You have seen this green midi skirt twice before. In a post with a fuchsia top and black boots and in a post with a brown blouse and brown boots. As I am trying to create new combinations with items I already have, I don’t feel bad showing you this skirt for the third time. It is not as sustainable as it looks, as the cream boots are new. Loyal readers know how much I love white and cream coloured boots and I have quite a selection. These knee-high boots are in my collection because they have an elegant heel, but a low one which is easy to walk on and they are very comfortable. When you haven’t got many places to go, it feels a little silly to be walking around in high heels all day. I still do that, to keep my feet and leg muscles accustomed to high heels, but it is getting harder.
The skirt is from Essentiel Antwerp, some years ago and the sweater is from the Max Mara outlet in Turin. (You have seen it before in this post with flared jeans.) It saddens me to say that there are yellow stains (from pollen?) on the front of the sweater. I tried everything to get them out and nothing works. However, there is a solution to this problem. My niece is an artist and produces entirely sustainable printed T-shirts and she is going to “add some leaves” to the flower at the front, covering the stains. Hurray for my niece.
The tote bag is from Nikki of Midlifechic and the red belt is Max Mara (a birthday present from my mother two years ago).
The photos were taken by Jilske at Marianne’s house. We celebrated Marianne’s birthday, keeping our distance. It would be so nice for the whole group (6 of us) to get together again, but alas.
Below: Jilske, who got married a couple of weeks ago. YAY.
Below: Marianne, very much the birthday girl.
Jilske urged me to do the photo shoot first thing as it looked like rain.
Below: We went outside into the garden as it was quite dark in the room.
Below: Then, the wind started blowing and I ducked to keep my hair in shape.
Below: Nope, that didn’t work. And if you think “What are those white spots?” They are raindrops. No more glamourous photos outdoors.
Below: Close-up of the new boots with the quirky heel. I’ve never caught the hem of my skirt in the boots before, but when you take a picture, there it goes. Typical.
Below: We had moved indoors again and I had fixed my hair. As soon as there was enough light Jilske shot the back of the outfit (and the photo at the top of this post).
Below: Marianne in her leopard dress with an elegant loose faux fur collar.
Below: Jilske head to toe. A photogenic woman. You just point your camera, click and it is always a good photo.
Below: Close-up of her boots and the fun socks peeping out. Not the sharpest photo but you get the idea.
Below: Jilske wanted to take this shot of me on the sofa as all the colours matched so nicely. It looks like an easy shot.
Below: But it wasn’t easy. This was the 10th shot that failed. A chair was in the way. By this time I had finished my coffee and was laughing my head off.
Below: Eventually I could give a straight face again.
These photos are not as beautiful as the ones Kitty takes, but we need to give her a break as she works full-time. Having to take my blog photos every week is a bit much.
What happened in my life this week
During the weekend I was busy with all sorts of little things. The shops are allowed to receive customers, but only by appointment. Which meant it was a little busier but not much.
Below: Finally I could get a good look at the statue called the flower girl, created by Kees Verkade. You can read more about the artist here. Usually there are motors, bicycles and scooters parked around it, in spite of the warning saying not to. Now I could see it from all sides. Haarlem used to be called the flower city and always splashed out with big floral displays all around town, a flower parade and… flower girls. These past decades, this tradition is a lot less elaborate as the city had to solve some urgent renovations.
I walked quite a bit, together with husband Ron and dog Watson.
Below: Watson, sensing game. Isn’t he a fine specimen?
Below: As we walked through the woods (or is it a park?), we came across this tree trunk and the hole in the tree.
“Look…”, said Ron, “how considerate… a toilet for women and a toilet for men.” He makes me laugh so many times.
I had to sort out a lot of things for my tax return, so that kept me pretty busy. To my surprise, it wasn’t difficult to get through to the right people and neither to get to the right answers.
Read a bit, talked to Marcella of Lara Design and blogged.
I am developing an RSI elbow from being on social media devices all the time. I really have to stop that as it is getting very painful. Not nice. A long FaceTime conversation with Anja cheered me up though.
The knee
Remember my left knee and all the pain I went through these past three years? Well…this week I made a little move to the left, felt a sharp pain in my knee, cried out and all of a sudden the feeling in my knee changed. It felt more flexible. Yay. Four days later I felt the sharp pain again. And the knee returned to its usual “not bad”. Bummer. Never mind, I cannot complain. I can walk on it, even with high heels and there isn’t much pain. Count your blessings.
Thursday was a quiet day with coffee at Loes’, who had a new fence in her garden worth looking at, read a lot, worked on my blog and went back and forth about a new curtain for our bathroom. We had ordered one online and measured wrongly. When it arrived it was 7 mm too wide. We decided to do it right this time and order it from a shop where they come and do the measuring for you. The curtain was chosen, the appointment made and then I learned the price: 4 times the price of the online curtain. That was a bit too steep. I am all for service and I gladly pay more for it, but 4 times more is too much. So we ordered the online curtain again in a smaller width. Keeps you busy all day for nothing.
Friday was cold but sunny. I facetimed with Sylvia, going through her house here in Haarlem which she sold. Checking the last things: what had to go, what should remain and what should be moved to Portugal. As Sylvia moved to a warmer climate. I had been busy with things in her house for a couple of weeks and this Friday the sofa was collected. That went well and Wednesday the removal van will collect the rest.
I forgot to mention that in between all this, I paid two visits to Karlijn in her shop kpa.haarlem to see how she was doing with her broken ankle and a new spring collection to sell. As we were chatting, I went through her new collection (of course I did). At the first visit I picked up an oversized shirt and at the second visit a pair of summer sandals which had just arrived. And I was sooo good this month. I thought I would finally make it to the end of the month without buying anything (other than the bathrobe). Failed miserably again. It is not the first time and it won’t be the last time either. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Greetje
I would like to know how you keep your cream and white footwear looking so pristine? Any pair of light coloured shoes I’ve owned ends up getting marks on them, no matter how well I protect them with shoe care products and clean them.
I keep them clean because I don’t wear them a lot. I have many shoes and boots. I also have good stuff to get the marks off and otherwise my cobbler helps me.
And, of course. I don’t wear them in the woods or on the beach haha.
Oh, those boots are lovely – that heel is very Fluevog-inspired! I actually wore a pair of shoes with nearly the identical squared heel in a kitten height today!
Great outfit, Greetje, and how wonderful that you have an artist to add to your lovely jumper.
I love that sculpture. So beautiful.
It makes me happy to see you with your friends indoors – we’re still not permitted that. Sigh. On the plus side, my mom is booked for her shot! Yay!
Thanks Sheila, I bought the boots a couple of months ago, but hadn’t worn them yet. Big mistake as they are comfortable and stylish at the same time. Not an easy combination.
We have quite a few nice sculptures in Haarlem. When it is permitted again, do come over to the Netherlands so I can show you.
The govenment definitely discourages meeting friends or family indoors, but as long as you ventilate your home, take care of the level of humidity, keep your distance, then 1 or 2 people are allowed (I think).
Nice to follow you through your week.
Smart solution for the sweater. Is it fixed already?
Marianne looks Fab as a birthday leopard and Jilske matches with her socks.
Ron is very funny indeed. And a dirty mind… You know how the saying goes.
Ah, your knee snapped back to its ‘old’ state and you’re developing RSI. Not good! How is that now.
Yeah, shopping/buying clothes will always be your achilles-heel. Ah well, you came this far without getting into trouble and I’m sure you’ll stay (just) on the right side of trouble.
The section “what happened in my life this week”, seems to get the approval of many readers.
The sweater isn’t fixed yet. My niece has to buy the machine (they were already in the process of buying it) and then practise with it before she starts on my sweater.
My knee is still the same, going from “pain nearly gone” to “oops there it is again”.
I promise you I will stay on the right side of trouble, which is out of it.
Love the outfit, those boots are gorgeous. In fact I love all the outfits – you are surrounded by other very stylish women, but what I really like is always how much fun you have and how everyone is in such good spirits – thats always incredibly attractive and photogenic
Thank you for the compliments. Posting my friends on this blog and the comments of my readers on them, made me realize they are indeed very stylish. I have always taken it for granted, but it is of course, quite unusual. I suppose one looks for kindred souls in friends?
And yes, I am usually in a good mood and if I can help it, I laugh a lot. It is my biggest aim in life: to laugh as much as possible. Which is why I miss my colleagues so much. We had such good fun every day.
An original sweater!! And a brilliant fix for the spots. Love the white boots, good combo with the rest. You can put on a potato sack on, belt it and voila, a fashion model emerges. Oh, well, next time I’m asking for more height with longer legs.
Next time I will ask for a slim waist, good hair, a bum and hips. But I bet they will never let me keep my strong points haha.
We all have something to complain about. It is a good thing we aren’t perfect as we would be intolerable. And, no, I definitely cannot put on a potato sack and look like a model. I carefully choose the garments that suit my shape. THE trick for all shapes.
Your final sentence really made me laugh, Greetje!! The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I shall have to use that next time I go shopping LOL!! Wonderful!!
I love the photos of you sitting on the sofa laughing. Just seeing you laugh, makes me want to laugh too!
I love the little flower girl sculpture in Harlem. She looks beautiful.
Your friend has moved to Portugal, has she? Whereabouts? I wonder if she is anywhere near me here in the Algarve? And does that mean you will be visiting Portugal sometime? I hope so!!!
Hugs
Suzy xx
I think that expression comes from the Bible, although I am not religious.
If you could hear me laugh, you would definitely laugh as well. People have told me all my life, I have a very infectious laugh.
Whether I will be travelling to Portugal…hmm…I don’t know. I am not the travelling kind.
Have a lovely week Suzy.
Such a nice look. I like it. Give Watson a pat from me. He is darling. It’s always fun to see you with your friends.
This look came about by accident. My starting point were the boots and as I was rummaging through my wardrobe I came across the skirt. Because I wanted to repeat the cream of the boots, I thought of the sweater. There is red in the sweater and red and green are complementary colours…tada…the belt and bag finished it. I hadn’t thought this through before I started.
I love this combo! The heels on the boots so cool, love that shape. I’ll bet the yellow pollen was from a lily. That stuff stains like a #@&*! (Learned the hard way…)
I really hope your knee doesn’t start bothering you again. Fingers crossed it was just a temporary glitch.
Watson is such a handsome boy!
I think you are right, the stain is probably from a lily. I bet they used that stuff in the old days to make paint with.
My knee is a lot better than before, but it isn’t 100%. I always feel it and it is always a little swolen so I cannot bend it completely. Yoga was off the table because of that.
Watson is handsome and a sweetheart.
Very pretty outfit. I love the heels on those boots! You always choose items with unusual details.
You are right Cynthia, I always choose items that are quirky, stand out or have unusual details. It gives me a wardrobe with a lot of items that scream: “Look at me, at ME, at ME” haha. And they are hard to combine with each other.
Gorgeous jumper Greetje and the red belt and bag pick up the red in the flower nicely. Red and green can look a bit “Christmassy” sometimes but you’ve nailed it. Quirky and original. I bet you chose Watson’s collar to match your accessories ;-))
Have a great week and hope your knee and elbow get better soon.
I wouldn’t mind looking a bit Christmassy. It is like wearing orange in the Netherlands, which is THE colour for celebrating the king’s birthday. Sometimes people make remarks like “Aren’t you a bit early?” . I don’t care. When it looks good, it looks good. Watson’s collar is by a company that supplies them with Watson’s name and Ron’s telephone number on it, and they wanted a colour that stood out.
That sweater is gorgeous and what a great solution to keep wearing it. I eagerly wait for your post to hear about your adventures. I am finally seeing a few friends in a distanced outdoor meet up this week and am soooooo looking forward to a bit of normal. Some shops are opening with very limited access but that is exciting too. Thanks for the peek into your life again. I will keep fingers crossed for your elbow and knee to not get any worse.
We all need a bit of normal, don’t we? I keep seeing friends at a distance or I will go mad. But I am very careful. Shops are open here by appointment, but I notice that a lot of women don’t want to make an appointment because they feel obliged to buy something if they spend an hour in the shop with no one else but the shop owner or shop assistant.
I love that sweater with the flower! were you wearing something under it for warmth? I see a little bit of black at the neck on the inside. I like the entire outfit, the skirt looks really nice with the sweater.
I was wearing a top underneath the sweater for warmth, but you cannot see it. It has a very wide boat neck. What you see is shadow.
The outfit came about by chance, always nice. The sweater is something I will keep forever I think. Such a statement piece. I am glad my niece is going to fix the stains.
What a fabulous fix for the stains on that sweater. That’s so creative and was to keep it in your collection!!!
I love that you are wearing the same things over and over Greetje. I think that’s real life and so inspirational!!!
OXOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.
PS…I seem to have that same white boot/shoe problem…so many different styles keep popping up in my closet, LOL
I first thought of applications to the sweater, but there weren’t any in the same style. Then I thought of drawing something on the textile and Ron pointed out that my niece is an accomplished artist with experience in this field. Never thought of her myself. Shame on me.
Retirement and consequently less money, makes me a lot more sustainable. I still love buying new clothes but I have to restrain myself. Unlike you, I don’t like the process of putting together an outfit from my wardrobe. Nevertheless, this is what I have to do.
Loving white boots is something I have always done since I was a teenager. Probably because of the cheerleader’s outfit or Barbie. I have been laughed at for it in times when they weren’t in fashion. It didn’t bother me at all.
In England we call RSI elbow “tennis elbow”. My daughter had this so I know how painful it can be. Her doctor gave her a steroid injection. It really helped and she only needed it once. Would this help you?
These steroid injections can help, but don’t necessarily do. I have had one or two in my knee and that helped. As long as I can solve it with giving it a rest, I will opt for that. And of course, stay off that darned phone. I have ordered a keyboard for my iPhone. When I am at home I can work my iPhone like that. It is not how it is meant to be used, but if “it doesn’t work the way it should, it should work the way it can.”