maria Montazami Collection".

"Hold Me" is a company that makes corset-belts for people with back/shoulder problems. They can be worn underneath or on top of your clothes, and as I was walking around in one all day long I can assure you they give really good support to your posture! 

Here is another belt from "Hold Me". This one has a sparkly zipper, just like the one I was wearing. The small bracelet is to be used if you have wrist problems. They come in a variety of sizes - from XXS to XXL, and I really wanted to bring home the one I was wearing (but in XXS). But, alas - again - this didn't happen either...

The guests were treated to gourmet snacks and bubbles. Unfortunately I didn't get to taste these little hors d'oeuvres - they disappeared fast - but I did get to savor the cheese dipped in cherry syrup! Nom, nom!

The guests mingled...

...Louise and Annica got hand injuries from opening too many champagne bottles...

...and I greeted the guests. For a while I got some help from non other than "The Amazing Knicker Kittens'" Donna Delight!

"Goldwell" had sponsored the event with goodie bags. The only problem was that they had managed to come up with sixty goodie bags - to 150 guests...I have to say this annoyed me to a great extent! I didn't know the story behind how this came to be - something about too little time I think. But if I was creating an event I would never let this happen! A lot of people come for the sole reason of getting that bag of goodies. Grown up people become like children when it comes to free stuff, and these bags are more important at an event then you might think. If I didn't have enough for all the guests, I wouldn't have put them out at all! Or, maybe written on the invitation that the first sixty people get a goodie bag or something, so everyone knew about it beforehand, and no one had to get disappointed. Since I was the one greeting all the guests, and saying goodbye when they left, I was the one that had to take all the shit and complains concerning this little mishap, trying to explain something I didn't even know anything about, having the guests getting angry at me! Usually I wouldn't have bothered about something so silly as this, but I was there for ten hours as an unpaid intern, because it's good to be able to write these things on your CV. Lot's of bloggers and reporters came to this event, people I might work with later in my career, so to stand there having all those people getting annoyed at me because Goldwell hadn't produced enough goodie bags felt more like a breaker then a maker when it comes to getting into the world of PR. Thank you Goldwell! Had I at least gotten something for my work there it would have felt a bit better, especially since I pretty much did it because I knew they needed help (I do like working with these people who created the event), and because no one else wanted to...It was actually said I wouldn't walk away from there empty handed though - which is what happened anyway...Or, no, I'm sorry I forgot. I did get some Brie cheese...

Oh, well...The event turned out really well anyway, and afterwards me, Annica, Louise, and Patrik headed to T.G.I Friday for some food and well needed drinks!

The crappy photos are my iPhone pics. The good photos were taken by Andreas Hillerborg & Tommy Andersson Perfect Pix.