Pick-me-up-socks

Brocade and more brocade plus shimmer and shine - makes me feel good!

Sunday the whole family celebrated Mum’s 73rd birthday. No-one can tell from her lifestyle how old she is. She’s always active, has plans and places to go and people to see. It’s a joy to watch, and the kind of old-age I wish for everyone! 

Mum doesn't like to have her picture taken, but loves to photobomb!

Had she not been widowed five years ago, everything had been perfect. But she’s found a way to enjoy herself, both with her family and on her own. All thanks to her fighting spirit. I hope all her grand children have inherited just a bit of it - it’s the best inheritance one could hope for.

We started at her home with coffee and traditional candy-decorated cake in the shape of a girl, made of Danish pastry. After a couple of hours of Hygge we went to a nice family restaurant and had dinner.

Mum's traditional Danish birthday cake

The week until Sunday was pretty rotten. Needles and knives had a go at me again - I’m not sure what they found this time, but I’m scared stiff waiting for the results. It does take all my energy, so no comments or visits to other blogs. I’m sure this week will be better. How couldn’t it be with these incredible boots and matching glitter socks?

I think purple is the new pink!

With fingers crossed for good news on my health - have a great week everyone

Love  Kaffesoester

Cocktail party outfit - but not the LBD please!

A selection of my cocktail party adornments

Oh yes, I'm going to a cocktail party with some really good friends next Saturday!

Oh no, what am I going to wear?

First of all, everything feels too tight even though I've been dieting for weeks. Second, I don't have many cocktail dresses - because there aren't enough cocktail parties on my social calendar :-D

So - help me decide, please!

Although many of my "style bibles" recommend the LBD, I'm in a spring mood and NEED colour.

I've boiled down my dress choices to three dresses: 

1) Biba leopard print which you see styled for daytime here.  I wore it on New Year's Eve 2013 as well, and some of the guests are the same. It doesn't necessarily require a cardigan on top, only if it's cold.

2) Kaliko teal silk/linen dress that I've also worn at a dinner party in April 2014, again with part of the same crowd that will be there on Saturday.

3) Pied a Terre purple silk dress, never worn! But - it's a bit tight around the waist :-(

My choice of shoes is very limited, especially for evening since I've always prioritised daytime footware. Depending on the weather I might add tights, nude fishnets with the leopard dress, and teal green with the two other outfits.

It's no secret that I'm dying to wear the new dress, but I fear the tightness will prevent me from having as much fun as I can. However I can wear this one without a cardigan. A huge plus.

It seems so shallow to be worrying about an outfit a week ahead. But I know that in a well-considered outfit I'll be able to relax and enjoy myself, and bring my bit of fun the party.

And isn't outfit preparation the essence of blogging?

Anyway, tell me what you think, Teal, Purple or Leopard?

I'm taking all three dresses to another party this very minute - Patti's Visible Monday party at the Not Dead Yet Style blog. Maybe I can get some more ideas for Saturday's party :-)

Have a lovely week all

Love Kaffesoester

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

Pink stars with purple dress

It's been a fortnight again - how did that happen?

Did I enjoy myself?
Yes, for the most part

Did I have time to relax?
No, not at all!

Will things be different in the future?
Probably not.

My home is a noisy, messy, disorganised place, filled with unexpected guests. Every day I try to follow my agenda, and every day I have undone chores. Instead I have some great laughs - and I do get my (paid) work done. Dressing up in this environment can be a challenge though.

This Friday my husband and I went out to dinner at our best friends. We dressed up, since they really appreciate that

See this dress in an old post here

I do love this print, quite abstract and in lovely colours - purplish grey, aubergine and pearl white.

As always with a flower print I feel aged by it, so I take care to mix it with something unexpected - like these shoes.

Bed of Roses by Irregular Choice

Magically I discovered that these never worn shoes were not at all too high or uncomfortable to wear.

I do love these mad heels

So, I have had them stashed out of site for years - and now I have a pair of totally cool, new shoes, for free! Just how crazy is that? No answer needed :-)


They're by Irregular Choice from the Bed of Roses collection, dating back to November 2012.

The upper is suede, and inside they're stuffed with soft cushions to walk on, covered in rose-printed cotton... They really are the stars of this outfit!

I really walk on roses in these shoes!

The heels are 2,5" so they're certainly not too high. I really don't know what I was thinking when I put them away!


With my terrible feet I don't have many shoes, so this is quite a miracle in my world: Undiscovered, comfortable, cute shoes that will go with a lot outfits. It was a great Friday!


In my previous post I was bothered by my waistline. But who notices that now? Here's how I looked from behind:

I only see the shoes!

These shoes (and I) will be part of Patti's Visible Monday on the Not Dead Yet Style blog because that's where these little pink stars belong :-)

Hopefully my work load will ease up a bit once I've got a routine going - I so miss seeing you all!

Have a great time where ever you are, what ever you're doing!

Love Kaffesoester

My attempt at a masculine outfit with a full bodied figure

Since Patti at Not Dead Yet Style recommended the book "Parisian Style" by Ines de la Fressange, I've been fascinated by the masculine/feminine outfits. It can look so elegant.

With my somewhat Barbapapa-like body shape, it's a bit of a challenge not to loose all my curves in boxy clothes.

Here's how it turned out:

In all natural daylight - unusual in the dark Danish winter!

The masculine parts are the trousers and the shoes. The jacket is fitted and in velvet, so it's not that masculine. But that's how it has to be with a voluptuous body.

Although the trousers are a drapey jersey, the pinstripe pattern add a certain masculine feeling.

Under the (vintage) jacket I'm wearing a ruched, gray, sleeveless top, that help disguise my stomach
The shoes are from Irregular Choice.

Irregular Choice black leather shoes

Around the neck I added my favourite necklace these days, from Monies:

Made of darkened brass and Chrysocolla, by Monies

I'm quite pleased with the result - and plan to wear it in spring. It' still too cold to leave the house in a jacket like this so I changed into a nice warm knit:

Same trousers and necklace, old knit and bag

The sweater has a great shape for me. The v-neck takes focus away from my double chin, and show off my waistline. It's a viscose blend which is perfect for me since I can't wear any type or amount of wool.

I use this bag a lot, it's roomy, it's thick leather and it's gold!

The bag is by a Danish brand, Merete Fonnesberg, and bought second hand. As gold goes with everything - I use it whenever I don't have to drag my laptop along!

A closer look

The rings are the same old rings I've worn for years! Although I don't particularly like the sight of my behind, I'm just quickly going to show you how it looked:

Odd bumps are appearing with age - not fair!

As you can see I'm suffering from a severe case of bibliophilia, so not only did I order the Parisian Chic book (which I haven't received yet, but sneak peeked in on Amazon.com), that Patti recommended. I also got Style Clinic by Paula Reed and The Style Mentors by Elyssa Dimant.

Style Clinic and Parisian Chic are both about classic style dressing and creating a capsule that forms a basis for your wardrobe in a reasonably economical way. I have high expectations from Parisian Chic. The little I've seen has already had an impact on me. I've totally underestimated these masculine elements in feminine dressing. At job interviews I have to make an impression. And it has to be powerful too, which is easier with a bit of masculinity.

The Style Mentors is a bit like Trinny and Susannah's Who Do You Want To Be Today? T&S work with 12 different types and Elyssa Dimant have 8. There is some similarity between the types they describe. Besides that Dimant includes a lot of fashion theory that I really like.

Now some people might think that I'm well off, buying all these books. But I'm not. I buy used, and one of them (don't remember which) only cost 0,10 £! The rest was a few pounds more but still VERY cheap indeed.

Now last week I had a few meetings - and here's how I dressed:

Wednesday evening meeting on the Marketing committee

The colours are awful, but I was in a rush so a quick shot in the hallway with my mobile was all I had time for. The dress is an old CC, the cardigan is another old thing - silk knit from H&M. The boots are from last year, and fur lined! The warmest and most comfortable boots I've ever owned.

Thursday evening meeting with the Structural Committee

The trousers are the same striped pair as above, the black bracelet is made of horn and bought in Barcelona this summer. The brass one is old, and the cream one is Kenneth Jay Lane. It's the largest size I could find, and I need baby oil on my hand to get it on/off!

The work on these committees is part of the democratic process where I live, and it's voluntary. It gives me great pleasure though, to be able to help improve living conditions for my neighbors.

Now, I was going to write all this yesterday. At the same time I was going to prepare dinner (multi tasking...). But I cut my ring finger on my right hand - the tip, while I was chopping onion!!! As soon as I could I rushed to the sink to put it under cold water. Stressful as I were I opened the hot water tap! I jumped up and down, screaming with pain. And no one else was home to hear it, which only made it worse! I felt really sorry for myself, so no writing last night.

Let this story be a warning - keep cooking out of blogging!

Finally I'm linking up with Patti, that inspires me so, for Visible Monday on her Not Dead Yet Style blog. Feel free to check it out, or better yet: Join!

Love to you all from Kaffesoester

Fun with scarves and girls

 Val Sparkle has nominated me for the Liebster Award! Thank you very much Val, that's so sweet of you. I'll get back to the award in my next post.

The badge

Although my daughter is 13 years old now, I'm still seeing my old mother's group. We've all been great friends since the day we met.

 For our 10-year anniversary we all went to Barcelona for a week, just the mothers! Yesterday we met up at Bente's, and I wore a new, gorgeous CC dress, and a scarf that was the challenge of the day in the FABruary Style Challenge.

Too matchy?

The fit of this dress is just incredible! I'm becoming addicted to these dresses - good thing they're on sale! The scarf is maybe matching too well, it's hardly noticeable at all!

We all had a great time with lots of laughs and too much fantastic food! I'm so thankful for these girls and the network we've created amongst us.

The others are a bit camera shy, so you only get to see me!

Earlier this week the challenges of FABruary Style Challenge were: Lace on Thursday and coloured shoes on Friday. First the lace-outfit.

Don't I look tired?

On Thursday I got up at 4:50 am as usual. I went to work (which takes me 1,5 to 2 hours!), got picked up by my husband and daughter at 4 pm, went to Ikea and got back home at 9 in the evening.
 

A bit of PicMonkey fun

With a nice layer of snow outside the coloured shoes challenge needed to be twisted into coloured boots. So I got our my dusty purple boots:

Bye bye boots

On the way out of the door I felt something strange in the left boots - like the in-built gel cushion had collapsed - but I ignored it since I was i a hurry. In the evening it turned out I was right. So, bye bye boots!

Purple scarf

In my closet there's only a few purple items, and no warm knits. The scarf is doing a nice job though, matching the boots, and the cream jumper doesn't get as much wear as it deserves.

The jeans are my magic jeans - those that make my legs look way longer than they are!

This photo was taken before work!

I'm also linking up with Visible Monday at the Not Dead Yet Style blog where so many gorgeous ladies are showing off their creativity in dressing for visibility.

Hopefully I'll make it round to all the fantastic blogs I'm following, to leave comments, but if not - please know that it's not lack of will!


Have a great week everyone & take care!

Too much blue!

As I've mentioned quite a few times lately, I'm participating in the FABruary Style Challenge at the Inside Out Style blog, where today's challenge was to be blue.

This is how I interpreted that:

Favorite dress, boots and bangles

Things started out alright this morning. I'm wearing a new (small!) knitted bolero, my pearls with spinel stones necklace, and shell bangle which match the pearls perfectly.

Then just before lunch my computer gave me a blue screen - not once or twice, but six times - way too blue for me!

I don't know exactly what's wrong, but it's bad! So on top of being too busy to blog the way I'd like to, I may have further challenges ahead, and we're not talking clothes here!

Computer problems is something you can't turn your back on

The new knitted bolero is from the brand Linea. I haven't tried Linea before. The size seems much smaller compared to other brands, a bit disappointing. But it looks great with blue, right?

The pearls

The bangles

So I guess you can say I took today's challenge too far. I'm very happy that I'm able to blog tonight, fearing it might not be the case tomorrow - we'll see.

Yesterday's theme was layering - which is a life necessity up here these days. My pink maxi kept my legs fairly warm, with the thermal underwear underneath, see!

Same bangles and boots as above

This bolero style cardigan is the same type as today's black, only bigger. This one is in fact a little too big - it's just not easy you know!

Office appropriate?

I think maxi dresses are a genius invention! The length make them very feminine and fun in summer, and warm and comfortable in winter. I have to have some more!

See how happy I was in this yesterday?

Enjoying my maxi dress

I don't look unhappy in today's outfit - but I can assure you I wasn't in the best of moods. Blogging does help though - so Thank You Blog!

The bolero cardigan thing will be back on Saturday...

Good luck with your computer everyone - hope to see you soon!

Flowers in February

As part of the on going FABruary Style Challenge by Imogen Lamport of the Inside Out Style blog I'm wearing flowers today -  I've paired my fairly new double ended zip top with my pink skirt.

Winter flowers

The temperature has gone down again, so based on my earlier experience with FABruary Style Challenge I'm also wearing a jacket, which isn't that uncomfortable under the coat, and of course a scarf.

I'm also mixing pattern here!

This top is so beautiful that I had to have some more photos - and my loving husband gladly stepped in to help!

Not sure this is the best angle....

Statement rings were the challenge on Friday, and I do have a nice one! Sadly the weather forced me to wear jeans again - but with a new-to-the-blog top!

Remember you can click the photos and see a larger version

After having mentioned the jeans it is probably best that I show a photo of them, although they've appeared many times lately.

If you like the necklaces, there's a photo of them below.

The top is from - well take a guess! It's very comfortable, and would also look nice with my navy pencil skirt.

My treasures!

On Saturday I wore some daytime sparkle, on my coat! I wasn't doing anything special indoors, or so I thought, so I decided to pay extra attention to my outdoor look.

The little white bits are snowflakes.

The sparkly bits were a golden brooch and a hand crocheted silver shawl, made by my mother. As if sparkle wasn't enough I also added a bit of colour, teal gloves and orange bag.

I've had enough of snow for this winter, thank you!

Later Saturday we had unexpected dinner guests, so the planned blog post was postponed, sorry! Anyway, most readers would be busy with other stuff, I told myself - and would have better time on Sunday.

Colour blocking outfit

Above is how I looked as I was headed out the door on Sunday, down to the shops for a few extras - now that another unexpected party had announced their arrival!

Too much flash, I know

Tomorrow's FABruary Style Challenge is layering. That may be a tough one for those living in Australia, but so perfect up here in the dark deep freezer called Denmark!

There's just one last photo of my flower top, which will be my contribution to Patti's Visible Monday party at the Not Dead Yet Style blog - the weekly party that makes me put an extra effort into dressing every Monday morning!

Thank you so much for your patience with this long post!

As far as the weather forecast goes we will have snow and frost, and quite a bit of wind. No wonder I'm dreaming of moving to Spain!

Then on the bus home tonight I heard a woman speaking Spanish right behind me. So, if I can't come to Spain, Spain will come to me!  

Enjoy your week, and remember to check in on me and see how I handle challenges such as wearing coloured shoes, lace and being blue.



Lots of warm hugs to everyone!