LadyBohemia — Oona Elena Kassila RSS

This one is pure girly stuff... My darling friend Oona Elena Kassila flew all the way from Barcelona to Helsinki for the last fitting of the Bohemian Princess Rose Cradle Dress I had requested her to design for me. The following day the dress flew to London to attend the London Fashion Week... AND got photographed by Vogue, among other adventures... Dear readers, welcome to the making of my most beautiful dress, ever: * * Mmmmmmm.... Some refreshments were required and shall I say earned, with all those sleepless nights spent while making this dress divine... Oona worked on the dress for 80 hours, before she stopped counting... Every single silver chain, each pearl, every bit of vintage lace is personally sourced and chosen with love and care, then the dress itself... Handmade in Heaven. Oona's artwork. She rocks my world and you can see why. * * I can not tell you how much it means to me, how fortunate I feel,  to have been involved in such creative and artistic process - not to mention how much fun we had - but maybe these photos tell their story more poignantly than I could.. * Details details... This dress is filled with secret details all around. * Luxury dupino silk, French velvet in brocade as the slip... Too beautiful and absolutely unique. If you're into treasures and wonder, Oona's clothing and her partner Mo's jewellery can be found at Moonalia etsy shop. ** * Life. It can't possibly get more Rita Hayworthesque than this... And.... Swoooooooooooooooosh! All photos by the one and only, Pipsa Lagus ♥. ~*♥*~

February is hugely busy month for a blogger... There are photoshoots, fashion shows, discussions with magazines, fittings with designers, advertising and media agencies... A launch of something mindblowingly beautiful, yet very hush-hush, in the cards... And of course, the main event of the season; the London Fashion Week. But don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I'm loving every second of it. Yesterday, it was brainstorming at Godmother advertising with Godmother extraordinaire, Annika Di-Chiara, and the lady with magic on her fingertips; designer and artist Oona Elena Kassila. * We got even Lele thingking... The creative process absolutely requires cupcakes. * With a happy full tummy, the ideas just swing & fly... Barcelona Ateljé! Workshops! Goddess Dresses! The magic of Oona and Mo. The question of the day was: "What is your dream?" Once that's crystal clear, the rest will come. Sometimes through nights of no sleep, tears, self-doubt, even moments of despair. But it will come. [caption id="attachment_12127" align="aligncenter" width="316"] And these boots... They're made for walking.[/caption] Ready. Steady. And then Darling; Go. Fly High ♥. ~*♥*~

On Wednesday, I was invited to the movie premiere of "21 ways to ruin a marriage". What a great evening we had... Movie was feelgood funny, new and old friends were all around - an evening of laughter and friendship it was.

The dress code for the event was, of course, a wedding dress. The fairest of all the brides amongst the cast & crew was our lovely Duchess Hannele with her vintage inspired lace wedding dress, soft white Dior boots and a three-string pearl necklace. Chic, sophisticated, feminine. Accessorized with the warmest smile. [caption id="attachment_12062" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Make-up artist extraordinaire Hannele Herttua with a bona fide fashionista and make-up artist in the making, Jemina Pouttu.[/caption] The rest of us dressed up - or down - in a very unwedingly fashion. The queen of the fashionistas in attendance was, once and again, Heli Kajo. She had a quirky turquoise bag to go with her fuscia top and gold jewellery. Cool bold colors that I could never pull off... And Heli always does. Black pailleted dress, Givenchy suede over the knee boots, vintage silver and marcasite earrings (a gift from Pipsa!), and a Chanel bag was as weddingly as I got.

One of the truly lovely people I got to meet that evening was Laura Reunanen, who had just published her first album the day before! She was so kind and even gave me a copy of her cd - Café de Abejas: Mascot Moth - and I must say... I haven't stopped listening to it since. And could you imagine, this lady has actually composed "Les Fleurs du mal" by Baudelaire into chanson. My imagination wouldn't ever have reached those highs... But in fact, my husband gave me that very book by Baudelaire for Xmas...  Now I have just the music to listen to, when I dive into his poetry. Incredible.

* * [caption id="attachment_12088" align="aligncenter" width="422"] True class: lace dress Zara, pearls Kristiina Metsi, lace cuffs Moonalia, boots Dior.[/caption] Then there was the afterparty... With complimentary wedding cakes, perfectly styled for each of the impossible marriages of the film. [caption id="attachment_12053" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Vesa Vierikko and director Johanna Vuoksenmaa having a blast[/caption]

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The cakes were too yummy... This is what the table looked like when we were through with them.. The beautiful Jemina had real problems at the afterparty... There was such an interest for her phone number that our table was surrounded by quite a buzz throughout the evening... Not to mention the bombardment of text messages, after her number was discovered... [caption id="attachment_12065" align="aligncenter" width="382"] Jemina's shimmery Celine purse from Luxbag[/caption] Hannele and Torsti. Such an aura of love there is, around and between these two... Just being around them makes one feel warm. * Pipsa my lovely! The one, the only, the indomitable. The heart and soul of every party. AND a shoulder to cry on when the world roughs a little person up and down and all around. [caption id="attachment_12059" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Eeva Hautamäki & Hannele Herttua.[/caption] I get you, Johanna Vuoksenmaa. After this movie, I too wanted to kiss Armi Toivanen. Or Riku Nieminen, if I'm quite honest... Never ever again will I associate that man with Munamies :) . Sorry dear readers outside Finland, there are things that just don't translate... I'll finish with this scene - one of the funniest in the movie. Sorry, no translation.... EILA: Mites isäs otti tän, kun siitä ei oo nyt kuulunu mitään? Se on yleensä joka kesä, kun mä oon vieny matot ulos, niin napannu ne ja pessy ne jossain vaiheessa, mut nyt ei oo tapahtunu mitään, vaikka ne on ollu siellä jo pari viikkoo. SANNA: Etkö sä halunnu, että se jättäis sut rauhaan? EILA: Ei nyt kaikkia traditioita tarvii silti katkasta! Vaikken mä isääs enää rakasta niin kyllä mä hänestä välitän" ~*♥*~

I am so excited, and so incredibly grateful. Not only do I have I been invited to the London Fashion Week this February, but my friend and favorite designer Oona Elena Kassila has designed The Most Beautiful Dress in the World for me to wear during that hulabaloo. This was the original sketch she showed me... As you might imagine, I fell in love with it the moment I first lay eyes on it. If ever - no, WHEN - I get a little desk, a corner or a room to be called my LadyBohemia Ateljé, I shall frame this picture on my wall ♥. Such artistry, such beauty, such warmth of friendship it shines on me. Oona and I started our little fashion week project with a quest for the most beautiful silks, laces and rosies here in Helsinki, to be continued by Oona in the jewellery, fabrics and beads markets of Barcelona... She is working from her Ateljé in Spain, so she sends me photos and ideas of the work in progress at night time. This is what I got yesterday. A beautiful silver chain with charmingly faceted silver beads that shimmer with light... A delicate moonstone... I'll be walking on air when carrying this dress. No, I'll be dancing on roses. * And this is where we're at, two weeks before the event. It's so... poetically beautiful that I'm lost for words. And next weekend my beautiful friend will fly over for a fitting... To make everything just perfect. Oh, I feel just like a princess. ~*♥*~

I checked out the Odd Molly summer collection and beautiful & bohemian as ever it is... My mind escaped to summertime and refuses to come back. So, as soon as sun comes to warm up Winterlandia, this is what I'll be wearing: * I'll combine these summer dreams with my own pieces; flipflops, hair rosies, beaded necklaces, sunglasses. And the Moonalia purse I love: This is in fact my holiday wardrobe of last summer. We had to leave for France for some three monts, three people, one suitcase. So for myself I had two summer dresses, flipflops, bikinis, and this shoebox full of rosy dreams... * * ~*¨*~