Nice Dutch picture with this bicycle. The blue dress is a gift from Lisa (The Sequinist) and in turn it was gifted to her by the brand: Cabi. Only Lisa doesn’t like floral dresses. “Don’t bother sending them back”, they said at Cabi, “Give them to somebody who does like them”. It fits me and I love it, even though floral dresses aren’t my thing either. It wears beautifully, like a PJ and it is good quality. The waist is very high up which I try to hide by wearing a broad belt. Of course you sometimes have to pull the dress down a little during the day but as it is fitted in the waist, the sides don’t bulge much. Kitty was my photographer and we did an extremely quick shoot (three quarters of an hour including driving).
Cabi is a brand for women by women. They have an online shop but also do clothes parties at home with stylists. Here is a link to their blog. And no, they don’t pay me, they only gave the dress to Lisa with no strings attached who passed it on to me, with no strings attached. I just quite like their philosophy and the fact they involve all ages.
Below: The dress has a hi-lo hem at the sides rather than at the front and back.
Below: If you are wondering where we are, this is the entrance of the Cathedral St. Bavo in Haarlem. A magnificent building. I have shown you photos of it in this post (scroll down).
Below: More photos of the cathedral will follow. We started in front of the big doors, me wearing my off-white trench coat by Les Coyotes de Paris. Bought it at Studio LM in the sale. If you are wondering “Who in her right mind, buys an off-white trench coat?” The answer is simple: me. I fell totally in love with it and love is blind, although I often wonder myself. Still managed to keep it from staining. Wearing it with a soft green scarf, gifted by Ayesha, more about that later.
Below: Trying my poses. I don’t like it when a coat is shorter than the dress, but I haven’t got one that is long enough, I will have to make do.
Below: These blue earrings are from Adore by Ayesha. You can see them in the above photo as well. I bought them a year ago (good close-up in that post) and really liked them. Until the gold started to wear off. I contacted Ayesha and she immediately offered me cash back, another pair or repair. I chose repair even though it would take a while as she warned me. When she came back from India Ayesha sent me a message: they were repaired and would be in the post the following day. Not. She then confessed having put them away so safely she couldn’t find them anymore. Again she was quick with the offer of cash back or choose another pair. As I wasn’t really bothered (enough other earrings) I said I would wait, they were bound to turn up. Sure enough, a month later she found them in her passport haha. When I received the earrings with profound excuses, she had added this lovely scarf (see above with the coat) to “make up for it”. This is the kind of after-service you hope for when you buy something. It is such a positive experience when you actually get proof of such service. Thank you Ayesha, you are top!
Below: The archway at the entrance was a lovely background.
Below: As usual I cannot remember why I laughed. As you can see, the dress has a deep plunge at the neck and I do not want to show my wrinkles, so I added a top underneath it (by Bellamy Gallery). It wasn’t very warm, which made the extra layer a bonus.
Below: As I said, windy…..
Below: Pink suede sandals from the back. You saw them before in this post.
Below: Sitting pose, looking serene. Bracelet from a second-hand shop. Bag: Essentiel Antwerp, last year.
Below: The bottom half of the skirt is see-through, but the dress comes with an underdress up to my knee.
Below: Showing you the underdress (light blue). I even added a pencil skirt (dark blue) for warmth (also Bellamy Gallery, a very sustainable and affordable brand).
Below: Now for the cathedral pictures. Outside and inside. I will show some photos below, but my friend Anja (Curly Traveller), wrote a whole post about the cathedral with loads of pictures. Just click the link if you want to see them.
Below: Apparently the artwork for the cathedral was never finished and therefore artists still get assignments to create a stained-glass window for instance (like in 2016).
Below: Spiral stairs…. Not for me, thank you. I climbed a church in Delft, I climbed the stairs of the St Pieter basilica in Rome and I went down the stairs of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and nearly fell to my death on those. I am done with stairs in churches.
Below: View of Haarlem from the roof. The white bit at the top of the photo is the sky. White/grey that day.
I tried out the dress in my bedroom the day before the shoot. I had two belts and two pairs of shoes which I liked with the dress.
Below: With a tan belt by Bellamy Gallery (bought two years ago but they still sell them).
Below: With a black and white belt. Very old, by Anne Fontaine. I wish I could replace it with a new one as the wear and tear is beginning to show. Patent leather belts don’t last long. I chose the high heels (no surprise here) and the black and white belt for the shoot as “the majority” seemed to like that combination best.
So far for a blue dress and a cathedral.
What happened in my life this week
A rather uneventful week. A very quiet weekend. The planned dinner date Sunday night was cancelled due to one of our friends having the flu. I rather like these quiet weekends. Did some outfit trials with my new sandals. They were meant to use in the hot weather we are experiencing. First day I wore them I got a big blister, so they won’t come out for another week.
Monday: hard day’s work (meaning I had to work really hard).
Tuesday: hard day’s work and overtime. But… also a dinner date with a friend whom I hadn’t seen for a year. That was nice. So nice that I forgot to take a picture.
Wednesday: worked from home in the morning and visited my seamstress to have a pair of trousers taken in. Since my weight loss, some trousers just slip right off. No fitness this week nor next week as they are doing the place up. Had a short get-together with Anja, neighbour and friend. Visit to the hairdresser in the afternoon. It was scorching hot. We broke the record of the hottest day ever in our country.
After dinner Ron and I drove to the beach (10 minutes by car) to let Watson run free and take a dip into the sea. I sat on the terrace (as my knee doesn’t like to walk on sand) drinking fruit beer and nibbling cheese fries. It was so busy that the restaurant stopped taking meal orders. The kitchen staff couldn’t handle it anymore.
Thursday: hard day at work.
Friday: visit to the orthodontist, I am going for the extra 10 weeks to get that canine tooth in its proper place as well. I have come so far, why not do the extra mile.
Greetje
such lovely outfit! i love the color!
The colour is a little bit neutral for me, you will usually find me in bright colours. But I still like it.
Greetje
I can’t wear anything white, but that is a beautiful trench coat so I understand why you fell in love with it. The dress is lovely on you – that was nice of the company to allow Lisa to gift it to someone else. I really like the pop of pink in the sandals. I agree with Melanie that you’re posing skills are first class! Shelley
White nor black are my colours either. In summer when I am tanned it is less of a problem and adding a colourful necklace or scarf is my solution to this.
I agree with you that it was very nice of Cabi to allow Lisa to gift the dresses to someone else. And it was really nice of Lisa to give them to me haha.
My posing skills are best when Kitty does the photography. She knows how to loosen me up.
Greetje
Okay, that photo of you smiling with the trench coat, the one that’s a bit close up – stunning!! Totally stunning!! Yeah, you’ve got that pose down to an art. You have many fantastic shots in this post. The cathedral is impressive and I’ll go see Anja’s write up. Thanks for the peek into your life, Greetje. I hope work gives you a break soon!
Kitty (the photographer) challenges me all the time. “Loose” she will shout. Or “Give me some movement”. And she always shoots when my leg is at the right angle while walking. She took some magazine worthy pictures I think.
I love the shot where you see my in the arch way at a bit of a distance.
And no work is not going to give me a break for another three weeks. Working my arse off.
Lucky you! The dress looks splendid on you. I love a white trench, too.
http://a-woman-of-a-certain-age.com/
Indeed lucky me, a perfect gift this dress. The other dress will be on the blog next week and Lisa gave me a Cabi jacket too. There was a lot more in my suitcase when I came home than when I left.
Greetje
Such a pretty dress. Love the uneven hemline. Regards Jill stylishatsixty
http://Www.stylishatsixty.wordpress.com
It is indeed a pretty dress. Normally I don’t “do” pretty, but it is nice to do something different. And pretty isn’t ugly, right?
Greetje
You look sooooo nice! You know I am not a fan of jeans ( too dull and common in my opinion) but this dress and the coat … very well done darling!!!đź‘Ť
This is still your doing. You were the one who pointed it out to me that I was wearing too little dresses and too many jeans. I listened. I wear dresses a lot more as you can see if you scroll my blog. The coat, ah yes the coat… a very frivolous purchase.
Greetje
Considering you don’t wear floral dresses, you look absolutely fabulous in this one, Greetje! I like it with the sneakers too. My favourite photos of you are the ones that you are laughing!! You always look like you’re having so much fun!
Hugs
Suzy xxx
I do seek the moments of laughter and I try to create them as well. Telling jokes (dirty ones preferably) of making smart ass remarks. And yes I do indeed laugh a lot. But don’t get me wrong, I lead a perfectly normal life with tears and off-days as well. It isn’t always rosy.
Greetje
There are a number of really terrific photos of you in this post Greetje.
The dress is lovely. I had a dress much like this many years ago (without the cool hemline) that served as my “first day of school dress” for a few years. It was a bit brighter blue but was perfect to create the “professional but approachable” image I wanted to create as a teacher.
This dress has a classic silhouette and because I’ve been to a few CAbi ( Carol Anderson by invitation) parties, I am familiar with their great quality and fun designs.
Your hair looks wonderful in these photos as well. New shorter look?? Lighter color? You often comment about being unhappy with your hair, but I think it looks great! Here it looks even better! :-):-):-):-)
That cathedral is quite amazing. The staircase looked SCARY!!! You made a wise choice to stay off of it!!
Yes, this dress has many faces: professional, pretty, classic or modern (with sneakers). I had never heard of Cabi, being in the Netherlands and I like their quality. Never knew you were a teacher.
My hair looks good because I “fluffed it up” as I call it, just before the shoot. It is shorter than a year ago, but for my current hairstyle quite long. Been to the hairdresser since and she chopped a lot off, which I do not particularly like. Oh well, it will grow back on again.
Greetje
I taught civics to 8th graders (14 year olds) for 37 years.
When Trump was elected I called a former colleague who was also retired and remarked; “SHIT! DID WE DO THIS???!!!!” ARE WE TO BLAME?
I like a fluff in your hair!
hahaha… no, you are not responsible. You might be responsible for the other voters who were against him.
I think you look great in the dress, and I too like the dress below the coat. Maybe it’s that particular combination. You have inspired me to try dresses. So far, nothing that works. We are experiencing heat as well. Near San Francisco. 95 (35.5) I go outside, do a chore for 20 minutes, then inside to the air conditioning.
It might indeed be this particular combination of dress and coat. I didn’t dislike it as much as I normally do haha. Wearing dresses is something that doesn’t come easy to me either. It took me a while to understand which shape suits me and which doesn’t. Now I have load of tricks up my sleeves to make it work. Shoes with dresses have been the trickiest part as I have rather an old fashioned taste in shoes. And that ages you. I am getting there though. Good luck with your journey.
Our heat is back to 22 C (71.6F). Yay.
Greetje
Love the dress on you! Cabi clothes are very popular in my area. I own several pieces and wear them often. Classic and flattering to a broad range of women—age and size! I recently found your blog and love your unique style. Three couples are taking a river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam in September—our first visit to either! Link me, if you would, to some “must see” sites? Have you some previous posts of such? Missi (Kentucky, USA)
Cabi is not a brand we know in the Netherlands, but I agree their clothes are good quality. Thank you for your compliments about my blog and style. Always so lovely to hear. If you click the button Amsterdam at the top of my blog page, you will find a lot of Amsterdam stuff. I would recommend the 9 streets area for shopping and the Scheepvaartmuseum (Maritime museum) which has a replica of a very old sailing ship in the water behind the museum. But of course it all depends on what you like.
There is also a button called Haarlem which is 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam.
Greetje
I think the dress looks fabulous on you! I was also really impressed with the quality of the Cabi pieces I’ve tried.
I had never heard of them as they aren’t in the Netherlands, but you are right, the quality of their finishing is very good.
I absolutely love the photo with the coat on, Greetje. It’s nice when the dress hangs below the coat because it’s like a sneak peek!!
XOXO
Jodie
Hah… and here am I, not liking that a coat is shorter than a dress. I think I will adopt your view.
Another stunning dress! Love that color on you, Greetje. The coat is gorgeous too. Thanks for sharing!
Dark blue is better on me than black although bright colours always win. Next week you will see a dress with bright colours, also by Cabi.