Packing for Santorini.

27 Aug 2014

My dears, in exactly 4 days I will be flying high up in the sky at this hour, on my way to the (hopefully) breathtakingly beautiful Santorini. I have to say I am very much looking forward to spending 7 days doing nothing else but, well, basically just being lazy and eating Greek yoghurt. The only downside of leaving on a holiday is that you have to decide in advance what you're going to be wearing for a week - a process which involves making not-so-life changing but nonetheless very stressing decisions. Which is why I made this stress-reducing list of essentials for myself. And who am I to not let you benifit from my labeur? So please, if you still have a holiday in sight, feel free to be inspired.
packing-for-Santorini

What will I be taking with me? A basic grey T-shirt, a pair of white jeans, a wide-brimmed black hat, a striped top, a Greek goddess-like ring, a pink clutch, ripped denim shorts, a black bikini, my birks for making long beach walks, a white shirt as the perfect beach cover-up, a white playsuit and an elegant floral maxi dress for romantic dinners.

Gosh, I can't wait to leave!

xxx

In between seasons.

25 Aug 2014

In between seasons

The fashion blogosphere seems to be flooded with transitional looks these days, and since Fall seems to already have kicked in in Belgium, I don't mind joining in.

I wore this white look, topped off with my lamswool speckled vest to keep me warm, on a coffee date with my dear friend Aurélie this morning. Driving half an hour for a decent cup of coffee or tea is one of life's litte luxeries we both like to indulge in, and I have to say, Café Labath, was a real treat! I can strongly recommend their Masala Chai Latte and their very buttery ànd organic chocoladekoeken. Aurélie on the other hand is a fervent fan of their Flat White.

In between seasons

In between seasons

Wool vest (Esprit). T-shirt (Esprit). Jeans (Zara). Belt (Vintage). Bag (Zara). Sneakers (Nike). Rings (H&M).

Before I forget: Happy Monday sweeties!

xxx

Not going to your funeral.

18 Aug 2014

black

Not to worry, I'm not mourning over anything or anyone (aside from Weekend's end, perhaps). My rather black look just made me think of this perfect, bitter, beautiful, sad song by Eels. Please listen to it, and excuse my lack of words, it is Monday after all...

black

Black

Blazer (Mango). T-shirt (Esprit). Jeans (Zara). Flats (Tory Burch).Clutch (Marni). Sunglasses (The Row). Earrings (Forever 21 and Zara).

xxx

Buy less, choose well pt. three

15 Aug 2014

On my whishlist

When tossing out half of your wardrobe, buying new stuff to fill up the gaps, seems like the most logical step to take, no? Well, not if you're called Nimue Sturtewagen and, ipso facto, are currently under a self-inflicted shopping restraining order (only one and a half months more to go!).

And even though I'm technically not allowed to do any hypothetical online shopping either, I made no rules whatsoever regarding the use of Polyvore. And so it is my friends, that I have spent this morning making up my dream wardrobe, deciding which closet essentials I already have and more importantly which ones I am allowed to buy once my time in this non-shopping hell hole is over (frustrated much? mais, non!). Well at least I can't be blamed for not taking my time to choose well.

As you can see most of my basic needs lie in de shoe department: knee boots, flat sandals, heeled (preferably ankle strap) sandals, all stars, low heel ankle boots, brogues, black pumps and black ballerinas, though I must admit the latter are the least urgent ones considering my already quite extensive collection of ballerina flats.

A medium sized, black, day-to-day bag however is quite high on my priority list. Luckily the one I've been drooling over these last few months is a Mansur Gavriel bucket bag, that won't become available again until december, so I can't be tempted to splurge too early. Together with a designer bag, I would also like to own a designer belt, like the classic Saint Laurent one you can see above, and a classy designer watch. Furthermore I'd like to add a black round sunny to my collection, for I feel that the day my H&M one will breathe its last is coming closer and closer. One last accessory on my whish list is a black hat.

Talking clothes, I think I pretty much already own everything that I really need, except for a short black cardigan (since the one I bought last year at Zara is already completely washed out), a grey V-neck jumper, a black biker jacket, a striped T-shirt, a fluid long trenchcoat and a little white dress.

So the point of all this, will be that I won't allow myself to buy anything else before I have every single item on this list in my posession. This way I can not be tempted to buy trend-related items ore make impulse purchases before I have stocked up on everlasting neccessities (a matter of prioritising, you see).

It may sound like I have a few boring shopping years ahead of me, but in the end, I think I will thank myself for it.

What do you reckon?

xxx

Flowers and inner peace.

13 Aug 2014

Flowers and inner peace

Bonsoir amigos. A truly fashionable life and a house filled with flowers go hand in hand, is what I always say. Let former fashion editor turned florist - and fyi one of my personal style godesses - Taylor Tomasi Hill be the proof of that.

A well arranged bouquet can be as powerful and breathtaking as a brilliantly styled outfit. But aside from taking my breath away, flowers also help me to clear my head. Because as cultivated and un-wild as cut flowers may be, they do have nature's calming and comforting effect on me. And that without even having to get my boots dirty!

Flowers and inner peace

Onto another plant-ish subject, I spotted this leaf printed high waist bikini pant on Joyce's blog, Just like sushi, a few days ago and I am really loving it. Since I'm on a two month no-buying challenge, I have been repeating MUST NOT BUY to myself over and over again, but the bikini keeps poppin' up in my thoughts.

Maybe I should buy some more flowers to help me find my inner peace again.

Flowers and inner peace

xxx

On jewellery boxes and life's precious things.

11 Aug 2014

Jewellery Box

Hi mateys! I hope you all had a smashing Monday, or well, that you at least, let's say, survived. Cause there's not really much else to do with a Monday, now is there? Anywhooo, onto brighter topics! Let's talk about this fancy-shmancy jewellery box I scored at the thrift shop for a mere €0,25 (a few weeks ago, long before my no-shopping-challenge began, mind you).

Jewellery Box

The moment I laid eyes on it I was love-struck, and I can tell you why. For one you will agree with me that its is design the perfect combination of minimalism and bling. And secondarily I just love the idea behind it: to safely store and protect your precious jewellery, but also cherish them and enjoy them every single time they meet your eye. Instead of tossing them in a drawer or leaving them on the edge of the sink.

And isn't that exactly what we should do with all things (and people, at that) that are precious to us? Instead of taking your boyfriend's cooking for granted, thank him every single time he puts a meal on the table. Instead of hanging around inside the house on your day off, take a walk outside and smell the air. Tell your mother that you love her more often. Meet up with friends that you haven't seen in a long time. Fully enjoy all the good things you have in your life, every single day.

Well chums, at least, that's how I feel about it.

Jewellery Box

xxx

PS: Anthropology sells similar jewellery boxes (for about 100 times the price that I paid) in case you might be interested.

PPS: The jewellery in my box is from here, here and here.

Buy less, choose well pt. two

8 Aug 2014

Buy less choose well

Oh, hi there dolls! Let me just untrammel myself from te pile of 'to toss' clothing I'm buried under and have a little chat with ya! That's right today we enter stage two of our path towards a more conscious way of consuming fashion and it consists of a severe and thorough and closet-detox.

Only by self-reflection can we truly know ourself, and the same pseudo-psychology applies to our wardrobe, i.e. only by taking a close look to our collection of clothing can we find out which pieces you like to wear very often (buy more of those!) and what type of clothes don't ever make it to broad daylight (toss! toss! toss! and never buy stuff like that again).

Buy less choose well

After carefull consideration I decided to trow away most of my shoes. Most of them because they were just completely worn out (like my favourite knee boots that I wore on my very first outfit post on this blog). Others because I had hardly ever worn them at all, due to way too painful. Wich leaves me now with merely 11 pairs of shoes (I forgot to include this pair in the picture).

Lesson no. 1: Never buy shoes that ache your feet when you try them on in the store, even if they're very pretty. If you will wear them longer than 15mins your feet will DIE and you'll banish the shoes to the back of your closet for ever. Buy shoes that are comfy, even those sometimes need a bit of time to break in.

Buy less choose well

My clothing rack got a serious slimming-course as well. You can see every garment I currently own in the pictures above and below (except for some jackets and coats and two dresses that didn't fit the rack and some stuff that was in use or in the laundry when I took these pictures). Which leaves me with a very compact and accessible wardrobe, I guess. I kept a lot of basic T's and shirts, some blazers and jeans, an LBD and a few knitted cardigans, supplemented by a few statement pieces like my Max&co culottes or my printed J.Crew pants.

What did I throw away? Mostly items that I bought to copy some or other catwalk trend without having to spend to much dough. Or things that I bought when I had actually been looking for something else, but didn't find it. And naturally worn and washed out items. Get a peek of all the stuff I'm getting rid of here and here.

Lesson no. 2: Don't buy stuff when you're frustrated. It will lead you to buy stuff that you neither want nor need, and it won't still your hunger...

Lesson no. 3: Try to save up some money and buy a statement piece of good quality that will age beautifully and have a lasting worth long after it's trending time is over, instead of buying cheap stuff that will look washed and worn out in a week. If you do go for cheaper stuff, look for good materials like cotton or wool. This is likely to increase the item's lifetime.

Lesson no. 4: Buy stuff that you feel comfortable in and that you're likely to wear often. For example: my daily uniform consists of a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and some sort of flats or trainers. In winter I'll probably add a comfy sweater of cardigan. Wich means that there is no point in me owning more than a few pairs of heels, or a lot of delicate silk dresses.

Buy less choose well

If anything my detox left me with a very clean and super fresh feeling! Admittedly though, it also left me with a huge shopping appetite... Lord, give me strength!

xxx

Let's have a do-over.

6 Aug 2014

Do-over

Bonbonjour dolls!

As said before, Monday's outfit was not completely to my liking. So today I decided to have a do-over. I paired my beloved Zara skirt with a plain white T this time, which is as you are well aware, my fave wardrobe classic. Since the sun didn't feel any need to come out and play, I threw on my cream coloured biker for some chauffage and slipped on my H&M slip-ons. They have prooved to be excellent friends for running errands, cleaning or simply walking around the house (which is exactly what I did today), but also working or going for a little walk. You get it sistahs, I have been wearing these babes non-stop (talking about a low cost per wear!!).

But what I actually wanted to say with this outfit - a point that FYI completley escaped my attention with the whole blazer-debacle - is that by wearing items that at first sight look like your typical winter piece in the summer, like a skirt of thick tweed-like facbric like the one I'm sporting, you can make your wardrobe feel a whole lot bigger and more versatile. Which is just what we all want, isn't it?

Do-over

Do-over
T-shirt (H&M). Jacket (Warehouse). Skirt (Zara). Shoes (H&M). Clutch (Marni). Sunglasses and rings (H&M).

xxx

PS: Oh, and in case you're in need of some musical feel good: play this song. It's from a Slovak synthpop band I discovered this weekend at a local music festival. I've had it on repeat all day long, and I have to say it's doing miracles for my PMS.

PPS: A big thank you to my boyfriend's sister Leen for the pictures!

Dress for absolution.

4 Aug 2014

Forgive me holy fashion father for I have sinned. But 3 days ago I made a solemn vow not to buy a single thing for 2 months, and already on that 1st day have I broken my promise. I am deeply ashamed and filled with remorse, but that being said, I had a goddamned - oops, sorry father - good reason for it.

You see, to shoot the pics below, right before an after work dinner date with friends, I had hung my 2 weeks old Mango blazer, which I was very much in love with over a rail next to the water. I remember thinking, as I put it there: 'Gee, this is quite a dangerous place to put my blazer, I really musn't forget to grab it when we leave for the restaurant'. And now I give you three chances to guess what I did next... Exactly. I forgot.

By the time I realised what had happend, my sweet little blazer was long gone. Which is why, I saw no other solution then to order it again, first thing when we got home.

I hope, considering the circumstances I will receive your absolution for this crime. But now, on to the outfit. To be truly honest I'm not really satisfied with how it turned out in the pictures, but since they cost me a beloved blazer, I thought it would have been a true waist if they were shot in vain, so I decided to use them anyway. As you can see I'm wearing one of my favourite Zara skirts. It's from the fw1314 collection, but has proven to be a faithful summer ally as well.

Winter skirt in summer
Shirt (H&M), Skirt (Zara), Sunglasses (The Row), Bag (Zara), Flats (&Other Stories), Rings (H&M).

Winter skirt in summer

xxx

Buy less, choose well pt. one

1 Aug 2014


Dearest readers,

Though I really have found my fashion bloging mojo back (read Monday's post), I have drawn some conclusions from my temporary outfall. One of them being, that my shopping pattern has got to change.

The point is dear friends, that I can spend hours and hours on fruitless (online) shopping, drooling over stuff I can never afford, feeling highly frustrated and then ending up buying lots of cheaper stuff that becomes worn out tons faster, which in the end, makes their price per wear probably higher.

A second issue I would like to adress are trends. As much as I love spotting, analizing and observing them, as much as I can fastasize about buying every it-bag, every iPhone cover of-the-moment, every earring-whim or go-to style jacket, as much as I  love the rush  of finding that perfect piece that is so very now, right now, I just don't want to anymore. Because again, after a few weeks or months these items will have gone out of style, and they will end up gathering dust in my closet.

Not only is this highly un-economical, it's also bad for my ecological footprint. Fashion is an enough polluting business as it is, and I do not want to make it worse by overconsuming. All this sounding quite familiar to you? Great. Because then you will be glad to hear  that I have formed a battle plan. From now on every Friday I will unfold a new stage of that plan extraordinnaire, and you my friends are more than welcome to follow along with me.

As a farewell note I'll share with you the first step in my journey: The shopping cold turkey. That's right, for two straight months I am not allowed to buy anything, nor surf to online shops, nor enter any physical shops (accept for the one I'm working in, that is, and of course, grocery shopping is alowed). Oh dear lord, only reading what I've just written down makes me break out in cold sweat! Bear with me, darlings!

xxx

PS: Oh and ehm, I hope I haven't offended anyone by these statements. I don't want to critisize people who do want to follow every trend or do like to buy lots of cheap clothes, It's just not working for me anymore, that's all.

PPS: Images via here and here