Fresh off the Plane

You obviously don't know this about me, but I get a bit homesick. And when I get worn out and tired of living out of a backpack, I get a bit clothes-sick. I miss accessorizing and dressing up and just looking nice and feeling fresh. So, though it is still two months and eight days away, I've started daydreaming about my homecoming outfit. I actually fly home from Toronto since we're stopping in Eastern Canada for three weeks on the way home so it will be a short flight and I might actually have a chance at not looking like a walking zombie with dry skin and greasy hair.

This post started with the bag. Which I might actually get since I need to transport home my laptop and some souvenirs and I don't have a proper carry-on, just a small purse. And I'm seriously considering buying this tank top because I absolutely love red and blue and the cute flower print (it reminds me of a dress I had as a little girl), but I've never ordered clothes online before and I desperately need some advice! If anyone has any experience with judging sizing or buying from Ruche or wants to share some of their online ordering experience with me, please do! Of course as I write this I've been distracting myself by adding the tank and a coat I adore to my shopping cart and estimating shipping costs...

Floral Frenzy Printed Tank, Blissful Hearts Locket Necklace, Amazed By You Light Zip Up Jacket, Through and Through Belt, and Ophelia Sandals - all from Ruche, Pieces Virabello Bag - Kii, Digi Pumps - Vagabond, Jeans - Levis

 I know, I've put two pairs of shoes on here, they're in a bit of a stand-off because I like them both, but obviously it will be weather dependent and I still have to decide whether the sandals and the bag are too matchy-matchy. The pumps are a lot more likely. They're by a Swedish company called Vagabond Shoes and if I can find them, and they're comfortable I think they'd make a perfect souvenir from Sweden! Plus, I have to get a job again someday and I'll need a nice pair of interview shoes! Maybe that will be my excuse, I'm just getting a head start on my back to work shopping! For now I can want, can't I?

WishList: Fe Sweden's Pocket Watch Style Necklace

I thought I'd start a new post category called WishList. I'll use it to post about things I've seen in stores or online, or even imagined, that I'd love to have but will have to settle for adding them to my WishList. Maybe someday I can look back at all the posts and select a few items to add to my wardrobe.

To start things off, here's an item I stumbled upon online today on the website for the Swedish store Kii. The web shop is in Swedish but I've been getting pretty good at navigating online shops in foreign languages!

Ingrid with Chai, by Fe Sweden

I love the classic look of this pocket watch necklace and the antique style it portrays. Too bad it's 650 Swedish Kroner (like $102!) Maybe it will still be around and be on sale when I'm back in Sweden in June. A girl can dream.

While I'm in a dreaming mood. I need a dress for a wedding this summer. Maybe this $400 dress from Kii will go on sale as well... Do you think it's wedding appropriate? With a black slip underneath? I think it's gorgeous. Unfortunately it costs more than many of my plane tickets.

Summer Jr by Rodebjer

Photos from the Kii website.

My Travelin' Shoes

At the end of 2009, just before Christmas, I bought myself a pair of Ecco Lite boots. I loved the look of the brown boots but I was easily persuaded by the sales girl to get the black pair as I didn't normally wear a lot of brown and I wasn't yet comfortable with the idea of mixing brown and black, something I now love to do. The boots were light-weight, flexible and comfy and they were going to be my perfect traveling shoes. Unfortunately the price tag wasn't lovable. With 30 days to return them I kept them unworn in the box for three weeks before I realized it was a little impulsive of me to buy shoes for a trip I wasn't taking for another eight months. I returned them and spent the money on what I was shopping for in the first place, Christmas presents for my friends and family. I am horrible at Christmas shopping, I always find things I want for myself!

I hope someday I can replace this picture with one of me wearing my boots! Until then I'll just have to dream...

When July rolled around and I was getting ready to leave I thought again about my boots, unfortunately they wouldn't be out in Ecco stores in Canada until the end of the summer. The sales girl's foreshadowing remark that European stores carry different stock didn't phase me until I got to Europe in the fall. In fashionable Prague I was desperate for my traveling boots. There were two Ecco stores in the area of downtown Prague and within walking distance of my hostel. I went to both. They all carried the same unfortunate-looking platform heeled boots. I spent the next two months casually dragging my boyfriend to Ecco stores in almost all major cities just in case they might have my boots, but alas, they just weren't carried in European stores.

It wasn't until after it started snowing and I'd decided that I needed a more sturdy pair of winter boots for spending Christmas in Northern Sweden that I finally found a pair of my boots. They weren't even my size, or the right brown, and now that I'm going to Africa I definitely don't need them. But maybe I can get them for my next trip? For now I'll just have to settle for being bootless. But it's the traveling that's important right? - not the shoes.

As Matt Mays says,

"Good-bye girl gone to see the world,
Out to see every thing you choose
Now it's becoming so clear
That your feet are planted deep
In your travellin' shoes"

I ♥ Vintage: Amsterdam's On and Offline Shop for Vintage and Vintage-inspired Clothing

I ♥ Vintage's Online Shop

After spending months backpacking around Europe, going from H&M to Zara to Bershka and Promod and back to H&M again, I was frustrated with the lack of quality shopping and the lack of anything unique (and affordable). Perhaps it's because we're a little behind the runways of France and Italy, but in Vancouver I know that if I want a certain style of clothing there's a shop I can go to get it. And because it's my hometown I also know which independent boutiques carry the brands and styles I like. But in the unfamiliar, bustling cities of Europe I could only find the same stores carrying the same trends from street to street. How profitable three of the same store in a 2 block radius can be I don't know, but they seemed to be surviving.

I soon came to the conclusion that my backpack wouldn't be overflowing with fabulous European fashion pieces by the time the journey was over, but I couldn't help looking. Luckily, after a visit to the fascinating Anne Frank Huis museum in Amsterdam, I wandered past a small shop with a rack of sweaters and items on display just outside their front door. A gray sweater caught my eye and I dragged my boyfriend in to look around. The store was called I Love Vintage, and I love it. It was unique and offered a selection of new "vintage-inspired" items in store along with a computer for browsing their large selection of vintage items, which they would bring out for you to view and try on once you'd requested them from the computer. The best news I learned as I purchased by vintage-inspired, comfy gray sweater, their shop is online and they ship internationally! With 93 pages of vintage handbags alone on their website, I know that when my year of world travel is over and I'm no longer living out of a backpack, I'll be perusing their site and hopefully adding a few of their unique pieces to my wardrobe.

I Love Vintage was my answer to the mass-produced, made in asia, sold on the street, tacky tourist shopping I'd mainly seen on my trip so far. I'm sure there are more wonderful stores all over Europe but it takes a bit of luck or some time in the city to find them. If you know any local or unique shops in your city or a city you've visited and you'd like to share post a comment! I'd love to visit them if I ever make it there - which I hope I will!

I love this dress/skirt! Photos from I Love Vintage website.

My sweater in beige. Photos from I Love Vintage website.