Colour Blocking with Nature

The last rays of summer sunlight. After days of miserable and depressing autumn weather the sun is done playing hide and seek. The willow tree that looked sad and old for the past days now looks green, wise and playful. Next to the bright pink jak the green leaves and blue sky are a perfect match. Get your sunglasses out and enjoy it while it lasts. The uber cool model is my sister! Ciao x

The jacket and trousers are by Zara, the Tshirt by Complot an Argentinean brand and the sunglasses by Ray-Ban.  

Sober Winter Colours

I don't know what the weather is like where you are but here in Amsterdam it's pretty sober. Rain, rain, rain. Though its not cold yet you see people getting out their winter wardrobe. Not only the sky is grey, the clothes are slowly turning grey and black too. All of this whilst in stores the pallet for this winter is sober but not colourless. Ocher yellow, cobalt blue, moss green and burgundy red. My personal favourite is the Ocher/ Mustard yellow though I think it looks better of dark haired women than blondes like myself.

Image of the left by Hanneli, image on the right by the sartorialist. 

I also love cobalt blue, at the moment in Zara its all about Yves Klein blue. Jackets, silky blouses and tops...

hanneli in cobalt blue and burgundy red, image by hanneli, cobalt blue and burgundy red on the zara website

What is your colour of choice this winter? Have a great day all and don't forget to follow me on bloglovin'!

Chambre de Bonne a Paris

Paris is magical. Everybody knows it. When I lived there, I lived in the 6th arrondissement and worked in the 16th, near Trocadero. When I would cycle home on my Dutch imported bike, in the early hours of the morning I would be dazzled by the beauty over and over. The tour de Eiffel, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame... All things I would see on a daily basis yet it never got old. I sacrificed a lot to come to Paris, I had just graduated from my Masters at London College of Fashion but decided I didn't want to work on my career so I became a waitress in Paris. I could have remained in my spacious room in London but instead I moved to a chambre de bonne in Paris. A mere 10 square meters on the 6th floor of a beautiful apartment building with only stairs.

Though it was small I loved my room. I could see the top half of the Eiffel tower (obviously the best half) and it had such romantic connotations. Living in Paris in a tiny room. Sometimes I felt I was the girl holding on the the balloons in the Miss Dior ad. 

Now I don't live there anymore and I am full of memories... When I read blogs such as The Wild Fleur, or in this case dream away at the images on the blog, I miss Paris...

Doesn't the last one remind you of the one below by Monet? 

What about this shot from Woody Allen's new film Midnight in Paris? 

I'm guessing that one too has a little something to do with Monet... Oh how magical Paris is!

Fashion's Night Out

Only one more sleep and it will be Fashion's Night Out's big day. For the third year in a row, now becoming somewhat of a tradition, customers can shop till the late hours or pretend and stare at celebrities. Whether you are in London or New York, Milan or Paris, Sao Paulo or Rio, Berlin, Moscow, Mexico City or Madrid; in all these places and many more Fashion's Night Out will be celebrated with each their own special events. Unfortunately Amsterdam is not one of the places and so for now I will just have to do with all your stories! Who is going and where are you going? Have you got a specific route mapped out? Today the Telegraph revealed the most exciting parties of tomorrow's evening in London. To all of you: enjoy! I will be in a store tomorrow, but not to shop just to work... not quite as exciting. 

Picture Perfect

When I still lived in Paris I would often go to Palais de Tokyo, on 13 Avenue Du Président Wilson, a museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. The museum often has young and upcoming artists and a great restaurant and cafe. My favourite cocktail is the "girls only" which contains: vodka, champagne, crushed ice, squashed framboise, lychee and lime.

Another favourite at Palais de Tokyo is the photocabine. You can see a photo strip I got out of it above. There is another photocabine at Cinematheque Francaise at Bercy Village, Paris. Often there is a queue at the booth, hipster lining up to get their vintage looking pictures taken. Palais de Tokyo around Fashion Week also functions as a location to show collections. In March Rick Owens showed there and Garance Doré blogged about the photo booth. I read her post and thought, HA she put in the spotlight the famous photobooth, long known amongst arty Parisians. And now, opening Vogue's September Issue, displaying Chanel ads showing models with masks or matching pink eyebrows and lipstick posing in or leaning against a photo booth...

Melancholia

Yesterday I went to see Melancholia the new Lars von Trier film at cinema Tuschinski Amsterdam. Tuschinski is a true gem, I always tell people visiting Amsterdam to go see a film there or at least walk in as the architecture of the building is magical. It's a mixture of different styles; Jugendstil and Art Nouveau amongst others with Oriental influences. The film, has yet to be released in the UK and the States and so I won't say more about the story line other than: you must see it!

Normally I don’t like Kirsten Dunst for her eyes never seem to be opened all the way. Though this time it suits her role as she plays a depressed bride. Charlotte Gainsbourg plays Dunst’s sister, an American, and though her acting is fantastic,  I wouldn’t exactly say she sounds American or dresses like an American. I would even go as far as stating she looks uber French. Her petite frame, typical for La Parisienne, messy hair with a fringe, little make-up; the effortless chic look that makes all other nationalities envy les filles françaises. She wears lots of very comfortable looking cashmare jumpers with V-necks hanging loosely around her French frame. There is a reason why French brands such as Zadig et Voltaire or Loft design by... have classic cashmere ‘pulls’ like Gainsbourg wears in the film integrated into each collection. Next there is a shot of Gainsbourg where she has the Mulberry Alexa bag casually slung over her shoulder. Kirsten Dunst, is a bride in the first part of the film, thus wearing a beautiful wedding dress. In the second part she is mostly seen wearing Hunter Wellies, tight black jeans and a loosely hanging T-shirt. During the wedding scenes, Dunst's husband played by Alexander Skarsgard (best known as vampire Eric in HBO's True Blood) looks flawless in his suit, playing the perfect husband to his not so perfect wife. The film is special, something else completely. For film lovers and people who are attracted to beauty this film has it all. Script and styling are exquisite!

Ps. How powerful is the music? And this is only the trailer...