Anke, Greetje and SabineYes we did it again…. Shopping in Haarlem this time. At the end of one of these Saturdays our little group of friends can hardly wait for the next date. I think we could happily do this at least once a month. Alas, there is not enough money in the bank for that. We choose a different town each time. As you might have seen, we have been in Eindhoven, Antwerp, Utrecht, Amsterdam, again Amsterdam, and I probably forgot a few times.

Above: Anke, Greetje and Sabine (right), members of the group called Shopping Saturday.

We started in Heemstede, a small town adjacent to Haarlem. And for a particular reason…. to visit a shop called Joe & Brown (for the Dutch: Zandvoortselaan 8A). That shop was on my list for some time and as we met at 10 a.m. there was plenty of time to visit Haarlem too and I knew Anke and Sabine would also love this place. And we did! We did! We were not disappointed. Great brands and lots of them we didn’t know yet, lovely variety and an owner who was great. She helped us, gave us cappuccinos, was there when we needed another size and let us be when we just wanted to browse or take pictures. That is the way to do it. Needless to say we all found something.

Now what did we find????

Below: Sabine found this shirt which was out of her comfort zone as she hardly ever wears shirts. We thought it looked bloody good on her.

Sabine

Below: she accidently put the shirt on inside out and we found out there was an inner pocket.

Sabine

Below: here I am, still wearing my own clothes: boyfriend jeans and jeans jacket, both by G-Star, sneakers by Essentiel. T-shirt, designed and manufactured by my niece.

Jeans jacket and boyfriend jeans by G-Star, sneakers Essentiel

Below: Anke bought these tough black boots. I thought they were divine and as I am never shy of copying, I tried them on as well. We all thought they weren’t for me. At first I thought it was because of my age. Only that is a bit hard to maintain when you are wearing what I was haha. Not really your average gear for a 63 year old lady. I thought it was particularly nice that the shop owner totally agreed. No pushing the product, but an honest answer.

Anke however, looks so good in those boots. She was also wearing a perfect blue sweater. I tried to persuade her to sell it me haha (I know no shame), but of course she didn’t.

Anke

Below: the back of that lovely blue sweater.

Anke

Below: Sabine found this lovely soft cardigan. Alas it itched. Some people don’t feel anything when wearing wool, others feel the itch even looking at it. Sabine and I are with the itch team. Shame as it was so nice.

Sabine

Below: Anke needed a coat and immediately found one. It was made for her.

Anke

Below: Anke. I liked this picture of her even though it is a bit blurry. She took many of the pictures in this post. And the camera behaved! Although we used it indoors, the pictures turned out fine.

Anke

Below: Sabine in green. A colour which suits her well so it came home with her.

Below: she didn’t buy this tunic/dress as she favoured the jeans shirt. It took me back to the seventies. When Ron saw this photo he thought it looked so good on her, he was convinced Sabine’s husband would draw his creditcard…..

Sabine

Below: time to show you a close-up of the fab earrings Sabine was wearing.

Sabine

Below: I did a “Sabine-trick”. I was trying on this summer dress but didn’t feel like taking off trousers and shoes until I was convinced the dress was worth the trouble. Many times did I photograph Sabine in this position. This time Anke caught me. The dress was nice but too short for me.

Shopping in Haarlem

Below: oh and did Anke catch me…. she made me promise I would publish this photo too. Wearing hold-ups.. and too late in covering them up.

Shopping in Haarlem

Below: talk, talk, talk. The words on my linen T-shirt are the first four words of fake text, used by art directors when they design things like advertisements or brochures. As I work in advertising, I think it is a fun shirt for me.

Shopping in Haarlem

Below: although I like stripes, this shirt was a bit too masculine for me (IMO). With apologies of the shop owner. This size came from the back and hadn’t been ironed yet.

Shopping Saturday in Haarlem

Below: YES.. this shirt was for me. By Ganni. I know, I know … I am not supposed to spend any money on anything and my cards are still in the freezer. But I had a way out of this predicament: I still had some cash money in my draw. The fact that this money wasn’t yet spent, is nothing less than a miracle. This Shopping Saturday I blew it all.

Ganni shirt, G-Star boyfriend jeans, Essentiel sneakers

We had spent nearly 2 lovely hours in Joe & Brown. I will be back. Onwards to the centre of Haarlem.

Below: past noon. We did the easy thing and went for lunch at Stempels (next to the parking garage). Stempels is a lunchroom, tearoom, bar and hotel. It is situated in the building where, up to 1992, our Dutch money was printed. Read about the history of the beautiful building here.

Sabine and Anke

Below: next stop was Foof, a shoe shop in Kleine Houtstraat. There sister shop, selling clothes is next door. Now how about these shoes? Excellent to update a dress or skirt and make it modern. That’s what I am looking for. In the pocket and going home with Greetje. Money spent. That was me for the day (as far as shopping goes).

Shopping in Haarlem

Below: Sabine showed what the shoes would look like with bright socks in them. Although I am not a fan of socks or tights in peeptoe shoes, this does appeal to me. Especially since I saw Lisa, The Sequinist with awesome socks in her shoes. Admittedly, her shoes had no peeptoes but I bet that wouldn’t stop her. We’ll see how much courage I have.

Sabine in my shoe

Below: just around the corner from Foof is Meent, Anegang 27A. Where Sabine discovered high rise flared jeans.

Sabine

Below: “Can you sit in them?” I asked. “Squat and try”…. No problem.

Sabine

Below: those pink boots were so good with the jeans. And they went perfectly with her skinnies as well. I wanted them in blue.. but hey.. money finished.

Sabine

Below: Anke watching patiently and giving advice. By this time the sun had come out to play. That jacket of hers is fantastic.

Anke

Below: I did try this top (money or no money) and I liked it but I think it is just a teeny weeny too short. Or I told myself so because I couldn’t buy it haha. Gosh with these jeans and sneakers everything looks good.

Shopping in Haarlem

Below: close-up of my bracelets and rings. Yes, hands give away your age.

Shopping in Haarlem

Below: the day was ending, the shops closing and we were in need of a drink. Several places in Zijlstraat were nice and we chose Vascobelo. We sat on the first floor near the windows overlooking the street.

Anke and Sabine

Below: a blurry photo but it is a happy one. The embodiment of the day.

Shopping in Haarlem

Another lovely Shopping Saturday.

Greetje

No Fear of Fashion

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