Vapriikki Vintage finds: day 1

First day at my favourite winter vintage event! And as always, plenty of things to drool at :-)

I'm trying to be a good girl this year and not buy too much, but I found some things that have been on my "wishlist" for a while now, so those were a must! Plus we are usually also taking care of Fintage's table at the vintage market during the event, and on Sunday organizing a fashion show with Fintage's members and vintage clothes, so luckily I didn't get to spend too much time shopping. 

One of the things I'm going nutts about lately is vintage men's clothing! I think it looks extremely elegant and sharp, but finding a good fit for someone as tall and curvy as me is really difficult! I did find a bunch of small items though: a 1910's white tie (which I had been missing for for my "The Chap" burlesque act, thank you Lassi for finding it!), a detachable front and absolutely GORGEOUS detachable collar (both around 1930's) and a couple of ties (probably late 1920's).

soooo in love with the collar! <3

The next thing I bought had been in my "wishlist" forever! I present you my "new" edwardian granny boots, black with the upper part in black suede! I have actually had a bit of an uncommon luck with these kind of boots, since the ones I've been finding so far have been white and brown, which are usually much harder to find. The black ones have thus been missing from my collection, but not anymore!

absolutely gorgeous label in the inside,
made in Rauma (Finland)!

And when I thought that I was already done for the day, I still got a couple of nice items! The tap pants (1920's underwear) I got from another member of Fintage and happened to be a perfect fit! And the cotton stocking from Atlas were something I've been needing for a while, and will be wearing for today's fashion show with my edwardian outfit. These socks have been produced in the same way since the 1930's, but the model actually works pretty nicely as edwardian underwear as well. 

tap pants and atlas stockings (with matching
thread for fixing included)

I did have a couple of nice outfits this day, but the always amazing Atelieri O. Haapala from Helsinki were taking cabinet pictures in Vapriikki this day, so I'll wait to show you until I get the nicer pictures!

Day 2 next...

Jazz History Through Times & hairstyling

Today and tomorrow in Kulttuurikeskus in Espoo! This is a very special event organized by Clyde Wilder (New York, USA), Malin Grahn and the Helsinki Traditional Jazz Dance Company, that presents the story of the slaves of West Africa in their journey to the States and the dances that developed influenced by the culture they brought with them. You will be treated to a wide collection of different dances and styles, including African mask dances, charleston, lindy hop and blues. Check the facebook event page for more info!

Both Clyde and Malin have plenty of years of experience in the field, having studied in the States from the very sources, and having also researched these dances and the culture related to them in depth. Malin teaches in a few places in Helsinki, and they will both be performing together with Malin's students. 

left: the girls at the HBF13, picture by Atelieri O. Haapala
costuming by Anni Laanti and Fiona Timantti
right: Malin Grahn and Clyde Wilder, picture by Nuppu Linnavuori,
dress by Anni Laanti

I first met Malin about a year ago at the Vapriikki Vintage event in Tampere (which is happening this weekend!), when I styled her hair and that of three of her students that were teaching and performing charleston in that event. Since then I have had the pleasure of helping her with hairstyling a few times, and I will be doing so again today and tomorrow, together with my dear friend the modist and stylist Fiona Timantti (who is also one of the dancers). 

left: 1920's style hair at Vapriikki Vintage 2013
right: 1930's style hair for Malin, dress by Anni
Laanti and makeup by Miia Magia

London Burlesque Festival lineups announced!

I can now announce that I'll have the honour of performing at the Red Carpet Rollout showcase within the London Burlesque Festival, which happens to be the opening gala! I must say it's as exciting as scary, but luckily I'll be sharing the stage with my dear Natsumi Scarlet and Pepper Potemkin and many other amazing performers <3

The festival is indeed over a week long and unluckily enough I won't be able to stay in London for the whole of it, but I'm ecstatic about being able to attend the Twisted Cabaret showcase on Sunday 18.5, where my dear Sir Willy Waterlily (definitely one of my most favourite burlesque performers EVER, so happy to represent Finland in London together! <3), Natsumi Scarlet and Lou Safire will be performing!

Which reminds me, tickets still have early bird prices, so go ahead and click on the links above if you want to get yours on time! :-) 

1920's inspired tomboy with breeches

Outfit post! First try at wearing my "new" pair of breeches <3

I bought these breeches last autumn in a charity shop called UFF in Helsinki with the idea of selling them to some gentleman, but I tried them on at home and they were a perfect fit so I couldn't help keeping them for myself! One of the biggest problems with breeches though is that you need a pair of pretty high boots to wear with them, and let's just say high boots aren't the easiest thing to find when you are 180cm tall :-)

Luckily enough Lassi found the perfect solution for it, which was using puttees. Puttees are long strips of fabric that can be rolled around the legs, and they're the perfect substitute for high boots! (plus I think they look great) Lassi also managed to find these being sold in Varusteleka, which is a wonderful shop in Helsinki that sells army clothes and equipment, and usually has extremely good quality items for a very economic price (plus a lot of the army clothing is still made with the same shape/cut as it was 80 years ago!)

Breeches sadly aren't used very often anymore, so it is sometimes difficult to figure out how to make the whole outfit work. I have lately also been extremely inspired by women that used men's clothing, from the end of the nineteenth century up to the begining of WWII. For this particular outfit, I decided to use flappers and tomboy's of the 1920's as inspiration. 

inspiration! <3

As I explained in the begining I put this outfit together in a bit of a rush and only as a test, but I'm quite pleased with the outcome! None of the items I'm wearing is from the 20's, but I think the overall look works. I'm wearing: 

- breeches from the Finnish army, "new" (not sure how new, but they can be considered repros) from a second hand store called UFF

- puttees from Varusteleka

- 1910's skating boots, from ebay (absolutely the BEST pair of winter boots I've ever had, and they're drop-dead gorgeous!)

- shirt probably from the 50's, from a theatre fleamarket

- knit, new from a charity shop called Fida

- beret, new from the Red Cross' charity shop

- overcoat from the 50's, a bit too big for me but that makes it look a bit more manly (and the colour works perfectly with the military theme)

pictures by Lassi Patokorpi

Queer much?

And soooo excited to announce I'll be joining the linup of the craziest party in Helsinki this spring! You'll be able to see drag queens, burlesque and a rollercoaster of gender bender fun! Stay tuned for more info, and check the event's facebook page! <3

Bettie Page Reveals All

Friday was a really exciting day for the Finnish burlesque community, since the premier of the documentary "Bettie Page Reveals All" was having its premier in Finland! It was screened on both Friday and Saturday during the DocPoint documentary festival, and both the director Mark Mori and producer Thorpe Mori flew all the way to Finland for this occasion. Last December I took part in an event to help promote the documentary festival, in which I had to dress up as Bettie Page and chat with people in the audience about the film. It was fun! But I was definitely shocked when I was later on asked if I would like to present the director and producer, and conduct the Q&A section after the screenings. I must confess I almost said no (that's how scared I am about talking in front of a crowd!) but in the end decided that having the honour of participating in such a unique event was definitely worth it!

with director Mark Mori, during the Q&A
picture by Rita Miklan

Both the director and producer were really happy about having the Finnish Burlesque community attend the event, and they decided to have a picture taken with the ladies! I'm afraid I don't have the picture myself since it's in their camera, but here goes one taken during the Q&A. 

picture by Rita Miklan

If you missed the movie while it was being screened in Helsinki, or if you live outside the Helsinki area, do not hesitate to go and watch it when you have the chance! You rarely get to watch a documentary in which the main character herself is the narrator, and of course you'll have the chance of glimpsing into the heart of the original pin-up girl, and one of the most influential pop icons of our era! 

(And I'll use the chance to again thank people in DocPoint for this opportunity with all my heart!)

Oh, and about the dress I'm wearing! I was silly enough not to take more pictures with it (too nervous before the screening, and too blissful afterwards), but here you go a couple of pictures of it! I found this evening gown in the latest fleamarket of the Swedish Theatre of Helsinki and I'm absolutely in love with it <3

I believe this to be 40's, and some of you may know I'm usually not very crazy about that era, but this one is a heartbreaker! This dress screams "space age" and is made of a very thick and sturdy fabric in a blueish shade of grey, and it's full of gorgeous details! An absolute deco beauty :-)

front, detail of the bow and back of the dress
I apologise for the bad quality pictures!

New Burlesque season officially open!

It was so nice to finally get to perform again after the Xmas break! We had a rather special private show with Thee Dizzy Daisies yesterday, we performed our latest group act Aurora Borealis (the first time with the three of us instead of two since we premiered it in the Suomi Burleski Gaala last October) for the birthday of a friend of Gigi, and our audience consisted of only two people! :-D

But you rarely get such a crazy audience and I have to say that it was a great pleasure to perform for them since they were screaming already before it started! 

We were getting ready before they arrived, when I suddenly noticed something was sticking out of my costume: a pin in a rather "sensitive" area! I have been wearing this costume a few times already and this was the first time I notice it, so I guess I should be glad I noticed it before I hurt myself :-D

the dangers of burlesque!

Happy girls with the headpieces that amazing Finnish Milliner Fiona Timantti made for our Aurora Borealis act <3

the gals <3
picture stolen from Sandy

And home early after the show! It was pretty cold in Helsinki yesterday (well, only -8C, but very windy!) so it was funny to put all the crazy layers of clothing back on after the show, and with all the makeup still on! Definitely not used to wearing makeup on weekdays...

(and in case you had never seen me with the hair "undone" and you were wondering, it's actually waist long)

my current favourite winter hat!
yellow <3