Ode to Autumn

I bought this knitted beauty at a flea marked this summer. My lover actually picked it out for me while I was busy going through other piles of used goods. It has a somewhat funny shape, and is a bit over-sized - so I'm going to have to stretch it a bit. It is an unusual color for me, but I like it nonetheless.I'm wearing thrifted knit sweater from Dale of Norway, Gina Tricot shorts, Cubus tights and stockings, JSFN turtleneck sweater and Roots boots.

It ain't cocaine

When I woke up this morning, this is what I had the pleasure of resting my eyes on. There's always something special about that first snow of the season. It's pretty, delicate, and the flowers are barely hanging on. This is a perfect example of why nature is such an inspiration to me, and why I love experimenting with textures.

What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?

This is another one of my DIY projects which I was supposed to do this spring, but never got around to. It was however pretty simple; I just cut off half the coat. It only cost me $8; and that is what I call a true bargain. I find this jacket somewhat overwhelming, though – I guess it just takes some getting used to. I do love it, and it will definitely keep me warm this winter; that's for sure!
I'm wearing vintage shearling coat that I originally bought at Fretex, Sara Kelly knits, Divided scarf, vintage belt, Cubus tights and Benelli boots. Quote from The Lion King.

álainn • bella

You know me; always looking for something special - that one-of-a-kind item! I do love shopping in boutiques as well, and when unique budget buys AND boutique are keywords - I'm game! Álainn • Bella is one of those treasures. This store was born just last January, so it's still a baby - but man does it have some cute things to start off its first year! The owner is 23 year old Megan O’Donnell from New York, and I asked her a couple of questions about her newborn baby!Tell me about the concept?
The concept of my store came from my personal preferences. I always love to shop at smaller boutique-like stores because the pieces are normally stand-outs and because the styles available have so much thought and consideration put in to them, but then again boutiques tend to be pricey. So I wanted to mix the best of the best. Lower prices that you find in a bigger store, but with the selections and styling of a boutique. I intend to hopefully open a brick and mortar in a few years time. I LOVE shopping and I never get tired of it! So now I get to go shopping and offer my suggestions to other girls on a budget as well. I try to keep all items at an attainable price because I believe you can dress well without spending $300 on one piece.

What are àlainn bellas preferences?
Whenever I’m choosing the items for the store, I really only pick things that I personally would wear. But my style is diverse so I don’t ever intend to have all items that would be considered one type of style (i.e. tough, feminine, etc). I try to get a good mix of classics and trends as well, but even when buying trends I try to get refined ones so the even when the trend is long gone you can still wear it. Because who wants to spend money on something that will be out in a few months time? I want my money to be well spent and I know I’m not alone in that.

Megans favorites right now?
While I would wear almost everything in the store, I’m crushing majorly on the striped color block sweater, the geary skirt which is a great basic, the Serena jeggings, and the quad clutch. So I’m going to need to buy them for myself before they’re gone!!

My favorites right now:
I do love dresses, and these three very versatile ones are my favorites. A two-toned jersey mini dress in navy and gray, with pockets. This blue beauty from the sale-section and this gray ruffle neck string dress, with straps that can be worn either straight down the back or criss-cross.

- So, why am I writing about álainn • bella? Well, you have probably figured it out by now, but I'm going to say it anyways. I love budget beauties and since Megan is such an awesome girl; you guys are getting a 20% discount on her whole shop! (well, except sales - which are too cheap to pass on by the way) The discount-code is “barbro” and it’s good for a whole month! Happy fall discount shopping, my lovely readers!

Megan asked me to make sure you shoot her an e-mail before placing your order if you live outside North America - so that she can estimate the shipping-costs. This way there are no surprises for anyone!

How to: Twirl it

I've been getting a lot of compliments and questions regarding my twirled hair lately - and that's why I made this little tutorial-thingy. It's not a braid and it's not a pony-tail, but rather a twirled side-tail; if there is such a thing. If not; I'm hereby making it a thing! I'm really glad you like it; and even happier about the fact that you are telling me you like it! So, here it is: my very first tutorial-video! Oh, and please don't mock me for being afraid of the webcam - technical thingamajigs isn't my strong side.

Community: Mode Republic

Today I want to share this community with you guys; because, sharing is caring. Mode Republic is to my knowledge the only community out there that rewards members for their contributions; in cash! Of course, you can use your chic-points over at Chictopia to buy a reward and over at Weardrobe you can shop that look; but Mode Republic is much more than that. If you win one of their monthly competitions - you will both be the new cover model and win a $100 cash reward. In addition they have prizes for the 2nd and 3rd best look as well - and who doesn't want some extra pocket-money to spend on those must-have shoes!? I just had to have a little chat with Nancy Ting, the founder of Mode Republic.

.........................................................................

- Tell me a little bit about yourself?
My name is Nancy Ting. I was born in Hong Kong and moved to Toronto, Canada when I was a teenager. After graduating from college, I moved around quite a bit for work, e.g., London (UK), New York (US), Beijing (China) etc. I was a programmer/consultant building Internet applications for a number of years and then went back to pursue my Masters in Business Administration at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- When Mode Republic was born?
When I finished my masters degree, I made a career change and went into finance. After doing so for a year, I realized that my passion was still in technology. I resigned from my finance job in August 2008 and decided to create my own career by combining two of my passions in life - fashion and technology. I came up with the early concept of Mode Republic in October 2008. I spent the following months doing research, refining the business model and forming partnerships with online stores. The company was formed in August 2009 and we first started reaching out to fashionistas end of January 2010 with our first contest - Valentine's Day Dress to Impress Contest.
- Could you tell me a little about how you came up with the idea?
I love fashion! One of the things that I enjoyed most when I worked in different parts of the world was to check out how people dress! Seriously, there are so many stylish people in the world who should be models or stylists! I am sure within everyone's circle of friends there are bound to be a few stylish friends whose dream was to build a career in the fashion industry but might choose not to for a variety of reasons. I have also met many aspiring designers, stylists, models and fashion photographers who are so talented but they told me how tough it is to break into the fashion world.

So I thought with the Internet and the success of web sites such as thesartorialist.com and lookbook.nu, wouldn't it be great if there is a platform which allow stylish people to showcase the world their style and make some money from doing so? Also when I read fashion magazines, there is always a "splurge" Prada version and a "steal" H&M version of an outfit. I only wish that there are more than 2 options!

So I came up with the idea of writing a computerized program that matches what the fashionistas are wearing with all the similar items from our partner online stores. Then what happens is when a sale goes through, we have agreements with the online stores such that they pay us a commission. I think it is only fair to reward the photo contributors for submitting quality photos! So I designed a revenue sharing program, such that we track the particular photo that led to the sale of an item, and we share part of the commission that we receive with the photo contributor as our way to give back to our community of fashionistas. The fashionistas can focus on styling great outfits, instead of worrying about keeping up with Internet technologies or dealing with partnerships with online stores.

In sum, our goal is to create a platform, such that aspiring designers, stylists, models, photographers or simply, stylish people can collaboratively create a fashion magazine to showcase the world their style. Shoppers could get inspired by their looks and create their own style through "Shop This Look". The photo contributors in turn get rewarded based on their contribution.

- Where do you go from here?
In the past 2-3 months, we were able to form some significant partnerships with some online stores! So right now we are working hard to integrate many products from those stores to our "Shop This Look"! Stayed tuned for our full launch for shoppers! It will happen within weeks!
Check out the site here, and become a member if you want! Don't forget to add me as a friend too; so I can check out your looks!

*Friday favorites: every Friday I'll recommend a unique store, an awesome blog, a lovely book or something else I love. I'll chose things I genuinely love, not just random stuff - but if you want to recommend someone or something to me, just send me an e-mail at contact.barbro [@] gmail.com

I didn't make it all the way through third grade for nothing!

I made these shorts in August, and have actually been wearing them a lot - but I just realized I've never shown them to you guys before. That's so weird! This is my first successful DIY-project, I think - or rather, the biggest one I've done. Sure, I make small changes to hem-lines, cut of stuff and add some personal touches to a lot of things - but this DIY-thingy actually involved tools and some planning. I'm quite happy with the result as well; and it just cost me $7! So, what do you think?
I'm wearing my DIY leather shorts, BikBok cropped sweater, vintage belt, H&M hat, Cubus tights and Asos heels! Quote from The Rescuers Down Under

A Swedish sweetheart

Guys, you have to see this! The wonderful Annika made this awesome drawing of me, inspired by this picture. How sweet is that! Thank you, Annika - you're such a doll!

Oh, and I updated some of my press/features if you're interested. Click here to view a slightly overwhelming collection!

"An Ambush," said Owl, "is a sort of Surprise."

I styled this EXR Pucca tee in a couple of different ways, before I decided to go with a playful romantic style. I had so much fun wearing it, I even did a little dance in front of the camera - just because the design got me in a really good mood. This means that you probably will have a laugh when the Octobers sum-up of my wearings is published in my series of moving pictures! I wanted to try matching it with this skirt, even though they're both in totally different styles. I do love a challenge, and mixing styles really is a lot of fun.

A little review:
I'd rate this product at 4 out of 5: mostly because I had so much fun wearing it! It was soft and felt good against my skin; very comfortable and loose. I did wish for a large size; because, (you know me) - I love over-sized clothes. This tee has an unusual cut, which is refreshing; and I really like the length. You can't see it since I tucked it in, but it actually ends at the middle of my thighs. The fabric did however seems a bit weak and somewhat sheer; which generally means that it wont last very long. I hope it will prove me wrong.

I'm wearing EXR Pucca shirt, BikBok skirt, Cubus tights and belt, H&M hat and my GoJane booties. This is a part of my collaboration with the Korean site; Iyozo. If you want to see how other girls styled their EXR products, check it out here! Quote from Winnie the Pooh.

Winner: Heavy Machine

You guys have been such great sports this last week, and a total of one hundred and twenty three wonderful people left a comment on my Heavy Machine giveaway! But, unfortunately there can only be one winner of this awesomeness - and that lucky girl is:

Tanya from Starry Eyed!

Congratulations! Your comment was lucky number 36, which random.org picked out for me as the winner. I am super jealous!

Tanya had never heard of Heavy Machine before this giveaway, but favored the Nostalgic Chick instantly. Their unique design and bright red color really appealed to her; and was actually the pair you guys favored the most as well. Tanya told me she likes Heavy Machine because their shoes come in a variety of colors, and because they can be coordinated with any outfit. I couldn't agree more! When you usually spend $25 to $45 on a pair of shoes (like I do too); these ones are what I consider a real tease. The girl behind Starry Eyed normally wears Charlotte Russe heels, but told me, as she kindly answered a few questions for me via mail, that:

"I will rock The Maggies with leggings and a loose top. I am super excited about winning and can't wait to wear them!!"

To those of you that didn't win: you know I love you - and because of that you guys are getting a 15% discount for 15 days over at HeavyMachine.com! That's pretty awesome! The discount code is "barbro", which you type in at the check-out. I know it's not as good as a free pair of heels from the SS2011 collection - but it's pretty close! So, go get yourself a pair of discounted Heavy Machine wonders - courtesy of Barbro Andersen!

One hundred

I'm so excited! I have been asked to be part of the new Teen Vogue 'Fashion Click' blogging network that launches at the end of this month. Fashion Click features the 100 best fashion and style blogs out there - and it's a huge privilege to be considered one of them. I can't wait to see my posts up there!

Everybody is Ugly

"Graceful, willowy and elegant, with a touch model-esque mystery, barkatt’s style is without a doubt one of the most popularly-emulated looks here on Chictopia. Who wouldn’t want to look like this stunning European beauty? In addition to being blessed with a creamy white complexion and luxuriously-long tresses, this girl sports an equally artistic array of clothing styles, ranging from draped jersey basics to delicate floral maxi dresses."You can check out my interview with Chictopia here!

Stockholm in November

Thanks to you wonderful wonders, I'm one of the winners of the Street Style contest by Lindex! Thank you so much for voting for me; again and again! I'm one of three fashion experience winners, which means I get to go to Stockholm in November; for free! I'm getting a overnight stay at a hotel, dinner and get to go backstage on a photoshoot! I get to meet the photographers, stylists and models - and I'm really-really looking forward to it! Thank you, thank you!

Giveaway: Heavy Machine!

If you haven't heard of Heavy Machine before, this wonder-label was established in 2009 to fulfill the dream of a generation of trendsetting and edgy women who demand a deeper sense of empowerment. Their distinctive looks for the modern woman allow her to make a statement with each step that she takes. Inspired by industrial machine structures and heavy, strong lines, these color blocks are designed to give each woman the pleasure of being standout beautiful, yet uniquely feminine. Heavy Machine’s creative team is Michelle Wu and Yoyo Pan, which successfully have redefined female footwear, and I just adore their architectural creations!
My current favorites are Neon Heart (grey), Tiny Eyes, Schizophrenic Crossover and Neon Heart (pink). I think these shoes are freakin fantastic, and I would love to have such a statement in my closet. Susie from Style Bubble has also fallen in love with these wonders, and here she is styling around Paris in a pair of Tadao's Malachites.
To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is visit Heavy Machine and tell me which pair is your favorite! Leave the link in a comment on this entry to compete - and if you win; Heavy Machine will send you a FREE pair of either the Maggies or Lady Future from next Spring's 2011 collection - in your size of course! How awesome is that?I told you guys that you were in for some treats this fall, and man am I jealous of this one! So, what are you waiting for?!

Remember to leave your e-mail, if you don't have a blog, so that I know how to contact you if you win. The winner will be announced Monday the 11th of October and will selected at random. Only one entry per person, please.

| Heavy Machine Website |

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It's getting cold outside. Much colder. Another month has passed by, which means I made another little video-thingy with all the pictures I took - but didn't want to use. Here is a recap of the September wearings in my little series of moving pictures.

Music by I blame Coco feat Robyn - Caesar. First serie (in the forest) by photographer Ellen.

I danced with the devil in Kathmandu

Look at this awesome cape my mama bought for me! So pretty! It has these leather patches on it, and pockets. I love pockets, however weird that must sound. This sure will keep the wind and snow from turning me into a pop-stickle this season. Oh, yeah, and it's pretty. But, I said that already.
I'm wearing cape from Monki, long shirt-dress and belt from Cubus, tights from BikBok and shoes from JSFN. Quote from Robyn.