Second-hand find: Pointy earrings

Pointy earrings from the Oxfam charity shop in St. John’s Wood. Price: 6 pounds. I love the bold, studded design as I don’t like my jewellery to be too cutesy & dainty.

I don’t really know what the material is, but the colour is something in-between silver and gold.

The old-fashioned clasp means that you have to fasten the screw until tight enough, which almost stopped me from buying them, as I thought they would be really painful to wear.

But they have turned out to be super comfortable, almost as comfortable as normal earrings – something I’m too afraid to wear at the moment, as I have a very active (and surprisingly strong) baby in the house, who happens to loooove grabbing shiny things.

He even managed to sneak himself into these pictures, while mum was busy taking pictures of herself. Can you spot him in the corner? I think he is pretending to help me with the laundry.

Second-hand find: quilted 70’s Laura Ashley bag

Dark grey vintage Laura Ashley bag from my favourite charity shop, St. John’s Hospice shop, in St. John’s Wood.

Price: 8 pounds.

I love the pattern and the fact that it is easy to slide over the pushchair’s handles.

It’s perfect for holding all the baby necessities such as wipes, drinks and food as I don’t have to worry about spillage. I’ll just chuck it in the washing machine…

Second-hand find: 2 x green Jonathan Adler vases

I love ceramics and pottery and have been collecting the fragile, hand-made pieces for many years.

When it comes to vases, Jonathan Adler is a firm favourite. (You might have spotted his pieces in Carrie’s flat in Sex and The City).  All Adler pottery is designed in his Soho studio in New York and then thrown in Peruvian workshops which have been found through Aid to Artisans, a non-profit organisation that promotes fair trade.

And what’s not to love about a designer with a an amazingly inspired and witty cv like this. And take a look at his manifesto.

I used to own only two Adler vases. A blue and a white. The blue one I don’t think is in production anymore and I bought it on sale in the shop Stilleben in Copenhagen. The white bulb vase (£118) is a gift from my former colleagues.

But then recently I spotted these two in my favourite charity shop, St John’s Hospice Shop, in St. John’s Wood:

I actually first thought they were cheap copies from Ikea, so I quickly turned them upside down:

“Yay me!” I silently shouted to myself and ran to the till. The were both £7.

The left one is called gourd relief (£98) and the one on the right is called abacus (£88). Both are inspired by “seeds, barnacles, pebbles and other natural wonders”.

Who let the dog out?

I love quirky cushions, and this hand-made wool one barked at me the other day in the Octavia Foundation charity shop in St. Johns Wood.

Who can say no to a bulldog? SoI handed £3 over to the guy at the till, and the cushion was miiiiine. When I came home I googled the name on the back (that’s one of my favourite things about second-hand shopping, checking to see if you’ve found a real gem).

And I padded myself gently on the back when I discovered that this pillow is still in production…..at £92.50. On sale here at the moment.

Dressing the bump – rainbow summer dress

I bought this rainbow cotton dress many years ago in one of my favourite second-hand shops in Copenhagen. It cost around 8 pounds.

I love the bold and bright colours as you can’t help but feeling cheerful when you wear it, and it’s perfect for hot and humid summer days where you need a bit of ventilation under your skirt.

I remember thinking that someday this would make a great maternity dress, as it can accommodate even the biggest of bumps, so the other day I decided to give it a try.

I’m wearing it with a ribbon tied around it, to make sure that I wouldn’t be mistaken for a ginormous tent

Dressing the (summer)bump – Liberty print jumpsuit

Summer really has arrived, so I’ve been combing through my closet seeking out summer dresses and other comfy light garments….with an expandable waist of course.

The first thing I found was this home-made, second-hand jumpsuit, made from Liberty fabric. I bought it for £12.50 two years ago at the outdoors Greenwich Clocktower Market (open Sat, Sun & bank holidays 10-5).

It always had a very loose-fitted waist and before I had to wear it with a belt. Not so much anymore.

And if it gets a bit more chilly, I’ll wear it with my beloved old Camilla Stærk jacket.

On my feet are the even more cherished (they live on my feet every summer) glitter-infused jelly shoes.

Yohji Yamamoto at the V&A + dressing the bump accordingly

On a grey and rainy day like today there’s nothing better than cuddling up on the sofa with a cup of hot tea. But if you want to be a bit more active, you can always head for a fashion exhibition.

Even though I love (second-hand) clothes and shopping I tend to yawn and curl my lip in contempt when faced with catwalk shows, fashion weeks and the name-dropping of aaaaarrrhhhmazing designers.

It just bores me to death and I never learned to love the vacuous mingling and bitchy atmosphere of Copenhagen Fashion Week, when I worked as a fashion journalist.

But if there’s one designer that can get me up from the sofa it’s the ground-breaking Japanese Yohji Yamamoto. So last week I went to see the his exhibition at the V&A. It’s small but good.

Left-hand side is dedicated to a mannequin parade of some of his best designs, through the years. 9 out of 10 of his designs I would wear on the spot, and I was (almost) tempted to just tear a few dresses of the dolls and make a run for it 🙂

The right-hand side consists of a row of TV’s, showing Yohji Yamamoto’s catwalk shows  and videos about the controversial designer. Should you want to meet the designer himself, then I suggest you book a ticket for the talk on the 26th of June.

6 months pregnant or not, I felt I had to honour Mr. Yohji by wearing one of his designs to the exhibition. I only own two Yamamoto items: a skirt with a narrow waist (so that one was out of the question) and this dress:

So on it went. I had to leave the zipper half-open, but I still like the way it looks. If you want to see it in a non-pregnant state and read about where I bought it, click here.

I love how this last windblown picture reminds me of the poster from the exhibition. Noone does those avantgarde silhouettes quite like Yamamoto. They’re instantly recognisable.

Yohji Yamamoto at the V&A, until 10 july 2011.
Read more & book tickets

Dressing the bump – Japanese polka dots

I had a dinner date with some friends in East London last week. And with all the young hipsters running around in that part of town old Mette kinda felt the pressure to retro-dress-up the bump a bit.

Looking in my closet the options were very limited, but then I remembered this dark blue polka dot dress with puff sleeves, which has a very high waist. I bought it ages ago in a second-hand shop in Japan for around 3 pounds.

But the big question was: could I squeeze the bump into it?

I could. So I chose to ignore the fact, that it’s made from 100% polyester and left for a lovely dinner at one of my favourite East London restaurants, Lennie’s Snack Bar.

Here I’m wearing it with a pair of studded ankle boots from Topshop to make it less dressy.

Dressing the bump – black and blue dots

HAHA! I found another two items in my wardrobe that still fit.

Strangely enough I’m not really into (second-hand) clothes shopping at the moment, so I get very excited when I discover that I can squeeze the bump into old stuff from my closet.

Like this black & blue dotted top, bought from a second-hand shop on Edgware Road ages ago for around £10. (I’m also wearing it here in a non-pregnant state).

I’ve paired it with an old H&M zip-up skirt which fit the bump after I stretched the seams until they started popping…..woops.

I really like the puff sleeves and cheerful dots on this hand-loomed sweater and the fact that the look changes, chameleon-style, from black-on-blue to blue-on-black dots, depending on what side you’re facing.

Second-hand find: Big colourful wool scarf

I’m sick with the flu at the moment (well, it might just be a cold, but an evil EVIL one that feels like a flu).

So when I’m over this I’m not going to go anywhere without a warm scarf wrapped around my neck. I’ll probably go for this big colourful one, which is my all-time favourite.

I bought it in the Trinity Hospice Charity shop in Chiswick for around 6 pounds. It’s 100% wool and perfect for keeping neck and chest warm.

Right, I’m going to head back to bed now, but I have two new posts about my favourite Copenhagen cafés in the pipeline, so will be back soon….cough…cough…sniffle…

Read my second-hand guide to Chiswick