Sweden Shopping List

I am heading to Sweden today for three weeks and as excited as I am about seeing family and old friends, I also have quite a few things on my shopping list. Hard to visit Sweden and not have a long shopping list, really.

News trouser

First, I plan on finally buying a pair of Hope's News trouser. I have tried them on at Table of Contents and fell in love. But after a quick peruse of Hope's Swedish website, I realized that I could save myself some dough by purchasing in the motherland, and getting the 25% VAT back helps as well.

Hope: pre-Fall

I also saw that Hope has a pair of monk-strap shoes in their pre-fall collection. Hallelujah! Someone has them - no longer do I have to simply covet the vintage pair worn by Clemence Poesy at the Acne show at Paris fashion week. These do require a try-on, also because they are quite masculine and I'm not sure I'm chic enough (not being French and all) to pull off such a manly item without looking silly. We shall see.

And I hope to find Wood Wood's Aino short. Scandinavians don't love shorts (it is quite cold there) but maybe they've made an exception and stock them for the tourists. No one in Portland carries this style and I am not sure which size would work best. I am hoping that the trusty NK (glorious Swedish department store for the uninitiated) has them.

And lastly, I think I need to buy a Fjällräven raincoat. I have the Stutterheim and while I do love it, it is quite heavy and really only necessary on those downpour days. Also my 4-year-old has a Fjällräven raincoat and I find myself coveting her jacket pretty much every time she wears it. So, I'd say it's well time for me to get my own waxed cotton jacket. It is more lightweight and feminine than the Stutterheim and actually comes in women's sizes. Another downside to the Stutterheim is the unisex sizing - the sleeves on mine are incredibly too long and not really hemmable. (Despite all this, I do believe the Stutterheim raincoat is STILL a great coat. Not sure it's worth all that money but it's damn nice. And it supports the local economy of the lovely Borås.)

Hej då, kompisar! Goodbye, friends! see you in July.

Cannes and Carey Mulligan

1 - Dior at the premiere of Gatsby

This year at the Cannes Film Festival almost everybody looked absolutely stunning on the red carpet but none more so than Carey Mulligan.  I recently saw Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of "The Great Gatsby." While I didn't love the film, the imagery was amazing, as was Carey Mulligan's place - as Daisy Buchanan - in the glorious images. And I thought she brought a bit of that same magic and sleekness to her looks at Cannes, and she had quite a few of them with two films to promote. Every outfit was simple and stunning. And her super bleached, yet simple hair made every look. I also really liked how each hairstyle has a strong part, even if her hair is worn up.

 2 - Balenciaga jumpsuit at the photocall for "Gatsby"

3 - Chloe dress at photocall for "Inside Llewyn Davis"

 4 - this Vionnet gown in my opinion is the best

Madewell - the Jessie sandal

On Madewell's facebook today, they had this photo showing a new skirt, but when I looked at it, I was much more interested in the shoes she is wearing! One quick search on Madewell's site and I found the Jessie sandal. They come in black and brown and are only $128.  Sort of a gladiator sandal crossed with a Mary Jane, and a touch of Birkenstock. I love that they can be casual with shorts or jeans or dressed up with a skirt or dress. Also, even better is that they don't have buckles - much, much easier to get on and off, which is kind of an important functional part of any shoe.

No.6 clogs in Red leather

Sort of obsessed with all of the red leather No.6 clogs right now:

T Straps Clogs on wedge in Red leather

Corset Clog on wedge

Open toe Weave with Sling on wedge

Old School Clog on wedge

Crossover Clog on wedge

Ace & Jig: clothes-stalking

Confetti pompom scarf

Just last night I was doing my usual online window-shopping of items that I am currently clothes-stalking. Clothes-stalking is a one of my favorite activities of late. So say I see something on a blog or a store's website or Pinterest and then right away put it on a short mental list, that usually isn't longer than 4 or 5 items, of items that I plan on buying. On average I'd say I end up purchasing around 20% or less of these items. Very often they get bumped off the list by a newer piece I've seen, especially if they fall in the same category - black sandal, striped dress, No.6 clog, etc. Or I just enjoy going back to the same site over and over to see if they still have my size and then very often I become extremely bummed out when my size does in fact sell out. The irony of this of course being that I had every opportunity (10-20 usually) to in fact order it and be the owner of that oh so wonderful wardrobe-completely piece.

Ace & Jig rouge Camden cardi

so after a friend mentioned she'd just ordered the great red check Camden cardi featured in last week's post about the A detacher sandals, I suddenly had Ace & Jig on my radar. I knew of it before but I think the clothes don't necessarily translate so well online and so I kind of brushed over it before. Cotton gauze-y made-in-India fabrics are hard to gauge without seeing them in person.  I have realized though that I wear the cotton pieces in my wardrobe about twice as often as the silk ones. Silk easily stains, must be dry-cleaned and is just in general a pain in the ass when one spends most of their time with the pre-school set, as I do. So with that in mind, enough talk, here are the Ace & Jig items that I am officially stalking as well as some others I like thrown in for good measure:

Confetti button back shirt 

rouge Boardwalk dress

Isle skirt in confetti

Jardin top

Pop rolled tee

Ink Duo racerback

Henley Dunes dress

Confetti jumpall

Ace & Jig is also available at Madewell and Anthropologie.

More Summer Sandals - A Détacher

So adding on to my buckle theme from the other day, I knew there was one other one I was forgetting about. Luckily, I remembered! A Détacher makes some amazing shoes and they are usually a little too complicated on the wearability scale for me but they remind me of old-school (real) Helmut Lang looks from back in the day.  However this season they seem way more wearable. And there is one such sandal with a large buckle on it, reminiscent of a belt buckle a la the whole "buckle trend" i was talking about last week, and it comes in many different amalgamations. My favorite is the highsmith. I like it probably because it's the most simple of all of them but I like how simple it is and how it sort of looks like a belt remade on your foot.

Creatures of Comfort are the only ones carrying the simple black leather t-strap version. Most all other stores only have the simple t-strap in silver, including Mohawk general store whose lookbook pictures I included above. Doesn't the silver look amazing how they styled it?

the Highsmith in black

The Coyne with a suede knot

A little out there but the sandals have a box heel that is so on trend right now (all the Brit girls are wearing it) and I think the knot version, while less wearable for sure, is very sexy. Especially if you wear the higher heel version.

There is another color in the Coyne - the knot version - that is silver with a tan suede knot and doesn't have the white rubber on the bottom (not a fan of that.) It was in the runway show at NYFW and is available here. Okay, stop the bus. THAT one is my favorite. Why more stores don't have that color I have no idea? (Also note the "socks". Sort of a half-tube mesh thing. Una in Portland is carrying them.)

The Coyne in tan/blue

A sportier version - called the Sherman

A high version of the Coyne - called the Hesse. This one is fun.

And last but certainly not least is the crazy platform Geisha version, called the Linn. (buy it here.)

All of them are in the $400 price range, unfortunately for me. No less beautiful though.