The shorts which I had bought went back to the store, however cute they were and instead I bought this pink orange maxi dress. I love maxi dresses as they give me the opportunity to wear flat shoes with them rather than high heels. I call this colour ‘pink orange’ as it is just that in my eyes. Or is it coral? Or rose? No idea. The brand is Storm & Marie and I bought it at kpa. in Haarlem. The owner of the shop was wearing this dress and I loved it so much.
Her figure is different from mine (smaller waist, more hips and bum) so I was convinced the dress wouldn’t suit my body shape. There were two other customers in the shop and we started to comment on each other when trying on clothes. We came to the conclusion that you see yourself in such a different way than others do. You don’t see your reflection in the mirror, no, you see your perception. You are focussed on that one point you don’t like and you see what you expect to see (and what nobody else sees). Anyway, it led me to buying the dress.
Kitty took the photos in that lovely old part of Haarlem, De Vijfhoek (the 5 corners) at 6 p.m., the golden hour.
Below: The photo above was taken with this magnificent part of a church behind me. I am fixing my hair after the bicycle ride.
Below: The colours of the dress in the first photo aren’t quite right, but they are in the photo below. This is a close-up of the bracelet that has exactly the same colour. It was a present from my friend Marjolein a few weeks ago.
Below: The pretty little street we chose as background.
Below: That little bench looked very tempting. People here are not too bothered if you sit on it (not like the women in last week’s post).
Below: I am always so pleased when people let plants, trees and flowers grow in front of their house. Makes a street so friendly.
Below: This face says: “Well, what do you know? This flower is exactly the same colour as my dress! Isn’t that a coincidence?”
Below: What have we here…?? A pussy cat?
Below: Lovely little cat.
Below: Oops… defending territory although it looks as if they are dancing.
Below: Busy in the street, cats and dogs.
Below: Kitty, my fantastic photographer.
Below: I can never resist a bench or a chair, especially not when the photo turns out so well. I think I need new white sneakers though. These are pretty old and the wear and tear starts showing. (Note: found them haha.)
Below: This is how I look when I want something from you. White bag is by Essentiel Antwerp (last year or the year before).
Below: Pretty picture with bee.
Below: We were trying different poses… this is the “spread out”. We also took photos of the pose “one knee bent against the other knee” and the “I have to pee” pose, but I won’t bother you with those. Notice I changed shoes from sneakers to my suede yellow pumps by Marks & Spencer.
Below: Isn’t this street adorable? Notice the lamp shades hanging in the middle of the street.
Below: We walked into another little street and met the lady in the blue jacket.
Below: This is Leny van Schaik, who is a choirmaster and famous in Haarlem for all the choirs she conducts and has conducted. She is 77 years old and has a very painful spine nerve condition but still goes on conducting. One of her choirs produced the soundtrack for the movie Paradise Road and Leny taught Glenn Close how to conduct. She has a very impressive CV but if you click through to read it, you have to use Google translate, as it is in Dutch.
Below: There were roses and a red door in the brightest sunshine.
Below: As I sat on the bench, I felt inspired by Leny’s talk about the choirs and sang a very old Dutch song about part of the sea becoming a lake (Zuiderzee ballade). Look at Leny’s face as she is listening…
Below: By the look on her face, she is not going to offer me a place in one of her choirs hahaha.
Below: The photos were taken and we said goodbye.
What happened in my life this week
Saturday was a day with nice weather and little things. Like going to the cobbler again to pick up my purple pumps. And going to the jeweller who cleaned my watch. It was interesting to see that most people keep the required distance. No more than three people in a shop and the rest have to wait outside, keeping their distance. I do hope we have a cure or a vaccine before winter starts. (Yes, and for other reasons as well.) In the evening I enjoyed reruns of the Michael McIntyre show. Gosh, he makes me laugh so much. I wore this. (Link to original post.) You see, I do wear things more than once.
Sunday. Visited my mum. I am getting better at usies. It is so nice to still be able to visit your mother when you are 66. A blessing.
I wore my leather dress with hold-ups (thigh highs) as it was cold. (Link to original post.) Below you see me trying two different belts. That wide belt will soon be somebody else’s, I really don’t like it on me.
So I wore it with the Essentiel Antwerp beaded elastic belt. (See the boots and the beaded belt in this post.) The sleeveless dress I am wearing underneath the leather dress is an e-Bay purchase. Read more about it in the original post where I have styled it three different ways. The styling with the leather dress is the fourth way.
Monday. Wearing a new combination, so no photos yet. Ron had picked up dog Watson yesterday, who had been to “boarding school’ in Belgium for three weeks. The trainer taught him not to shoot off and disappear when he smells game. And it worked. When Ron walked him on Monday and they ran into this big Scottish Highland cow, he stayed with Ron. Reluctantly and after a warning, but he stayed.
I cycled past this house. The flag with the bag indicates that another youngster has passed his exams of secondary school (high school). In June you see a lot of flags with bags.
Tuesday. A lovely day meeting my friend Yvonne for lunch on the beach. It was very quiet and we chatted for hours. Forgot to take a photo, but this is what I was wearing. Link to original post.
As we walked back to the car, we passed a shoe shop…. Aiiii…always dangerous with me. And I was on the look-out for new white airy sneakers. Found them in the sale.
Wednesday. Another lovely day, spent with my friend Selma. She came to my house and we went into town. A quiet day so no Covid problems. I was on sneakers again as I had to walk a lot, which often means jeans too. Link to original post.
We had the best cappuccino at Het Koffiekantoor accompanied by pastry (Pastel de Nata, a Portuguese filo pastry and cream delight). Very friendly staff as well. They can count on my business from now on. I took a terrible usie again.
This is what Selma wore. Like me, she loves clothes and shopping. I do pick ’em haha.
The weather was beautiful and sunny in the morning, but as we hit town, it got grey and not very warm. Pity. The weather people forecasted it the other way round which would have been better. Oh well, no rain.
Thursday. My friend Marjolein and I went to the Kunstmuseum in The Hague to see the botanical paper art wall of Ann Wood, as part of the Royal Blue (Delftware) exhibition. I know Ann from the time she still had a blog (Blue Hue Wonderland) and her photos were awesome. She stopped blogging in 2014 but I “found” her again on Instagram, where she regularly posts photos of her botanical paper art as she is an artist (her husband is too). Ann was supposed to come over from Minneapolis to the Netherlands in March, which of course didn’t happen. The museum has reopened and they are very careful, taking all precautions they should take. Here is Ann’s wall:
The museum itself is gorgeous. Very old and so beautiful. We took a lot of photos but the post will become too long if I show them all. But this page (with video) will show you some of the exhibition. This is what I was wearing (link to original post):
And this was Marjolein’s gorgeous outfit.
Below a close-up of her boots.
Friday was a day spent inside as I sneezed a couple of times, had a tiny bit of a runny nose and sore throat. Normally I wouldn’t think about it, but now I cancelled meeting my friend Anja and Facetimed instead. And I cancelled our dinner in the garden with friends Marla and Georg. Bummer. But I don’t want to jeopardise their health. Let’s see how this develops. (Note: the next day everything was gone.)
Greetje
Like Sheila, I too, love that leather dress – she and I will fight over it if you ever get tired of it ;). I like it worn open and layered over another dress as you have done here.
The maxi dress is very pretty. You have an enviable collection of sneaker-type shoes. I wish I could find similar styles that fit me. The only thing that works for my feet are the knit-style stretchy ones.
I like that leather dress in so many ways and you can wear it in three seasons (too hot for summer). Rest assured there are now two red dots in the dress with both your names on it haha.
My sneaker collection is a result of not liking sneakers under a dress. Slowly I am getting used to it, but only a few particular kind of sneakers appeal to me. So when I find a pair I really like, I wil buy them. Although I did restrain myself two weeks ago (I was very proud).
What a cheery blog! The dress is delightful on you. So glad you found a nice little street without those “crabby old cows” in it to grouch about you sitting on their seats! I think you need a pair of those boots with the red and pink to go with your “chocolate box purse” (any excuse will do right!) You are indeed lucky to have a nice visit with your Mom. Enjoy her as much as you can. Mine lives upstairs in the same building as us, I have nurses coming in to help but the poor thing has advanced senile dementia and you really can’t converse with her. Take care gorgeous!
Yes, it is very special to still have your mother, sound of mind, at this age. I call her every night and we have a chat and a laugh. Although I have been doing this every day since December 2006, we still have enough to talk about. It amazes many people haha.
I am afraid that the boots of my friend Marjolein and my chocolate box purse would clash and probably also be an overkill. Better keep that bag for the single pop of colour. We don’t want them fighting for attention.
The photos and the outfits are so inspiring more this week in our lockdown. I feel as if I am visiting Haarlem. The color of the dress against the greenery are spectacular. I realize I have too much beige in my wardrobe, I need more color. The pot-Lea and red look great. Thank you for bringing inspiration to me, especially now. Guess we will be isolated for a while. Jill in Northern California
Thanks for your words. This is exactly what I want to bring with my blog: some light entertainment. And yes dear.. beige in a wardrobe is a colour very few women can wear and look good. I hope I inspire you enough to try some colour. Try it with second-hand stuff if you are afraid of it. Then you can take baby steps and it doesn’t cost you much.
Enjoyed your post very much as always. Lots of interesting outfits.
Loved the picture of Watson looking SO longingly at the cow! The back of his neck made me laugh.Yearning! Also the cats squaring up to fight!
Also liked Marjolein’s colourful outfit.
I do not dare to wear colour in this way but you girls look very good.
Anne from Tasmania.
Well Anne, you just have to imagine the worst case scenario when you are thinking of wearing more colour. What can happen to you? Will people laugh at you? Will you lose money? Will you not be able to go into town anymore?
You see, most of the time (if not all of the time), people do not give a fig about how you look. Everybody is far more interested in themselves.
And colour near your face usually makes you look better, so why not give it a little try?
THE DRESS IS FABULOUS ON YOU ESPECIALLY WITH THE WHITE SNEAKERS!
I LIKE IT!
I APPROVE!
WEAR IT TILL IT FALLS A PART!
I ADORE LONG DRESSES BUT REALLY DONOT WEAR THEM OUT OFTEN ENOUGH…………NOT AS IF I HAVE BEEN GOING OUT!
THAT CAT PHOTO IS AWESOME!Were they playing or fighting?
YOUR HAIR LOOKS RATHER SMASHING TOO!
XX
Thanks Elizabeth, lovely comment. I bought new white sneakers in the meantime which are a bit more sophisticated. You say you do not wear long dresses often enough, but I always see you in long dresses on Instagram. And kimonos.
The cats were fighting, not playing.
My hair is my biggest worry, as it is thin and there isn’t a lot of it. But before we do a photo shoot I ‘fluff it up’ haha.
Yes, the dress is different than your usual style but you wear it well. The color of course is fantastic, but I have to imagine it will be a comfortable piece for warmer days. And as you say, it works with lower-heeled shoes!
So many pretty little streets where you live!! And how interesting to “meet” the choir director. A very accomplished woman indeed!
I am often asked what my style is and the only answer I can give is “My style is all over the place”. I like so many completely different things, although jeans with a jacket and a heel is probably my core style. But I couldn’t do without dresses and skirts.
And yes, I live in a very nice area of this country. You’ll see it when I will give you a tour, hopefully in the not too distant future.
You are so right that what we see in the mirror is a perception not a reflection. I must try and remember this. All the photos are wonderfully colourful. You do have very stylish friends.
I think my 2 dogs need to go the same boarding school as Watson. They have a very strong prey drive, so once they see anything small or fury, or a deer, it is very hard to get their attention!
Have a lovely week!
What helps to make a decision about an outfit, is to take a photo of yourself in the outfit. There is a certain distance with photos which makes it a bit more objective to judge whether it suits you or not.
Other things are: Are you fidgeting all the time? Do your hesitate a lot when looking in the mirror? Do you often have to correct your garment while wearing it? These are all things that indicate the outfit is no good for you.
The boarding school of Watson uses a little buzzer on his collar. When you press the button on the remote, it gives off a really tiny buzz in his neck, not an electric shock haha. That gets him out of his trance and paying attention to you again. Mind you, the buzzer can give off a much bigger shock but we are totally against that and it is not necessary either.
Wow! The colour of your Maxi dress is amazing.
It screams fun, summer, happy times. It looks very flattering on you especially with your blonde hair.
Interesting that you paired it with the tennis shoe.
I have been trying some of my ankle pants with a tennis type shoe but always go with the sleeker loafer. I will have to give my tennis shoes another try.
Always look forward to your latest fashions.
It took me so long to get used to seeing a sneaker underneath a dress or skirt. And there are still many outfits with sneakers which I don’t like. The baseball sneakers I am wearing underneath the maxi dress are too old to really do the dress justice. But I found new ones and they are very good. You have to see a lot of sneakers before you decide on a pair, as your taste changes when you are ‘exposed’ to them. So don’t buy the first pair you see.
Such a pretty maxi dress Greetje… I love maxi dresses too. So are so great with your every day outfits!
xx Yvonne
I don’t know whether I will keep it up, these every day outfits. I thought I needed content as I wouldn’t have much fun in Corona time. But I am already doing so many things, so I might skip them.
Enjoy seeing a glimpse of your world….the fun posts of what you wore and the pretty streets and benches you find along the way. Thanks for sharing! 💗
The pleasure of sharing is entirely mine Cheryl. I love to create these posts. I finally found a hobby. And it is very nice to know that there are people out there who like what I put on the blog.
Beautiful pictures- loved the cats! And your friend’s red and purple outfit-loved the saturation of those colors!
My friend Marjolein adores purple as an outfit colour. I agree with you, it is such a good idea of her to combine it with red. Daring and fantastic.
Phew, glad your sneezing/sore throat was gone the next day. Awesome outfits all throughout this post, Greetje. Love the picture of the cats fighting.
Kitty’s dress is fabulous, and as always, I covet that wonderful leather dress!
Hope you had a good weekend!
Yes I am also very relieved that the sneezing etc wasn’t anything serious. Glad you liked my outfits. I understand that I have to put a red dot with your name inside the leather dress haha?
Oh, how lovely! Not only your pretty dress, but the charming streets, the flowers, and the people. I look forward to your posts each week as they are full of colour and verve. Thanks for sharing!
Always so lovely to hear you are enjoying my blog posts. Thank you for taking the time to tell me.