About Embracing Your Curves.

A new issue of the Swedish fashion magazine Sofis mode came out in stores yesterday. Nothing remarkable about that. Except that inside it, you can find my very last column. Well, my last column in this particular magazine, that is.

Three years have gone by since I wrote my first one in Sofis mode; it looked something like this:

For three years, these columns were such a big part of my life. I have written hundreds, about every subject you can think of. I will admit that it feels a little bit sad - the same kind of sadness that you can feel when graduating from high school, or ending a long relationship that you know you're ready to move away from. You know it's time to move on, forward, onto something new and different; yet you can't deny it hurts to let go.

But I'm so glad that the new columnist is no other than my blogger colleague and dear friend Sandra Beijer of the blog NioTillFem! Back in July, when I had finally decided it was time for me to leave Sofis mode, I was hanging out with Sandra in Brooklyn - and there and then, I just knew she was the perfect replacement. A couple of weeks ago, I found out that my boss agrees with me, and that Sandra is now hired to take over!

In this particular issue, you can also find my feature of one of the most admirable, talented and beautiful young women I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know. There is no doubt in my mind that Rosalind Jana of Clothes, Cameras and Coffee will be a household name in ten years, and I can't wait to see what will become of her. Who knows - maybe the next J.K. Rowling?

Rosalind naturally wished to read a translation of her story before it was shipped off to print, so since I already have an English version of her feature, I figured I'd share it with you!



Rosalind Jana was fifteen years old and certainly had nothing to complain about. Her fashion- and photography blog was both popular and well respected, she was working as a model and dreamed of a career in fashion design.

Only one cloud on an otherwise so bright sky. And it was nothing to worry about, really. The doctor had told her she should live with her disease, and so she did - her long hair and carefully selected clothing were quite effective as camouflage, you could hardly tell anything was even wrong. Right?

But Rosalind Jana's parents couldn't help noticing what she herself refused to see. In October last year, they asked another consultant for a second opinion. With her spine now bent at an eighty degree angle, there was no more talk about "living with it". Rosalind Jana needed surgery for her severe scoliosis, and she needed it now. How did next week sound?

A year later, life is back to normal. Yet so different.

The modelling career and designer dreams have stepped back to give room to a new - or, rather, rediscovered - passion: the art of writing.

- Undergoing surgery turned out to be a catalyst for change, as it made me re-evaluate my aspirations for the future. I started writing extensively for myself about what I had been through, and came to the conclusion that writing was something that I was both passionate about and willing to work at. It reminded me how much I love words!

And the love was far from unrequited. Quite the opposite, actually. Rosalind Jana recently found out she's been selected as the winner of the UK Vogue annual talent contest for writers under 25 - one of the country's most preeminently prestigious writing awards.

- Through this whole experience, I have learnt to be as open as possible to changes, and let go of fixed ideas about outcomes. I couldn’t possibly have predicted how much I would come to love my scoliosis! It has taught me to be grateful for all sorts of tiny achievements, and it's made me feel even more that life is not for wasting. I’m not perfectly straight even now – I still have a twenty-two degree curvature and a slightly skewed shoulder – but hey, I’m doing what the magazines suggest: I'm embracing my curves!


Visit Rosalind's blog here.

...oh, and the Sofifi parka giveaway is now over - the winner is miss Mariel Torres! Congrats, Mariel - I hope you'll love yours as much as I do mine. To the rest of you: New giveaway will be announced tomorrow!