On the Street. Me on Blue, Autumn Basic, Helsinki

 

This year I skipped all October drawing challenges, inktober etc. Because I have finally decided to invest time to learn how to draw with iPad and Procreate. This is the first try. My most common street style in Autumn. This outfit protects against small rains and have big pockets to carry all essentials. And if I’d like to head to the woods, I just switch to rubber boots and beanie, change this bag to mushroom basket and I am ready to dive in to mushroom hunting in woods. That is the best thing to do in weekends. 

Procreate is definitely a new learning  process. In drawing manner I have been a very analog paper and pen person… or ink or paint. But here we go, starting a new era as a dinosaur of drawing. 

Ps. This cap is the same one I have made a post in 2012, Costo hats with pompoms. Still in good use. Sustainable hats that last time. https://flashforzonzon.blogspot.com/2012/08/finnhits-costo-hats-with-pompoms.html

On the Street. Lovely Floral Skirt, Hietalahti Helsinki

 

As soon as I saw this older lady from the car window I was like ooh, what a lovely summer floral skirt she has! And a feminine jeans jacket and a bright colored summerhat. What a summerly feeling.

On the Street. Beretman, Lapinlahden Lähde, Helsinki

 

Still cold spring wibes. I saw this gentleman in Lapinlahden Lähde walking in his thoughts. I liked the color combo, blue with the grey in hair, moustaches and scarf. And the red to give a little accent. Some poetry vibe added with the beret. It is not too commonly seen headpiece in men's heads in Finland.

On the Street. Autumn Style Doodle Found from Sketchbook, Helsinki.

This is a style found from sketchbook. Doodled, I don’t remember when. Seen in Helsinki, anyway. Obviously, this is autumn outfit. Could be seen now on the street. Striped wool socks and loose beret on the head. Somehow this style feels coming from the past. The mix of stripes, floral scarf and plaid is wonderful.

On the Pier. Summer Fun, Angling.

Greetings from the Summer Holiday. It’s been a while when I last posted anything here. Spring was so hectic in work I didn’t have any time for this poor blog. Too bad.

Then came the blessed summer holiday and the cottage life in Finland countryside. The countryside life is surrounded by nature. That includes angling and fishing, eating the fish caught from the lake and blueberries from the woods. This year we had a lot of sunshine and it was a pleasure to jump into the lake swimming several times in a day. Rare delicacy in these levels as Finland.

I haven’t seen much interesting street style lately. Therefor I’m sharing some images from summer sketchbooks. In the image above is my daughter angling. Dressed in all time classic Nokia Kontio -rubber boots (first pair made in year 1973), jeans, striped shirt and to the top yellow fisherman’s hat. The color of the hat fits perfectly with the yellow waterlily.

Simple life barefoot, sleeping in a tent to avoid mosquitos. In the evening it was a great pleasure to fall asleep listening the sounds on nature, wind, insects, birds, bees. This is the best way to reduce stress levels in life.

On the Street. Boys Boys Boys, Helsinki.

Spring feeling in this group of boys. The caps are pointing forwards and backwards, colors and style like uniform, all black, white and grey. Perfect harmony and good mood.

On the Street. Coffee Cowboy of Hakaniemi, Helsinki.

This fellow has hanged as a ready made drawing on my desk already for a month or so. There has been so much everything going on with my business that this poor blog has had to wait for a while.

A visit to Hakaniemi gives many times a different thrill than walking in Esplanade of Helsinki. More diversity. Like this man. I thought this was Freak Brothers live going 9 am in the morning. But with a can of coffee. Gosh, I like people who are true to the styles of their youth.

On the Street. Black Beret all Year Long, Barcelona.

It is the last day of summer season. Tomorrow is officially first day of autumn in Finland. It is time to present the last Barcelona street style memory of summer sketchbook.

This older gentleman is kind of previous edition of the guy illustrated below. Same building blocks of style, white shirt and sort of black trousers. Only the time has worn out the deep darkness and turned white shirt to greyish. Despite the hot sun in Spain, the sleeves stay long, not rolled and woolen beret stays in the head. I believe the beret has been an essential accessory through his lifetime. Maybe already as schoolboy it has belonged to the school uniform.

This brings to mind an old phrase. "Why change anything what has once been good." In style issues this is quite true. In other words we talk about style classics. In some other issues some change might still be a good idea. Like, we didn’t have mobile phones in the 70s, why should we have it now? Well… Maybe it is good to think again when some issue is thrown in front of you. At least just a second. 

On the Street. At the Airport of Helsinki-Vantaa.

Sorry for the delay of coming back from the summer break. It is time to have a look inside the summer sketchbook. I have to admit that the result is lean. On holiday I had a garden to look after. It took all my attention. I love plants and the variety of species wowed me totally.

On the way to holiday spot we needed to take a plane. That means a visit to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. Did you know that birds are singing in the toilets there? Well, they do.

Standing in the queue to the airplane, behind me stood this narrow lady constantly gazing her telephone. So I had a chance to look at her secretly. Kind of impressive dark blue and white combo in all her longitude.

On the Street. Turban Hat Revival, Kamppi, Helsinki.

My steps walked a block amount the same journey with this lady. Interesting combination with the somewhat military style cape and turban hat. All accessories colored to match together perfectly. Saved to mind and drawn later. Check.

There has been a revival of turban hats already a few years. When I was kid it was only senior ladies who used turbans. The ones were made of panther pattern or red vine color tone velvet's. Many times combined with extra amount of black eye liner, emerald green eye shadow and lipstick. In my teen age years I thought that when I am old I start to use turban too.

But as mentioned, why wait old age! Turban hats has truly made it’s way back to women’s heads in all age groups. At least in Helsinki. There is cotton options for summer and merino wool for winter. Not to mention the fact that the turban is perfect accessory for bad hair day.

Where to get your own turban hat?

Herné products in Weecos >
I have bounced in to pretty new Finnish label Herné. It is available in Weecos webshop. It is a label of Heli Väätäinen and based on ecological and ethical values. All her products are hand made in Helsinki.

Ainamuoti Hatshop from Tampere Finland >
Another option found from Internet is Ainamuoti (in English Alwaysinfashion) Hat shop from Tampere Finland. They seem to have pretty decent selection of turbans. Even made of merino wool. If you prefer click your way to English version of the shop on the site.

If you are not familiar with Weecos, sustainable marketplace – it is the best place to find ecological products from Finland. It gathers responsible companies under one platform and gives consumers easy opportunity to make better choices in terms of sustainability. There is a wide variety of products for home, men, women, kids, bags and purses, accessories, jewelry, shoes, beauty and cosmetic products.

Go ahead and make visit to Weecos >

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I’m sharing these tips for pure joy. It is the concept of finnhits in this blog. There is no collaboration with the brands mentioned in this post. Check the finnhits tag below if you like to know more.

Seasons. December Weather Girl Portrait.

So it is last month of the year and time for December Weather Girl. In December Finland  the weather may vary depending how north you are staying. While in Helsinki it may be plus temperatures and no snow in sight, in northern part of the Finland the frost freeze your nose and conditions are perfect for skiing. In Lapland the sky is flaming in northern lights.

Just before Christmas is the winter solstice, also known as midwinter. It is an astronomical phenomenon marking the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. After that moment we know we are moving towards brighter days.

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In Finland each month has its own character and weather type. Four main seasons, but even each month has something of their own.

This is the last weather girl portrait of the series. All 12 months is covered now. If you like to see the other girls click the tag ”seasons” below.

Seasons. October Weather Girl Portrait.

May I introduce Miss October Weather Girl. October is time for big change in Finland. First the colours in nature start to lose green, revealing bright yellow, red and different shades of brown. Mornings are crisp and sky is more often grey than blue as October progresses.

At the end of October nearly all the tree leaves have fallen and remain naked tree trunks. It is fun to wade in the flood of fallen leaves. It is time to look for gloves, woolen scarf and cover head with something warm. The surrounding changes dramatically and the whole colour map changes muted. The mind settles down waiting for winter to arrive.

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In Finland each month has its own character and weather type. Four main seasons, but even each month has something of their own.

If you want to see the whole series click the tag ”seasons” below.

Seasons. September Weather Girl Portrait.

September is time to settle down to autumn season in Finland. No hassle, life starts to flow on it’s natural paths. The weather is not particular cold or warm. September gives pleasant sunny days that one can be thankful for. Oh, what a sunny day it is! On the mind’s back knocks the image of soon approaching darkness that is evident when autumn continues further.

But there is still time to enjoy pleasant outdoor life wandering in parks and woods on weekends, picking mushrooms, doing the last canoe trip of the season.

We even had an official ”sleep night outdoor” -day in September 17th in Finland. Suomen Latu − The Outdoor Association of Finland is the organisation behind the idea. The Sleep Night Outdoor -event pays attention to everyman's rights, which able everybody to enjoy the Finnish nature. You can sleep outdoors in a national park, at a camping site or even in your own yard, if you have one.

On social media the hashtag is #nukuyöulkona if you want to check how the event looks like in social media.

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In Finland each month has its own character and weather type. Four main seasons, but even each month has something of their own.

If you want to see the whole series click the tag ”seasons” below.

On the Street. Red Rubber Boots, Mannerheimintie, Helsinki.

Once in Instagram someone commented about the fact, that Finnish women seem to prefer flat shoes instead high heels. That is true. Fortunately, the Finnish society does not place women expected value, how to dress.

Therefor there is great liberty if you like to walk in heels or flat shoes. Nobody cares. Most Finnish women apparently like the ability to move around freely without pain or other inconvenience. They choose flat shoes. Me too. I wear high heels less than once in a year.

This young lady leads the way in this path. Her brave red rubber boots are both practical and beautiful in rainy day in Helsinki City Center. She looks just lovely in her furry beret, jeans jacket and floral skirt.

I have heard, that women using flat shoes, isn’t the norm everywhere. In Great Britain a woman even must dress up in high heels if one wants to work for government positions. Correct me if I am wrong.

I think this is very odd. It is so old fashion to treat women as butterflies. Why make them suffer from day to day? I am sure that this regulation limits the number of qualified women to apply for those positions. At least it should not be the height of shoe heels that has any role in the work requirements.

On the Street. Paper Cut Cap Girl, Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki.

I was sitting in a car, when I saw this girl focused browsing her phone in the corner of Kable Factory. She was far away and only tiny little thing in horizon. But still, the colours and form of her outfit leaped to the eye and caused a wow-effect. The color combo; red, pink, orange and the humorous long visor in her cap put the smile on my face.

Because the only thing that stuck in my mind was the form and colour, the simplicity of paper cut tells best way the sight.

Seasons. July Weather Girl Portrait.

Well Hello July Weather Girl. It is time to enjoy the sunny days and the sun really feels hot-hot-hot. Many of us Finns have their summer vacation in July. it is time for new adventures, free time, meeting friends and distant relatives. People escape to summer cottages to enjoy the nature. Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries ripen. July is the time to load batteries in the green woods and the thousand lake sides all over Finland.

In Finland each month has its own character and weather type. Four main seasons, but even each month has something of their own.

On the Street. Summer Straw Hat Man, Mannerheimintie Helsinki.

We have had some sunny warm days in Helsinki. I stress the word some, because we can count in one hands fingers the total amount of the summer days, when heart and soul is melting of the warmth of blessed sunshine. Therefor I think that the concept of summer clothes is more or less meaningless in Finland. If you own a summer dress it lasts your whole lifetime. Total amount of using the dress is still very little.

When a sunny warm day appears a good advise is to leave everything at once and run outside enjoy the rarity. Another thing in warm days is, that people start to look at each other. I mean, like what do we people look like when all the outer layers of clothing are away. In one of those days I spotted this summer man whose style was kind of nice.

On the Street. Floral Mens Shirt, Kamppi, Helsinki.

Lately on catwalks we have seen plenty of floral patterns on both women’s and menswear. Especially Gucci has led the way along this path. As you see in this illustration, some echoes of this trend is seen on Helsinki streets also. This fellow had nice mix with soft tinted floral pattern shirt that had hints of russet color. Cleverly he had the same accent russet brown on cap and sneakers also. What could be your favorite accent color?

On the Street. Captain Cap Trending, Kamppi, Helsinki.

It seems that the hat of this summer is captain cap. On a short stroll in city center yesterday I saw about ten persons with captain cap. And why not, combined with striped T-shirt, it feels like summer and salty sea. Style classics rules.

In summer we all sail in terms of holiday more or less. Sailing on leisure time and free thoughts, at least.

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More about Captain Cap and the style corner stones in this post:
Captain Cap Makes the Style.

Seasons. April Weather Girl Portrait.

Let me present you Miss April in my Weather Girl portrait series. It comes a little late, but it’s all right because also spring has been late. In April the weather is very capricious in Finland. One day delightful moments in sunshine and the next day opposite, mist, rain and freezing wind is blowing in the collar. The last patches of snow melt and migratory birds return. The listening experience is filled with seagulls squall.

Here is a link to the Introduction of Weather Girl Portrait series.