LOOKBOOK: Monaco

After three weeks of laziness, tanning, sleeping in and basically doing nothing, it was time to say goodbye and to head home. Back to Holland. Back to real life. Which means finishing the renovations of my new room (soon more on the blog), working at the local grocery store all week and within two weeks starting my last year in high school. Fortunately I can extend the holiday feeling a bit, because there’s an actual heat wave going on right now and because I’m sharing a few photos shot on our holiday :)

During our one-week stay in San Remo, we decided that it would be fun to make a day trip to Monaco - a.k.a. the land of the rich people. It was just an hour's drive and we did the usual touristy stuff. We’ve seen where the rich people moor their yachts, where they gamble away their money, where they sleep for €2000, - a night and where they shop the most expensive clothes. *Sigh* What a life.

I was wearing a green suede skort (skirt on the front, short on the back), a white T-shirt from my brother’s closet, silk scarf around my wrist, straw hat, Ray-Ban sunglasses and a pair of summer sandals. Do you like it?

LET'S DISCUSS: Red Swimsuit

Swimsuits are back! They were off the radar for quite a while, caused by the popularity of the bikini. Such a pity, because swimsuits are really amazing. Apart from the fact that they’re not great for tanning, the swimsuit has many benefits. It's flattering, comfortable (no more fumbling with sagging bikini tops and bottoms after a jump in the water) and you can just throw a pair of Levi’s shorts on top of it and you’re good to go.

There are now all kinds of different swimsuits. Personally, I’m a big fan of the simple ones, with a scoop back, round neck and not too much going on. A black colored one was on my shopping list for this summer. Eventually I succeeded at J.Crew (a.k.a. provider of the best basic swimwear), however, not with the black one like I’d planned, but with a red one.

I don’t really know why – I normally never wear the color red – but I had to have it. However, I have to admit that I had my doubts at first. Wasn’t it a bit too sexy (à la Baywatch – the hit TV show back in the 90s), too showy? Too dramatic? It’s an eye catcher for sure. But I decided to just go for it, to step out my comfort zone. And I have absolutely no regrets.

So, I’m curious to know what you guys think of a red Baywatch-inspired swimsuit. Yay or nay? Leave a comment below and let’s discuss J
Follow

CARE: Golden Tip for Creating Volume in Fine / Thin Hair

If  you're not blessed with natural big hair. If Mother Nature has given you fine / thin hair without a trace of volume. If even the strongest volume mousse doesn’t work - it won’t hurt to read along. Because within a minute, you’ll know the golden tip when it comes to creating volume in your hair.

The golden tip. Disclaimer: don’t expect some magic recipe because it’s actually very simple and logical. Are you ready? 

It’s all about keeping the hair as ‘light’ as possible. 

Because your hair is naturally lightweight, you don’t want to make it much heavier by using all kinds of hair products. It will only have a contrary effect and gravity won’t be your friend. 

So, a few do’s and don’ts for creating volume in fine / thin hair. 

Step 1: Smart haircut. A good start is half the battle. Layers can be a solution for limp hair. Not what you want? What you can do is ask your hairdresser to cut the outer layer just a little shorter than the rest of your hair. It’s hardly noticeable but gives your hair a voluminous look. Still not good enough? Well, maybe it’s time to face it. If you have (very) long hair, it’s much harder to create any volume. Think about cutting your hair a lot shorter. Shoulder length for instance. It’s probably the best thing you can do in this situation. I’ll ensure you; volume right away. I also did - and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. 

LOOKBOOK: Montbron

Tomorrow we’re going to say goodbye to our current location, Village Le Chat, where we’ve stayed for almost two weeks now. But we’re not going home yet - no, we’re going to drive just a little further to the land of gelato, amazing food and colorful Vespa’s. Yes, ITALY!! I’m very VERY excited! Even more because I’ve never been there before, but begged for years to go there. 

We’re going to the city of San Remo, just a few kilometers from the French border. I don’t know much about the city itself, but I do know there’s a beach nearby, so that’s great. Also, from there it’s just a few hours to Monaco, Cannes and Milan, so there’s plenty to do and see :)

About the outfit. My mom and me shot this look in front of an old garage door, which we passed on our way to the grocery store in a village nearby called Montbron. 

I’m wearing a vintage Nike sweatshirt, which I bought in the vintage store I talked about in this post. The original sweatshirt was huge, but the fabric and crewneck were perfect, so I bought it anyway with the idea of downsizing it a bit with the sewing machine. The striped blouse underneath is from H&M’s men section; it’s therefore oversized which makes it perfect to tie up, to wear like a skirt or - like I did in this outfit - to wear underneath a sweatshirt so the collar gives a fun effect. For the rest, I was wearing my favorite Levi’s 501 shorts - with a red silk scarf in the back pocket -, Ray-Ban Round Metal shades and white slip-ons.

Do you like it? See you from San Remo! 

TREND ALERT: Leopard Print

For all of you who are lying on a towel on the beach right now, finally able to get a descent summer tan, with not a thing to worry about - we have to be realistic here. I don’t want to ruin your mood, but within a month it’s autumn. Trees will shed their leaves, temperature will drop fast and the sun will disappear for a long, long time. We have to prepare ourselves for the cold seasons – sooner rather than later. 

Besides managing the mental depression caused by the knowledge that the darkness is coming for us, we have to make our wardrobe ready for these harsh times. Start with checking your supplies. Chucky knits? Check. Items perfect for layering? Check. Black platform boots? Check. Replenish where necessary. Make a list of the things you want to add to your wardrobe. Oh, and uhm, you can put a leopard printed garment at the top of your list, because I’ll ensure you, you’re going to need it.

If designers like Dries van Noten dedicate in fact their whole collection to the print of this big cat’s coat, you know what’s coming. It will take over the street image this season. Coats, jackets, skirts, pants, boots - literally everything will be covered in leopard print. How cool, right? But as you know, leopard print itself isn’t something new, but what makes it this season so popular is the variety in the materials and the way of using – a good example are the velvet leopard pants à la Dries van Noten. 

Because it’s not the easiest print to combine, I thought it would be a good idea to give some examples of how you can pull of the leopard print. Enjoy!

LOOKBOOK: Peach

Bonjour à tous! Writing to you from my sunny holiday destination, La Belle France. Once again I’m finding myself in Village Le Chat, a bungalow park in a small village called Ecuras, where my parents own a vacation house. I literally have come here every summer since I was six, so it really feels like my second home. And I have no complaints, because life is good here. 

Wednesday is market day. All the people in the area come to the village of Piégut, about 15 minutes from here, to get themselves some local French products. A real French chicken, French strawberries, a French tablecloth, French macarons etc. I always go with my mother. On our way over there, we saw this gorgeous peach colored vacation house, which has been vacant for a long time. We pulled over and shot some photos.

I was wearing my new striped dress with short trumpet sleeves, which I bought just a few days before I went on vacation. I paired it with a silk scarf tied up in my hair - to give the outfit a kind of 70s vibe - and oversized tortoise sunglasses. And of course I was wearing the summer sandals, which I wrote an ode about in one of my previous articles, on my feet.

PERSONAL: Photoshoot

Last week I did a photoshoot. Yes, a real photoshoot. In stead of using my phone with the self-timer, balancing it on a shoe on a ladder in my shed to get a picture of myself - no kidding -, I was now being photographed by a budding professional photographer with a professional camera. In this blog post you can see some photos of the shoot. 

In case you thought photoshoots are a common thing for me … Okay, never mind. As you know photoshoots are no common thing for me. So how do I did end up in front of a professional camera? A girl from my school asked me if I wanted to shoot some photos with her. Me? Shoot some photos? But of course! I think that you should grab every opportunity that you get to feel like a model for a little while. 

So, who is the girl behind the camera? Her name is Isa Emmen, a sixteen years old girl with a real talent for photographing. Her portraits as well as her other photos are amazing. She has two Instagrams were you can admire them: @isaemmen and @isamaaktportretten. Why don’t you check them out! You won’t regret it :)