I got these amazing new pinstripe pants in the mail this week, ordered through the H&M application. It still surprises me sometimes how fast those services are. Today I also got a pair of jeans in the mail which would take 10-25 days to deliver, but only took about nine days. All the way from Asia no less. Anyway, these pants are called 'costume joggers' on the H&M website and the description could not be more accurate. They're as comfortable as pyjama bottoms, but you could completely pull off a 'business' type of look with them, and I've sort of been leaning toward the latter as a style lately: a minimal, elegant businesswoman type of look. Although I'll mix in chunky sweaters and black boots, because I like those.
The bag is also new and was a sort of 'necessary purchase': last week I took a big bag with my laptop and books in it to school, and just as I was locking my bike, the bag's handle broke. I didn't have time to go home and I also didn't actually have another good bag that my laptop would fit in. Luckily, the university buildings in Amsterdam are right around the corner from Dam Square and Kalverstraat, so I popped into the Zara and got this handbag. Bonus: it's reversible, and the other side is made of a fluffy grey fabric, so it's basically two bags in one.
More stories: I love these Chelsea boots so much that I used to have another pair of which the heel broke after two years or so, but I just bought them again. The parka I'm wearing was a vintage find and the inside can be taken out so it serves as a spring and autumn coat. I may have a thing for multifunctional products. I mean, why have it one way when you can have it two ways, and choose?
Sweater: vintage | Pants: H&M | Chelsea boots: Clarks | Parka: vintage | Handbag: Zara
Do you have any multifunctional items in your closet? What are different ways you wear them?
Do you have any multifunctional items in your closet? What are different ways you wear them?
The color combination of navy blue and black is most likely one of the most debated ones. But I've loved it ever since I took an interest in how I dressed. Sure, there is something that makes me feel very chic in an all-black outfit, but something about this dark shade of blue added to it makes it a little more accessible. More comfortable, maybe: less like I'm going out to some fancy dinner party, or less like I'm channeling Johnny Cash--though there is nothing wrong with that every once in a while.
This sweater is one of my favorites: partially because my boyfriend went back to an outlet mall to get it for me. Partially because I paid five times less than the original price for it, but didn't find out till later. Partially because it goes with anything. And mostly because it's soft and a little too big and perfect to drown in on the couch with a cup of tea and Netflix without feeling absolutely listless. It's wonderful to think about the stories and feelings that go with your clothes, to feel even better in them. The bracelet, too: I got it after bargaining at a market in Rome, and two days later it didn't close anymore, so it goes around my wrist like a snake. However, I've come to like it this way. Plus, it reminds me of Rome...
P.S. I touch my hair a lot.
Sweater: Gsus | Pants: C&A | Shoes: Dr. Martens | Coat: H&M
Bracelet: Rome street market | Lipstick: Hema
Pictures by Janne (radiatefashion.com)
What do you think about black and navy blue as a combination? I'd love to hear!
What do you think about black and navy blue as a combination? I'd love to hear!
CONCEPT
A word that sounds as soft as pink is, goes as deep as black goes, weighs as little as white does. I wake up in my apartment, open my balcony doors and look out over the city I've chosen to live in. Smell fresh bakery products, look over the rooftops, feel a gentle sunlight on my skin. Then I tiptoe across the hardwoord floor, open my wardrobe, and pick my softest things-- the things that make me feel secure, lovely, feminine. This lace, those pleats, a touch of velvet and a piece of silk. It is not warm out: I coat myself in camel-tinted warmth, reaching almost to the floor, I match the colors of my face to the colors on my body-- black lines, pink lips-- and I spray myself with the scent of dark womanliness. A woman with secrets, parts of her mind you will never see. The effort to look as effortless as she does. The longing for a life she acts out, but doesn't fully feel as her own: that's what the clothes are for. I go down to the bakery for a freshly-baked croissant, go back to my apartment, by now flooded in an autumn sun, I uncoat and sit cross-legged back on the bed, finally, with my croissant and some fruits laid out on a white plate, on white sheets. I eat slowly, I savor, I clench my cup of tea. I feel pink, and black, and white. I feel woman.
(Zara skirt, Esprit sweater)
