Corsets, fishnets, fake dreads, music.
Unintentional cuteness, semi-artistic skills, head full of song lyrics and foreign words.
Memento mori and the macabre.
You can call me Anna.
A Finnish millinery student blogging alternative fashion, beautiful headwear, macabre artwork, random things and the occasional Michael Jackson.
I also run a store called Cobweb Millinery which specializes in alternative headwear. You can check out the store on Etsy or by clicking here.
If you have trouble navigating through the pages, click the little arrows next to the numbers at the bottom of this box!
Just got back from the Santa Cruz album release gig. I don’t usually listen to their kind of music (hard rock/hair metal) but I got to say, I like the way they sounded live! It’s a shame it’s Wednesday, otherwise I would’ve stayed longer.
Lemminkäinen’s Mother by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1897 (A scene from the Finnish national epic, Kalevala)
The story of Lemminkäinen is grim and it has fascinated me since I was little. The main events leading up to the scene depicted in the painting go as follows:
Lemminkäinen travels up north to propose to the daughter of Louhi, a powerful witch. But Louhi won’t give up her daughter easily and makes him do tasks which he successfully fulfills one after another. One day, he is sent to kill the swan of the black river of Tuonela - the underworld. He takes his arrows and his bow but as everyone who tries to kill a sacred bird, he is sure to face doom. A man sees Lemminkäinen and throws a small, enchanted rod through his chest, causing him to fall in the river. Lemminkäinen drowns and the bloody son of Tuonela lifts him up from the river with an iron net only to mock him, cut him into pieces with a sword and throw his body parts in the river. Meanwhile Lemminkäinen’s mother begins to worry about his son and is alarmed when blood starts dripping from her son’s brush. She searches heaven and earth to find him. When she learns of her son’s fate, she asks Ilmarinen - the immortal blacksmith and one of the creators of the world - to fashion her a rake she can use to find her son’s pieces from the river.
Piece by piece, cloth by cloth she finds all of Lemminkäinen and by connecting the muscles and the veins mends his body back together. His body now seems intact but life is still not in him. The mother begs and prays for Ukko - the god of thunder and the highest of them all - to send her honey from the heavens to restore her son’s life. Ukko hears her plea and sends a bee to deliver this ointment to the grieving mother who rubs the lotion on her son. Lemminkäinen comes back to life, yet will never marry the daughter of Louhi.
One thing Finland did for me was give me the biggest self-esteem/self acceptance boost of life.
I was meaning to address this same thing some months ago but completely forgot about it, so I’m glad this popped up on my dash! Even though I’m a Finn, I usually wear my bikini to the sauna at our summer placeif I’m with other people which is considered unusual and - as you put it - silly.
I took on swimming last autumn and the pool closest to me happens to be the only public pool in Helsinki where you are allowed to swim naked. You don’t have to (I don’t) but you have the option. Most people take this opportunity and the pool is very popular because of it.
The first time I went there it was so refreshing. Because there were all these real, live people of all ages in every size. There were stretch marks, there was body hair, there were boobs - big and small, old and young. It did me a world of good just to be snapped out of the world I had been drawn into by advertising and all the beautiful photos that sometimes make me so insecure about my own looks.
No make-up, no clothes, no Photoshop, and no one who cared for those “flaws” we all have. It was cleansing and a damn good reminder not to think the things we see in the media are how people really are or how we should be.
…I’ll be at the We Got Beef Christmas market (Iso Roobertinkatu 21) selling stuff made by the fashion company I work for (Gilles et Dada)! We sell headwear, accessories like shirt collar “necklaces”, and cool small leather bags made by yours truly!
Come say hi; The chances are, I’ll be more afraid of you than you’ll be of me but it’ll all be jolly good fun!
