London 2012

For some strange reason, this weekend was all about London! My best friend and I finally decided to book our Eurostar-tickets so we can go see the Hirst-exhibition and now we can start with planning the rest of the day. Can't wait.

But for now,

the nicest images I can across to this today.

Net-a-porter.com

Prêt-à-Portea at the Berkley in honor of HRH

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

Opposites Attract

Yes. I'm still alive and shopping.
Behold,  -as 2011 is almost over- the only two pairs of shoes I bought this entire year...

Isabel Marant Willow Sneakers from Seven (Knokke) and Chanel boots (Milan)

or according to my boyfriend: The snowboarding and Gestapo-boots

FYI: If you are looking for the IM-sneakers, hurry up. Still a 37 and 41 left at Seven (Knokke-Heist) -at least when I left this store last friday. More colors available soon, but be sure to call in advance to guard your spot on the waiting list. Graanmarkt 13 (Antwerp) carries them as well, but more waiting lists there. 

Liège - April 77

No need to tell you how amazing the weather was yesterday. It was lovely to finally walk around barelegged in one of my favorite spring dresses. As it would have been a shame to pass the day inside, we decided to head out to Liège and spend the day wandering around the city.

It was so much fun: we visited my favorite store Irina Khä, had a nice lunch outside on one of the city's busy squares and we were about to head back to the parking lot via a different route when we stumbled upon a store I hadn't visited in 5 years. I even don't know what the store is called. All I know is that -as former Fornarina fans- my sister and I were regulars at this tiny store. At first I didn't want to enter the shop, as I definitely left that clothing style behind me, but I guess the 'Liquidation Totale'-sign lured me  in.

Now, I'm not that kind of person who'll just buy something just because it has a Sale-tag on it. But as soon as I saw that the soon-to-be-gone store carried April 77-jeans, it got pretty interesting. I found the skinny jeans all over the shop, in all colors and fabrics but none that suited my 'new style' (think: suited enough to wear to the office). And then, there they were: my all-time favorite velour silvery, skinny pair of April 77! The ones I wore 24/7 during spring/summer 2008! In my size! At half price (120 euro - 50%)! I immediately grabbed them to go and try them, wondering if they would still fit me since I hadn't worn the pair I have at home in ages, as they are to worn-down anyways and I'm too scared that they'll rip-apart in a very public place. But these, these were 'brand new' and they fit me all right. And as the belt-loop had come off, I got my all-time favorite pair at -75%! My parents often think I'm crazy, because I usually buy my favorite items twice, weary of the day that the fabrics give up and the shoes, the jacket, the shirt, whatever just falls apart, but this was a damn good deal!

So if you're a fan of April 77-jeans, make sure to visit the shop at the corner of Rue de l'Université and Rue de la Cathédrale, 'cause probably the next time I'm in town the shop will sell out!

CD Sprint

Finally made it to the stores again. And this is the only thing I bought this sale-period. I've been wanting these shoes for six months now. I'm crazy for white sneakers, and the fact that these are all-leather is even better!

My sister got interviewed by girl-scene.nl. I love her interview and answers. Too bad some of the comments below are quite childish. Nonetheless, I don't care. My sister always looks amazing!

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 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 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.

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... 

Lille

Last weekend was so busy.

Aside from working on my thesis and catching up with our families, my boyfriend, my sister and I went to see Alice in Wonderland. Maybe I expected too much out of it, but I didn't like it at all. The 3D-effects had no added value, and the story was quite boring. Plus, I missed that whole Tim Burton-vibe. So sad, 'cause I had high hopes for this one.

The following day my boyfriend's band had to play near the Flemish/French border, which gave us the opportunity to head to Lille for a shopping afternoon. We'd been there a few times and we've always loved this little town. It has many of the great luxury brands, a Printemps and the Galleries Lafayette. But the brand that surprised us the most was The Kooples. Belmodo.tv had mentioned their love for the brand, and when I saw the real deal, I couldn't agree more. Great basics with a rock and roll edge for him and her. And the brand's mission statement to dress trendy couples, seduced both my boyfriend and me. We each left the store with our new favorite fashion items. The following day, I already wore my new tulip-skirt to his dad's birthday party, and I think it would look great with my Alexander McQueen skull-shirt as well.

And planning a trip back in a few months, I really need those Marc Jacobs and Repetto-flats I spotted at the Printemps!

Shopping Spree

Thursday I received some very nice feedback regarding my exam results. And thus, I decided to go and celebrate. Celebrating to me almost equals to shopping. And so we headed off to Belgium's greatest shopping city Antwerp on Friday, and as always, it was totally worth it.

First, I spotted this Alexander McQueen skull shirt for men. I could not believe they hadn't all sold out immediately when the news got out. Now, as I mentioned before, I do wear men shirts, when it comes to McQueen -in size XS that is. But then I realized that I already have quite a few signature pieces by the designer. My boyfriend on the other hand, always bought his low-key designs, and now was risking to be left without an original skull shirt. So I decided to get him one, as a present.

After a delicious hot chocolate at Verso Café, my sister bought a new bag. I'm still so jealous, I can not get over it. Afterwards, I spotted some 'bling', at the Pinko-store. No way that I'm going to wear the logo-shirt that comes with it, but when it comes to brooches, I just have to have them. And this white 'Saint-Tropez' special edition version came with 3 pieces.

Oh and my sister saw the most amazing Nicolas Kirkwood-shoes, the ones she blogged about in October. True masterpiece indeed, too bad it comes with a matching price tag (€ 1100).

Since my boyfriend promised me a long time ago, saturday we went shopping in Brussels. I didn't see anything cool, so 'all I got' were the Chanel ballet flats I longed for, for a while now. Black leather, with a black patent point, easy to mix with my all-black wardrobe. I'm happy. We finished up with a great dinner at Cook & Book and his band's gig at the Belgian seaside.

Milano

As a late Christmas gift, and a way to celebrate the end of the January-exams in my Master year, my boyfriend decided to take me shopping in Milan this upcoming week. I'm so excited. We leave friday morning at 6.20 AM so we'll be at the Quadrilatero d'Oro when the shops open.

We have been there several times by now, so we know the area quite well but I still want to ask you: Do you know any cool shops, besides the famous luxury brands?

Burberry

Yesterday I took a break from studying, so that my boyfriend and I could enjoy ourselves in the snow. Over the past couple of days, it has snowed tremendously, so I layered up my outfit with extra stockings underneath my leggings and some ear-warmers. Besides a woolen scarf, I added an old fur collar/scarf* -from another jacket- to my Burberry trench coat. Not only is such an item extra warm, it also gives a 'plain' coat a luxurious touch.

Today, I was browsing the Burberry-website -as I do quite regularly- when I came across this double breasted long trench with a fur collar. I believe that the scarf I wore is equally fluffy and long -I tucked it into my coat to keep me warmer. And so, I apparently own 2 versions of the same trench, without spending the extra money.

* = When I say fur, I mean that I'm still not quite sure if it's real or not. I most certainly hope not, and I have no idea how such an item would find itself in a house where my sister talks about animal rights 24/7. The Burberry-collar on the other hand, is definitely real.

I want one: Buberry meets Colette, check out the studded collar!

Oh, and I finally got the chance to hit the stores during the sales. My dad took my sister and I shopping before we went out to dinner, and bought me this grey T-shirt, which has a silvery shimmering effect. Al tough this Rue Blanche-shirt -a store I actually entered for the second time ever- is quite basic, it has a rock 'n roll-effect to it. So I'll probably be wearing it all the time from now on.