LOCKDOWN - FASHION AND TRENDS

I have always been very interested in fashion , and it has also been a big part of my working life. Due to the pandemic and the lockdown (UK) I have not been able to dress like usual. Like everybody else been slopping around home in tracksuits and pyjama! I also read about the recent trends in Elle UK and found that I can easily stay quite up to date with what I have in my wardrobe. Some have recently been added to my wardrobe and some has been there for years...Like this 70-s inspired outfit. Top that was an impulse buy at Primark a couple of years age. Jeans and jeans jacket from HM, probably bought five years ago. Worn with cowboy boots that I bought i Italy fifteen years ago. All matched with the champagne glass from Orrefors, design Anne Nilsson.

 

The oversized look has come to stay for a while. And black is always right. The dress is new, hooded with pockets, from HM. The boots and the bomber, also HM. The waist bag was a bargain at Åhléns (Sweden) last year. Perfect outfit for grocery shopping.

Yellow has always been one of my favorit colours. From interiors to fashion. Had my first yellow outfit when I was 15! Here in block colour dressing. Top, Other Stories, tunic and trousers both HM. Scarf Primark and boots from All Saints.

My oversized bomber has been a favorit peace in my wardrobe for a few years now! And is nice and warm. HM

I tend to buy a lot on sale. Sometimes just by browsing, and quite often because I know it is a bold colour that a lot of people would hesitate to buy (or too trendy) so I wait to the sale, and get if for half price or less! Top from Lindex, waistcoat, HM. Wide trousers, John Lewis and sneakers, Topshop.

 

Black and white, or monochrome, is another of my favorit "colour". Tunic from Zara, flared trousers, Topshop, earrings, HM. Necklace, Oasis. Shoes bought in Italy (Milan, Maré) twenty years ago! Back soon with more trends, this time interiors. The Scandinavian Furniture Fair started today! More or less all online!

IT´S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

It´s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our little town of Abergavenny and in our new home here.

Our tree has been dressed and taken in for a while now which is traditional here in the UK. The Amaryllises are flowering and we are set for the holiday season!

Yesterday I bottled some of my Glögg extract (Swedish spicy mould wine). Recipe soon on my food blog, cookingwithankan.blogspot.com I did the labels in Photoshop and printed on special label paper. Great fun! More Christmas soon.

CAN´T SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING

"Can´t somebody do something" my mother screamed. The year was 1970 and I was watching the film "Ryan´s Daughter" with my mother. The film directed by David Lean is about an Irish married woman having an affair with a British soldier during World War I. She ends up being tarred and feathered by her fellow villagers. And that was what upset my mother. She was so absorbed by the film and stood up and exclaimed "Can´t somebody do something". It is just the way I feel today with Trump, Boris, Brexit and Covid... please, somebody DO SOMETHING!

 

Picture taken by ankanberggren of lockdown in Abergavenny 2020

 

NEW INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT @LIVINGWITHANKAN FROM TODAY 12 AUGUST 2020

Today I started a new Instagram account with the same name as my blog; Livingwithankan is now live and please follow. I will talk and discuss the fact that I am 60+ and what impact that has on everyday living, health, economy etc. I am beginning by starting the day with a good breakfast. Mine is with low, or non fat, yogurt, freshly cut fruit and homemade muesli (without sugar). Today I enjoyed it in my little courtyard in our new hometown of Abergavenny

#NEWGARDENLAUNDRYPLACE #ABERGAVENNY #WALES

For the last twenty years I have had Swedish Geranium, Mårbacka, in my kitchen window. Now a baby is growing nicely in Abergavenny and our second home here since we left Chipping Campden in 2018. We have been concentrating on the garden during Lockdown and have come a long way. The little courtyard is more or less finished and the second "room", the patio, we have layed ourselves. See more below.

Looked everywhere to find growing parsley. Seems like everybody has had the same idea as I to grow a herbgarden. Though in all my houses I have always had one. Found the lovely little watercan in B&M, could not resist it!

We have laid over first ever patio. Looks great. Was really hard work! You have to level the base and then the heavy mixing of the concrete. Looks great though and well worth the effort. Gravel around it looks stunning with the different textures. The wall I painted in the same grey as the brick wall in the courtyard and the furniture, designed by John Reeves, has never looked better!

The patio viewed from the next level above. Here you can see how elevated the garden is. We are creating different rooms and this will be the "dining room". The border was created by Bruce and has since grown a bit more, see below!

Pale pink geraniums with green edged blackish leaves! Just down my street. Goes so well with our grey/black garden.

Part of our herb garden. Parsley (now fully out), thyme and chives. So lovely to be able to walk out from the kitchen and pick it.

Wild Jasmin that we picked in Llanfoist. Cuttings are doing well and will soon be planted out.

More from the herb garden, Rosemary, Mint and Sage, guarded by the frog and the duck (aka Ann-Katrin and her "prince").

The brick wall was not in great shape so it needed some attention. First mended with polyfiller etc and then two coats of masonary paint. Great result, we think.

The black planters has been with us for about 15 years and this is their third home. Goes very well with the grey walls and the black furniture from Claes Ohlson. I love the little children´s watering can that I found at B&M in Abergavenny, a bargain. The blue glass bowl was a gift from a friend on my 40th birthday. Still going strong.

Nasturtiums are one of my favorite plants to grow from seed. So easy and rewarding.

The wall looks a bit blueish in some light during the day. Alongside yellow, orange and white, blue is the colour we chose for the rest of the plants.

A lot of soil needed for the planters, pots and borders...

This acer has also been with us for a long time. Soon to be planted out to be able to grow bigger... more soon from our new garden in Abergavenny.

#50YEARSOFDESIGNERSGUILD

The Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey, London was founded by artist and designer Dame Zandra Rhodes. Today it is operated by Newham College, London. Zandra still lives in the penthouse. The project of building the museum was financed by selling some of the roof top apartments. The Mexican architect, Ricardo Legoretta worked closely with Zandra and now this has become an icon building and attraction in Bermonsey. From 14 February this year Tricia Guild has the honour of being exhibited here celebrating 50 years of textile designing. The lockdown has unfortunately locked down the museum and they hope to open soon and has recently extended the dates until 14 of September. Please go if you are in London, here are a sneak view all shot by me! 

Designers Guild are this year celebrating 50 years of design and has been invited by the museum to show off her brilliant work during these years. A very well styled and curated exhibition and big enough to give you the history of DG and small enough to make it easy to absorb! This is me and Tricia at the press preview of the exhbition in February. We have known each other since the early 1980s and I have always been a big fan of her work.

Tricia has not any degrees in Textile Design, a self taught expert she has often worked together with more or less famous artists and designers. One of her first collaborations were with the artist and knitting designer, Kaffe Fasett in 1976. Together they turned a piece of art into a fabric design.

From the latest collection. Giant flowers, a panoramic wallpaper. "Le Poeme de Fleurs" AW19.

Tricia is an excellent stylist and florist. Her mix of glassware, ceramics, furniture and decorative odds and ends are timeless and super decorative. She has created a genuine style of her own.

The way Tricia Guild mixed contemporary design with her own textiles and vintage has created a trend in its own.

When the Swedish version of Elle Decoration (Then Elle Interiör) was introduced on the Swedish market I was heavily involved and styled the first ever cover. My inspiration came from by Designers Guild, Canovas and Celia Birtwell, Gunnel Sahlin etc. This was the coloursceme. AW93.

I think this is one of my favourite collections of DG. The cut out velvet and flock wallpaper are on the brink of being saucy and vulgar, but she manages to turn that into being sofisticated and glamourous.

An other of her strenghts are cushions. Mixing colours, trimmings and patterns in unexpected ways. I love the way she turned a cushion into a real wow-factor.

This is a replica of a interior from Tricia own home in 1995! An excellent example of her brilliant mix of colours, design and materiels.

Greens and graphic patterns is another great strength in Tricias CV. Fab styling!

A perfect example in how Tricia mixes vintage with modern design and colours. Vintage desk from the 1960s and plastic chair by Vitra.

But above all is her love for flowers and the garden inspiration is clear here.

Mix graphic design with flowers and you are creating an interior full of life and excitement. This black and white stripe is another one of my favourites and I had it in my old house (roman blinds in the livingroom).

I would think that green is Tricias favourite colour. Here a typical example of her way of styling. Mixing ceramics with fabric, towels, stationary, tableware etc. Formidable!

Designers Guilds biggest collections concists of plains! Any colour (nearly) can be found. Not to forget stripes and checks.

SS20! Flowers of course.

Velvets à la Tricia.

Scandinavia has influenced many of Tricias collections. From the 1800-s century Gustavian design to the 2000s.

Tricia showing off her latest collection at the press preview. The exhibition now runs until 14 September (might be extended again due to the lockdown uncertainty). Don´t miss it!

#LOCKDOWNDAY65 #GARDENINGTOKEEPSANE

Lockdown day 65! We are gardening to keep sane. Here my longsuffering (being married to me) and lovely hardworking husband Bruce in front of his new BBQ. He loves it.

We are planning some new flower beds and that needs a lot of compost! Violas that I bought as tiny plants at Aldi (posh Lidl) in Abergavenny for nothing are prospering.

Our terraced garden is coming on. We are creating four rooms. A court yard (nearly ready), a terrace (in the making), a pergola (still on the drawing board) and a cabin at the back! Follow the progress here and on Instagram.