CULTURE CAPITAL.

faux fur coat GinaTricot | chain ring GinaTricot | grey scarf Topshop | paste iced half gloves Anttila | xmas red nail polish MaxFactor

I was lucky to have one extra day off and visit my old home town Turku in southwestern Finland, it takes 2 hours to travel from Helsinki to Turku. Enjoyed my morning coffee on a train with a pile of December issues of fash mags that had somehow accumulated on the kitchen counter.... Anyhow, Turku is the 2011 European Capital Of Culture and so a fresh example of the richness of culture traditions in this town is the annual Taina Kovalainen dance studio's Christmas Special @ Sigy's Hall. So I went to see it with my sisters.

Amazing show, Taina and her students nailed it, like always - choreographies were intence from jazz to hip hop, and on top of that the costumes varied from white boyfriend shirts buttoned up and tied, to pussycatdoll-like corsets and chicago sequin dresses. The next day met up with some friends and couldn't resist buying some extra christmas presents and a couple of pairs of new leggings from pre-christmas discount sales before taking a train back home.... 

CANON EOS 40D = LOVE.

shiny black, high-collar winter coat Shannon Collection |  latex leggings GinaTricot | dark grey legwarmers Topshop | white snow boots SpiritStore | white cambon bag Chanel

Christmas is just around the corner my little fashion monsters! Have you bought all the christmas gifts yet or do you always leave the holiday hustle to the very last day? This year I made an exception and did the opposite, I've bought every single present in time and with some serious thought too. There are so many people I want to thank and surprise this year, it's not even funny :D

Spent a refreshing weekend with some friends at Tahko (one of Finland's many skiing centers). After that it has snowed so much  in Helsinki too tho that you seriously could ski to work here. The city has started the ❝Operation Snow War❞ to clean up the streets from the snow, but at least for now it just keeps snowing more and more, icing the whole city with a thick, shimmery snow blanket.   

And now let's get to the chase - Christmas came early this year for me! Got a Canon EOS 40D and seriously this is the best christmas present a fashion blogger could dream of, right? ❤ My sweetheart really knows how to put a smile on my face - and not just a smile, but some ❝slightly❞ enthusiastic screams and a few jumps up and down! :D So from now on I'll be posting even more often since I now have the 40D at home (and everywhere I go)!

• 10.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
• 6.5 fps continuous shooting, max. burst 75 JPEGs
• New AF system with 9 cross-type sensors
• DIGIC III processor
• 3.0” LCD with Live View mode
• EOS Integrated Cleaning System
• Clear and bright viewfinder
• Customisable Picture Style processing parameters

INDEPENDENCE DAY.

Us Finns celebrate our independence day on 6th of Dec. It's a day off for everyone here - well, almost. I've spent my whole day at work and afterwards will head to Turku to visit my parents and litte sis. So what's our independence day have to do with fashion then? Well, a lot. In Finland every 6th of Dec our president invites the most successful people of the year to her (yes that's correct, we have a female president) Presidential Castle and holds a reception that includes performers, champagne and plenty of especially created dishes for this event. And here's the catch - the thing that really gets public's attention every single year are the gowns worn there. Here are just some of my fave dresses of the past years....

ROBOT LEGO.

This new Balenciaga shoe just amazed me with it's design. Atho the heel is high, there are several airbags supporting the feet.on the way. Crunchy and edgy spice to a evening party season cocktail outfityyy.... WHAT GORGEOUS VARIETY OF DETAILS & PRACTICAL DESIGN!

HELSINKI10.

 

Stopped by after work to my favorite store everrrr Helsinki10. They sell adorable finnish design products there next to finest gorgeous designer shoes and clothes. Everytime I walk into that store I'm just so overwhelmed by their beautiful scandinavian interior decor, carefully chosen collections and the fact that I could buy any piece in that store, let me tell you dear readers! It's definitely a place worth for a visit if there is a side of you that desires unique, scandinavian and beautiful things. Found several pieces (heels, bags, jewellery, maxi dresses etc.) for spring that'll be useful and definitely hanging in my closet sometime soon....

ON THE ROCKS.

knit scarf Zara | knit Lindex | faux fur coat GinaTricot | leggings GinaTricot | white faux fur gloves Lindex | white knitted beanie Seppälä

This gorgeous sunny winter afternoon I spent with my darlings. We walked around and found an interesting old meets new combination of beautiful old wood buildings and fresh graffiti. It's -20°C degrees, so that'd be about -4 Fahrenheits to those of you who just got to celebrate thanksgiving. Snow scrunching under our feet we climbed on top of the crag to get a view of the frost topped neighbourhood. It was worth it.

I've got an email yesterday from one finnish designer that I simply adore and she'd like to meet up with me and also invited to visit her showroom. So getting back to that soon sweeties....

ICICLES.

knit thigh-high legwarmers Topshop | studded heels from Italy | leggings GinaTricot | white knit H&M | faux fur coat GinaTricot | cap Lindex | chain ring GinaTricot

  

A fur coat has always been one of Vogue fashion icon Anna Wintour's label marks along with never out-growing perfect bob hair cut and designer shades. I'd recommend her this year turn to Karl at Chanel on this - they've made their point clear by choosing not to use any real fur in their show and by doing so won the hearts of the public.... I'm sorry if you dear readers are getting an overdose of my new coat but can you blaim me tho? Is there snow where you live yet?

Inspiration to my thigh-high look came but from the catwalks more of the dance halls, since this has always been the way to wear leg warmers during dance classes. Dance is influencing us now in such a huge way, since Finland's first seasons So You Think You Can Dance -winner was selected just a couple of weeks ago and Dancing With The Stars still continues for a couple of more episodes. Old school dance class fashion is making it's way to the fashion world bringing creative practical alternatives to warm up our wardrope against the icy winds - also giving some overtime to wear leggings that'd otherwise be too thin to wear on a freezy season like this. And believe me when I say that altho it was a beautiful sunny aftenoon, 6 inch heels were far from practical on a snowy day like this - gotta buy a pair of fur boots too obviously. Somebody who understands Russian language please tell me where to get fur boots kinda like below

 

 ICON HERSELF:

AFTER THE BLIZZARDS.

Using different textures of black is something that can never go wrong - on my opion as long as the look doesn't go too goth it's a combination made in heaven.... White or bright colored accessories or even blond hair light up the look just enough.  

LOVIN' THE NEW ICE AGE.

grey knit H&M | black faux fur coat GinaTricot | grey knitted scarf | white knitted leg warmers Lindex | black UGG boots with satin laces

Honestly I've never seen this much snow in Finland in November, it has snowed a lot causing traffic accidents and many problems in public transportation. Through-out the history it has snowed a lot here in Finland, but past 10 years the winters have been pretty mild - last years and the one ahead are noticebly colder. But I'm glad it snows, cause when it snows, it lights up the whole city in a way when the ground is all white and shimmery. Usually so shy and silent finns become much friendlier and open-minded when our cars get stuck in the huge piles of snow and we need the random strangers from the street to help us just to go to work... Seems like we're definitely gonna get a white Christmas this year! It's only a month away darlings. I've already frosted our home with Christmas decorations in the shades of red, soft gold and white. After all I'm grateful that we get to enjoy our four seasons full out again....!