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Thank you all for reading Style Bytes so far; I hope the blog will be even better with the make-over.

My boyfriend gave me Fashion Now 2 for Christmas. I never told him I wanted it, but he already has fashion books in his own collection, so I guess it came naturally to him. I never got the first edition, so I was of course very pleased to recieve this. The book is great to learn more about the big designers. It’s not always easy to keep track of everything, but this book is loaded with interviews, pictures and background information. It works well as a book to flip through when you’re bored or to read from cover to cover. Even though I love the book in many ways, there are some designers missing that I would love to know more about. I guess at this price you can’t get it all. Still, all fashionistas should have this book. It’s $39.99 on Amazon.

Short shorts

Black and white polka dot chiffon dress

Striped sweather

Ribbon to tie around the waist

Tiered skirt or dress in white or beige

Flower patterned dress

Baggy dress, either it’s girly or boyish

Suit and white shirt if you still haven’t got one

Socks, knee highs, colorful tights and leggings (all to wear with heels)

Bright summery colors like mint green, soft pink and yellow

Beige and black combo

Anything in white laces

See through dress, either it’s chiffon or laces

Nice underwear to wear under the see though dress

Platform heels

Nice flats for days with a lot of walking

Anything 60’s, even though 70’s and 80’s will work in some ways

And if you didn’t get it from the above keywords: dresses, dresses, dresses.

The flash makes everything look a little sader than it is. The apartment I live in is small so I haven’t been able to do everything as I’d like to. I also share it with my boyfriend, which has made me have to make some compromizes. Still I am pretty pleased.

For the kitchen I wanted to go for a 50’s kind of style. I am especially pleased with the diner table, but I haven’t found matching chairs yet, so the ones I have are just to have something to sit on. I guess these are pretty common in the US, but here I’ve never seen a table like mine. I also have a lot of 60’s stuff, making the whole kitchen looking a little grandma-ish. My grandparents actually had the same dishes I collect. The bookshelf is Ikea, and it works as a perfect room seperator. It is wide enough to fit books on both sides. On the kitchen side I keep my kitchen stuff and cookbooks, on the other side I keep mostly books.

Some of my kitchen flea finds.

The livingroom is a mix of futuristic white and flea market finds. The table is made by a Norwegian designer. I sewed the pillows and curtains myself. The fabric was really cheap and is shows, so that’s one of the things that is going to be fixed. Since it’s closing up to Christmas I put a Christmas trea in the window. Usually we use it to sit in. Perfect to sneak on the neighbours or look at the people at the cafe on the other side of the street.

The entrance is all about shoes. I have bookshelves to store shoes in. I bought regular bookshelves on Ikea and bought extra shelves to put in. It’s overfilled at the moment, so I’m trying to get rid of things. (But that’s not easy.)

The bench made by a Norwegian designer and is to have somewhere to sit when putting on my shoes. The picture is horrible and the floor underneath it was at the time a storage place for Christmas presents. But it’s still a very useful part of the apartment. :)

The bedroom is more of the romantic kind. The bedspread I bought on Ebay and the pillows I’ve sewed my self with matching curtains. The pictures on the wall is a mix of old memories and flea finds.

The night stands don’t match. On one side I have a three piece table, and on the other side a stack of old suitcases. They are filled with my old diaries. As in most of the apartment, my accessories lie everywhere, no exception here.

Clothes everywhere, even in my bedroom window.

More stuff. The bag is an old doctors bag that I use to keep my underwear in.

I also managed to make myself kind of a walk in closet. Next to the bedroom was this small storage room and I put shelves in it and keep most of my clothes in there. Unfortunely, with my constant shopping, I can’t fit everything in. And since it’s so full it’s kind of a mess. I have made some solutions to keep system though. I have open boxes where I keep scarves, belts and so on. Might not show so well on the pictures, but I have put on old postcards to decorate the boxes. I’ve also sewed a thing that hangs on the inside of the door to hang sunglasses and all sorts of small stuff. The room is still a mess.

So as you can see my apartment is a mix of a lot of vintage, some Ikea and some design. There are a lot of things I’d like to change, but overall, concidering I have no money and a tiny apartment I am pretty happy with how it looks like. I have many styles, both in clothes and in interior, so I guess my decoration isn’t as focused as many people would like. I’ve never been on the minimalistic side either, this is maybe as minimalistic as I can ever be.

Quality In stead of buying lots of cheap stuff extra cheap, go for quality. This is the only time many of us can afford some of the more pricy stuff, and usually the quality is way better.

Shorts We have seen these in stores for a while, and they will be just as trendy next year. Grab them while you can!

Leather handbags The tan leather handbags will work next year as well, but black leather will last forever. Mango has a nice handbag that looks a little Chanel on sale right now.

Winter coat These can be expencive so buy one now while they’re on sale. There’s still some months of cold weather to get through (at least in Norway). Also look for a trench coat for spring if you don’t already have one. There’s nothing more timeless than that.

Jeans Also a garment that can cost quite a bit, so look for them now. Last sale I bought an extra pair of my favorite. Remember that the waist is rizing, so don’t go for the low ones.

Knits Woolen sweathers and any sorts of knits never go totally out of style, and there are tons of them in stores right now.

Shoes Nice heels won’t go out of style too fast. Platforms will last another year, so look for those as well. Sneakers are also great to get on sale. Above are semi-expencive heels from Mango.

Basics and classics All sorts of basics and classics that aren’t mentioned above. Suits, white shirts, black pumps…

Think spring Take a look at the spring collections and have a look at what colors and styles you would like to go for. Some of this you will be able to find at the sales now.

I always check out Mango during the sales even though I never shop there normally. They have some semi-expencive stuff in good quality, and usually have the best sale of all.

Where: Nesna, a tiny town up north in Norway.

Got: Fashion Now 2, Max Factor eye shadow, a year of Elle, Paper Chase CD, suitcase, beauty supplies among many other things.

Ate: Alot. Traditional Norwegian dishes like dried fish soaked in lye and I got home some nice dried reindeer meat to put in the coffee.

Saw: Northern lights, shooting stars, lots of snow, several moose and very little TV.

Best: When my dad came to visit and brought a box of my grandma’s old stuff.

Worst: Spending 28 hours on a train. (I love travelling by train, but when all you see is snow it gets dull after a couple of hours.)

The buttons look really small on the picture but they’re much larger in life. When I get sick of the buttons I will take them off and use the hat for a more Burberry Prorsum look from their 2006 spring collection.