A room of my own

So I've finally moved, and for the first time in two years I've got all of my stuff in one place! It feels kinda great; I must confess I'm a bit of a neat nerd. I'm back in my old childhood room, a place where I always feel comfortable and inspired really. Growing up, I always longed for a minimalistic, clean room where everything matched and I only had cool art posters and prints on the walls. But over the years I've come to appreciate my personal, mismatched, "incorrect" room. There's always gonna be mess in there that I don't really want, but that I feel I have to hang on to; old photos, children's books and birthday gifts...but it doesn't matter if my room isn't perfect - that's what makes it personal. My room express my personality and tells a lot about me. My CD collection, books, magazine, posters and old necklaces are all connected to my personal style and recently I've just loved surrounding myself with these familiar things....

Now, what does your room look like?

Kate Moss and Kurt Weill

My lack of posts is due to my venture back to Manchester this week. I've been here since Tuesday, packing up my stuff, eating well and hanging out. Not much shopping really, but I did find a smashing pink 2ndhand blazer today which is very 80's. Also bought a navy skirt with pockets at American Apparel in L'pool yesterday. The floral crazyness in the shops doesn't really excite me that much... I always look forward to wearing summer clothes, but feel I'm less creative this time of year. It's so nice and easy just to put on a pair of shorts, sandals and a simple top! Read in Grazia today that the fringe is out, and something called "frown" is in (sort of a longer fringe which bends to one side..) Why? KATE MOSS.

Over to something completely different: I went to the Royal Northern College of Music Big Band & Colin Towns concert Wednesday night and it was fantastic! Colin Towns' reworkings of Kurt Weill's music was different, interesting and extremely impressive, and the RNCM big band didn't disappoint. Will order one of his CD's first thing when I get home! Check out his music here: www.colintowns.com

Score!

After being moody for days because I didn't buy tickets for Neil Young, I finally got some good news... A festival called Melt will be taking place in Berlin when I'm there, with a pretty amazing line-up: Bjørk, Hercules and Love Affair, Robyn, Hot Chip, Kissy Sell Out, Roisin Murphy, Friendly Fires and The Teenagers, among others! I'm also excited to see Erlend Øye & co. in Whitest boy alive again. A three-day pass is cheap compared to Norwegian prices; 85 EURO's (680 NOK) and the festival will be taking place from the 18th to the 20th of July. Check out the rest of the programme here: http://www.meltfestival.de/
Exciting stuff!

A fashion moment: France summer '04

Ok, so here's my first contribution to a column I've decided to call "A fashion moment":

This "moment" was in the summer of 2004, in Normandie in France on a family holiday. Looking back at it, me and my sister are quite surpised at how nice our style was. I mean, looking back at old photos can be a nightmare....it ususally is! Anyway, it seems we packed a perfect amount of clothes for this holiday and dressed casually cool - maybe not the french way, but pretty good!

Seattle surprise: Fleet foxes

I was watching a documentary on Norwegian television the other day about the new wave of music in Seattle. It's nothing like grunge, except in the name: Grange (?) I fell in love with the music of Fleet Foxes (www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes), who are now out with their debut album and currently touring the UK. Like their fellow Seattle inhabitants Band of Horses, they posess an incredible skill of mixing whatever they have in their record collection with their parents' old records and coming up with a sound of their own. The rural landscape of Seattle is apparent in their music, as is their love for CSNY, folk music and Fleetwood Mac. I've only heard a few songs so far; beautiful vocal harmonies, gentle guitars and fairytale lyrics show a band on the way to much bigger cities than Seattle (gigs in LND and NY are already sold out!) So I suggest you order their album right now (also out on vinyl) and book a ticket to one of their shows before they sell out quicker than you can say "Arcade fire."

They're playing the UK 'til the 18th of June (Roadhouse in Manchester on the 17th), then touring America before it's back to Europe to play festivals. I'll see them the 8th of August when they play Øyafestivalen!

Resort wear

The new resort collections have started popping up at style.com. These collections tend to bore me, seeing as they consist of "easy to wear" items. There's nothing wrong with simple, uncomplicated clothes that are comfortable and easy to pack, as resort items should be. But, in my opinion, these clothes don't represent the current trends, time and climate in the same sense that RTW and Haute cutoure do. There's no statements. No showpieces. They're sort of the designer's vision paired down to practical outfits. I guess this fits with Wikipedia's definition:

"Resort wear is a specialized clothing style, as well as a year-round fashion "season". Sometimes known as "cruise wear", it was not long ago resort collections were worn only by "jet set" celebrities who would purchase such garments while on vacation in warm-weather climates. Today, these garments are a growing part of many wardrobes. (...) From walking shorts, caftans and sandals, to full-length evening dresses for women and light dinner jackets for men, resort wear is unique in its design and function. It is generally made from cotton, silk, denim, microfiber, straw and poplin that are easy to pack, lightweight and breathable. They are easy to clean and look great without ironing or fuss."

However, even though resort focuses on functionality and comfort more than fashion, you can still spot current trends in the collections, but a bit paired down (as I mentioned). My favourites so far are Phi and Jonathan Saunders, because they do just that. Phi, designed by Andreas Melbostad, have gone for the "peekabo" trend, by mixing sheer fabrics and lace, as seen in Marc Jacobs spring collection. Melbostad's also designed a dress that looks a bit like the Acne skirt Susie Bubble was raving about. So this is quite an edgy and strong collection on the resort scale!



Jonathan Saunders have made his prints a bit easier to wear, and mixed in some office wear in his collection as well. You can easily see the links to his ready-to-wear collection.



(Pics off style.com)

Too bad I live in Norway, where resort clothes couldn't get you from your house to the shop. It's too frigging cold!

Made in Norway

Today I went to the small town Stryn, a couple of hours drive from where I live in Norway. I was walking around, looking in various shops, not expecting to find anything cool. But as it turns out, Stryn is something of a textile innovator! The town, with its 5750 inhabitants, is the home of three distinctive and well-renowned textile brands (at least in Norway); Aloha Hemp, Ricco Vero and Moods of Norway. Aloha Hemp and Moods' clothes are produced outside of Norway, but Ricco Vero's clothes are actually sewed in Olden, an even smaller town outside of Stryn. This is something I find very charming and unusual in these days when most textile products are made in China and India. It's very rare that you as a fashion consumer find a product that says "Made in Norway".

Moods of Norway's clothes are made in Turkey, but the brand's still got a unique Norwegian identity to it. According to their website, the brand started "in Honolulu, Hawaii as an after party idea between the two designers Simen Staalnacke and Peder Børresen. After finishing their studies in Australia and Hawaii, a night of sizzling cocktails resulted in the concept. When returning to the country known for polar bears and expensive gasoline, the duo drew their lines for the coming collections." Their headquarter and showroom is in Stryn, but they've recently opened their first flagship store in Oslo (right next to Louis Vuitton, no less) and plan on opening another one in Reykjavik, Iceland now in June. The brand is also sold in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Jamaica, Japan, China and USA. When looking through their collection "Cocktail hunting" today, it's clear that these designers have captured the Norwegian identity and made it fashionable in a way no one has done before them. By naming all their products after locals, using pics of their grandma in their adverts, decorating their shops with typical Scandinavian items and putting recipes and funny facts on their clothes, I think they've achieved something truly unique. Not only is it a smart way of marketing themselves; the clothes look and feel good as well. The designers work towards the goal of " making our grandma happy, and make happy clothes for happy people around the world", and prove that fashion doesn't have to be all that serious. I dig!