Interview: Elsa Billgren (Need help dressing?), the redish vintage queen.

I'm so happy today about sharing this interview to all of you because Elsa is one of my muses. I love her not only for being the most beautiful reddish girl around the net but also because of her love for vintage clothes, especially dresses.

Elsa is a gorgeous woman who works for Beyond Retro, writes for Swedish Elle Magazine and has a program in the Swedish tv, where you can see her showing some amazing vintage shops.

She was recently married to a handsome man who makes her always smile, the wolf -as she likes to call him-; and I can assure you that her wedding was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

As you can see, I don't have words for saying how amazing I think Elsa is... but...

Who's Elsa Billgren?

(click for the interview!)

Thank you so much for accepting doing this interview, Elsa! First of all, could you please tell us who you are and a brief description of you?

A: I'm a 24-year-old married and vintage-loving girl from Stockholm who can not live without high heeld shoes and strawberries.

Oh, I cannot live without them too...! What do you do? What do you like to dedicate?

A: I love to picnic in the park, mostly everything that you can do outside in the summertime. I love to cook and have friends over so we can play cards and drink wine.

Can you talk a little about your interests?

A: My main interest is vintage fashion. I work as Press and PR officer for Beyond Retro Sweden and a dedicate all my time to beautiful things. I love to shop old stuff I don't need and then just take pictures of it.

That's a great hobby, haha! Ok, so, tell us a book, an album and a movie without which you could not live.

A: I read Tintin when I travel, maybe it's not a book, but close enough... I listen a lot to JJ's latest album and I think I watched Edward Scissorhands about a hundred times.

Would you share with us a memory that makes you smile?

A: I will never forget my wedding day. It was a rainy Saturday in May and now I will always think about how happy I was that day when the rain falls in May.

Any favourite quote?

A: "A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night." - Marilyn Monroe

So, talking a little bit about fashion, at what age did you get interested in the fashion world?

A: When I was about thirteen I think. But it wasn't pretty...

That's really difficult to imagine for me! Could you explain to us a bit about what has been the evolution of your image?

A: I was white trash when I was young. Horrible outfits that showed to much. But then I saw a movie with Marilyn and I was hooked.

How would you describe your actual style?

A: Like a young girl trapped in a Disney movie from the sixties mixed with a german woman who bakes cinnamon buns.

What inspire you in choosing your clothes? Do you follow a pattern to match your clothes or just choose randomly?

A: I just buy stuff I think are beautiful. They are often in bright colours and in cotton.

Where do you usually get your clothes? Do you customize or sew any garment for you?

A: I buy almost all my clothes from Beyond Retro. I do put a bit more money on shoes and I just love Sonia Rykiel!

Sonia Rykiel is one of my favourites too, I adore her! Have you got any special obsession (like shoes, bows, skirts...)?

A: Dresses. I only have dresses. Not a single pair of jeans and that's the truth!

I think that all the people who read your blog already knew that! Ok, so now, about blogging... When and why did you decide to start writing a blog?

A: Swedish Elle magazine asked me in December 2008. They got in touch with me from my work with vintage fashion and said they needed someone just like me.

What do you want to express with your blog? Do you think it adds anything to the people who read it?

A: It should be an inspiration and an opposite to all the blogs out there who makes you feel worse about yourself. It should be beautiful, colourful and honest.

That's so honest, and makes me say "thank you" to you again!

As you may know, you're such a great inspiration for people all around the world -as me-; what do you feel when someone says you are his/her inspiration? What would you say to those people?

A: I get surprised and flattered every time! They are the reason I love blogging so much! It gives me the strength to proceed and continue wanting to give people positive energy!

What do you think about the actual Bloggers' world? Do you think they've got some influence in the fashion world? In which way do you think they make the fashion world evolve?

A: I don't read a lot of blogs actually. I just read my friends' blogs. It's very easy to be judgemental towards all the young girls who write about fashion and their lives. Internet is a harsh place. I'm not very interested in trends and fashion. I like people more.

Have you had some experience with any fashion or beauty brand for being a blogger, just to promote them? Which ones? How it was?

A: A lot of companies send you stuff. I don't write about anything I don't just love. It would change my blog into something else.

How did you start to collaborate with Elle Magazine? Do you think that promote bloggers between magazines is a good idea?

A: I worked with Elle before I started to blog. I borrowed out a lot of clothes for photoshoots. Working with Elle has been pure joy!

About your recent entry of the design of bowties, how was the collaboration with Flugorna? Have you done something like this before? Would you like to do this kind of things more often?

A: They asked me if I wanted to design bowties ages ago, in my early blogging days. I said yes because I didn't get a lot of proposals like that. Nowadays a get a lot and I try to be careful with what I do. I do love the bowties though and really enjoy illustrating patterns!

And finally (but not less important), tell us a tip for your readers (a tip for their lives, for the fashion bloggers' world or whatever you want to say to them.

A: Don't take life to serious. Enjoy yourself and spend time with only people you love. Surround yourself with beautiful things and never let anyone tell you you're not fab. You are. Abfab.

Thank you so much, Elsa!!

You cannot imagine how happy and inspired I was when I made this interview, it was really great for my final project and I learned a lot about this gorgeous woman!

So... did you know about Elsa?