Amsterdam Burlesque Awards in November!

And I can finally announce this! I'm so excited and honoured to be performing at the 3rd Amsterdam Burlesque Award this autumn! I had a great time two years ago when we performed there with Thee Dizzy Daisies, and to make things even better I will be to see a few dear friends again! <3 <3 <3
Aaaand I'll be bringing my "Algae" seaweed fandance to a festival abroad for the very first time, planning to pimp up the fans to celebrate! :-)

London Burlesque Festival 2014

So here goes the first one of my belated reviews! It seems that this year I'll end up hitting quite a few international festivals (more on that later), and London was the first one of them! I was extremely excited about it for many reasons, I got to perform on the opening night (!) with an absolutely lovely lineup, got to visit a lot of amazing places and met unbelievable people. On top of that, my better half Lassi was able to join me for this trip, and we got to crash at his cousin Nick's place, which allowed us to stay a bit longer (London is expensive for a showgirl! :-D). 

Thursday was a bit of a chaotic day since it was the day I was performing, but we still managed to visit William Morris' house in the morning, which happened to be just around the corner! And I now have a new favourite mug at home ;-)

I was dead nervous and excited (as usual) when I arrived at the venue, but all the lovely people made me feel at home right away! And I think I can say that I was probably laughing half of the time I was backstage, because besides being able to see some dear old friends again, such as Pepper Potemkin and Mama Ulita, I got to meet a bunch of crazy, loud (and hot!) ladies whom I really hope to see again in the future, I miss you all! <3

Backstage! On the left with Lovely Karleena, and on 
the right with my long-lost southern burlesque sister 
Evita Mansfield <3
pictures by Confetti Eddie

My only regreat about that night was that, because of the way the venue was built, it was impossible for me to see any of the other acts. But hei, I got to hang out with all these lovely half-naked ladies backstage! ;-D

Curtain call picture!

On Friday we had the chance to go visit the centre a bit, and meet a lady I've been looking forward to meeting for ages! As many of you know, I'm a crazy deco/flapper/edwardian lady, and have come to notice that most of the vintage oriented people usually tends to like 1940/50's or newer stuff best. That's why I got superexcited when I got a friend request from a gorgeous german woman with an absolutely (in my honest opinion, of course) exquisite style! So when we found out that we'd be in London at the same time, scheduling a meeting was a must ;-)

Meeting gorgeous Daisy! <3
picture by Nick

In the evening, we headed to the Playboy Club in London, where the Press/Mingle event was to be held. It was fun! We got to again meet a lot of amazing people, and watch the performances of Cherry on Fire, Whisky Falls and Betty D'Light. AND THE PLACE WAS FULL OF PLAYBOY BUNNIES! Need I say more? :-D

above: with my dapper man Lassi
below: with gorgeous co-performers Mama Ulita and Laura
Desiree
pictures by Joanna Kor

On Saturday we decided to check some markets, and our friend Ray, who is a gentleman and lives in London, offered to show us around. We visited the Portobello Market (where I found a couple of gorgeous 1920/30's fashion prints that currently hang on my walls), had lunch at a pub with amazing antique decoration, and then headed to the centre to meet up with Aurora Galore. For those of you who might not know her yet, let me tell you that this lady totally blew my mind since the first time I saw her, and is a rare example or originality and daring. She took us to watch Polly Rae's burlesque show at the Hippodrome, which I totally recommend if you're ever in London on a Wednesday or a Saturday. 

a street photographer in Portobello wanted a picture 
of us! :-D

Sunday was our last day in London, and what a day it was! We met our friend Ray again, who took us for lunch to one of the most mindblowing restaurants I've ever been to! Brasserie Zedel is located just around the corner from Picadilly, and is the kind of place you would probably miss if someone wouldn't take you there. From the outside it just looks like a regular cafeteria, but when you go downstairs you are introduced to an insane art deco extravaganza, recently renovated but preserving the look of the original one from the 1930's! And if that weren't enough, they serve pretty delicious food at very affordable prices. 

Brasserie Zedel, picture on the left by Ray, and the 
other two found in google images (ooops!)

After lunch we headed towards Soho for a walk, some icecream, and the Twisted Cabaret show of the London Burlesque Festival. Upon entering we bumped onto Kati and Markku Saari, who are two dear Finnish friends. They had come, just as we had, to cheer up for our Sir Willy Waterlily, who opened up the show and charmed the audience as he always does <3

With Markku and Lassi! 
picture by Kati

Looking forward to visiting you again in the future London, this time was too short! :-)

New visit cards!

I just got my new visit cards today! The design is still the same since I really like it, but you can now find the address to my website on the back. And they came right on time for the crazy "minitour" in May: London Burlesque Festival on the 15.5, the Sinsational Spring Awakening on the 24.5 and the Boylesque Festival Vienna on the 28.5! <3

Cards designed by Lassi Patokorpi
Absynth fairy picture by Jirina Alanko

Vapriikki Vintage finds: day 2

Second day at Vapriikki Vintage! Unfortunately enough (or fortunately enough for my wallet) I didn't have much time to look around the vintage market this day. Both Fintage's fashion show and the Helsinki Traditional Jazz Dance group's performance and lesson were happening on this day, which meant I spent part of the morning rehearsing and doing both my and Malin Grahn's hair and makeup, and part of the afternoon getting ready for the fashion show. Nevertheless, I did find a couple of gorgeous pieces of textile by Tampella!

above: damask weaving
bellow: Tampella damask tablecloth
pictures from www.tampere.fi

Oy Tampella Ab was a factory that made of Tampere one of the most important industrial cities in Finland, and operated from 1856 until 1991. Although it produced a huge amount of different products (mostly industrial machinery), I'm going to write a bit about one of their most famous textiles: the damask. 

The damask is a textile of a single colour, with reversible patterns that are created by weaving threads in different directions. 

Tampella started to produce damask textiles in the 1890 decade, and designers created the different models, which were tipycally produced during a few decades. Famous designers such as Siri Brunou, Louis Sparre and Aili Rancken created some of these pieces. 

my gorgeous finds! <3

The first piece I spotted on the first day already, but since I didn't have cash with me in that moment the lovely seller said she would keep it for me. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, how could I not! It was designed in the year 1907 and the motif is indeed as jugend and arts & crafts as it gets! This piece was meant as a guest towel, and the gorgeous jugend motif covers both ends. I actually even noticed, while googling for this article, that a piece just like this one is actually kept in the Tampere Museum :-)

designer: Aili Rancken
model: Fantasia
number: 253
produced: 1907-1974

The second piece cought my eye on Sunday morning when I went to pay for and pick up the previous piece, partly due to its gorgeous shade of blue. This also makes me think that this tablecloth was probably produced in the 1950 decade, since until then white damasks were the most common, but the motif started to be produced already in the year 1930 and its peacocks are a clear reminiscent of the edwardian orientalism. 

model: Riikinkukko (peacock)
number: 633
produced: 1930-1953?

Vapriikki Vintage 2014 approaching!

So to keep a little bit of balance, today's post will be about my third great passion: vintage. I'm in love with vintage for many reasons, which can probably be explained more in depth at some future post, but basically let's just say things were made BETTER in the past. Better quality materials were used, people really put some thought into the actual design of the pieces, and things were made to last.

Whereas there are nice things to be found about all decades, I'm specially crazy about the 1910's, 1920's and 1930's, and the reason is probably that those are the periods in which Art Noveau and Art Deco reached their heights aesthetically, at least in my humble opinion. It's indeed difficult to explain what it is about those two that is so appealing to the eye, but they just have that special something that I love :-)

That's is why I'm looking forward to this year's Vapriikki Vintage happening even more than usual! Every year has a theme, and this year's is Art Noveau and Jugend. This event is a delight for any vintage lover! It's organized by Fintage and the Vapriikki museum in Tampere, and takes place in the museum itself. The event is full of fun things to do, which can be enjoyed for the price of the regular ticket to the museum (entrace to the vintage market is free). The program includes, among others, the studio of the super talented photographers Atelieri O. Haapala, guided visits to sections of the museum, lectures, workshops, dance, music, and a vintage clothing fashion show (where you'll be able to find yours trully showing two of her favourite vintage pieces, but more on that later!). If this made you even a little bit curious, go ahead and have a look at the program! You can find it both at Fintage's website and the event's facebook page.