Beauty Spots of Clown Eyes.

 

When I posted a circus-post at the end of last year came some other circus-related topics to my mind that I'd like to share with you.

Once I had a neighbor Karolina, a female circus acrobat. She always had little drawn spots under her eyes as a make up. Once came to speech, that besides acrobat and circus teacher for kids she also worked as a Clown Doctor at hospitals. You know the Clown Doctors that bring the healing power of humor and laughter to hospitalized children.

My neighbor kind of carried the comedy and being clown in her everyday life in her minimal clown makeup-spots under her eyes. She told that the idea behind those spots is to direct viewer's attention to eyes.

Not a bad idea. The spots under the eyes were very cute actually. Maybe we could try that makeup-trick too to get some extra positive attention. What do you think?

On the Street. Brave White Boots, Töölö, Helsinki.

 

Be careful! It's very slippery out there!

On the Street. 50s Style Eyeglasses, Adams, Helsinki.

 

 For a change it was very refreshing to see someone dress up in light colors in wintertime. I also liked the contrast between the pale look and 50s feeling glasses. Girlish and strong at the same time.

The Story of Blue Suede Shoes.

 

After having posted about the Boots Made for Walking in November, I came to think about other shoe related songs. And this came to my mind, Blue Suede Shoes. Immediately I started wonder what kind of shoes they are exactly. Our dearest Internet gave me the answer and led me to a nice story about the origins of this song.

The Daily Apple -blog summarized so fine the story behind the famous song, that I am borrowing the lines from there.

I thought that Elvis is the man behind this song, but no, Carl Perkins wrote it.

• We all know Elvis Presley performed the song, but Carl Perkins is the guy who wrote it. He got the idea from Johnny Cash.
• Cash told Perkins about an Air Force sergeant he used to know was rather particular about his appearance. He used to say, jokingly, "Just don't step on my blue suede shoes!" The reason this was a joke was because he'd be wearing his Air Force uniform at the time, with his regulation-issued shoes.
• Cash thought this was a good line for a song, but Perkins didn't have any idea what to do with it. Not long afterward, he was performing at a dance when he heard a boy tell the girl he was dancing with, "Uh-uh! Don't step on my blue suedes!" He thought it was pretty incredible that the boy would care more about his shoes than the girl, and that's what made the song start to click in his head.

If you like to read the long version of the "Shoes"-story you can turn to these sources:
Wikipedia - Blue Suede Shoes
Squidoo, Elvis Songs: Blue Suede Shoes
Songfacts, Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins
Rockabilly Hall of Fame, Blue Suede Shoes: Chronology of a Hit

Curious as I am, I checked both versions on YouTube, Carl Perkins and Elvis. And it can't be helped, Elvis pulls the longer straw. While Carl Perkins feels like an uncle playing guitar and singing along, Elvis is pure energy and rhythm. Great song and if you think it, a funny one too!
You can do anything but lay off of on my blue suede shoes. Yeah!



On weekend I visited a shoe store and to my big surprise there were blue suede shoes for men. Almost same style than the originals. I wouldn't mind having a pair of blue suede shoes myself.
Finally: Is there anybody remembering another shoe related songs? Please let me know if you can think of any.

On the Street. Fur Sleeves, Aleksanterinkatu, Helsinki.

 

During the first week of the new year there is always lot of Russian tourists in Helsinki. It affects the street scene immediately in the way that there is a lot of furs. Fur hood edge, fur hats, fur coats, fur vests. Normally fur is not so common around here. After 90s strict criticism against fur farming fur has almost disappeared from the street scene. For example a friend of mine has inherited a nice looking fur coat, but she don't want to wear it because of the bad conscience and feeling sorry for the animals. 

Anyway, this look was so elegant I had to paint it. With the Monocler Gamme Rouge -boots this fur sleeved coat would make quite a different sound.

On the Street. Poodle-look, Liisankatu, Helsinki.

 

Hello there! Let's begin the new year blogging with the basics. In this case it means Street style -post. Here we have a nice outfit from Helsinki that reminds a bit like poodle.  

Seasons. Happy New Year 2013 with Louis Vuitton, ss 2013.

We are living the last days of the current year. The winter solstice was already 21st December and after that the day is approximately five minutes longer every day in the northern part of world like here in Finland. I'm celebrating it with this Louis Vuitton spring/summer 2013 outfit. It condenses perfectly the black-and-white trend of the spring 2013. Towards spring we go, believe it or not!

I wish you all Happy New Year 2013! Let it be great and full of inspiration!

For Fun. Circus.

When I was a kid, always on Boxing Day came Billy Smart's Christmas Circus on TV. It was a magical moment to see all the glitter of the costumes and the acrobats flying in the air. Trapeze was so high up and there was a lot of animals in the show. Those were the moments when my love for circus has begun. 

 I have visited Circus Finlandia's performances with my kids. I love the atmosphere in the big tent. The starred top of the tent, the orchestra, cones of light, the variety of feelings from joy and excitement to wonder when a magician conjures a parrot out of nothing. This year before the acrobats acted their most demanding act Circus Finlandia's director Carl Johan Jernström introduced the coming stunt with the words:

"Circus performers are showing off the best they can do."
What a great phrase to think of when we are due to do some demanding task in our daily lives.

Dolce & Gabbana would be my number one costume designer for Circus Princesses. The first lady could perform an entrance in the pelerine and throw it off to some assistant's hands before starting to walk with string up in the air.

Sometimes when I look through my favorite street style sites I hear echoes of Circus. Or what do you think of these two characters below in the framework of circus?

The Urban Spotter

The Streetstyle Aesthetic

On the Street. The Mystery of the Fox Girl, Kamppi, Helsinki.

A hat is an essential accessory around here in winter times. Frost and snowing is much more pleasant when you have your head warmly covered. Few days ago I saw this fox-like hat. Somehow that suited well to my mood and gave me a motif for a little Christmas story.

MYSTERY OF THE FOX GIRL
On the last week before Christmas some forest animals dare to explore the habits of people. To make sure to be safe among people they change themselves to human form. This Fox Girl is now among us in Helsinki looking around wondering lights and odd things it sees. It is used to interpret the shadows and paw prints in the snow. It doesn't know what to think about all it sees in the town of Helsinki. The Fox Girl returns back to the woods a bit confused and it is very happy to be able to dive under the spruce branches with no lights on.

Seasons. December Amaryllis Belladonna from Sketchbook.

 

I have a habit to plant an flower bulbs of Amaryllis in the middle of the November. It's a pleasure to follow how the first green leaves appear from the large brown flower bulbs and the flower stalk get taller every day on the kitchen table. The result of that growing feels always such a wonder. This year our Amaryllis appeared in light red tone, a bit like red crab. Flowering began in mid-December when nothing will flourish outdoors because of the cold and snowy climate around here.  The contrast is very effective to meet such a flourishing beauty at home.

The Amaryllis bulbs can flourish again if you treat it right. From the site of the United States National Arboretum I found a step-by-step plan to get your amaryllis to bloom again.

Amaryllis is a traditional flower for Christmas time in Finland. I'd love to hear if there are some other traditional flowers in other countries. If you like, let us hear from your plant selection for Christmas in comments.