Blue Coat Like Bill Cunningham

Sad news arrived. Early pioneer of street style photography, Bill Cunningham has died in 87 years of age. He had his own street style column in New York Times for 40 years. Bill Cunningham recognized the value of what people wore in their everyday life.

Bicycling with his camera in New York his outfit became his trademark: blue French worker’s jacket, khakis and sneakers. Simple and practical uniform that let him focus on the essential, style on the streets.

Few years ago I bought a blue blazer. Lightweight denim kind of fabric and straight simple cut. Every time I have used it I have thought of Bill Cunningham. This blue coat I have called my billcunningham-coat.

To me the blue coat of Bill Cunningham is a symbol of joy. Joy of marvellous people, joy of finding perfect forms of style on everyday people. No matter if they were celebrities or not. Style is the only thing that matters.

In this case his story and attitude has resonated to my feelings and views when walking under Helsinki City sky. On this far north side of Europe I keep spotting interesting styles that makes me smile eyes beamed. And later draw what I see.

Staring the blue sky is an act of joy. Stunning blue. Let me show you. I took this photo last October with phone. To be able to stare the blue sky whenever I need.

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The good thing with Bill Cunningham, that we can be happy about, is that he lived a long apparently happy life with the ability to follow his passion to the last moment. That is not self for sure thing. 

To the good end I share two links to nice articles about Bill Cunningham.

Bill Cunningham on Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham Looked Past the Runway to Capture Modern Identity

For Fun. Flash For Zonzon in Instagram.

Hooray. Flash For Zonzon has at long last started in Instagram. You can find your way to these illustrations and more using nickname @sanna_pyykko. I decided to use my own name because that’s going to be display window for all creative stuff what is going on in my life. But Flash For Zonzon is well represented in there, for sure. Welcome to follow.

I’m a late bloomer with Instagram. It really surprised me how easy it was to follow fashion weeks though it. Little film clips give just enough information to be aware about the latest fashion news.

It seems that blogging has partly moved to Instagram. Few years ago on sites like the Sartorialist there was huge amounts of comments after each blog post. Now there is some 10 to 30 comments. In Instagram same photo has 150 comments and over 5000 likes. Speed seems to be the word of the day. Speed liking.

Another thing is that in Instagram illustrators are presented in useful way. All famous and not so famous (me) illustrators seem to be there. It’s handy to do some comparison, like where do they sell their art, do they have own shop or are they in etsy, spoonflower, society6, paom, or what. And what could I learn of all this.

One oddity is that in Instagram there is a lot of tempting to pay to get thousands of followers and likes. I ask, but what’s the point! To get robots love and affection?

Plus, there seems to be multiple hashtags for competitions illustration daily, weekly or monthly. Like #drawadot for fashion illustration. Possibility to speed temporarily fame.

That's all for first impression. If you like to speed consume Flash For Zonzon in Instagram follow @sanna_pyykko

My Style. Looking At Mirror And What Did I See.

I haven’t seen anything spectacular lately on the streets so I think why not look at the mirror for a change. In Summer = lot of light = I love to dress up in light tones. Part of the fun is to mix my favorite patterns; stripes, plaid and dots. Mostly two at a time. Colour palette is something like white, sky blue, sand, pale gray. And the mood is good.

There is also another reason to look at the mirror. To be more concrete inside my head. I’m taking part in an online class for illustrators. There I’m supposed to analyze and think various mind blowing questions like What do you want to achieve with your illustrations.

When I was blogging the first year here at Flash For Zonzon I showed this blog to one lady - let’s call her lady Portal - who had started a blog portal for Finnish Fashion Bloggers. I was curious to hear her opinion. She looked at this blog instantly from laptop. At that point I had some ten posts done. After a while she aroused her eyes and asked me with a slight amount of suspicion in her voice: Where are you heading with this?

I was like: Uuuu, I like to draw…

At that point I hadn’t really thought it too much. I started this blog four years ago as a sidekick from my daily job as graphic design and entrepreneur. That is so much computer-related work. So I needed a way to experiment with traditional illustration techniques like watercolor, ink, pastel, color pencils, line drawing, paper cut and mixed media of all of these.

To do illustrations without a need to please anybody else than me is pure joy. Feeling the connection straight from head to hand is utmost relaxing. (By the way, that’s the secret of nowadays popular adults coloring books.) Of course  one important aspect was to get a way to express my ideas related with clothing. I am a cloth designer for first profession, anyway. Relax and have fun. With the idea that if I have fun making it maybe the audience will like it too.

 Lady Portal apparently thought that what’s the point using time and energy for a blog with no ads, no photographs of the outfit-of-the-day, no connections with clothing brands, no shopping tips where to get this and that style, no followers. In other words no nothing that is typical for fashion blogs as we know it.

Okay, but now let’s face it. My secret subconscious plan with this blog has been to become a better illustrator. At least I get an ever growing portfolio of illustrations along blogging. Maybe some day I get commissions through blog to do fashion illustrations to some media, fashion house, clothing brand, magazine, what ever. But with hands full of graphic design customer work and family life I haven’t time to do any marketing for my illustrations. I have thought that by chance the illustration work may come.

But it haven’t.
Truth is that a blog like this is like an ant sailing Ocean with a blade of grass. The possibility to run into ground is pretty minimal.

Another thing is the ping pong in my head. Is my illustration any good? I know that the duo with my stories and illustrations is okay, but illustrations alone? Does anybody need fashion illustration? Do I loose the joy of drawing if I do it on demand? But maybe then I might be able to really concentrate on making pics. Now everything is done pretty fast after 9PM when kids have gone to sleep. What would the quality of my illustrations be if I could use more time making it? And so on.

Well, it’s time to do an action plan. How to find a sensible not time-eating way to promote illustrations or do some profitable things with this blog. The sad truth is that I have so much ideas in my head. Really, is it sad? Ideas for blog posts, for products, for patterns (which I’d love to concentrate on). Should I fill a lottery coupon to pay my bills for a while?

By taking part of the previously mentioned online illustration class I have promised myself that I try to move on with my ideas with Flash For Zonzon. First step is to do a online portfolio of the créme de la créme illustrations. Then I’m working on at least to get some products alive sooner or later. Like postcards or T-shirt prints for example. Small steps, little by little. Can you hear my war cry in your ears yet?

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Thanks for reading my whole outburst. I promise this will not happen too often.

PS. The canvas shoes are still alive that perform in the third picture. Four summers and still kicking.

Seasons. Helsinki Samba Carnaval 2015.

The day was a bit rainy and temperature +13 or so, but still there was a blast of Helsinki Samba Carnaval 2015. People stood tightly packed along the streets witnessing the wonders that samba schools had prepared to show. For my part I absolutely love this happening. Samba is such a great antidote to everyday life.

In Finland there is not too many occasions to fool around with dress code. In samba carnaval the participants show shamelessly their bellies proudly presenting what they are and dancing their way through Helsinki Esplanade. What a joyful sight!

Lately at Finland media has aroused a discussion about the right to be what you want to be, without anybody to need to rise the eyebrows saying bitter insulting comments. It all started from a concerned mother FaceBook status. She opened up herself of being tired of hearing her four-year boy nominated girl just because he sometimes like to wear pink dress and his hobby is figure skating instead of playing ice hockey. And the commentators are adults. Sad.

It all ended up to #mekkohaaste in Finland. Guys posting pics in dress for support.

Therefore I was happy to spot at least two men dancing in skirts. One in reed skirt and another in kilt. How good they looked! And what is skirt anyway? It’s a shorts with only one leg. In samba parade even a cow skull can have a feather wig.

Samba carnival is proud happy performance. The dancers enjoy showing itself and we the audience get a thrilling experience. So wonderful that it is nice to capture it in photos. Nowadays many times  there is this paradox that something wonderful is on the tray in front of us but we stare the wonders preshrunk through the camera lens.

Fact is that Helsinki Samba Carnaval Parade had only a few male dancing. Quickly estimated only 10% of the dancers are men. In Finland, there is a saying that the Finnish man doesn’t speak nor kiss. Sad to say but this reflects also to attitudes towards men and dance. I suppose that in Rio Samba Carnaval this matter doesn’t exist.

The themes of the carnival schools other reflect some topical issue at the moment. A punk band PKN (Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät) was Finnish representative of the Eurovision Song Contest this spring. Punk is on the air so Helsinki Samba School Imperio do Papagaio had punk as a theme this year. Innovative costumes like iroquois made of colorful plastic straws. We saw biker jacket theme in drum batteria collars and single dancers too.

One of the themes was birds. These shy young birds had just hatched in the nest.

The neon color trend was seen in many cases in decoration and costumes. Perhaps this bird of paradise was the most neon creature in the parade.

Many kids on the audience had earmuffs to endure the loud music that comes with the samba parade. Despite the loud clack, drumming, playing and singing this sweetie couldn’t resist the invite to fall sleep.

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Thank you all Samba Schools for a wonderful show and inspiration! This was 4th time in a row in Flash For Zonzon to make illustrations of happening. If you like to check it all you can click the tag samba.

Today the Question is Who Made My Clothes?

Making clothes is not always so sustainable. On 24 April 2013, 1133 people were killed and over 2500 were injured when the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Social and environmental catastrophes in our fashion supply chains continue. There is a movement against this. You can be apart of it too.

On 24th April, join the Fashion Revolution. Take a selfie showing your label. You could turn your clothes inside out to make more of a statement.
Tag the brand and ask #whomademyclothes?

Finnish blogger Emma Wilde just yesterday wrapped this event nicely. Click your way to the article and find out what, why, how to make a change.
The Wilde Things: Fashion Revolution Day | How to Make a Change?

Powerful Tool. Wonder Woman Pose.

Wonder Woman has been one of my role models for long time. I haven’t seen any films, nor read any comics about her. Only seen some random photographs about the character. And felt strange sisterhood with her. In a situation with hands tied and otherwise bound by chains Wonder Woman has that kind of blink in her eyes that tells us: just wait a sec that I solve this out. Wonder Woman represents fearless and inventive attitude.

Many times when I have been in front of an exiting situation, like important meeting or speaking in public, the calming method has been thinking that I am Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman that handles any situation just like that. And it really has helped a lot. In that mood it is possible to forget the nervousness and just go and do it whatever you have to do.

Because of this earlier relationship with Wonder Woman I was double thrilled when I found an article by James Clear about Wonder Woman Pose. You know, steady pose, put your hands on your hips, keep your chin up, and chest out. The article claims that standing in a Wonder Woman Pose for two minutes in a day is a strategy that reduce anxiety, improve the ability to deal with stress and boost confidence.

This text of mine is just a scratch of the surface. The idea is described profoundly on the article if you’d like to know more.
http://jamesclear.com/body-language-how-to-be-confident

It is worth watching Amy Cuddy’s  20-minute TED Talk about the impact of body language. You can find this at the end of the article. In Amy Cuddy’s words:

Our bodies change our minds
… and our minds change our behaviour
… and our behaviour changes our outcomes.

This sounds like a good deal to any person.

Maybe next time you take a private two minutes Wonder Woman Pose in a bathroom just before the job interview or other social threat. That way it is lot easier to shine in the situation.

Wonder Woman Pose also works fine as a daily meditation. The only problem has been to take a new way to practice. Even if it is just two minutes in a day I haven’t been able to make it to a habit in my life.
Maybe I should attach a post-it note to the toilet mirror to remind of the precious daily two-minute-stand-by-moment.

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You remember? FlashForZonzon is illustrated blog about fashion, street style, interesting surroundings, patterns and more. Well, this post doesn't seem to suit in any labels used before. Therefor this post needs a new label  "more".

Seasons. Women's Day Special with Rick Owens SS2014.

When I first saw the photos of Rick Owens SS 2014 runway show, the photos beat me to the punch. And I couldn't stop grinning. I was so pleased to see these women's angry expressions, in their eyes and faces. The pictures predicted that there was something more to see and when I saw the choreography of the fashion show in YouTube, electricity run along my backbone.

Strong expression in choreography, shouting, energy, vicious faces. All this gave me a message that these women were so sick of whatever it was and they have had enough and they wouldn't take it anymore! It's time to move forward all sisters together. And in the wold today, this is so true. The feminist in me was so happy.

Runway shows and fashion magazines determines strongly the way we see beauty. Skinny models are the norm. So it was very refreshing to see Rick Owens' out-of-the-standard models. This was a radical move in the context of fashion show. Stretching the limits. Thank you Rick Owens!

It is true that women have a reason to be angry.

I don't know whether there is a single country in the world that could be considered totally equal for men and women. Even in countries such as Finland, which seems to be very equal, fact is that women earn less than men for the same work. A man's euro is woman's 78 cents. Constantly, although this has been the issue as long as I can remember.

But this is just a little sorrow compared to bad treatment that some of our little sisters get to experience.

Think about the young girls that are forced to marry with adult men and the tragedies where it leads. Think about female circumcision, which occurs in the name of tradition. So many unnecessary tears.

But I'm happy that there is also bright spots on the horizon.  Education is a way to better life. Despite this fact, going to school is not self evident to all girls. But then there is this Malala Movement, a global movement whose primary goal is to ensure that every girl in the world has access to the educational opportunities they deserve. This movement builds a better future for tomorrows women. Malala herself is one of them in just 16 years of age. If you want to read her story, you can visit The Malala Fund website.

In this Woman's Day I'm suggesting that women would start supporting strongly each other. Give Applause to a Woman Each and Every Day! Give positive feedback to your sisters, fellows and relatives, your boss, your teammates, or whoever you think is worth it. So girls  – and why not men as well – just remember to use your voice.

As an inspiration I'm linking the mentioned Rick Owens -show Spring 2014 Womenswear in Paris here. Enjoy your day!