fashion blog

Tonight! At our studio starting 18hrs - Dr.Sketchy's Helsinki presents: Wonderland! Come and draw and enjoy the nice setting, music and atmosphere. Photo by Neil Kendall.

The Helsinki Burlesque Xmas Xtravaganza event I performed at all weekend long was truly fantastic but really sucked the juice out of me as well. Here's a Lynchian moment from when the party was over last night, with some go-go bunnies off-duty chilling.

What to do today? Let me help you with that: Come to Sture 21 for a set of Dr. Sketchy's and then in the evening join the best, most sparkling and craziest Halloweenn party in town, when we throw our RubiesKlubit: MÖRKÖKLUBI Halloween burlesque show. Booooh!

Heya internet! Long time no see.  Yesterday both dag & dad went to the barber shop to get their hairs cut for vacation mode.  This little fella is turning five in four days and he's wearing a lion shirt that I sew him the other day. Afterwards we went out in the sunhine to zip milkshakes from  Kitty's Milkshake Bar  (the best). And hanged out by the orbs in Hietalahti. And now it's off to Spain with the whole family, boys and girlfriends and bags and what not. Sangria and sunshine here I come!

Iiro Nurminen 1960, Helsingin Kaupunginmuseo Vappu.   Valborg . Vappen. The most likely biggest of the Finnish festivities!  Party-wise, I guess. If the city empties at Midsummer Vappu is the opposite - the city is full of thousands and thousands of celebrating people. We've had mead and funnel cakes and donuts for a the past days and I'm getting rather stuffed by now. Vappen is a festivity for quirky hats and faux noses and costumes and serpentines and confetti (and just making a mess our of everything in general). Kindergartens and schools most often have a masquerade they day before Vappu. Last year Dag was a ninja , this year he went as his latest obsession: a knight! Costumes that I wore when I was little included princess (quelle surprise), medieval lady and cowgirl. I've spent most of my Vappu-day, as in the day after; 1st of May, out on town celebrating since early morning, and even those years I was on shift in the harbour I tried to sneak in a visit to to the park...

It's time for the next Dr.Sketchy's Helsinki! This time we create you a little mini cosmos over at our studio, where the drawing takes place. Dr.Sketchy's is an "anti-art school", a so called 'cabaret drawing'- event, where attendants can draw and paint croquis with a little different setting than the one you might be used to from art school. Usually with a specific theme, styled and set up according to that, and with great music. Photos by Asko Rantanen, whose alter ego Johnny Moth also will serve as our model. The space shuttle will be navigated by Tinker Bell and yours truly. So,  Sunday 23rd from 4pm onwards . Bring pencils papers and cash and see you at Shangri-La!

My friend and artist Aiju Salminen turned her whole building into a light installation yesterday! The big house is in the corner of two of the busiest streets in Helsinki  (I used to live just opposite, when I was still living downtown btw) so it got a lot of attention. The habitants were all in on the thing and put up coloured silk papers in their window to brigthen up the November darkness. The idea is not original, but has not been done in Helsinki before. Picture from Värivalotalo on Facebook.

Happy Halloween! (Because, even  though it's past midnight here by now there's still some Halloween left somewhere in the world). Last year  I spent my Halloween (with a skeleton) at a pilates trainers camp , but this year I got to celebrate it big time at the horror-themed RubiesKlubit burlesque club I produce with Tinx. It's great when you get to host an event with a spooky voice all night long. Here are a couple of shots from the show, all shot by Bernhard. Miettinen. I did my 50ft woman thing, inspired by the, ehrm,  epic masterpiece from 1958. Pepper Sparkles. Vera de Vil. Tinker in monster mode. Bent van der Bleu. One of the winners of our costume competition and my skeleton hand handing over his price. We run RubiesKlubit about every six to eight weeks at Mascot in Helsinki's Kallio district, always with a different theme. The concept has worked really well and it has developed into a great club night with a super audience each time. The next RubiesKlubit will be...

Last Saturday we hosted the latest Dr.Sketchy Anti-Art School night at our studio, this time with a 1960's theme. Tinker Bell and I are the hosts for Dr.Sketchy's Helsinki nights. Picture by Aiju. We wanted to give the night some extra psychedelic vibes so we fixed a projection with some 1969 Joshua Light show that started looping in the background when the evening turned darker, letting the music turn from sixties pop to psychedelia. Tinker Bell drawing behind the curtains. Dr.Sketchy has been on a hiatus in Helsinki, the first one after the break being the Marie Antoinette themed night last June. We plan to keep another evening during autumn still, so follow the Facebook page for updates, or check our studio's page . You will obviously here about any future nights here as well. A couple of drawings from the evening by Janne Korsumäki . And a few by Kerttu Jaatinen. (We used our red-and-white striped screen in the beginning of the night and I was happy to see it being us...