Metropolitan Igloo

2006-04-17T19:24:00.000+02:00

[Cellphone Fashion]

Now adays everyone has a cellphone. Even my grandfather.
I remeber when I was younger and felt like an outsider before I got my second phone:
The first was so big and uggly I couldn't answer it in public.
Now I've had my beloved Motorola Razr ever since i came out on the market, which is around a year ago. And I really love my cellphone.
It fits me perfect in style and funktions. Futuristic, japanese and flat like a MasterCard.

More and more are people discovering the asian phenomena to personalize and accessorise their phones. Keitai Straps (cellphone straps), cellphone bags and socks together with personal ringtones, background pictures and more
The trick to get a really trendy cell is to not follow any trend.
You like scubadiving? Put a dolphine on your phone or a big group of coloured fish. The more the better.
If you like the hollywood style, cover your cellphone with daimond stickers and top with a tastefull silver Keitai Strap.
Or if you like the kawaii style, just shower you phone with Hello Kitty in various styles.
For a more sophisticated look, check out Ouch by Ko-Ko-No.

Here is the best websites:
http://www.royalangel.com/ Keitaistraps and jewlerys from Milano, Stockholm, New York and Tokyo. Best is the New York Dragon and the Tokyo-letter in form of cubes to write your name with.
http://ouchbyko-ko-no.com/ A real Keitai Straps designer from Sweden.
http://www.fashion4phones.com/ Alot of stupid names but they have daimond stickers for the hollywood look.
http://www.mobilglitter.se/ Has some japanese figures and really beautiful japanese dolls.
In swedish. http://www.strapya.com/top.htm A large japanese site i English. tons of Hello Kitty and original stuff.

2006-03-18T16:25:00.000+01:00

[Mental Hostpital White]

That swedish people has a fetish for white is no secret.
But the question is if it's really something to be proud of and if white really has a well chosen place in fashion and interrior design. After months and months of staring into the white kitchen wall over my coffee cup with a slight homocidal look on my face as I'm not allowed to repaint I've concluded this: The colour white does not belong in interrior design, call me a child of my time or not, and to spare to poor clothingvessel from nightmares white should only come in one form, funktional classics.
The swedsh tradition from what seems to be the stoneage with white painted walls may have a funktion in our depressingly dark country. (It's so dark in the wintertime that many people need lighttherapy and tons of extra vitamins not to get depressed during the darker months.)
Some people also claims its "easy to match with".
I can tell you that most white wall are non-match friendly. Accept for they who are happily married to a übermodern geman architect who actually knows how to use white ptoperly. The point is ofcourse, white is not userfriendly at all.
Most swedish apartments has white sealings, white windowframes, white doors, white bathrooms and white kitchencabinets and everything automatic (toilets, bathtubs, sinks, dishwashing machines, refridgerators and lampbuttons) is yes, you've guessed right, indecently, squalidly white.
During our additionally lighter and warmer summer months it stings our eyes, gives us that cozy migraine and winds us in feeling of mentalhostpitals a la "Girl, Interrupted" from the 60's.
It's not very chict and it still doesn't fit, what a surprice, with pine furniture.
Another missconception is that the marine fashion with white (again), navy blue and gold would be flattering or funktional at sea.
The fact is that my nineteen years of sea experience screams improper words towards it. It smells like old aunts and landlubbers.
It's easy to believe that white is suitable for the warm weather and dangerous UV but your friends and family onboard with be dazzeled, in a bad way, by your clothes and bling bling has never been part of sea life, unless you've planned on a spontaneous suicide and want to use is as weights.

Damp colours as concrete and light grey-blue willl melt infront of your eyes.
White in your remaining closet should be discreet both for male and female:
A couple of noble skirts in classic Karl Lagerfield style and one or two modern pieces from Viktor and Rolf or Yoji Yamamoto in a futuristic factoryworker style is perfect everywhere.
Some slim wifebeaters in cotton feels nonchalantly chic with jeans or lose cottontrousers. It works everywhere with a nice necklace or great shoes.
Dare to be fresh in a simple way. It gives space for personality.
While thinking about your house/apartment, look beyond the strained horizon and sink down in the roomy, soft tunes of granite, concrete, brushed steel or the refreshing feeling of turquoise tile. Light therapy should be claimed with thought-trough and wise lamp and light shopping like creating a little lampforest in an empty corner of the apartments chillout area (who has livingrooms now adays?), extra hidden light in kitchen or bathroom and the use of coloured lamps in harmony with floors and furniture.
Alternative light to just one kitchen lamp should be considered too. Who doesn't hate being blinded at the breakfust table a cold winter morning?
Throw out the sterile whiteness and welcome the soft cold granite, the natural concrete and the japanese grey scale in the interrior design and especially, in the wardrobe.
Invest in a simple Yukata (male) or a unique lightgrey vintage Kimono with short sleeves (female) to shuffle around in at home.

Glass from Indiska.

Put some colour in your kitchen

While you on it, why not try wearing a plum coloured or black Kimono with an Obi (4 meter long Kimono belt that is wrapped around chest and stomach) to the next party. Or a Haori (kimono jacket) in dark purple with pumps and tight jeans. I guarantee you'll be remembered.

To shop for kimonos online:
Ebay
Japonmania
Kimono Donya
Ichiroya

Plum coloured kimono. From my own collection at home.

Grey cotton kimono with stripes. From my own collection at home.

2006-03-05T18:58:00.000+01:00

[City Life - Avoiding the effects]

one thing you should nerver try to fool yourself about: Urban climate is really bad for you body. not only the fact that we sit alot and (atleast part of the population) eat alot of junkfood, but the nagative affect polluted air and make-up has on our skin. after alot of reading and thinking I've concluded that this list of products and everyday rituals are essential for a healthy appearence.

but before we get to that streetsmart checklist, have you ever thought about the fact that the asian population of the world has 90 % smoother, clearer and more spotless skin than any other of us?
Have you also noticed that korean, chinese and japanese men and women often has a skin radiant as a 25-year old european at the age of 55?
I have. And some of the main reasons to this is a highly moist climate, dairy and often fully/partly meatfree diet
a high intake if sea grown plants as seaweed and microalgaes.
These are a luxurious bath in vitamins and minerals.

Living in countries which has such big climate changings through out the year as Sweden or Holland its no wonder our skin gets coarse and matures much erlier than asian men and womens does.
Snow, cold and hard salty winds in winter, cold autums woth storms and salty moist and hot dry summers. Combine that with transfat food, pounds and pounds of sugar and little sun during winter, essential for our skin to produce vitamin D.
Who ordered spots and rough skin?
After clearing that up, can you believe how few that actually protects their skin from all of this?
If we lived in the woods, and still collected food by hand this wouldn't be a problem. But fact is, we don't and it's impossible to get rid of all the airpollution and cars in the next 20 years.
So, untill we are queing to work in waterdriven hovercars, you might want to check of this list:

Cleansing milk and tonic: for daily cleansing.
weekly micropeeling: removing dead skincells and smoothens the skinsurface.
Make up remover and towlettes/cotton: No make up can be removed just by washing it off! Always use cotton of towlettes otherwise you're just smearing it out.
Moisturizer and sunblocker: Never leave you house without skinprotection! *Going out without makeup - use a moisturizer fit for you skintype, ask in you make-up shop. *Going out with makeup - use a T-zone cream under you foundation! it will keep you make up fixed and it works as an effective pollution and make up shield.* going out in the summer - always use a moisturizer with sunblock or in direct sunlight, a sunblocker ontop.
Get rid off you sugar addiction! Sugar is one of the meanest kinds of food. Only use products with fruitsugar or without sugar. Fruitsugar wont give you a sugar rush which makes it less addictive. there are plenty of books on sugar addiction.
Drink loads of water! yes, you've heard it before but that's just because its so important. Think of it as a washing machine for you body. water cleanses the body and skin. The most effective way is to carry a waterbottle in your bag/rucksack.
Change to a vegan diet. Dairy- products doesn't just pollute the world, it pollutes you body, gets you fat, raises you colesterol and is highly addictive. Did you know that milk contains milksugar, which means dairyproducts are part of the sugar addiction and obesity problem? Meat is also part of the polluton and obesity group.

fashionable food - vegan thai soup

Learn dishes with seewead and start eating microalgaes. Lifestream Spirulina is a microalgae containing over 100 vitamins and minerals. Just make sure its Lifestream spirulina and no other spirulina as this is the original.

A small checklist that makes all the difference.

2005-11-06T13:49:00.000+01:00

The Real Fashion Statement

There is only one way to be a real fashionista.

First, you got to know your rolemodels. If it's Bridgette Bardot or Carrie Bradshaw, you got to know who they are and what they stand for. This is not to copy their style but to be sure that you don't. Rolemodels are about inspiration, not about being a copycat.
Second, understand the buisness. If you don't know who John Galliano or Manolo Blahnik is, start reading ELLE and Vogue and learn to appritiate the hard work behind the clothes.
Don't be a slave. Just because you like Coco (Chanel) doesn't mean that you should be dressed "Coco" from tip to toe. Learn to mix right and appritiate the smaller, local brands and up-commers from the design schools.

Love yourself. Talking about your flaws 24/7 is not a big hit. We all have flaws, accept it and think of your better sides more. You gain nothing on going on about your belly being a bit too pouty, look at it as something personal, cute and down to earth instead.
But the most important rule, and it really is a rule, be a consious shopper.
Bying real fur or jeans whichs colouring methods polluts India's watersupplies will not make you look better. Just more egoistic, snotty and very, very 90's.
This is a new century. A century where status is not about money anymore but about knowledge and consiousness. It is a century of purification. Look at greenpeace homepage for a list over which household product that are toxic and should be avoided.

Shop online from all over the world for less transport air-pollution. (And it's cheaper than bying in a store)
Buy make up, skincare and schampoo from brands as Dr. Hauschka, Aveda, The Body Shop, Vegan Essentials and Weleda.
All made with natural ingredients, non toxic and unharming for you and the inviroment.
Did you know that most mascaras contain nickel, a highly allergenic metal?
Natural make up is free from this. So this is not just about nature, it's about you and you body.
Being fashionable, this is something to strive for.
Do as wellknown designer Stella McCartney, take a stand. being without opinion is like being without personality.

Other online stores to check out:
http://store.yahoo.com/yhst-48641225173758/headtotoe.html
http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/shop/toiletries.shtml

Being a fashionista is not just about what you wear, its about what you say, eat and do.
Especially what you eat as it has a big affect on how you feel, mentally and physically.
Vegans are no longer a little group of teenage animalrights activists searching for their personality.
Its the respected and respecting part of the population, taking a stand.
Being pacifist, consious and taking social responsibility, for real.
Mind your surrounding,your body and other people.
There are many celebrity vegans out there from past and present.
Some examples are

Musicians: Moby, Fiona Apple, Phil Collen, Judith Durham (lead singer, The Seekers), Earth Crisis (Hardcore Band), Dave Goodman (original producer of Sex Pistols), Vijay Hariharan (drummer for Puritan), James (the band, all vegan apparently), Daniel Johns (Singer and guitarist of silverchair), K D Lang, John and Yoko Lennon (rhythm guitar with Beatles, Formed Plastic Ono Band), Sinead O'Connor, Rikki Rocket (rock group Poison), Dave Scott, Heather Small (M-people), Geoff Tate (Vocalist for Queensryche) , "Weird" Al Yankovic, Yazz, Benjamin Zephaniah, Kraftwerk and more
Actors and Tv-personalities: Jo Stevens (MTV Real World, SF), Brigitte Bardot (French actress, animal activist), Drew Barrymore, Wendy Turner (presenter on both BBC and Channel 4 TV (UK), Peter Bogdanovich (director), Dan Castellaneta (voice of Homer Simpson), Jennie Garth ("Kelly Taylor" on Beverly Hills, 90210), Sara Gilbert, Bob Gunter (screenwriter, Sandlot), Woody Harrelson (Bartender on "Cheers!", Star of "Natural Born Killers"), Julia Sawalha, Lindsay Wagner, Sophie Ward, Spice Williams, River Phoenix, Jarett Lennon and more
Athletes: Lucy Stephens (triathlete), Katherine Monbiot (world champion arm wrestler and nutritionist), Jack LaLanne (Fitness guru), Ruth Heidrich (3-time Ironman finisher, marathoner, age-group record holder, Pres. Vegetarian Society of Honolulu) and more
Philosophers, Scientists, writers:vegan and animal activists: Amanda Feilen (writer and poet), Serge Raynaud de la Ferriére (Founder of Universal Great Brotherhood), John Robbins, Colin Spencer, Alice Walker, Dr John Harvey Kellog, Anthony Robbins, Socrates, Leonardo Da Vinci, Henry Ford, Voltaire, Martin Luther, Clement of Alexandria, Clara Barton (founded American Red Cross), Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Sir Isaac Newton, Milton, Franz Kafka, Henry Heimlich M.D, Charles Darwin, Charlotte Bronte, William Blake and more.

Eating animal products you have 90 % bigger chance of getting cancer, heart diceases, strokes while you're filling your body with toxics, mutated sprayings, cow penicilin and bad fat acids.
At the same time your helping rainforst devistation, greenhouse effect, air and water pollution, the killing of coral reefs and making the poor poorer.

How an intelligent, fashionable and loving person would agree to such things I cannot see at all.

Being a fashionista is about being more than just someone stringing along with the crowd. It is being someone who has knowledge and consiousness above the majority.

In the next aricle I will write about ecological clothes and where to find them.

2005-10-23T12:05:00.000+02:00

The truth about fashion

I have had my hand full for a long time now and I apologize for keeping you waiting this long.

What is fashion?
When people hear that term they directly think of young girls ravishing the shopping malls.
That’s not it. The word fashion, trend, now seem to stretch further than I imagined before.
Fashion is not just about clothes.
It's the direction we look, the spot we fix our ears towards, it's the place we want to go, it's what we want to taste and the things we want to touch.
Clothes, furniture, vacations, food, art, language, music, films and topics. It's our culture.
It's what makes us strong, weak, proud, afraid, down to earth and up running (in the wrong direction)

I was born and raised in Sweden. By friends from other countries I'm referred to as "my Swedish friend, Maya".
As long as I can remember I've wanted to move away from here. And I still do, don't get med wrong, but I have finally learned to appreciate my origin. What from my culture can I take and hug close to my heart when I move away?
A lot I realised. It's not as much that I come from Sweden as a particular country I think, rather being Nordic.
When I grew up I was told bedtime stories about Eskimo children and living conditions. We had two Siberian Husky’s* as babysitters in and around the house, which also drove us in a sled in the winter. I've started to feel a good kind of pride for my origin and the beautiful winter landscape with it's healing silence.
Being in Sweden in the winter is like being in a fairytale or a Tim Burton movie.
I keep thinking that reality can't be this beautiful.

Now to fashion.
To celebrate the winter soon coming start making a wish list already. (As I’m not Christian I don’t celebrate Christmas, I celebrate Jul**, as it is called in Sweden.)

Divide the wish list up in expensive and less expensive things to buy. Friends and family you know don't have a lot of money this time of the year you simply give them a wish list of less expensive things you really want. Perfect when you know they have a lot of friends they want to give presents to. A pocket book for example, don't cost more than most people can afford but is doesn't make it less treasurable. When people are starting to get stressed about Jule coming up, just simply hand them a written paper with what you really would like to get and you'll give them (and yourself) a better holiday. While you’re at it, buy a big soft scarf, Russian style, patterns in grey, red and white for example. Accessorise your newly bought military/marine inspired coat with dark knee-high boots, Victorian style, with lacing or buy a pair of miko, the kind of warm boots Eskimos wear. I’m happy to tell that the biggest trends this autumn and winter is Russian and military influences. Rich patterns and broidery mixed with straight, minimalistic dark navy or military garments. Under your boots or miko boots, wear long thick socks in matching colours with your top, hair colour or make up and tie a leather band around the shaft. Warm, native and chic and you’ll still look fabulous when taking of the incredible shoes you bought (while still staying warm).

Get rid of you summer blonde hair and colour it copper blonde, intensive red, dark red or warm dark brown. Accessorise with make-up in deep purple, blood red, black and copper.

*Sibirien Husky picures
http://www.alaska-malamute.de/html/der_sibirien_husky.html

http://www.nic.fi/~hra/index.html

** “Jul” is the Swedish word for the 24 of December celebrated with gifts and a feast.
Originally Christmas was not a Christian holiday. It has it's roots in the old heathen wheel of the year. The original name is “Jule”. This is a cultural event and has nothing to do with religion in my case.

2005-09-15T21:15:00.000+02:00

What: Blood concert

Where: club Mondo at Medborgarplatsen, Stockholm

When: 19/8

My boyfriend ordered tickets as a gift for me and neither of us had actually heard them before.

They’re a Visual-Kei band from Japan that had their first show here in Sweden.

The crowd was quite big and everyone was pretty exited as there are very few visual-Kei bands that tour outside of Asia

It was a wonderful feeling to be there, as the crowd mainly consisted of cute gothic Lolita dressed people, and as I’m into this kind of underground culture I felt really at home, in a way you never can feel when being part of that kind of small culture any where else.

I’m not a gigantic fan of Visual-Kei, or J-rock. I listen to loads of loads of music and I never become a fanatic of anything in such an extreme way.

Anyway, back to the concert, it was really good. People where jumping so much that the floor actually bent under the weight. The costumes Blood whore where extreme. Not my taste but it was really and all eyes- and all ears- concert.

The best with it was the incredible atmosphere, both waiting in line and at the actual concert.

Those who weren’t there certainly missed out on something.
Especially as the singer was so cute...

It is possible to purchase Bloods CD’s at this site: (the site is in Swedish)

http://denkipop.e-butik.se/shop/?cat_id=22&&sct_id=414

2005-08-22T20:12:00.000+02:00

Stockholm Fashion Week

Baam!!! Suddenly everything is happening. Living in a country that sometimes feel like its still left in the stoneage when talkning about fashion makes this august week feel like a blossoming Somei Yoshino (cherry tree), spreading it's branches over Sthlm(short for Stockholm) and leaving petals all over the city.

Sthlm Fashion week is not just a week for the professionals but also a week when numerous fashionevents take place, everything from fashion shows and exibitions to enourmous fashion-, design- and textile fairs...

And a little advise to everyone who is thinking about buying winterboots or shoes... Buy them now. all wintershoes are already out in the stores and when the cold really comes... so comes the shoestore boom. All the best shoes will be sold out in your size and the shops will be filled with everything from grandma to your bf's babysister. It will be packed.

I've already bought mine. Eskimo boots in black with beautiful embroiderys on the toe and shaft. exactly what I wanted and I was practically alone in the store. They go in the wardrobe untill the temperature sinks.

Talking about autumn and winter fashion, NK (Short for The Nordic Company, One of the oldest and largest mals in Sthlm, situated at Hamngatan 18-20) has their big annual autumn fashionshow on the groundfloor, Ljusgården, at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00, Saturday the 27th of august. They're already building the stage (I did some research this afternoon) and it's quite different from last year. I'm hoping to see models as the now famous topmodel Carolina Winberg, which was the opening model for last years show. (Which by the way was my first real fashionshow, and YES I cried of exitement). A model I want to see too on the catwalk is another swedish supermodel, Viksy Andrén.

In Gallerian (The Gallery, situated across the street from the NK) a group of designers has been set in what could be des

2005-08-20T20:29:00.000+02:00

This is a presentation of this blogg, it's author and the answer to thefrustrated "Why!" thay may pop up on occasion in ones mind. This is not only intended for the readers, but also for the author herself, who sometimes forget what she's doing due to certain and sudden over-exited Pingu-psychotic manias.

Why Metropolitan Igloo?

I live in the capital city of sweden, and it's a way to honor my background and childhood (No, I've never lived in an igloo), but also to play with certain myths about sweden (Like the one that we have icebears running around in the streets for example). At the same time its a way for me to remember, to appritiate my native country and it's uniqueness, as this surely isn't N.Y, Shanghai or Tokyo.

This blogg will, among other things, be filled with fashion information about shops, trend tip-offs, fashions shows (time and date), designers and onlinestores that the author wants to bring forward. There will also be traveltips about citys she's visited, links to designs she wants and all kinds of other materialistic crap we love. And it's as you probably guessed also an open dairy of her life.

Readers read on their own risk and will somtimes be referred to as Other Penguins, Drop-byers and so on.

This blogg will also contain photographical works of the author, party and eventphotos from her life, all which is Copyrighted. (Skyddas av upphovsrättslagen)
Även till er vänner som jag fotat och som var där, ni får INTE ta fotona utan mitt medgivande per E-mail.

Other photos will be posted with a link to it's original website. If I have a photo that is yours and you wish for me to delete it, please just write an E-mail to Littlemayah@hotmail.com

The Author

While being a whirling mix of a bit of everything (except for japanese, which she still curses her parents for) she has some very distinct interests including high fashion, photographing, design, asian litrature, clublife, China, Japan and a little rebellious penguin called Pingu.

She lives in the capital of Sweden, Stockholm, 25 min from the heart of the city.

If you wonder why this blogg is written in (mainly) english, it's becouse friends from China, Japan, Malaysia and USA also should be able to read it.

So I hope you get some exiting tips of interest here and that you have a greate reading time. Lots of hugs and kisses

Author Xue Mei