253. Swedish Hasbeens + numinous days (+ more fashion campaigns centered around the toilet, please)
January 26th, 2010 § 35 Comments
Thrifted toggle coat, Tretorn cardigan from Gilt (use my code here,) Nadinoo peacock dress, Swedish Hasbeens jodhpur boots, scarf + earrings from Istanbul.
There’s a Paul Lafarge story about a woman who dreams of growing younger until she no longer exists in The Facts of Winter, which I like, because as a child, I wanted very much to experience inexistence so that I would no longer be afraid of it. (Due to watching too much Saved By the Bell and believing wholeheartedly I could freeze time like Zach Morris, I figured I’d experience inexistence for a few minutes and then get back to existing, dolt that I was.) In the spirit of backtracking, I bring you these photos of my Swedish Hasbeens jodhpur boots (so many S’s) in reverse order.
I don’t remember if I first heard of Swedish Hasbeens from Rhiannon’s blog, Liebemarlene, or from Jennifer’s blog, Sally Jane Vintage, but either way, thanks to both ladies, who always seem to have their pulse on cool new designers and vintage-inspired labels–how do you do it?–for alerting me to this charming company. All of their shoes are handmade with natural grain leather and wooden soles. According their website, the story is:
Her name was Anita and she was the hottest mum in all of southern Sweden in the 1970’s. While smoking Camel she screamed at her kids until her curlers fell out and just looked fabulous in her white high-heeled clogs.
One summer day in 2006 we found the shoes she wore (300 pairs of red, white and black beautiful clogs from the 70’s) in the basement of an old clog factory in the neighboring village and brought them to Stockholm. So for all these people that shared our love for Anita’s wooden shoes and for ourselves we started Swedish Hasbeens.
I like the morally indefensible mom–’scuse me, mum–and her hot-ass shoes and the image of a woman screaming until her curlers pop off. In my continued version, she shakes her head and applies some make-up and goes to the disco with a perfect head of curls.
At first, I was a little weirded out by the long list of warnings that come with these shoes, such as: “The leather may have insect bites or tears,” “There may be twigs in the wood,” “The wood may chip if you should knock into something,” or “Be careful using your shoes in water since it may loosen the glue between the rubber and the wood and the sole might come off.” But then I dealt with it the way I deal with most things in life, which is to ignore the warnings and forge ahead. I admit I was a little bummed my boots didn’t have a twigs in the wooden heel but relieved that the leather was free from insect bites and tears. I wonder how frangible these shoes really are? Only recklessness over a sustained period of time will tell.
High heeled jodhpur boots, braided sky high clogs, and peeptoe sky high clogs from Spring 2010 collection.
I especially like the frothy pastels from their Spring 2010 collection. It would be fun to tart up an already tarted-up outfit with a pair of the pastel pink or blue braided clogs. I’m envisioning high waisted cut-offs and a cropped halter top, or a little romper over a vintage two-piece bathing suit. Also, on the subject of tartiness–are these clogs reminding anyone else of the Candies’ ad campaign back in the 90′s with Jenny McCarthy?
I love the tee-hee-whatever insouciance of this ad. There was another Candie’s ad where Jenny McCarthy lets one rip in a packed elevator. I can’t find it on the web, but I don’t think I made it up. This type of ad campaign might be the only kind I can tolerate–one that doesn’t take itself too seriously. (Why does the ‘avant-garde’ in fashion have to be completely humorless? See: Italian Futurists for the unholy marriage of embarrassing ideas and primitive prose under the trellis of utter and complete sincerity, aka YO edgy designers, can you have a sense of humor, thanks.) There’s nothing gross or weird or unsettling about sitting on the toilet, but there’s something very gross and disturbing about the more recent Candie’s ads with Hayden Panettiere trying to look sexy in a completely generic way.
Oh advertising, you utterly banal and yet completely insidious industry, you.
Love, Jenny
jenny! your outfit is amazing! that pink bow belt is perfect with the peacock dress and that coat…oh my god…i’m in love with it! that color is amazing.
i’m loving your green hasbeens too! everyone’s been talking about them recently but i never knew too much about them. love the descriptions of the shoes though haha. i love a little bit of humor when it comes to fashion and such
I’m glad you are down with the potty fashion, Jen!
I was all about the Candies ads, I had a pair of similar to the pair in the ad (thou not Candies) when I was in high school.
You had my dream shoes in high school… any chance you’ll bust them out again?
Sweet dress. Those warnings are kinda crazy!
I know!!
cool shoes!!
-Erica
http://allaboutitt.blogspot.com/
Thanks Erica
1. I love peacocks, so the fact that your dress has peacocks on it and it is so beautiful;makes me want. Badly.
check out my blog!
http://www.thestylerider.blogspot.com
Nadinoo, the designer of the dress, is a wonderful wonderful designer! I wish there were more peacock dresses in the world..
it seems a interesting shoes. the warnings are very crazy but make it more interesting, of course. and it have a wonderful green. liked your bow belt too. kisses
Thanks lady! The warnings do add a certain charm to the shoes and they make me think I’m wearing something precious. I don’t know!
*an interesting shoes.
AH! The magic is in the air! Like that crude Jenny McCarthy ad! The magic of Swedish Hasbeens! I just gave into my long-supressed desires and got a pair (bordeoux color, peep-toe, a very reasonable super-high) as they were an super-sale at my friend’s shop….I LOVE THEM! But like you, I am a little ginger in my approach, because I fear the reality of my clunkiness with pretty shoes. Those tender wood soles, insect nibbled or not, will soon be banged and bumped and bicycle greased-up…This I fear. I will do my best to be dainty!As soon as I sort out all this camera business (purchased wrong caard reader, fie! subsequently chipped vital latch of beloved canon–double-fie!) I’ll post some good ones…
sigh. what a windbag am i.
xoxo,
Gina
Oh Gina, I can’t wait to see your shoes and I hope your camera gets sorted out as soon as possible. I’m so uncoordinated and clumsy that I feel there’s no possible way you could be more of a windbag than I am! Just today I knocked over a bag of salt and walked into a lamp. We’ll just have to walk around with insect bitten, chunk o wood missing from the heel, greased up Hasbeens.
i love your shoes.
the color is great.
xxx
Thank you Clara!
y’know, i really loved this blog when there were fewer pictures. i’m sorry, but i just find all these photos really narcissistic. i know it’s de rigeur for fashion blogs to have ridiculous numbers of pictures of the blogger dressed to the nines with and now without her cocktail ring, but that’s one of the reasons i really liked this blog. it took a step back from the narcissism of fashion. now i swear i can’t read it! the photos are way too big and way too numerous. maybe you should have a separate photo stream or something. because what you say is interesting. the photos are completely at odds with that content, though.
Narcissism is grosser than slimy snot, isn’t it? And sometimes funny, and occasionally sublime (if it’s also funny.) I sincerely appreciate your honesty and candor. Meggy and I are making tons of changes to the blog in the coming days and weeks and hopefully it’ll be to everyone’s liking. Most importantly, it’ll reflect our goals,and our hopes and dreams.Please feel free to express your thoughts and opinions on our ever changing blog vision as we try out new things.
love, Jenny
PS–Have you ever read The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald? He does an astounding job of incorporating photos into a tremendous novel/essay that spans everything from the personal to the socio-historical to the political to the scientific and pictures galore. A person I’d like to emulate if only I could change my brain into a genius’s brain.
such an adorable outfit!
Thanks lady!
Ha, I remember when that ad came out in middle school.
Am I right about the Jenny McCarthy passing gas? Or totally off the mark?
Oh, this is a beautiful dress, it looks so delicate and spring-like with it’s peacock feathers design. I don’t think I can say no to a pair of these pastel colour clogs this summer…
Me neither! Pastels are one of my all time favorites even though I own so few pastel things.
Absolutely adorable outfit =)! Those clogs are really cute too, maybe I need a pair when it gets warm haha.
Don’t you wish it were already warm!!
Haha oh my, I haven’t thought of Candies in sooo long…
I LOVE your dress!!
Thank you!
Oh! la la! Love everything about your today outfit!!
and I want some of those pastel clog! The warning kinda of remind me of a story that happen a couple year back. Some of Django friend move to Montreal and they were all English speaking only. They found this AMAZING vintage piece of furniture on the street and brought it home. That night they invited everyone for some tea and of course everyone was in admiration with it. Until I proceed to the kitchen and noticed a note laying around in french written in big bright color saying “Do Not Take Home Fill with Wood Insects!” Yep of course it had been paste on that new vintage piece. I can tell you It took only second for it to be put back outside! 
-Coco from Our Paper Moon
My goodness! How horrifying–I once picked up a couch that had bedbugs. I dumped it on the curb the next day with a note that said BUG INFESTED, only to find it back in the living room an hour later! I realized that my housemate had mistakenly thought that she found a lovely couch out on the curb and I had to tell her that it was infested with bedbugs. I guess the note had fluttered off into the wind…
Horrible!
Hi there! I absolutely adore your outfit. The dress is so pretty and I love the purple bow and green heels. I love your take on nonexistence. Its very interesting. Cute blog. Thanks for stopping by mine
inbugsdrawers.blogspot.com
(Why does the ‘avant-garde’ in fashion have to be completely humorless? See: Italian Futurists for the unholy marriage of embarrassing ideas and primitive prose under the trellis of utter and complete sincerity, aka YO edgy designers, can you have a sense of humor, thanks.)
i laughed out loud at this. so good!
[...] Last year, around this time the temperature was in the twenties and thirties. I think I may be uncharacteristically in denial of the warmth. I’ve been foolishly bundling up in my winter coats and boots while everyone else is in shorts and spring cardigans. This makes me feel old, especially when I remember how my great grandmother used to wear two shirts, a sweater vest, a cardigan, and two pairs of pants in the middle of July, and how my grandmother would try to get me to bring a coat to the beach. Yesterday, I finally lightened up and took my Swedish Hasbeens for an inelegant walk around town. I’m preparing a huge Etsy update for Wednesday, and I’m terribly excited about this week’s listings. Spring coats, including a lovely trench, summer frocks, and a pair of Candies high heel slip-ons that I nostalgically wrote about a few months ago! [...]
I really want a pair of these Hasbeens but frankly I’m worried that I would eat it on those super-high heels. Do they feel stable/walkable, or do you get wobbly somtimes? They look so great, but shoes I’m afraid of falling in never get worn.