Valentine's

Happy belated Valentine's Day! 

I spent the Valentine's evening travelling to watch my dear friend and other dazzling ladies perform on burlesque stage. Drinks, glitter clouds and a freezing night walk in fishnet stockings, the usual pattern. Melting at my brother's place, watching movies while waiting for the Sunday bus home.

dress / DAY Birger Et Mikkelsen (second hand) shoes / Minna Parikka (from a friend)  

ring / Blood Milk  heart pendant / Moon Raven Designs

This outfit is from Friday, when we celebrated Valentine's at home. I went over the top romantigoth with black lace, heart pumps and pink hued eyeshadows, the occasion must have made me soft as pink is usually something that triggers my gag reflex. Dressing up to a theme is always fun, but I still felt slightly alienated in this look, as I nowadays tend to incline more and more to minimalistic forms.

The vintage sofa is all but minimalistic though, and I love it! It's one of the best second hand finds in ages, I can't even recall how long I've wanted a couch like this to modify as I please! I plan to rip it open at some point, repair the springs, change the fabric and paint the woodwork, but only after I've finished some more pressing projects.

Jackie's Strength

A slightly worried friend asked me if I'm still in the books of the living, not having updated my blog in weeks. I had no idea it's been so long! Summer has got its warm fingers clutched on my throat, travelling also mixes up my perception of the flow of time. I just spent over a month living from my suitcase, moving from unfamiliar places to familiar sofas and back home again, experiencing thrilling moments and hectic days.

Life starts to remind a surrealist dream when there's no rhythm nor obligation to hold on to, scary and beautiful at the same time. Do you ever get that feeling? Looking back, all those memories might as well happened in a distant dream, or to someone else. I'm glad I've got folders filled with photos to relive what happened, and share some of that with you later.

But here I am, packing my suitcase again, filling it with hopes and travel gear. I hope you've all been well for the past month! 

(This outfit reminded me of Jackie Kennedy and I've been listening to beloved Tori Amos a lot, hence the title. The dress and hat are vintage from the 60's, the shoes are thrifted Minna Parikka and eyeglasses are my friend's. Loving vintage looks and 60's vibe right now!)

A few April pieces

April flew by with minimal blogging, so I thought I'd share a couple of joys from the past month. I had the best of luck with flea markets in April! You know the feeling when you go second hand hunting with a specific thing in mind, and you find just that? That happened so many times I can't believe it. Here's a pick on some goodies that I found only last week, including a vintage lace collar that camouflages me with innocence, two books that I've been meaning to read, frames for my wall projects, another bell jar and a nice stack of other treasures. I wonder what May will bring my way!

I spent countless hours in the woods in April, remembered how lost I feel when nature is not constantly near. I only wish I could live in the middle of a city and the woods at the same time.

Hanged out with Nana, a darling black whippet. (She reminded me so much of Nipsu, the Moomin character as all Finns may know!) 

The big thing about this encounter is that I wasn't allergic at all to her, no matter how much I rubbed my face against her silky black fur. This gives some light hope of having a dog at some point in my life! I'm seriously having the worst case of dog fever, must be driving everyone around me nuts with my daydreaming after huskies and other precious canines. I could die from joy each time I get to pet and hug puppies on my walks.

Had many date nights with the dear one, this one was Cthulhu Mythos themed. Vegan Elder Sign cupcakes, cold brews, 20's jazz and horror soundscapes on the background and the only board game that I can actually enjoy and focus on; Arkham Horror. Nothing says romance like fighting against the elder gods and cultists while desperately trying to prevent the apocalypse, right? The great thing about the game is team work, you don't fight against other players and if you try to go solo you will likely just lose your mind or trigger the end of the world. A true treat for any Lovecraft lover!

And best of all, I FINALLY earned myself a new laptop. This is a huge thing for me and very good news for the blog too! Working on a deeply broken down machine was simply too tiring, so most days I never even opened the wreck. But this beauty works like a charm (plus the red glow is wonderfully diabolical). It's been years since I've had a new computer so I'm ridiculously happy about this! I couldn't even remember how it felt to be able to access files quickly and edit photos without your Photoshop crashing every 30 seconds.

The only flaw is that the HD screen makes all photos look like crap and I can't fix that, haha. All my photos are in a fixed size so they should appear normally here, but Blogger expands and chops them oddly. At least on my screen, I hope you're not seeing what I'm seeing!

Salvio Hexia

An outfit from the other day, before travelling to my family home for the resurrection holidays. 

Here my days have been filled mostly with woodland walks, lazying around, absorbing the scent of freshly cut flowers and watching Potter films with the ladies of my family. A hint of spring perfection in an eggshell.

These pointy boots are one of the best thrifting finds of late, scored them for just a couple of coins and have worn them ever since! Most of the outfit is fished from different second hand ponds as well, the only kind of fishing I could ever do. I thought the outfit had a little witchy school mistress vibe going on, but nothing wrong with that. Most of my outifts do.

This photo is the essence of how I feel now with my life, aimless weird floating and enjoying it! Thehee.

Hollow Upon Hollow

I was travelling again over the weekend, can't seem to be able to stay out of Helsinki for very long. After seeing some live music, friends and family I came back  in the hours of the night, and found a package of pages waiting for me. Some books and comics, the usual vice. My mind said a resounding "NO" for the order as it saw the stacks of books piling next to the bookshelf, but curiosity didn't listen to any rational thoughts. And so the pile grew.

I started with Hollow City this morning, the sequel for Peculiar Children. (Thank you Marie S for the hint, I may not have noticed the publication without you!) Peculiar Children was a treat to read, so we'll see if this book can hold the candle to its predecessor. This book also has those wonderful, bizarre vintage photos inside, carrying the plot forward and tickling the mind.

blouse & deer brooch vintage /  skirt , belt & pumps second hand 

I mashed today's outfit here as well, as it was slightly inspired by the feeling of the story. I can sense a mild granny mode kicking in again, recently I've been wearing my vintage blouses and curls and drinking tea a little more than usual. The velvet pumps are a recent gift from a friend. I only wish I could use them outside or on some festive occasion already! That, and being able to levitate. 

What kind of peculiar skill would you pick, if you could? I'm curious! I think I'd go with telekinesis.

9: Travel treasures

Shopping often feels too tedious and time-devouring when the adventure mode kicks in, but second hand treasure hunting is an adventure in itself. So, although I don't usually feverishly circle around stores while travelling, something always seems to make its way into my hand luggage. 

On my November journeys I tried to find some vintage dress treasures but didn't manage to find anything I really liked. Those garments are such things that come to you by luck, and this time luck eluded me. But I stumbled on these lovelies instead, most of them are from Budapest's antique market (like the things in the first photo) and Berlin's Mauerpark. 

Old bones, the prettiest hand-cut medical bottle, used Der Kleine Vampir books to improve my fading German skills, anatomical tote bag, and a bracelet that screams Finnish folklore and druidic rituals. Imagine my surprise when the security check didn't stop me at the Budapest airport, after all I had black lips, a Baphomet shirt and animal bones in my bag.

The Man With the X-Ray Eyes

The best month of the year has finally arrived! 

*throwing imaginary confetti in the air*

October, October, even the word echoes so nicely in the vocal cords! 

The highway to All Hallows Eve, filled with fog and edged with grinning pumpkins.

 As Halloween is drawing closer I might be sharing more spooky things here than usual. ;) 

Garments of today include: a thrifted dress from the 40's (one of the best second hand finds in quite some time I must say! Flea markets never seize to amaze me), also a thrifted veil hat from the 40's (paid a total 0,50€ for it, mwahah), a rib cage bag from ReStyle and Minna Parikka heels. The cold winds are blowing from Siberia and so a jacket and extra stockings are essential additions while going out. 

(I love the details in this dress!)

Today's inspiration was snapped from the local hospital. I paid a visit there a little while ago (nothing too serious) and just had to draw my phone out of the bag and take a few souvenir pics from their cabinets of medical history. Taking phone pics in public always makes me feel like such a hipster, but who cares really! A box filled with vintage glass eyes, x-ray photo from the 30's, medical bottles, x-ray manuals.. I don't know how anyone could resist this stuff. ♥

HBF cabinet portraits

Oh-la-la! Here's our cabinet portraits by Atelieri O.Haapala from this year's Helsinki Burlesque Festival. The theme was Burlescopolis, for me that drew instant feeling of 20's glamour, biomechanics, Metropolis and Blade Runner (add lots of hearts in all those key words). The festival is a true treat for both eyes and soul, so many dazzling performances and outfits to be seen.

In the first portrait we're in our work uniforms, in the latter in our more casual evening gowns. I also have other photos from the evening still waiting in the depths of files but I'm not sure if it's too late to post them, after all it's been over a month already.. time flies at the speed of light. I enjoyed the whole festival immensely again, can't wait for next year's festivities! ♥ 

And here's one from last year, featuring me and a tad creepy Mr.Moon. I guess that slightly suspicious grin is the reason why I didn't dare to sit on his lap..

You can check out Atelieri's absolutely wonderful work on their page: *click!*

Secretary dress + Miss Windy Shop giveaway!

*sponsored post*

I received a mysterious pink package in the colour of sweet cotton candy, but the contents of the wrappings were even sweeter. This stunning Secretary dress by Bettie Page Clothing was a gift from Miss Windy Shop, thank you so much! ♥  I find the dress quite dreamy, it hugs the figure and emphasizes the waist just the way I like it. I've been looking for a new black dress, simple but with a certain twist, to match everyday challenges and my style, and this one filled the gap wonderfully. The dress lies more in the vintage realm but it's easy to goth it up, depending on the way I choose to accessorize it. 

The dress makes me want to click away on an old typing machine, paint my nails in slow motion and wear cat eye spectacles just for the fun of it. Too bad I don't have those!

And here's a little treat for you lovelies! Miss Windy Shop is a fairly new Finnish web shop that specializes on feminine pin-up gear for all shapes and sizes, and Miss Windy wished to arrange a giveaway for my readers. So here's how it goes!:

♥. The giveaway is open for all my readers, also international ones! You don't necessarily need to be my follower through Blogger to participate, although I'd appreciate that since you're obviously reading this. ;)
♥. You can enter the giveaway by leaving me a comment in this post. Simple as that! Just remember to add your email address so that I can get in touch with you!
♥. Last time I held a giveaway I asked for your favourite quotations, but now I'd love to hear what's your favourite love song, if you have one. This part isn't mandatory, I'm just being curious.
♥. You've got exactly one week to participate before Lady Luck draws the winner. The giveaway ends on 29.1.2013, be sure to participate before that!

And you all must be wondering what the shining prize is? 

A gift card to the shop, value of 60€! There's also some discounts going on in the shop, only today.