spruced by marlene

Of course, rather than sit here and write about running, I could actually be outside – running. Yeah, except the weather is kinda bad, I’m kinda tired, plus I just finished painting my nails and putting on trainers would ruin the pedicure.

I wonder what came first: my decision to start running? Or my excuses not to? Before either came my resolution to become fit again. Because I used to be. Able to run and jump and carry two bags of grocery shopping up three flights of stairs without being out of breath, had a nice trim biceps and a flat stomach. I also used to be slimmer. But even though I wouldn’t mind fitting into a certain pair of jeans again, shedding a few pounds would merely be a nice side effect. The main goal is to get into a different shape than the one spread out on the couch, laptop on my belly. Create a counterweight to all those hours spent sat at my desk. Find a way to stop the constant merry-go-round of thoughts in my head.

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Could you recommend a few shops in Copenhagen? That’s what Manuela asked me in her comment last night. Could I ever! I almost immediately sent her a list of my favourite places. Nué and B56 were on there, which I’ve talked about here and here before.

What I like about these two shops, what I generally like about shops in any foreign city, is that they capture a feeling in a way the big chains can’t. They offer a glimpse into the women’s (and men’s) wardrobe of that city. What do they wear? How do they wear it? What local brands do they buy? If I got up from my desk right now, walked over to my closet and had to pick out the pieces that are meaningful to me, most of them wouldn’t have the name Zara on the label, even though I’ve bought their stuff in places all over the world, too. No, it would be the Manning Cartell dress from Sydney. The Altewai.Saome skirt from Copenhagen. The tunic from a tiny shop in Malaga. When I wear them, I’m also wearing a part of that city. A memory of a journey. And it doesn’t matter that some of those brands are available online, I could’ve only bought them in that store, at that moment.

In Berlin, one of those stores is Konk. After Edda, the owner, and I had to postpone meeting a few times, I finally went around to take pictures last week – and ended up staying for a couple of hours. I had too much of a good time going through the clothes and, more so, chatting with Edda. You instantly feel that her concept of stocking only Berlin designers isn’t just a quirk but pure conviction. She’s behind every piece she selects. And she gives such good advice because she’d either wear those pieces herself or knows them well enough to have an idea of what will suit you. Besides, Edda is just incredibly nice and fun to talk to. Konk is her extended closet, with brands like Isabell de Hillerin, Boessert Schorn, Anntian, Thone Negrón and, new in, Alexandra Kiesel. The trench from Penelope’s Sphere and the delicate chain rings from Hanna Pordzik were some of my favourite pieces.

And you get to try them on in this changing room. I’m pretty sure that you’re not going see one like it anywhere else in the world.

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*I went to Konk this week to take pictures of the store and its lovely owner Edda, which I’ll show you next week. Here’s a little preview from the changing room. In my parallel reality I have a dressing room with a chair like this in it.

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It’s entirely possible that it’s because it started snowing again – again! – in Berlin today, and that it feels like this weather has been going on since the beginning of bloody time, but I’m loving the idea of putting a little sparkle into daytime dressing right now, like Lina here did with her cool green trousers. And, heavens, what a luminous face to see on a dreary day. If you don’t know her blog already, it’s called Lina di Moda and you can find it here.

Happy Easter, folks!

Lately I’ve been trying to change my buying habits, especially after the big closet clean out at the beginning of the year. Shopping, when I do, for things that I will get a lot out of. A good quality silk shirt. A classic coat. A blazer that works with everything. Pieces for seven days a week. Extravagant mostly in that I will want to wear them too much.

This dress is not one of those pieces. This dress is the Saturday night to the everyday. It’s a promise as much as bit of fabric. An idea of the woman I am when I put it on. If this dress walked into a bar, Cary Grant would order it a drink. I haven’t had the chance to take it out yet. And maybe there’ll only be two or three nights a year when I will. Still, it feels good to think that, on those nights, I can play the role that befits this movie of a dress. There should always be a little room for possibility in a closet, not just reality, even when it suits me better to restrain my spending as it does at the moment. Because in reality I might not have had the guts to show you a picture of the back view of me in the dress, although I think that it’s the peek-a-boo detail that really elevates it. But the woman wearing this dress? Well, she doesn’t mind so much. Just saunters by and throws you a smile.