Blast from the Past. My Shop in Gamlastan Stockholm

I moved to Sweden 10 years ago and shortly after moving,  I opened a shop in Gamla Stan in Stockholm. Gamla Stan (for those that don't know) is one of the most viby kooky old fashioned and beautiful parts of Stockholm. Very touristy of course, but worth a visit none the less. Anyway, I found a premises and opened up my shop called Van Asch...

I called it 'an opulent alternative to the pale Scandinavian style'...

And  indeed it was. I may have used the phrasing like ...'dark and decadent' 'Burlesque and Bohemian' ... I've always been keen on alliteration 

It was aimed at women and the men who need to buy them things,. It was full of luxurious things, lotions and potions, candles, velvet, feathers, crystal, champagne flutes....

And of course there was the clothing. Sourced from lots of designers that I loved at the time...

And augmented with my own clothing designs and crazy hats... Her is the lovely Sabina modelling a few of my creations...

But it was too beautiful and weird to last so I closed up and started designing cushions and other stuff. I loved having a shop but it was also a rope around my neck. I had to be there all the time and I couldn't spend my time making things, which is what I really wanted to be doing.

I met lots of my friends there and I had such fun with it. It was my dream to have that store and I made it happen. Then it was my dream to design stuff to sell in stores all over the world so I moved on to doing that. No regrets... and all that remains are just  happy memories and these few pictures...

Here is a grumpy picture of me, pregnant, standing outside the shop in one of my hats.

As I get older I seem to be reflecting back more and more even getting a bit sentimental, dare I say it. It's weird for me as I have always had my eyes firmly on the horizon, moving ever forward. Now that I am more mindful of the moment, I have started to slow down and become more reflective and I rather enjoy reminiscing. Did you know that scientists have shown that old folks who are more nostalgic than there peers are also usually more happy... obvious really, but there you go. It's ok to stare out the window and think about what you were doing when you were 25... If you can remember that is! Thats' my challenge!! Anyway, I digress, I promise I won't blog about the past more than is strictly necessary.

Have a wonderful dreamy weekend...