Don't take this personally ...

No offense, but I couldn't help but laughing when I passed the Abercrombie & Fitch-store in Brussels yesterday. This picture was taken around noon. At 10 AM, when I arrived at Chaussee de Waterloo*, the line was twice as long, running all in front of the BMW-garage.

Okay, I must admit, the brand has a very clever marketing strategy, especially if you can make people (read: 14-year olds with their mums) wait in line for an hour just to get some simple, everyday non-limited edition-H&M-meets-designer-brand style of clothes. But I think the clothes look terrible (aside from the fact that A&F is being printed on every single item) and are very, very, yes, very over-priced.

A friend of mine told me a few years ago that if I ever got the chance I should go check out the A&F-concept at he thought it was ridiculous. And so, one early morning**, when I was near their Fifth Ave.-store, I noticed that for once there wasn't a single soul waiting in line. I went inside, and I literally immediately walk out again. We were inside 3 min. tops! Most of the clothes (not my style) are inside the glass counters, the store was extremely dark and the music was so damn loud that I couldn't even stand the idea that I would actually take a walk around the store and even give this brand a fair chance. So, let it be said: A&F, thumbs up for your marketing team, but you'll never get me to enter your store again***! But don't let me stop you ...

NB: Why A&F doesn't work in Japan. #funny


*There goes the neighborhood
**NYC equals jetlags equals getting up way too early to go shopping
***Online shopping isn't an option either

Alexander McQueen at the Met

Practically once a week I nag my boyfriend that I want to go back to NYC. And this Alexander McQueen-exposition wasn't helping at all. But now apparently there's a limited edition-scarf to go with it? Come on, you're killing me here!

Photo: Courtesy of Alexander McQueen/Harper's Bazaar

Bill Cunningham New York

One of my favorite site by newspapers is The New York Times. One page I always check when visiting the site is On The Street with Bill Cunningham - Just see for yourself to understand why. So when I spotted the trailer of this documentary about the photographer on The Sartorialist I got really excited! I really wish that they'll show this 'fashion film' (I miss my thesis badly!) in Belgium or I'll just have to order it on Amazon.com once again... Btw. has anyone seen Valentino The Last Emperor yet?

Barneys

I don't know why but I think this picture is amazing. I didn't even notice the crabs at first. Maybe that PS1-has something to do with it though.

Picture: The Barneys catalogue
Read the whole article here

Aveda Shampure Shampoo

Reading this beauty-post by Garance Doré the other day, made me realize that I haven't told you about my favorite shampoo yet!

I'm a huge fan of Aveda's Smooth Infusion-line (more about that later this month), but my favorite shampoo for everyday use must be Shampure Shampoo. It makes your hair feel superclean and healthier. Plus, I love the fact that it foams so much, but my favorite feature of this products is its 25 flower and plants extracts, which gives it an incredible yet natural scent. It's been crazy for this shampoo ever since I discovered it through the samples in our NYC-hotel bathroom. So next time you're near an Aveda salon, hop right in and smell Shampure's signature aroma!

P.S.: And what's even cooler is that this shampoo is so gentle that it's the perfect product to clean your make-up brushes with.

Fashion's Night Out

Fashion's Night Out 2010 PSA from Fashion's Night Out on Vimeo.

How I wish I was back in NYC. Last year, we missed FNO by a day, but I did manage to get a hold of the shirt for my sister, which by the way I like more than the one of this year. Anyhow, anyone any idea on if any european cities are participating?

Tiffany & Co.

I'm loving this warm weather. The temperature is just right, perfect conditions to wear all of my favorite dresses that were too hot for me to wear in humid NYC.

Too bad it still is too warm outside to be wearing a tight pair of jeans, which means I won't be wearing my new favorite Topshop-pair I showed to you earlier. One NYC-souvernir I've been wearing all the time since I got back is my new Tiffany & Co.-charm. I bought it so I could update my Return to Tiffany & Co.-heart bracelet. I got the piece 4 years ago but I hadn't worn it for a while, because I thought it was too 'sweet'. So I got this large and quite heavy Return to Tiffany-charm to give it a extra bit of cool. I love the Return To-line, not because it has the company's name on it, but simply because it has my name on it. When the sales assistant at the shop saw my name on my credit card, we were joking that I will never have to engrave any of my Tiffany-jewelry. My only concern is that in time, the bracelet will ruin and scratch my watch heavily, but I hate wearing jewelry on my other wrist. Maybe I'll just hang the charm on my Tiffany Key-necklace.

This weekend I'm heading to Lille in France, and on the way over we're stopping in Brussels so I will definitely visit the Tiffany & Co.-shop again this Saturday. If I didn't think the charm itself is too plain, maybe I would get the Class of '10-charm, since I will be graduating from university next weekend. I'm looking forward to that, big time!

New York City - Part Four

After spending 4 out of 6 days shopping, my boyfriend and I decided that it was time to do something else, non-shopping related. And every time I find out that there's a zoo nearby where supercute panda's live, I absolutely need to visit it. Although the Central Park Zoo isn't the home of the large panda, I was excited to see the red panda, one of my favorite animals, along with the snow leopard.

The sea lions was the first to catch our attention, since the animals were playing so pleasantly in the basin. But the little panda really stole my heart. I love that little fox-like face. You could definitely tell that it was too hot outside for him since he was breathing heavily and couldn't find a cool place for him to sleep, so I also kinda felt sorry for the poor creature. Same thing goes for the snow leopard.

After our lovely afternoon at the zoo, we decided to try and find the Alice in Wonderland statue, since I've never been there during my NYC-trips. The statue was three times as big as I imagined it. Oh and if you want to make up with your boyfriend for nagging to him for days about shopping and fashion items you want and need, just take him to the pond across Alice and let him play with the motorized sailboats for a while!

New York City - Part Three

One of my favorite streets in NYC is West 14th Street.

The Apple store there is a lot more pleasant to shop, because it's not as busy as the one on 5th Ave. The Alexander McQueen store is definitely a must whenever my boyfriend and I are in town, and eventhough I don't exercise, I always visit the McQueen/Puma-shop next door wishing I did. The Jeffrey-store is always amazing, and it's where I spotted the Chanel Temporary Tattoo's I got for my sister and where I saw the Chanel-necklace I'm planning to get later this month. Across the street there's DVF and just a few minutes away you can find Bleecker Street (think: Marc Jacobs!). What's not to like?

This year my boyfriend and I took a shopping break in High Line Park, an old elevated railway track transformed into a little and quiet oasis. It looked amazing, and you can tell that hours and hours are put into keeping the 'park' as nice as possible. The view from up-there is great too. Too bad that the weather wasn't that great that day.

Afterwards we headed to Bleecker Street to hit the Marc Jacobs-stores on our way to Red Bamboo, another nice vegetarian restaurant with the most amazing soy chicken salad. But while we were getting over there, we noticed that -contrary to last year- there wasn't a two hour-line at Magnolia Bakery. There was actually nobody inside the shop. I'm not one to try out stuff just because it's been on tv or something but I blame that sweet smell of freshly baked cakes for luring us into the shop. Although both the chocolate vanilla and the vanilla cupcake was very good, I was too sugary for my taste. But if you happen to walk by, and there's no ridiculous waiting line outside, go right in and get the vanilla one..

W. 14 th. Street

I bet the view from the Standard Hotel (behind me) is amazing

Wearing a tank top version of the Rue Blanche-shirt I got last winter, my new favorite jeans from Topshop (the Ultimate Skinny Jamie), my all white Converse and my white Balenciaga bag

Magnolia Bakery

New York City - Part Two

On tuesday I read on my sister's Facebook that there was an amazing designer outlet nearby NYC and since it was too hot outside to go to the Central Park Zoo -all animals would be too lazy to even move- we decided to give it a shot and check it out.

The shuttle bus would pick us up at our hotel at 11AM so we still had some time to hang out at Bryant Park, one of my favorite locations in the city and just 2 blocks away from our hotel. The yoga classes at the park seemed like fun.

After a stop at a look-out over the Hudson river and Harlem and a one hour-drive, we arrived at the outlet. I must admit that the outlet in my hometown tops the American one qua look and feel. This one didn't even have trees or green areas. The brands at the Woodbury Outlet are very cool though: Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, YSL... My boyfriend did some amazing deals, I on the other hand found nothing that I liked. Again, not much in my size. And I wasn't just going to buy anything just because it's 75% off. But it was nice to see another side of NY/New Jersey, since I never visited a traditional US town before.

That evening my boyfriend and I picked up some (healthy!) food at the local deli and dined in Bryan Park again. There were even more people in the park than there were in the morning, yet the atmosphere there was even pleasant. We spent our entire evening there that day and it really is my favorite moment of our whole trip, just the two of us hidden in the megacity.

PS: There is something wrong with the battery of my Macbook Pro so I'm taking it to the shop to get it fix. So I probably won't be able to put up any new pictures or posts for a couple of days.

I love my boyfriend's Alexander McQueen shirt

At Woodbury 

New York City - Part One

First day, first pictures.


NYC at this time of year was so much fun. The weather was great, comfortably warm -yet a bit humid from time to time. By the way, can someone explain me why all stores on the island put their AC on 0°C? Like last year, I ended up with a cold thanks to those glacial temperatures inside.

Sales had started, which was great. Up to -60% off, even at some of the most expensive luxury fashion brands. But off course that also meant that there was no size 38 in shoes left in whole Manhattan. The Proenza Schouler-dress I wanted was on sale too ($ 1 520 > $ 900), but once again no sizes left that fitted me -although 6 is usually my size when it comes to PS... Nor could I find the DVF-dress or the Rodarte-shirt I was looking for. And basic items at most european fashion houses were about 30% more expensive in NYC than in Brussels, so I'm planning to buy them here in Belgium.

So I did a lot of shopping, but didn't end up buying a lot, certainly not as much as I did last year. Even though I was a bit disappointed shopping-wise, I had a great time with my boyfriend. I still can't believe how he manages to be in a good mood even though he was as jet-lagged as me (think: waking up at 3AM).

More pictures and a video will follow...

57th and 5th Ave. // Tiffany & Co. store behind me

Soy & Sake is the best vegetarian restaurant ever

Puerto Rico-day in our street

Gossip Girl Palace

Bryant Park minus the fashion week

YSL NYC

I tried to post this message while I was in NYC but I couldn't find the upload-picture-button for Blogger.com on my boyfriend's iPhone.
But since I haven't blogged in a long time, I'll post this as a start, to kick off my NYC-series...
First up, 120 mails to check, 300 blogposts to read on Bloglovin and going through hundreds of pictures.



--- posted on the 12th of June 2010 --- 

Teaser: my sister's gift.

My jetlag is even worse than last year. I woke up at 3am today. Heading to soho now. Blogging from an iPhone is hard.

Off to New York City

I'm studying for my film history exam, which is tomorrow afternoon and is my last exam ever.
Therefor I've been supernervous for the last couple of days. The professor is also the promotor of my thesis so off course, I want to make a good impression.

At the same time, I'm also very anxious for tomorrow to come since -as I mentioned before- my boyfriend and I are leaving for New York City on saturday morning. I still have a million things to do and I haven't even packed my bag yet. Every time I go to my aunt's to borrow her super-sized luggage, she says: "Honey, you don't need to carry along so many things, you just need your passport and your credit card!" But last year, during our previous NYC-trip I learned the hard way, how much damage a VISA can do.

I'm still wondering if I should bring my little Chanel-bag. At least so I won't be tired dragging my bag around after a whole day of walking. My boyfriend on the other hand, prefers the Balenciaga cause that way he can drop al his stuff in my bag and don't have to worry about his wallet getting stolen...

Anywho,
I'm back to my studying. And I'll say goodbye with images from my new favorite "store/blog": The Bergdorf/Goodman-blog! I'll be back next weekend with some NYC-pictures...



The Sex and the City 2-windows at Bergdorf!

(source: Bergdorf Goodman Blog - Pictures: Julia Chesky)

Btw. what will Chanel come up with next? Chanel cotton pads for 20$, crazy!

(source: Bergdorf Goodman)

Rodarte

Just a quick post about another designer duo that was inspired by film; the Rodarte-sisters have designed another shirt-collection (remember their sweatshirts earlier?) and this time to honor the 50th anniversary of À Bout De Souffle, yes another fashion film. The duo will remake the iconic New York Herald Tribune-shirt Jean Seberg wore next to the Dior dress (Bruzzi, 1997, p. 7).

In just a few days the shirt will be available at Barneys. Yes, I'm adding it to my NYC-wish list, since I will not able to get the Fashion's Night Out-shirt this year.

(source: steven torres)

(picture via style.com)

Wishlist: DVF

Until today I didn't really know what I wanted to get for myself when I'm in NYC later this month.

(Okay, I know what I would get if just won the lottery, but for now I'm still a student (read: no income) and besides a Nintento 64-bit I haven't won much.)(Oh, and I need a good yet small wallet to fit in my mini-2.55.)

I just came across this cute summer dress and I think it's fun and cool at the same time. Plus it's a great way to inject some more color and prints in my wardrobe. Well done, Miss Von Furstenberg. Now let's hope your shop still carries it and it's not sold out like pretty much everything else on the island.

(source: Pialla Dress by DVF)

Tomorrow, I'll try to write a review of Sex and the City 2 and the so called 'ladies night', but for now I'm still anxiously preparing tomorrow's thesis-presentation... 

New York City

So, apparently I must have talked to my boyfriend too much about how NYC is my favorite city in the whole world and how much fun we had there last summer. Yesterday, for my birthday, he surprised me with a 6 day-trip to the city... I'm very excited, since we already are heading over there in less than a month, the day after my final exam!

And now I would like to ask you to share your favorite places and shops in New York. It will be my third time in the city and I want to try something new....

His DIY-birthday card:

NYFW

Tomorrow New York Fashion Week starts. And according to the weather forecasts, it has been snowing over there as well, very badly.

I bet the usual chaos over there in the tents will double; fashion teams, models, editors and VIP will run late, garments won't be able to be shipped towards the fashion shows...

And even if all that magically will be sorted out for the upcoming 7 days, what will that fashion in-crowd be wearing, in such cold and harsh conditions? I can't image some of the world's most renowned fashion editors -carless- to just show up wearing dizzying killer heels, even if they must be pros by now.

Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Will these Chanel skis be an option? Or, maybe Vogue (Women) can do another collaboration with Moncler?

I know I for one can't wait to see the arrivals at the various fashion shows on the Jak and Jil page.

Belgium vs. NYC

I wanna be a Brand Manager, too!

Where did I get that idea out of a sudden? Check out this video on three Belgians making it big time in NYC's fashion industry. Sorry, it's in Dutch. Anywho, I'm off to get ready for tonight. I'm going for a 'gold' look this year. Not really my color, but my aunty got me this golden dress and I'm sure I'll make her very happy by wearing this today.

Happy 2010.

Update: Ready to go.

Paired up this H&M dress with my sister's Gucci Belt, Ash boots and my grandma's necklace, since I wear these items -except the latter- all the time. 'and today was a day just like any other.

The City

Okay, I am proud to say that I'm half way through the HCI course book. A month ago I would reward myself for this with a date with Whitney Port & Co and watch a brand new episode of The City. I am a regular when it comes to fashion related TV shows, like Running in Heels and Project Runway, even if they would get quite boring from time to time. Nowadays, wednesday evenings -the moment when a new episode of The City would come online- are as plain as any other TV-night since the second season has come to an end, and I already saw all of the previous episodes. -And yes, all of The Hills as well-. Too bad.

The City automatically brings me back to sun kissed days, when one could wear nice flirty dresses and Sonia Rykiel-sandals. And it also reminds me of NYC, which is always fun. Coolest thing: We were heading towards the Meatpacking District for the Alexander McQueen shop and Jeffrey's, when I spotted the DVF store/head quarter, where Whitney 'works'. So I just had to have a picture, primarily to make my sister jealous.

Which reminds me, I have to use my white Balenciaga bag more often. I haven't touched it for months.

You'll find all episodes of The City and The Hills on MTV.com. Oh, and speaking of Miss. Lauren Conrad, my sister has put up a great outfit-post of her in a Moschino-jacket. Why don't you buy it, dear sister, so we can time-share it...