Dress Style

i've been taking a much needed break from computers lately since it's been nice and warm here in stockholm.
I've bought a bike (see above) who is in the repair shop getting some much needed love.

I also won a bet today with my boyfriend and the prize are these f-troupe sandals. I'm not a huge sandal/summer shoe person and in the last few years I've almost strictly began wearing only heels but I have a lot of Europe travels in my future and speaking from experience heels just don't work in Amsterdam.

last pair of shoes this summer. i swear. maybe. but probably not.

i think this might just be the most concise, well executed collection of accessories i've seen around. it could easily fit into almost any wardrobe. i know I could and most certainly would wear each pieces. i'm especially attracted to the large handbag and it's unusual opening. love at first sight.

publicpersonae to check out what's on my mind.

first off: i was slightly drunk on red wine when i took these, which SHOULD explain the blurry quality.
this is my new dress- lace, long sleeves, shoulder pads and nothing else. simple but complicated...

i found the most amazing nail polish this week. it's a cheapo brand, proving once again you can search low and high but often find what you're looking for in unexpected places. in this case, i was waiting for the check out line at Ålhens to go down when i spotted this perfect color. its like a slightly watered down latte color or as i like to think of it, the perfect muddy water- like the kind i used to dance around in the rain when I was a kid in India.

THE SUN! this weekend is supposed to be even hotter.
i've missed the sun for a very long long time!

the last one sold out so fast, i made another one in a brand new color- great for spring!

check it out here

thrifted ankle boots, brand new white laces

I was reading on the tube this past week when I noticed something about myself- something i do without consciously thinking about it. my first impression of people always has a lot to do what kind of shoes they are wearing- not what brand- just what sort of style they project with the shoes they decide to wear and HOW they wear them. well, one of my favorite things to do in the morning is to people/style watch on the tube on my way to work. this morning in particular, since i was looking down at my book, every time someone got on the train, i didn't bother to look up unless i saw a nice pair of shoes first. i guess it's a different filtering system while style gazing but i wonder how well it works, I know i've met people and seen people who had not the greatest pair of shoes on but still had great style elsewhere- but it doesn't happen often. The shoe tells a lot.

speaking of shoes, these ones in the photo are my FAVORITE FAVORITE pair of boots hands down. they only cost $5 but they are so beat up, I've been over-wearing them and I've heard rumors that there's a shoes repair shop in Stockholm that will duplicate shoes... i might have to hunt that place down and get these ones remade.

DIY lace pants + thrifted shoulder pad shirt + dinsko slip on wedge shoes + thrifted suede ankle boots

CLICK HERE to visit mishamarket

I seem to be on a sewing roll. these are some lace pants I made for myself a while ago and have been enjoying wearing them so much that I decided I had to put them in the etsy shop. I've been wearing them with tights since it's been chilly here but I'll be walking around with hot pants or bike shorts under them this spring/summer. I didn't get sucked into the lace tights/leggings trend this fall- I just never found any that I liked- i was always looking for a heavier weight of fabric and I think these were my perfect fix.

CLICK HERE to see the newest item in my shop!


I think this is one of my newest favorites- I am insanely tempted to keep it for myself. When I first made it, I thought it was too long for someone of my size but when I was taking the photos, I fell in love with all the great options. I think the color looks so good with black and the pink lipstick. Bright accessories or makeup really makes this dress.

p.s. the sun was setting through my window- the results are light spots in some of the photos that I somehow wish i could duplicate. I'm gonna try to recreate that with bleach soon.

Greyhound SS09


Greyhound AW08



Playhound SS09




there are certain parts of the world that are still have not made their fashion mark [at least to me]- my friend just got back from a 2 month vacation all over the world, ending in Thailand. today she introduced me to Thai brand Greyhound which instantly blew me away with super wearable, well designed and photographed collections from season to season. the brand has been around for 25 years, beginning as a menswear line designed by 4 friends- none of whom went to fashion design school. I like the way they seem to work and the clean way in which they translate their very strong aesthetic message from season to season. while not entirely revolutionary, i'm mostly impressed by the fact that i would wear about 99% of the items- - including the menswear. i can't remember the last time i felt that way about a ready to wear brand.

now to the bad news: to my knowledge they only have stores in Bangkok and a few other Asian cities.
also sad to say, due to some untimely riots, my friend couldn't make it to the store to pick up the garments she wanted, i know how she feels. open a store in Europe please!

DIY sweatshirt dress + thrifted necklace + vagabond wedge shoes




old torn tights under new gray tights

for the past few days i've been living solely in a sweatshirt dress I made a week ago. I had some oddly cut left over pieces of solid black knit which I decided to piece together in whichever way the pieces fit together- i literally tried to see which sides would fit together and made a single stitch down those edges- after the boxy fabric was mostly stitched together, I made a neck-hole and two miss-matching sleeve holes which I then rolled and hand stitched in place. I love the result and am a bit sad that it's getting warmer here in stockholm- even though i know i have a few more months left until it gets too hot to wear a black sweatshirt dress out in the summer sun.

i think i'll try to look for some lighter colored medium weight knit fabric the next time i go to Dolly's and make a batch of these for MishaMarket- this dress is so versatile, i've already worn it with long shorts, lace pants, the panel leggings, a skirt underneath- belted and non belted. wouldn't this be great in a heather gray or heather plum fabric?

I am not a purse person. not an 'it' bag girl. i don't care who's carrying which purse or which designer has come out with the latest or greatest. i would go as far as to say that I might even dislike designer bags. if it has a logo, a chain, a huge buckle or heavy piece of metal, chances are I won't be bothered to look twice. I don't like wearing logo clothing/tees and the same goes for handbags. metal on handbags just doesn't do it for me- anyone else feel the same way?
I would much rather pay attention to garments and to an extent shoes when dressing myself and shopping. I just think when bags get to a certain tacky level, they distract from the outfit rather then complimenting it. i've even become so detached to handbags that I leave my huge handmade carry all at my desk at work and go out with my small moleskin notebook with its convenient back pocket, which since my trip to NYC has become my wallet.

Recently though, these Marc Jacobs handbags caught my eye:

What I like about these handbags is the overall conceptual design and not the actual design (have never owned a yellow bag, don't think i will anytime soon, and all that gold hardware scares me away) i love the concept of putting things where they don't usually belong- in garments: making the armholes into pantlegs, making cuffs into ruffles, making sleeves into belts, etc.
my first reaction to these was- what a great DIY, but the idea took a back seat to all the other things I had going on in my sketch books (besides I don't have the tools or hardware to make the something similar to the little attached purses on the front) UNTIL i stepped into my favorite charity shop and spotted the perfect vintage clutch with tortoise closure. for less then 10 dollars i brought it home and to my delight, the leather even matched the meters and meters of a textured leather I had bought earlier this year. tada!- here's prototype 1 of my DIY version of the above Marc Jacobs handbags:




I'm pleased with the overall effect but am going to re-tackle the actual shape and construction of the large purse. I want to experiment with different handle options as well as elongating the whole thing. I love the contrasting textures of the two leathers and i'm already in the planning stages of prototype 2.

a while back I came across a swedish brand called Odeur- and i was struck by their simple yet detailed menswear line. what really stood out was the fact that one of their shirts was almost identical to a few shirts I made for my boyfriend as xmas gifts (I cheated a little by take two shirts from H&M- cutting them up and switching parts and reassembling, creating a color-blocked look by using one black and one bright blue shirt)

i meet a lot of boys in my life that strike me as being my male counterparts and besides Damir Doma, Odeur would have to be the menswear counterpart to my brand. I like the way the garments hang on the body and how they drip down the from to create a very extended silhouette. of course I won't complain about the lovely lovely color palette either or the fact that i realized my new co-worker is a good friend of the designers and there is a possible hang out session in the works. I'll let you know if/when that happens and what comes out of it, I'm excited to pick the brains of a menswear designer as the only boy in my design courses was much more fond of womenswear.

I've bought 3 pairs of shoes in the past 3 days. that might be a record for me...

pair 1: these super super comfy vagabond navy/black wedges for summer.
I am beyond obsessed with black and navy right now and I think these are the perfect combination of those colors, subtle enough to match mostly any color dress/tights. I think I have to stop buying wedge shoes because out of the past 6 shoes purchases, 4 have been wedge- but in a way they are perfect for the cobbled streets of stockholm. i remember wearing a pair of stilettos in Amsterdam last year that I had to throw away after one day of walking around. they weren't even salvageable. it's definitely a huge drawback of living in a European city.

check them out!

my camera is being weird: scarf- monki, blazer-thrift DIY, draped scarf/ONE tee- misha, tee 1- monki, tee 2- weekday, pants- comme des garcons for hm, boots-thrift


the inspiration:
continuing my boy obsession with this look- taking cue from a few of my favorite fellow lookbookers,X P and Marvin D-these boys are serious. Marvin has some sick layering abilities.

a few notes about the outfit:
1. my jacket was a thrifted boys (anyone remember Van Husen?) blazer I bought from Thrift Town which I then was inspired to alter- taking a cue from my minimarket zipper boots.
i know it must seem like i'm obsessed with leather paneling, switching out the legs and sleeves of just about everything i own with faux leather panels but sorry, this will most likely continue into the spring (with hot weather friendly versions)
but to my defense, a lot of you seem to be just as obsessed since the cowl neck dress and panel leggings are the best sellers in mishamarket (i cant seem to sew these fast enough)

2.comme des garcons drop crotch pant debut, I resisted wearing these for a long time for some reason. they made a lot of ruffling noise while i walked but for the most part, thumbs up. I think i like them best with an extended tee to create a longer torso, but in general these are hard to pull off for a short thing like me.

3.navy + black- apparently i missed the note about these two colors being a fashion no-no, but when have I ever followed rules (don't tell my design teacher but I used to make the moodboards and patterns AFTER i made the clothes) in fact, i am completely drowning in navy and black, I just scored the best square mini suitcase like purse from the local thrift store- photos very soon. how does this color translate to spring? mint and black. think mint + leather + cage for spring mishamarket collection!