At Copenhagen Sakura Festival 2015

Analogue outfit with just a tiny touch of contrast - and gold :-)

How do you dress for visibility at a festival that includes lots of guests dressed in Japanese Manga outfits? A bit of colour?

My husband visits this festival nearly every year to take photos, and with okay weather this Saturday I wanted to go too. The blooming trees are incredibly beautiful!

The Japanese cherry trees in full bloom are a vision! No wonder the place was crowded :-)

Lots of people brought their picnic baskets and blankets and had a wonderful time.

It's just magical when the wind sprinkles pink petals all over. A golden opportunity for more photos of me :-D

The jacket is a very old sale item by Danish brand Bitte Kai Rand and has appeared in several blog posts over the years. It has a thick lining so it's warm and soft, as well as bright and shining :-D

The pink dress is a golden oldie as well - by now closed British brand Alexon. It's actually a size too large as I was testing the different UK sizes - and never bothered to return it. I wonder how often that happens with things bought on the internet...

It's still an impressive sight seeing the trees from above:

I can't get enough of these trees, so here's another photo, also showing my lovely husband :-)

Due to a massive queue at the Japanese food stalls we decided to eat lunch at a local cafe.

The interior is in the popular Scandinavian Industrial Chic style which I'm getting a bit tired of. However, this restaurant has one remarkable feature, that I'm showing below the food pictures.

I'm having salmon rillette with two kinds of brown bread. For those who aren't familiar with rillette it's like a coarse mousse.

For a touch of "Noma" some wild herbs were added, to justify the price I assume...

But, on top of the restaurant there's an extremely minimalist roof garden (with only moss and a few flat, hardy succulents) - with stranslucent windows between the "flower beds",  that you see from below in the restaurant's ceiling.

You can see the roof top garden across the parked cars. Taking this photo I'm actually standing on the building that houses Monies, my favourite jewellery brand :-) that has a sale next month :-D

A few steps to the right of the outdoor seating area is a sculpture:

Last but not least: Blogging has been at a standby with my computer freezing, as in not working!

I had been warned ahead, that there wasn't any space left, but I kept pushing this clean-up in front of me. Until I was forced to do it! As always, these things never happen at a convenient time, which is why you should do it as soon as possible (I'm sounding like someone's mother here!)

So, act quick, stay ahead and have a lovely week everyone :-)

Love Kaffesoester

M&S Classic Pure Cotton Button Through Trench Mac + Dash dress = frumpy/not frumpy?

How do you dress casual and practical wearing a dress? How do you make it suitable for riding your bicycle and running errands in it?

Today my suggestion is this old Dash jersey dress in pink leopard print with Dorothy Perkins jeggings underneath, just to fight any chilly wind.

It's not many item that I have from the British brand Dash. Like this dress, most of their pieces have the potential to appear frumpy and boring.

The addition af a beige trench is not always a safe choice if you want to avoid appearing older than you are. But I do think this mix works quite well. The trench is Marks & Spencer's Pure Cotton Button Through Trench Mac from their Classic collection - a line with almost built-in frump-factor!

I think it was a courageous choice!

A heeled shoe had been great. But having tried to climb my bicycle in heels a few times has cured that urge!!!

Even though we don't have summer temperatures like those on the Not Dead Yet Style blog where the gorgeous Patti is hosting the Visible Monday party we're still having a lovely, warm sunny day, with fragrant, blossoming plum trees and chirping birds.

Having fought the frump factor of this outfit with such weapons as my trusty, old Bloch ballet flats and a small assortment of my beloved bangles, I feel very appropriately and visibly dressed for her party.

The shoes:

The bangles:

As I told you in my last post, Norwegian Monica of the Colour Makes People blog was going to Copenhagen. Of course we met! I won't go into too much detail since I know she has a post planned, only say that I had a great time with Monica and her beautiful mother and sister.

It was fun to see how we matched, clothes and hair - well apart from my roots :-)

Hope you all had a safe trip home as well Monica - regards to your mum & sister!

The rest of the world:

Have a lovely week and enjoy the party at Patti's :-D

My encounter with Tasmanian born Royalty

Today is Queen Margrethe's birthday, she's 75 years old. She really belongs in one of Advanced Style blog's post as she is such a colourful and stylish lady. A huge Congratulations!

With this current event in mind it felt very appropriate to share the following incident with you all:

A little while ago I replied to a comment by Jill James of the Grown Up Glamour blog. In her kind comment she mentioned that she lives in Tasmania, Australia - the very island where the Danish Crown Princess Mary comes from. I promised to share my experience with the Princess.

In fall last year I was at a housing exhibition that Her Royal Highness was opening.

Not being the most eager royalist I didn't give it much consideration. But since other friends of mine couldn't be there I thought I'd try and get a photo of her. There weren't a lot of visitors so I had plenty of room to take photos - or video!

Here's my own private recording of the moments before the opening ceremony:

Later I walked slowly around the place, sipping a free beer. 

I stopped at one stall and started to read a poster. Suddenly I felt a light movement behind me.

And there she was, breathing down my neck, literally!

With all the body guards, camera crew and fans it was overwhelming for me. Discreetly as I could I backed away. Only to realise at home a few days later, that it was filmed by someone, and that every one can now enjoy my beer sipping face as a background for the beautiful Crown Princess!

Can you imagine my pride?

Now, let's move on. The gold brocade coat that I'm wearing again is by Danish brand Noa Noa, from their 2004 collection. That was the year of the royal wedding, and the collection is named Mary, see the label in the neck of the coat :-)

The coat is a silk-rayon mix on the outside, lined with pure silk on the inside. It feels so luxurious to wear. The little crystals didn't photograph well, but every time I take the coat of, it sparkles!

I was just about to give a royal wave, but as you can see we had a fair bit of wind again today. Luckily no rain, as her Majesty had a Tour de Copenhagen in open horse carriage planned. My coat prefers dry conditions too!

With this post on my mind when I took the photos I could still feel the royal breath :-)

In which situations have you been caught drinking free beer? Other than holiday videos!

Next post: Monica of Colour Makes People is in Copenhagen - and we're meeting!!! :-D

Tribute to Sacramento

Follow my blog with Bloglovin - the link is placed here according to Bloglovin's instruction. It looks odd though..

Today I dedicate my post to the wonderful fellow blogger Sacramento of the popular fashion blog Mis Papelicos.

She can do with a bit of cheering up since her husband is hospitalised after surgery. Personally, I know that situation all too well.

A few years back I nearly lost my husband to serious illness. It was so unexpected as he's a very fit and healthy man. The shock and fear was horrible. But soon I became the expert in his illness, to a point where it totally consumed me. Then I needed a break away from it all to get a sense of normality back in my life. I imagine Sacramento could do with break too.

So, here it is: In a recent post she wore a beautiful gold brocade jacket with a purple velvet skirt.
I think it was such a glamorous outfit, fit for the red carpet, at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival next month maybe?

I don't have a velvet skirt, but I do have a purple silk dress, and a fabulous gold brocade coat! The coat has been in my closet for a long time waiting for the right occasion to be worn. I decided to make it the right occasion by doing a Sacramento inspired outfit :-)

The dress material is stretch silk, it's by Danish brand Tone Barker Silk and it's second hand :-)

My new cherry tree now has little leaves. With the violets it's such a reassuring sign that winter is completely over this time!

Saturday afternoon my friend called and told me about a blogger's market in Copenhagen Sunday morning. It sounded so interesting that I gave up sleeping in, and got dressed up!

It was windy but not too cold, so another brocade coat came out, and this time my most comfortable shoes!

This coat has appeared many times on the blog. It's much more versatile than one would imagine. Since it's very lightweight it's perfect as a topper on those typical Scandinavian (not so hot!) summer days, as an evening coat or as an extra layer indoors on really cold winter days.

The mix of teal and dark green makes it easy to mix with other watery colours and denim as well as my choices today.

The navy dress underneath the coat is another workhorse in my wardrobe. I have mixed it in so many different ways, and still manage to come up with new ideas. It has got to be one of the best purchases I've ever made. It's by now closed brand Alexon :-(

At the blogger's market I had a look at a few things, but most was too small - both shoes and clothes. Also this gorgeous belt by another Danish brand Heart Made. Instead my friend Hanne went home with a bag of treasures.

When I look at my friend Hanne and photos of Monica of the Colour Makes People blog I can't help thinking they look a lot like each other, equally beautiful, taking the age difference away! Both are quite uncommon types which makes it all the more remarkable.

I'm seeing Monica later this month so I'm very excited to see if that will change my view. Have you ever met unrelated people who look like each other?

As part of the blog make-over I've standardised the size of my photos. I'm not sure I've managed very well - it feels like I'm loosing on quality. So, in case that's true, here's a clickable photo of the top photo to compare with :-)

Tomorrow is Monday, and I wish you all a great working week!

Your Kaffesoester

Blog make-over

Having seen the serious changes on many other blogs since my 2 year pause I decided a make-over was due on my blog too.

I have followed Catherine's many great blogging tips on the Not Dressed As Lamb blog. I highly recommend a visit as she explains everything so simply, with easy to follow guides.

Taking pictures of a blog make-over is tricky... So here's a photo from my visit to heaven, the Irregular Choice Store in London last summer. I bought the shoes in my hand, and I promise to incorporate them in an outfit soon!

Not everything is in order yet, but I'll get there. Soon I'll be adding social media icons - you can already follow me on Google+ by using the button in the sidebar :-)

See you very soon - have a great weekend!

Love Kaffesoester

Springtime in Paris

If only one could be so lucky...

As mentioned a few times I've been reading the book Parisian Chic by Ines de la Fressange. And we all know how stylish that lady is!

One of her recommendations is investing in a trench coat. I already have a pink one. It's been a bit of a workhorse and it's starting to show.

Knowing how difficult it is for me to find clothes I've been searching the internet many times. This time for a beige one since it looks so elegant in the pictures.

My requirements were:

• No belt 
• single breasted 
• long enough to cover my behind 
• short enough to go on my (sports) bicycle

Here' the result:

Me an my new cherry tree!

Next to me are a few new plants, a cherry tree and "black" violets (very dark purple). Cherries are my favourite fruit :-)

Beige isn't my best colour, but with the silk scarf I can get away with it.

At least the coat is matching my hair (bought) colour :-)

Is there a back side to such a coat, you may ask? Of course there is - have a look!

French elegance!

Having trawled all possible online shops this is the best I could find. Ideally it should have been more fitted, and a couple of inches longer. And a cooler beige.

But with a more and more urgent need, what do you do? As much as I'd like to I can't afford to go coat shopping in Paris.

Almost every professional stylist and style blogger tells you to leave "that'll do"-items

Do you really apply to that rule?

Anyway, I'm dancing and bicycling the day away in my new coat, and airing it at Patti's Visible Monday party at the Not Dead Yet Style blog. This time there's even a give away - so do come and join the fun!

A great week to everyone

Love Kaffesoester