This is he car I'm buying with my new fat paycheck!
(Correction, this the care I would have liked to buy, if I had a fat paycheck)

Left the girls at the house in the countryside and went back to town.
(Cause I gotta work, damn it..)
The sun doesn't come up until 9 am this time of year, but when it does, this is how beautiful it is.
I almost broke my neck on the dock when I took the shot, first frost set in during the night.
Pretty, but deadly.

AHA / EUREKA!

I've done some research about the Velviona perfume from Helmut Lang.
Ever since I used the last drops, I've scoured the planet to find it again.
It was a limited edition of 500 bottles and it's nowhere to be found. (yes, I've tried Ebay..)

Here's the magic, apparently, Malin & goetz have made a similar scent called Synthetic Musk.
It's based on the same ingridient from Givaudan (a synthetic monocyclic musk called "Velvione") as Velviona.
Hence the name, Mr Lang made it as a tribute Givaudan.
(Anyone who makes a tribute to a specific series of molecules deserves an award by the way)

So, if you're looking for that newborn-baby scent with some animalic/intellectual kickass basenotes, your search is over.
I think, I haven't tried it yet, I'll know mid January after my NYC-trip.

If you don't smell good, you don't look good.

Long time no see!
Who the hell am I talking to?
Nobody reads this except for my dear friend Eric apparently, who's taunting comments are actually
fun, keep it up! (Even though I deleted most of them)
Eric makes his livelihood as an overpaid controller, doing nothing really.

Since he gets paid more than I ever will, I feel a strong urge to get back at him in some way.
The only way I can do this is to tell him that I just booked trips to NYC, Florens, London, Paris and Berlin.
And yes, I will stay at nice hotels, take it rather easy, AND fly business class.
(Upgraded on points, but anyway)

That said, this is my oldest daughter, Klara. She has finally started to accept wearing navy.
Perhaps in a couple of years she will start wearing black as well.
Black was not a very prominent color when we did our fashion show for AW-07 this week and presented the collection for people representing 70 countries.
It felt like giving birth in a way.
Not that I know what it feels like, but it was nice when it was over.

Somehwere in SOHO.
Anyone who racks up chairs like this, deserves an award for creative genius.

We had dinner at Freemans.
It was so good and such a nice place I won't even bother describing it.
(Very stealable menu, but they had one printed just for us, so I didn't have to do "the sneaky routine")
What was even more fantastic was the recently opened store Freemans (Sporting Club) clohting store next door.
Fantastic collection!! A mix between workwear/vintage/brittish bespoke that felt super modern.
Best item? Shirts (sewn in Japan) in 120's double yarns.
Cropped, snug fitting but not tight. Small, sporty looking towncollar. Touché indeed!

They've a drop in old school barber shop in the back end of the store.
Though the "barbers" looked like they could have been creative directors at John Barret's salon at B&G.
I know where I'm getting my next haircut.

The Gant limited edition shirts at Jeffrey's. Shazam!
They seemed to like it, which made me very happy.

Almost as happy as when we sat next to Marcia Cross during lunch at Bergdorf's.
(75 bucks and I didn't even get around to nicking a menu, scheisse!)
7 months pregnant and all she strolls in wearing Juicy and looked like, well...Bree.
(I instantly thought about that scene when she's wearing red lingerie, embarassing enough)
To my surprise I behaved like a 5 year old that sees Santa. I was this close from asking for a hug & a picture, hehe.
I didn't know I was a complete noob, but apparently that's the case.

Anyway..last day in NYC we found a fantastic kids store on Wooster and Houston called Trico Field.
They carry japanese rock'n roll-ish kidswear that kicks ass, do check it out.
Best piece was an american flag turned into a scarf, sounds nerdy, looked coooool.
Thought about bying one for Klara, but since the american flag is not
not pink/lilac/purple it would have been a total waste of money..
I need to get a son that I can trick out it vintage converse and The Strokes tee's.

Dior is consistant, and that's rare.
There's 30 years between the two items, they might as well be from the same collection.
Hat's off to that!
And hat's off to the fact that I started wearing Eau Savage, the only aftershave my dad's ever used.
(I've grown up enough to wear something that smells like a vintage barber shop, is that good or bad?)
At Paula Rubenstein & hubby Keith, nicest little store in NYC, I found the smashing vintage Dior scarf.
Even though it's against my religion to wear scarfs (I'm too chubby and short) I just might
wear this one for spring.
(Mental note: need to buy a huge yacht and a small village in france first)

Arty Farty Graffiti

Went to Williamsburg and stopped at Christopher Brosius "I Hate Perfume"-store.
I get a bit paranoid and think everything I do suck when I come to a store where
everything is thought through but still looks a bit thrown together.
That they have every single scent you might even imagine doesn't make it better.
Bought "Wet Pavement London", "Old Leather" and "White Soap"
It turned out that the 2 later mixes together rather nicely.
I smell like a very clean biker..

We found this arty-farty graffiti. I'm turning it into a tee.
(Apparently it's old, but so am I..)

New York. Rainy but fantastic.

Bergdorf Goodman first stop as always.
Michael Bastian has a very nice collection and with it hanging next to Thom Brown it probably is
the best 40 square meters of mens fashion there is today.
Dinner at Café Cluny, a new place on 12 th street, same owners as Odeon I think. Super-cosy french bistro.
Had a hanger steak and asked for bearnaise (surprise..), but it wasn't on the meny. It was served with a creamy garlic butter sauce. Equaly fat, and almost as good.
And the clock outside the entrance..didn't even know a clock could be this beatiful.
Stole a menu.

Hotel Maritime is nice. Small rooms but funtional. I should have been here 3 years ago when it was cool..
(Stole a menu anyway, hehe)

Tuesday
Dinner at Pastis, omelette and fries. Simple and nice.
(Buy the way, they are off my shit list, the Bearnaise is back on track)
Definately stole a menu. Prettiest one around.

Question of the day:
Rubber boots, is it The Boot for men this season?
(Pls do comment on this. I have no comments. No one is reading this blog, crap)


For instance:
I think low cut or folded down rubber boots should be the boot of choice for a stylish guy this fall.
I mean the good old basic ones in black or dark olive green.
Hardcore rubber boots. The practical-but-not-so-cool ones.
The ones depicted are lacrosse ones. Never seen theme before.
Table tennis is big in sweden, Lacrosse is not

The other day we where visiting friends in the country side.
I had to buy a new pair of rubber boots since it's a proper farm with pigs, horses, 4 dogs. The whole shebang.
I've been seeing these low cut TreTorn ones called SUB last season and just thought "That's how a rubber boot should look!"
Now I had a justified reason to buy them, whopidoo.

This place they have is really old school posh in a relaxed way. (They take hunting very seriously for instance, bravo!)
Wearing a Muji army jacket, dark unwashed denims, a fitted button down Gant shirt with a loosely tied tweed necktie from Coast-Weber-Ahaus and Stan Smiths (what else..) I looked like, well, anybody, I guess.
Since Stan Smith doesn't do pig-droppings so well, I shoved my feet in to the rubber boots exiting the car...tous les magie.
Then, I started thinking thinking of an old photo of my Mom when she was like 20.
They where all wearing these very plain white and navy rubber boots, with the shafts folded down.
You wrote the abbreviation of the part of town you where from on the shaft with a magic marker.
(In her case it was L-Ö). Very cool.

(Is Thom Brown or Michael Bastian wearing Rubber boots this season?)

I need to think about this, a lot.

Sauce Bearnaise is a very important thing to me.

Needless to say, this Sauce of Sauces, adds to the circumference in a way that is not very sexy
Therefore, this summer I made a version of sauce bearnaise that is not based on butter, and will allow you to
spoon it in without worrying looking like a beached whale next summer.

I know, you're thinking "It will taste like crap, you moron!!"

You are wrong.

The ground is the same as always: (serves 4)
4 tblspoons of white wine vingar.
(Find one with tarragon in, it helpes boost the flavor)
same ammount of water,
One finely chopped schallot,
4 whole white pepper seeds
Chopped parsily
Fresh or dried tarragon.
(Half a pepperoncini if you want some oompff in it)

Boil until one third remains.
(Your eyes should be running standing next to the stove, or there's not enough vinegar in there!)

Meanhwile, put 3 eggyolks in a cup, should be roomtempered when they go in.

Sift the reduction, and put the liquid back in the pot.
Throw in the eggyolks and beat it constantly until starting to get creamy.
You don't want scrambled eggs, so easy on the heat!!!
(If you can make a sauce bearnaise directly on the stove, without a waterbath, you can do anything)

Now, to the magic.
Instead of pouring in like 200 grams of melted butter, you just take out a can of creme fraiche (the LIGHT version) and whip it in. You need to add half small pinch of sugar, a small pinch of salt to add up for the missing butter.

You will be surprised how well this works. A HUGE bonus is that you can put it in the fridge and re-heat it the day after without the sauce cracking.

The following places is on my shit-list for serving poor Sauce Bearnaise.
Schiller, NYC.
(With fries like that, why serve it with that crappy bearnaise?!)

Hotel Costes, Paris.
(Charging 45 USD for a mediocre piece of tournedos with some fat yellow yuk that tastes like Café De Paris sauce is a crime. Even Costes are not cool enough to get away with that)

Chez Andres, Paris.
(I just don't get it, here it is, the ultimate french bistro, and it tastes NOTHING. There are pizza places in Stockholm that serves better "Bea"..)

By the way, we miss Per & Jennie, a lot.

I was going to get this blown up and place it as "part wallpaper" directly on the kitchen tiles.
It's just scribbles on an old notebook paper for personal inspiration boards.
But it will add a certain je ne sais qoi to the room I think.
Maybe it's arty farty, maybe I'll throw it in the trash, dont know.

I started stealing menus from nice restaurants a while ago.
The criteria for snitch-worthiness so far has been

1. Coated or waxed paper is always nice.
2. ground colour should be in creme or light nougat with blood-red or brown lettering.
(A nice typeface is very important. This months most loved font is: Lamar Pen)
3. Some kind of stain, red wine or similar signs of having a nice evening out.
4. Anything resembling old french bistro would do really.

Since our whole kitchen is all white tiles, I thought that you could get it more interesting by posting these on the wall.
The illusion of french bistro, made complete with stolen stuff. Tres chic.

I've come to terms with that this blog is really superficial, shallow and very pretentious.
That off my chest today's pick of beauty has to be my youngest daughter, Irma Lee.
If she would have been born a boy, her name would have been Edwin Lee, then she would have
had 2 denim brands in her name, that would have been so cool(?)
(I really need to quit collecting vintage denim..)

Anyway, Irma kicks ass, even though she refuses to wear any of the cool rock'n roll tee shirts I get her on my trips.
She's 4 and only wants to wear pink stuff with cats on. That sucks.

Today was a good day. (they mostly are, I should add)
The office is near empty, the others in the design-crew being on their second far east trip for the season.
It's quite, I have time to sort thrue all kinds of stuff.
Started with some planning on fabric-designs for the Cruise collection Fall 07.
We're leaving for NYC the 12th of NOV to start it up and also to start tuning in for Spring 08.
Staying at the Maritime for the first time.
With Pastis across the street a smoke and a coffee to jump start my young(?) hart.
It's enough to make any man happy.
With dinner reservation at Freemans, sweet. It seem to be just my kind of place.

This old steamboat trunk, the craftsmanship and the soul of this thing makes it this weeks favourite piece!
Someone loved this trunk. I'm gonna buy it, I have to.
Jesus, there's really something with me and luggage at the moment.
What the hell am I going to do with all the luggage and bags I'm buying?
It's like casual sportswear shirts in banker stripes with white collars, it's just so damn good looking.
Wore one today with a narrow vintage black helmut Lang tie and Stan Smiths.
I never used to wear ties to my Stan Smiths. I'm old.

This Fiat 500 is cool enough to base an entire collection on.

Thursday was the opening party for Whyred's new store in stockholm.
They offered russian tea, cucumber sandwiches and macarones. Very modern and very fresh!

Nice store & the collection is fantastic. (No one has better womens shoes this season by the way)
They deserve to break big time in the states.
Concidering what's cookin, they should be a smashhit with their understated, intellectual designs, tailored details and clever choice of fabrics.
Any fan of Michael Bastian, Thom Browne will love it.
(oh, and a big thanks to the entire USA (NYC that is) for finally adopting a more narrow silhouette. Even though I still haven't found a single american brand who carries a pair of nicely fitted chinos. What's up with those football thighs of your's, hehe..

What did I learn today?
That changing an original danish 50's sofa for an Ikea is never a good idea.
We put it together, placed it in the room, realized it looked like shit.
Took it apart, sent it back, bought some heavy canvas taping and fixed the 50's sofa.

I also got a 1935 hatshelf that I mounted in the bathroom above the tub.
FINALLY I will be grabbing a plush, fresh, white towel from the correct looking vintage aluminum shelf, every morning.
It's been an issue, since my wife didn't understand what I was raving about after staying at Costes in Paris, but now she does, it looks fantastic.

So does this vintage Lang perfume bottle of "Velviona".
The scent is like amplified skin, like a newborn baby.
Really strange but also really nice.
I'm taking the lasts drops to Christopher Brosius in his gallery in Brooklyn
to see if he can re-create it. (Maybe he'll be offended?)

Li Edelkoort came to town today.
She blows me away by the way she is able to visualize her thoughts.
I wonder if she sometimes sees a new aspect to the picture she's just showing and improvises, that's how casual she seems about it.
Grey is it for spring 2008, basically on everything.
Tinted, washed out, crisp any way you can imagine. But still, grey?
I have my doubts even though her presentation was (as always) VERY convincing.
Perhaps I should add, Li is suggesting to throw in Yellow and RED (RED RED) to kick it.

This is not grey, this is an antique Indian indigo weave I found in a old pile of fabrics in a streetfare in Bangalore.
It's way more fun than grey, indigo always is.

Above is yours truly. Italia just hammered the crap out of those frenchys in the soccer World Cup Finals.



A steal on Ebay at 250 buckaroos.
I've been looking for a holdall bag like this for a year, and there it was.
Sweet lord, the patina, the shape, the details (the sheer smell of quality).
It's all there.
This is THE bag.

I REALLY need to check out gramercy park hotel on the next trip to NYC.
Last time I stayed there (like 3 years ago) it was as much as old, wornout rock myth as one can possible take in a week. Cool as hell, but a bit too shabby.
You needed to get ape-faced before getting to bed, since everything smelled like Tommy Lee's vomit. (Getting ape-faced did not present a problem however..)
Speaking of travel, this suitcase I still curse myself for not buying.

This is a blog about all things beatiful. Mostly fashion, travelling and designer
furniture.
I'll just add stuff that I feel is nice, that's all.

The invitation for our upcoming party.
It's a vintage Barolo Bottle at the Hotel Aida winecellar during summer in
Alassio on the Italian Riviera. (if you haven't been there, go, NOW!)
I edited out the text and added the details on the party instead.
Turned out nice (and really hard to read according to some of my less clever friends..)