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.