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
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