This week our #Badgirlcrush is the stunning Magdalena
Magdalena wears our JD Top
Q: Magdalena, thank you for taking time to be interviewed as our
#badgirlcrush of the week! We aim to give our readers / followers an insight
into some creative women that inspire us, and we love your classic Hollywood style with a modern twist!
A: Hello! It’s a delight to speak to you! I
always try and spread word and inspiration whenever given the chance.
Especially so since I love your clothing and approach to femininity!
Q:
Tell us a bit about yourself, we can see you just graduated after a year of
work & life experience in France & Belgium, congratulations!
A: Thank you! I’m a 19 year old Swede with
a penchant for history and fashion. I do vintage modelling, instagram and blog
my work, my style and my travels. Having just graduated, for the first time, I
feel I can do what I want, rather than what I must. It’s an overwhelming, but
exhilarating feeling. I haven’t quite settled on what to do now, but vintage
and modelling will definitely be part my life from now on.
Versailles, France. A favourite place.
Q:
What were your highlights from your travels? Did you discover any vintage
pieces to add to your collection?
A: My highlights are always museums and
parks. They’re the first things I look into whenever I go to a new city.
Museums offer the unique, enlightening and inspiring experiences that help you
truly understand a new location, and parks allow you to breathe and allow all
the impressions to sink in. I picked up an awful lot of vintage silk kimonos in
Tokyo. To me it felt as a rare and very local find. I like it when you find
vintage that not only has a value in itself, but a cultural value related to the
area you visit as well. Not only are the kimonos themselves breathtakingly
beautiful, but they are wearable trinkets with more history than any other
souvenir could ever offer.
Q:
We see you are a fan of sewing, costuming and the 18th century, how did that
passion start?
A: My mother has done historical costuming
for as long as I can remember. I have photos of myself aged 6 in the first 18th
century dress she made me. I’m wearing it with sandals, a hot-pink scrunchy,
Pokémon temporary tattoos, and a big smile on my face. I think that’s probably
where it started. I eventually grew into sewing myself, and before I knew it,
it had taken over my life! I have always had a great history interest in
general, and to combine that with a fashion interest makes it all the better.
Q:
How have those passions influenced your personal style?
A: My interest in historical fashions have
probably made me more appreciative of modern fashion and the likes. Historical
costume is not comfortable, and knowing what steel skirt supports, five bulky
skirts, a silk dress and a tightly laced pair of stays (read: pre 19th century
corset) feel like teaches you to appreciate even the least comfortable vintage
dress. The one reason I appreciate historical costuming is because it’s not something
I have to wear every day.
Q:
Do you have a favourite era, or take inspiration from different decades?
A: My favourite era would probably be late
1940s, early 1950s. The New Look offers a sleekness, elegance and contrast that
I greatly admire. I try to incorporate the same feeling into much of what I
wear. I don’t want there to be too much. Less is more, if what you do is
timeless.
Q:
Who would you say are your favourite old Hollywood icons?
A: Lauren Bacall and Ava Gardner are two
definite favourites of mine, simply because they both seemed like such
incredible women. Other inspirations of mine are Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah
Bankhead and Greta Garbo, because they offer a sort of refined roughness that
very few other Silver Screen actresses did. They were women who knew exactly
what they wanted, and went their own way. That’s the sort of woman I aspire to
be like.
Photo: Emily Dahl, Styling: Mia Norgren
Q:
What three pieces of advice would you give to any lady looking to try out the
vintage style?
A:
- Wear red lipstick, as often as
you can. It’s a statement you need to get used to, and once you do, you’ll find
yourself thinking ‘oh, today I want to wear vintage, just to match this
beautiful lipstick I’m wearing’.
- Do a little every day. It could
be the makeup, the hair, or just an accessory. A little goes a long way, and
the feeling of vintage is easily recreated with just a touch of actual vintage.
- Don’t buy every single vintage
item you come across that fits. Women all had different styles back then, just
the way we do today. Ask yourself how you would have dressed if you had lived
in a past time. Would you have been the sleek Dior kind of woman, the
bombshell, the housewife, or the wartime working girl? It’s much easier to
build a wardrobe when you know who you want to be.
Q: Do
you have any favourite any vintage shops in Sweden?
A: The one stop you mustn’t miss if you go
to Stockholm is Old Touch on Upplandsgatan. It’s where I buy most of my
clothes.
Photo: Emmelie Åslin, MUA: Molly Janssons,
Hair: Sarah Wing
Q:
We can see you are at home in front of the camera, how did you get into
modelling, and what has been your favourite shoot so far?
A: I got into modelling through my
instagram, oddly enough! I was contacted by some very talented photographers
and all of a sudden, I was an established model with quite the following! It has all been a very quick
journey, but I’m loving every second of it. My favourite shoot was with two
artists/photographers; Emmelie Åslin and Åsa Skarp. They contacted me about
this huge, but incredibly exciting project. It’s essentially a photographic
book murder mystery set in the 1940s. We shot almost daily over a two week
period with several models, and the end result is going to blow your minds once
it’s released!
Q:
You have the classic Hollywood hair & make up perfected, do you have any
tips for those of us struggling with pin curls and red lips?
A: The short answer is practice. The long
answer is practice more. Look for inspiration, study the details of looks you
like, and do your best to recreate it. And don’t worry if it doesn’t look
perfect right away. Also try and use authentic methods. You may be able to curl
your hair beautifully vintage-looking with a curling iron, but it won’t behave,
style or brush out the way a pin curl set would.
Q:
Which three pieces in your vintage collection are your most prized possessions?
A: What a difficult question! I can think
of two items. The first would be the 50s novelty print dress with medallions
and flowers on it (see image), simply because it’s such a rare beauty. I once
wore it to a fashion event and a very famous designer (whose name I cannot
mention) asked me if it was Dolce & Gabbana! I just laughed and told her
that unfortunately it was just Scandinavian vintage!
The other, and the most important garment I
own, is a petroleum green velvet late 50s evening coat that was my grandmothers
favourite. She died young, many years before I was born, and not a lot of her
belongings remain. I was given the coat by my aunt for my nineteenth birthday,
and it was a very emotional moment. It’s the coat my grandmother wore whenever
she wanted to feel her most beautiful, and to be able to wear it myself means
so much to me. It’s the closest I will ever be able to get to her. I like to
imagine she would have appreciated what I do, and be happy that her favourite
pieces of clothing come to such good use.
Q:
What are your goals for the rest of the year?
A: I will be moving to Brussels for a few
months in August. When I lived there last year I had yet to discover my vintage
interest, so now that I go back, it will in a way be an entirely new city to
me! I will try to get in touch with others that are like minded, and some
photographers, too, so as to get in to the creative process and mindset of a
new crowd. I want to create photograpic magic with more people, and broaden my
horizons, and not only do vintage, but also into avant garde and high fashion.
In more general terms regarding the future,
I have just joined the fashion inspiration team at a magazine called Fluid.It’s a fashion magazine run by some incredible people who want to embrace
unique characters and their sense of style. We try to look past stereotypes,
gender, and preconception, and embrace people who choose their own style and
direction in life. I was asked to be part of their team, and provide style
tips, looks and street fashion with my own twist. So keep an eye there and
you’ll find a lot of inspiration, not only from me, but from others as well. I
have a shoot for Fluid tomorrow, actually!
Social media sites :
Instagram: @magdalena_regina
