tip tops that pop

I’ve expanded my wardrobe with some nice thrifted summer tops lately, which seems wise since we’re spoilt with an ongoing heatwave at the moment. Again. It’s rather lovely, I must say, and not too hot as well. Just the right temperature for my liking. Although that doesn’t mean I’m spending more time outside, which I guess I should really. Anyhow, this cutie above I found at Humana. It was a little bit pricier than what I’d normally pay for a thrift store top, but it is really in mint condition and by some Italian designer I’ve never heard of. And compared to a new top anywhere else I guess 120 kronor isn’t really too bad.



It’s completely sheer so it needs a black vest underneath, and I love it lots for its dots and little clusters of colourful flowers!



At Myrorna (The Salvation Army) I found this H&M tunic in pretty summer colours and print for 85 kronor. It looks a bit square here (and obviously very creased!), but it’s got a belt that wraps in the back and makes it fit very nicely.



Being a buttonoholic of sorts, I love the tiny raspberry red candylike ones this tunic have.



Another H&M top that I found for 40 kronor at Emmaus, a charity shop here in Stockholm. Fits me like a glove and the belt is long enough to make a very nice big bow in the back, or in the front I guess, if one should be inclined to do so.



At Emmaus I also found this adorable top from H&M for 40 kronor. I was very happy with these scores when I just popped in for a quick look during my lunch break last week!



The Peter Pan collar and more candylike raspberry red buttons make this one a definite new favorite in the closet, especially paired with a black pencil skirt.

expanded dress collection

Here are some recent vintage dress finds of mine. A lovely paisley patterned green creation in polyester, probably from the 60's or early 70's, from Myrorna (Salvation Army) for 165 kronor. I love these little buttons!



As is the case with many dresses, it doesn't look much on the hanger, but fits me very nicely. Since I like wearing it with a black cardigan or sweater I decided to keep the pointy collars, because I like how it sort of ties the dress together. And adds to the vintage vibe, somehow.



The tag is intact and tells it's a Swedish dress by a company called Bröderna Magnusson Borås (The Brothers Magnusson). Borås is a city on the west coast in Sweden, and it used to be the textile industry head quarter up until the 70's, when most big clothing companies started to manufacture abroad instead. The tag also says "Kläder med kultur"/Clothes with culture. I can't find any information about this company, but I've found a couple of other dresses online, and they're priced well above this one.



Polkadots + cute collar + red and white + ruffles = sold! Found this cutie at Humana for 159 kronor, and I longed for long summer nights even more.



It's a bit long for a picknick dress maybe, and possibly not the ideal strawberry picking dress either, but it's just something about it that makes me smile and think of warm summer days. Haven't decided if I should shorten it or not, but if I do I'm gonna try and reincorporate the little ruffle at the bottom. I'm guessing it's from the early 70's, and of course polyester, in case anyone doubted that.



This one reminds me of a classic tennis dress, but obviously the skirt is too long for that. Not too long for me though. Also from Humana, at a cost of 159 kronor, and from the 60's. And in true mint condition, almost crisp still, from not being worn.



I love this detail of the lines, and the halftone-like upper part of the dress, being a printing nerd. Even though the fabric is quite thick, I still think this will be a good spring dress, but also suitable for the colder summer days we tend to get here. Worn with a little red cardigan or bolero. But properly layered I'll use it well before that.

dress of the day

I got this dress a few weeks ago, at Humana's half price sale, so I paid 75 kronor for it. Money well spent indeed. Today was the first day I wore it, and I loved it just as much as when I tried it on in the store. It's always nice to wear a dress for the first time and get to try out how to accessorize it best. Can't wait for warmer days to wear it too, since the upper part of the dress is the cutest and shouldn't be covered with a cardigan.



Very sweet little buttons in the front. I'm not sure what the material is, I would say a light polyester, but I guess it might have it's own name. I'm not really a fabric expert. Not sure about the make either, it looks very 40's but could just as well be from the 80's.



The sleeves are my absolute favorite part of this dress, so cute.


Today I also had my first semla in years. It's a traditional Swedish pastry that you're supposed to eat one specific Tuesday in March, but nowadays are available in most bakeries from just after Christmas to Easter. I've never been a huge fan of them, but usually had one every year anyway. Some years ago I had a really bad one though, and I was in a business meeting and felt bad to leave any, so I still ate it all and felt sick for the whole day. But today I suddenly got a semla craving and it was delicious! Which means I might just have to have at least one more before the season is over.

proving the point of a principle

I usually stick to my principles, for better or for worse, and I haven't caved in to temptation and bought the gorgeous but seriously pricey dresses I posted the other day. Instead I went out during lunch last Wednesday and bought 3 vintage dresses at Humana, for the price of not even half a new dress (159 kronor each to be exact)!



The "problem", apart from being a shopoholic, is that the Humana store (on S:t Paulsgatan) just keeps getting bigger everytime I go there, and obviously gets filled with more clothes! My knees got weak when I realised how much more clothes were there this time, and I knew deep down I wasn't gonna be able to leave without something, and that for my own good I SHOULD NOT look at everything. Which is way easier said than done ... Even though I was only browsing really quickly, being out during my lunch break and everything, apparently I still had time to try on 3 dresses and buy them.



This dark turquoise dress with black diagonal stripes and puff sleeves is very 80's, but matched with the right accessories I'm gonna make it look awesome! I just love the colour and the neckline and the little round black buttons on the sides. I'm sure it'll look great with a black cardigan on top, which is pretty essential this time of year.



A little black polyester dress with a chinese collar didn't stay unnoticed for long, it's just a perfect everyday dress that can look very different depending on how and with what you wear it. I've already got big plans for it! Being sleeveless of course it'll be good for summer too, but I'll make good use of it before that, since summer is about 8 1/2 months away ...



I really like the white print, which looks like percentage signs. Not sure when it's from, maybe late 60's, early 70's, but could also be later. It doesn't have any tags whatsoever, so might be homesewn, by someone pretty skilled because the details around the neck and shoulders are impeckable. I think I'm gonna wear this with a white cardigan to work tomorrow, it'll be a good way to start the week.



Dress no. 3 is this lovely grey, red and pink piece, a Danish design from the 70's, by the look of the collar. It looks a bit dull just hanging like this, but has got a great fit and is so comfortable. Not sure about the material, it's like a woolish polyester, but not that thick. Excellent for autumn/winter though.



I love this checkered pattern, and I think it's great to combine grey with red and pink, classic and fun at the same time. I've also got both red and pink cardigans and tights, so a lot of good combinations will be made with them. Today I started with pink tights, and going out for grocery shopping earlier I wore a red coat and felt nice and colourful. I do think it's important to wear as much colour as possible during this dark season, to sort of cheer yourself up, but somehow I still end up wearing so much of black.



I don't hate 70's collars actually, but I know a lot of people despise them. Sometimes I think they look really good on the right things. I didn't think this dress needed that much of wings though, so I fixed it last night and thought it came out pretty nice.

In the last week I got 4 dresses, so I'm gonna make a serious effort not to get anymore for a while now. Wish me luck, I'll sure need it!

Maybe I should have a giveaway of an old dress I don't wear anymore, I've got quite a few of those too ... Lemme know if that would be interesting. Now it's time to make some pancakes!

more gothenburg goodies

One of the new stores I found during my Gothenburg visit was an Indian one on Kungsgatan, quite close to Järntorget. We just wanted to pop in to check it out, but ended up spending both plenty of time and money there because the shop owner was so friendly and it turned out to be packed with lovely things! If you're at all into Indian interior design items such as pillow cases, curtains, bedspreads, etcetera, this is definitely the place for you. It's more expensive than for example Indiska, but the quailty and selection is way better, and compared to other Indian interior design stores in Stockholm the prices are very reasonable. The nice shop owner very patiently let us try about 10 pairs of earrings each before finally choosing one pair each, and just as I was about to pay for them I spotted this little Ganesh figurine behind the counter. It's made of beautifully handpainted brass, and since Ganesh is me and my husband's special protective god (we were told at our temple wedding), I thought maybe it would be a good thing to get it. My motive wasn't religious though, maybe I should point that out, I just wanted a pretty figurine in our home! But if I by doing that am pleasing the gods, so be it, I guess.



These were the earrings I finally decided to get, very pretty silver ones with turquiose stones. They weren't cheap, 269 kronor, but for real silver and Indian design it's not too bad actually. And I've already used them quite a lot, I really love them! And love is always an investment, right? Or at least a good excuse to shop ...



I did also compensate these slightly more expensive buys, with two ridiculously cheap ones: this lovely little Chinese vase I paid 5 kronor for! Hardly a Ming Dynasty vase or something, but small and pretty and easy to place. And Chinese, of course, which is reason enough for me to spend money on it.



The only problem is that I can't decide which side is the prettiest! So I think I'm gonna have to turn it around once a week, just to get both. Had there been two of them, I probably would have splashed out another 5 kronor to get around that delicate problem.



This was the other big investment: two Hello Kitty plastic toys that I bought from two little girls selling their things at a market. They were a whopping 3 kronor each! Even though I do like Hello Kitty, I'm not a collector and will probably pass these on to someone who will appreciate them more.



A very nice vintage store that we found wandering around Olivedal was Popitop, where I saw some vintage buttons I couldn't resist. Digging around a little box of them I first decided on some, then went back for seconds and thirds and so on, until I decided that I had picked out all the pretty ones. Maybe it was selfish of me, but I do believe I need them for future projects. Like these little red cherry ones!



White ornate cuties and turquiose shiny gems! Not that many of these kinds though, but I'll find the perfect way to use them to show them off the best.



Small red lovely flower buttons! These were the ones I decided on first, and I just love them. Since I bought so many I got a bit of a discount and ended up spending 130 kronor on buttons. Not exactly flea market prices, but good enough vintage ones I guess. I'm happy anyway, and can't wait to use them.

beyond retro, in front of style

I felt quite moody going home from work, and decided to cheer myself up with a long overdue visit to Beyond Retro on Åsögatan. I've talked about that store before, that I find it a bit overwhelming cos it's so huge and completely packed with stuff. Usually that would excite me, but when it's also packed with people at the same time, as it is mostly, it's a bit too much. Today I decided not to care about all that, and just look through the dress area, with an idea to maybe find something to wear to my father's 60's birthday party next week. (As you all know I don't have anything to wear ...) Going into the dressing room with 3 dresses, I suddenly saw something black and white polkadot in the corner of my eye: a bathing suit with a skirt! For 129 kronor! And a perfect fit! I wish someone would high-five me right now. I love it so much I'm actually considering going to the beach, as soon as the summer heat is back. Or else just wear it in the bath.



Out of the 3 dresses, only one was perfect, but it was so perfect I couldn't be happier. It's the kind of dress that doesn't exactly come to life on a hanger, but it really looks great on. I love the simplicity and sort of everyday cuteness of it, it's certainly a girlie girl dress. Not sure at all about the origin, I would take a wild guess with late 70's, maybe early 80's, mostly based on the stretch waist. It might be homemade, cos it doesn't have any tags, or else they were all cut off. Not that it looks homemade though, the details are really well made.



Like these lovely puffy sleeves, so cute! I have a thing for sewn on ribbons too, it's just an easy way to get some balance into pieces that are a bit too mono coloured. There used to be a black belt to this dress I suppose, but not anymore. I've got a black belt though (a regular belt, not in karate) so that's not really a problem. Come to think of it, it looks a little bit like a American Appalachian folklore dress from the 20's or 30's, or is it just my wild imagination? It's something slightly peasanty about it at least.



And of course I adore the little shiny black flower buttons! In Swedish I would say they are "pricken över i:et", which would translate to "the dot over the i", but I'm sure there's some more appropriate expression that I just can't come to think of right now. With a pricetag of 189 kronor I was in a way better mood coming out of Beyond Retro than coming in. I also got some voluntary assistance from a cute blond shop girl, who just by looking at me and the dresses I was gonna try on, ran off to fetch another cute bathing suit she thought I'd like. And afterwards she asked me how it went, which is service I really like, when it doesn't feel forced, just natural. So I guess this all means I'm not gonna wait another year or two before I go back.

pretty peacock, come fly with me

Going to meet Linda the other day for our little shopping spree downtown, I noticed there's a temporary antiques/curiousities shop open just around the corner from my work. It's usually a small bread shop, on Götgatan by the corner at S:t Paulsgatan, but during July there's no bread being sold. There were some pretty nice things in there, but very few of them had price tags, so I don't really know if it was more like an antique or curiousity shop as far as the prices go. When I picked up this lovely pair of peacocks the guy in the shop told me I could get both for 40 kronor, which seemed like a pretty good deal to me.



I just love them! Think I'll pop into the shop one more time next week during my lunch break, I'm sure I missed something. I did look at a stack of photography magazines from the 50's that were only 10 kronor each, and most of them had really nice covers, but the insides were mainly filled with camera ads, or photo advice, not surprisingly really but not very intriguing either. So they're still there I suppose, if anyone's interested.



Another shopping stop was at Panduro, an arts and crafts and hobby store on Kungsgatan, a place that I love and dread at the same time. Mostly dread cos it's usually pretty busy, but also cos I really have a love/hate relationship to the whole crafts/hobby scene. It doesn't make any sense at all, and I should really just stop, but I don't think I can. I won't try and explain it either, since I don't think I can. That said, I got some kind of cutesey mania this time, and got a lot of mostly pink old fashioned looking stuff that I think I might create something with. We'll see what happens. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow realising I've gone mad. Ribbons 79 kronor, 5 x 2 m.



These little candylike buttons were 29 kronor, and I'll turn them into earrings if I can, or add to brooches together with the ribbons. I think they're really for scrapbooking, something part of the problem I have mentioned above. I really don't understand it at all, but I guess I shouldn't trash it, cos maybe in 20 years time I'll be doing it too. I sure hope not though.



Some more small buttons I'm gonna turn into something, some day.



A set of three tins in a pretty old fashioned candy store design. I know they're almost a bit too cute, but a mania doesn't see those things, it just wants what it wants. 139 kronor it set me back, but I do think they'll make good use in the cupboard for baking stuff and such.



And since I'm a bit manic about jewellery at the moment I did need a proper jewellery box as well, so when I saw this beauty in Chinese butterfly silk at Indiska for 99 kronor I just grabbed it. I'm trying really hard not to buy all the Chinese silk things Indiska is carrying at the moment, like small purses and notebooks, cos I've got sooooooo many purses and notebooks in Chinese silk already. But it's an addiction, it truly is, Chinese silk just shouts to me that I want it! It would be rather rude not to listen, but a way of going around it is not to enter the stores at all, or to wear headphones and listen to loud music. Or who am I kidding?



I saw this little bolero cardigan in powder pink with black stripes a few weeks ago at H&M, but didn't get it then. I did now when I saw it again for 149 kronor, a classic H&M price, and I'm certain it'll come into good use now that the worst summer heat seems to have left us. Which I applaude by the way! It's lovely to be able to wear clothes without feeling you're about to suffocate.



A pair of nice black wedge sandals that I got at Zoom shoes on Hornsgatan for the very reasonable sale price of 250 kronor. They're actually really comfortable, and I'm always a bit surprised cos I'm still new to wearing heels. Wedges are the way to go I guess.

a friendly chinese surprise

Maybe it was me craving more jewellery the other night, maybe it's just cos I've got great friends, but sometimes you do get what you wish for, in the best of ways. Like a surprise beautiful Chinese envelope with custom made jewellery! Joy of joys!



Pretty pretty green gemstones with lovely silver details, I like these so much. I've got a few perfect outfits to match these too, looking forward to that.



And how about these amazing peacocks!? Oh, they are just too lovely! I've always liked peacocks, but it seems it's turned into an obsession lately, which I don't mind at all. There are so many worse obsessions one could have, why worry about getting happy by peacock items?



To match the Chinese envelope was a supercute Chinese ribbon bracelet, such a perfect gift for me! I can't wait to wear all of this. Thank you ever so much dear Linda! I feel perfectly spoilt!



First stop on yesterday's little shopping spree was Mattssons band, a button and ribbon store on Kungsgatan 19 here in Stockholm. It was quite overwhelming, and maybe a bit too hot to be able to make any rational decisions, so for once I actually only bought a very few select pieces. This beautiful rose ribbon was one. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with it, maybe just wear it as a head band, either way I couldn't put it down once I picked it up.



The other things were these completely awesome calligraphy buttons! I have to find a coat or a cardigan that the small ones would fit and lift and transform to something utterly different. For now I'm just gonna look at them as often as I can, and maybe try and figure out a way to make the big one into a brooch, and the small ones into earrings. Surely it can be done, with some patience and the right equipment. And once I've started all my sewing projects, I'm pretty certain I'm going back to Mattssons for some more material.