Friday 4 June 2010

when winter, come summer, with dresses


When I left Stockholm in March it looked like this. I know this looks like the countryside, but it's not really, it's a 20 minute walk away from where one of my brothers live. Fittingly enough it's called Winter's Bay (Vinterviken), and even though I do think it's kinda pretty looking in winter too (especially in pictures when you don't have to feel the cold) I much prefer Winter's Bay in summer. I'll show you why in another post, I just need to get there first, camera in hand.



This kind of ice actually kills people. But I'm told all the snow has melted a long time ago, and no death threats are luring from above at the time being. The only thing I'm a bit worried about is coming too late to see and smell the blossoming Bird Cherry (hägg), which is possibly one of the most intoxicating scents you can imagine. I love it. I also love the lilacs (syren) and honeysuckle (kaprifol), but they should still be in bloom this time of the year.



Come to think of it, there's a lot of Swedish nature I love very much, and am intensely looking forward to get back to, especially since I wasn't there last summer. As much as I also love Durban's almost all-year-round summer, it's still something special about the smells and colours of your childhood's summers. I can still feel the pain of falling from my bike, with bare feet and knees, ouch! And yet it was so lovely biking around everywhere, picking from lots of different lakes or the sea to go swimming. That was pretty much the countryside, where I grew up, but even in the middle of Stockholm you can take a swim in lots of pretty places. That's one thing Stockholm and Durban share.



Came to think about these two pretty and quite similar dresses I've got. This white one with little red flowers is from Stadsmissionen by Nytorget in Stockholm, I think I paid 120 kronor for it 4-5 years ago. I haven't worn it that much, even though I like it a lot, but it's quite see through, and polyester, which means I need to wear something underneath, which means it gets quite warm. Don't know which era this is, maybe 70's? The collar looks a bit Victorian though, don't you think? Except they probably didn't have that many polyester dresses back in the days.



I really like the details on the front, and the sleeves are just perfect. I must definitely wear this more often, it shouldn't waste away in my closet. It would actually be pretty perfect for that cake party I'm planning, with a little red apron and some roses in my hair. Hmmm, it seems I'm getting more romantic with each post here, what's going on?! I better return to my goth roots in the next update ... Although if I just dyed this dress black, it would be a perfect goth dress.



This cute creation was one of the five finds in the basement vintage store run by the french guy on Götgatan in Stockholm, and as the rest of them cost only 150 kronor. It fits me perfectly, and actually comes with a lining, so no need to worry about it being see through (I think). Didn't have a chance to wear it before I left for Durban, and thought it would be a little too warm for this climate, so one slightly chilly Swedish summer night, I'll premiere it for sure.



As you can see it's got a similar collar and sleeve as the other dress, and combines my favorite turquoise with my favorite red in a bit of an unusual flower pattern. Indeed this might become a summer favorite, depending on whether we get a typical unpredictical Swedish summer with chilly and rainy days, as well as nice warm ones, or we get the heatwaves. After this unusually hard winter we suffered, I do think we deserve quite a lot of warmth. Even though I cheated by leaving for sunny South Africa towards the end of it ... Oh, well. Come summer, whatever weather, I've got a dress for anything.

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