Monthly Archives: December 2015

A day in the life in December

By in Style

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A day in the life

My exams are handed in and my suitcase is fully packed. Tomorrow morning I’ll be leaving Amsterdam for Bordeaux to celebrate the holidays with loved ones, good food and plenty of vin chaud. After that I’ll move up north to Paris to see other loved ones… friends mostly. Friends with wine and little bakeries and… babies. The times they are a-changing. The year ends here for me. Looking back on the last four months I realise this is the first real day off I’ve had since August, which is slightly bizarre. Must remind myself to take it easy more often, instead of continuously pushing faster and wanting to do more.

Anyway: fashion talk; a blurb. I’ve been wearing my trustworthy Isabel Marant Dicker boots in taupe daily and am amazed how well they keep up. Ofcourse I’ve had them soled immediately after buying, but the suede has aged beautifully and the heel has so far remained completely intact. I’ve been wearing my Repetto Camille pumps (read my review of them here) to the nights out after my exams and they even survived a night of dancing in a punk bar. I don’t know how they managed, but they still look as new. Might add that to my review of them – ”pumps able to survive punk bars”. Oh well, what’s the point of having a beautiful shoe collection when you leave them in your closet waiting for an occasion that suffices? Clothes and shoes are meant to be worn.

As for buys: I’ve donated two of my old jumpers to charity and told myself to only buy jumpers made of cashmere and wool from now on. I am done with being cold and experiencing only momentary sensations of bliss by impulsive shitty fast fashion buys – especially when it comes to garments such as jumpers and blouses, which when fabricated with effort and consist of beautiful materials and details really do make a difference. I have learnt by living in Amsterdam that there is no such thing as bad weather. Only bad clothing. Slowly, I am getting more and more into buying secondhand quality pieces again, which is delightful, because a) more quality for your money and b) the garments I’ve found are way less imposed on trends than those in chain stores. Not to speak of recycling clothes being way more environment friendly. Amsterdam is great for searching for second hand finds with its beautiful shops filled with cashmere pullovers, but my heart belongs to the vintage shops in Paris. I still know the route I used to walk when I was still living there and it will be nice to be back for a bit. I’ll surely make a wardrobe dissection of 2015 of things that came home with me this year once I’m back, but – for now – let’s enjoy the holidays.

Picture on the left: my ideal jumper, worn by Charlotte Rampling. Right: drawing by artist Ellsworth Kelley.

Grey Herringbone Coat and White Scarf

By in Outfits 14 Comments

Grey Herringbone Coat and White Scarf

Grey herringbone coatGrey herringbone coat

Seen here: Grey Herringbone Coat (budget version here), White Scarf

 

Grey herringbone coat

I just love the current weather we’re dealing with in Amsterdam, but it feels slightly unconventional to just be out in a jumper or my grey herringbone coat at this time of the year. As for coats and winter wear, the current temperature allows for lighter wear, resulting in me wearing my grey wool herringbone coat more often rather than my A.P.C. Pea coat (outfit pictures here). I first wrote about the search for the perfect, grey oversized cocoon coat in this post earlier this year, but I have actually been looking for the Isabel Marant Baki and Bator coat for ages without, unfortunately, any success in finding it.

Due to the fact that they’ve sold out worldwide and are even unfindable in a size 0 on the internet, I felt resigned and it made me seriously give up hope and opt for a worthy alternative. That is, until Isabel Marant decides to come out with a similar version of her famous Bator and Baki coat that suits my taste – the current versions of the grey herringbone coat in her collections do not live up to my idea of the coat I have in mind. Although the grey herringbone coat I’m wearing now is made of wool, it is not suitable for the coldest months of the year. As for a matching scarf, after coming across this picture of Leandra Medine and this picture I felt a desire to match a textured grey herringbone coat with the lightness of a broken white shade. When my boyfriend offered me this cashmere scarf, I couldn’t help but think how perfect the two different textures and colours would go together. It ended up being my go-to scarf, as I like my scarves not too big so I can wear them half tucked inside my coat, perhaps being inspired by one of the greatest types of fashion of all time: the granddad style.

My outfit

The Short Chic Bob – Hair like Sofia Coppola

By in Beauty, Outfits 21 Comments

The Short Chic Bob – Hair like Sofia Coppola

Short Bob Haircut - Hair inspired by Sofia Coppola on www.sartreuse.com

Seen here: Cashmere jumper, Cartier Tank Watch

 

The Short Bob Haircut

As you might have seen already on my previous picture, I paid my hairdresser a visit to have my hair cut. My hair had almost reached my elbows and my manes were getting a bit frizzy and nearly untameable. Simultaneously, I was zooming in on every picture of a chic Garçonne with a short bob I could find on the internet; nearly all of them having this short yet chic and messy yet elegant haircut a la Sofia Coppola and Alexa Chung. In need of a change I rushed to book an appointment with my new hairdresser, having saved a dozen of pictures of Sofia Coppola to show her (I like to see her hair as my main point of reference) and walked out of the hairdresser’s after as happy as a clam. Or as a newly baptised Garçonne.

What I like best about the cropped bob version of my haircut is that it makes any outfit look instantly elegant and fuzz-free. For the length and shape of my new coiffure I took inspiration from brunette Sofia Coppola’s slightly boyish yet super elegant hair and Alexa Chung’s perfectly messy bob. The main colour is my own natural colour of medium brown, or châtain in French, and I’ve got a couple of highlights in my hair due to vacationing in the South of France which my hairdresser enhanced and called ‘Sunkissed Caramel.’ It’s the perfect mix of a rich brown with a couple of lighter elements that still look very natural.
 
Short Bob Haircut - Hair inspired by Sofia Coppola on www.sartreuse.com
 

Hair ritual

I refrain from washing my hair daily as it seems to dry out my hair, but stick to washing it once or twice a week with Klorane Citrus shampoo, a French pharmacy brand which I’ve been using for a long while now and is very gentle to hair. I am a big fan of natural scents in beauty products such as citrus and honey. To maintain the original look and messy feel of my haircut I don’t put any other product in my hair during the week, besides one spray of dry shampoo the day before washing. I’ve been using this one by Klorane (it came as a set with the shampoo actually), but before I’ve used a slightly different version by Batiste that did the same trick.

I refrain from blow drying my hair (letting it dry in a natural manner gives it this messy natural texture which I prefer) and I do not use a straightener to alter the look of my hair. As a finishing touch I whisk one spray of my Chanel perfume on the back of my hair to keep it smelling nice and fresh and that’s it! A short and effective ritual that does not distort the natural style of my haircut and always keeps my hair healthy and shiny, yet giving it this ‘messy’ look I’m after.
 

My Products:

Julia Roitfeld x H&M Conscious Collection

By in Wardrobe Inspiration 9 Comments

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The Party Dress

You’ll hardly ever catch me wearing anything floral, but suddenly the urge to wear a flowy, floral gown for Christmas has overcome me. Perhaps it is part-time Parisienne part-time New Yorker Julia Roitfeld wearing this luxurious piece from the H&M Conscious line that made me change my mind on florals? I guess wearing flowers on your clothing has over the years became somewhat of a cliché to me. Miss Roitfeld here shows that with the right shade of brunette and the right shade of beige blush a floral dress can look refreshing, while remaining chic diner-proof.

On the other hand, I hardly ever shop at H&M and it isn’t one of the shops I regularly pay a visit to, so I don’t have any experience with their Conscious line. This Christmas I’ll be in Bordeaux and Paris after, and the hunt for a simple, yet gorgeous Christmas dress has started. I hardly own any printed pieces (let alone florals) but normally when I am on the lookout for a new statement piece I like to keep it as simple as possible, making sure I will be able to get the maximum wear out of it without the design looking dated. Therefore, I think that staying true with what works best for me is the best way to go here.

In any case, this floral dress will not make it to the Christmas table, as the new H&M Conscious collection will hit stores worldwide the 7th of April 2016. See more information here. I should start planning my Spring wardrobe already and mentally prepare myself for wearing printed garments moren often. As for my Christmas dress, I am thinking of something simple and understated chic, such as this dress paired with a red lipstick.

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