Not your average suit

Most trouser suits I have seen, have jackets with sleeves. Mine hasn’t, it is rather different. Not only is it sleeveless, the jacket and the trousers are an unusual style, which is why I call it an atypical trouser suit. I bought it at kpa.haarlem, after Karlijn, the owner of that shop, modelled it on Instagram. That is somewhat risky as her figure and height is very different from mine. Nevertheless I tried it on and liked it. The blue sandals are also from kpa.haarlem; very comfortable.

The funny thing is that both Karlijn and I are a bit hesitant about this suit (she kept one for herself as well). I think it looks better on her, she thinks it looks better on me. This distorted way of looking at yourself is so common amongst women and no matter what somebody else says, you see other things in the mirror than your reflection. You see your perception and that blurs your vision.

Anyway, I am still happy with it. The flair with which you wear it, is half the battle, right?

Kitty had one and a half hour for the shoot, before leaving to go to work, which is why I chose a convenient location near her work. We are on the premises of the Haarlem library. In winter, before the lockdown, I had spotted the magnificent stairs of the old part of our library. It was built in 1563 for the shooters, the armed forces of the town.

Below: To my delight there is now a lot of greenery in the courtyard and a café for coffee and tea with a terrace. What a pleasant surprise.

Below: Kitty let me walk up and down the stairs a couple of times, demanding I kept looking at her. That was a bit too much. I nearly fell. How do these celebrities do that? Women in high heels walking down those show stairs, looking straight ahead. Mortifying.

Not your average suit

Below: Because I always want to hide the skin of my upper arms, I bought a very thin, silk blouse to wear underneath the jacket. The blouse and trousers also look good together without the jacket.

Not your average suit

Below: Of course the tables and chairs were too good to pass up for a different pose. The belt of the trousers is a rope style, giving the suit a nonchalant vibe.

Not your average suit

Below: We stopped shooting for a cappuccino and a chat. The terrace was tempting.

Kitty and me with cappuccino on a terrace

I was brave and decided I was going to show you the suit the way it was intended: without a blouse underneath it. As my bra was showing through the big cut-outs at the side, I wanted to wear a little top underneath it. Luckily the café had a WC where I could change. I had already visioned myself doing it in public, with Kitty protecting me from unwanted looks by holding my jacket up in front of me haha.

Below: Without the blouse, standing with one leg on the bicycle stands. I hung my pale slate Demellier bag on the stands by its long handle. (More details about this bag in this post.)

Not your average suit

Below: Did you notice I am wearing my latest Lara Design earrings again?

Not your average suit

Below: Close-up of the earrings. They are so lightweight, you don’t feel them at all.

Not your average suit

Below: You enter the courtyard through a very old entrance gate. See the crest with the arms?

Archway library

Below: Outside in the street, to the right of the entrance, there is a door, way up high, leading to the attic. When I did some research on the building I stumbled upon this fact. I went back a couple of days later to see where the door was and shot this photo with my iPhone.

door at the top of the library building

Below: This is what it looks like inside the attic. From 1563 to 1800 they stored arms in the attic, but only a small flight of stairs led up to it. If the arms were big, they hoisted them up from the street through that door high up, with a hoisting machine. This is pretty common in the old towns of the Netherlands.

inside the attic of the library

Below: At the entrance.

Not your average suit

Below: We went outside in the street where there are such sweet murals.

Birds mural

Below: Details of the birds.

Details of the birds mural

Below: I posed against that wall and after seeing this photo I doubted the bravery of bare arms. As a matter of fact I decided never to bare my arms ever again. Old, wrinkled and thready, not nice.

Not your average suit

Below: I took this lovely photo of Kitty against the sweet wall.

Kitty against the mural

At home, Ron said he didn’t like the blue top underneath the jacket. After some digging in my closet I found a tank top which is nearly the same olive colour.

Below: I also tried this lime yellow top, called Lucy, by Bellamy Gallery, with the suit. I quite liked it. That was, until Kitty mailed me the photos and I saw my bare arms.
(You have seen this top in black in detail in this post with my polka dot co-ord. Bellamy Gallery sells them in 10 colours.)

Not your average suit

I know I shouldn’t be bothered about my old arms, but I cannot help it, I am.

What happened in my life this week

Saturday Ron and I strolled along the antique fair in Haarlem. It is for the first time since lockdown that the stands are back. The weather was rather cold but still a lot of people enjoyed the market and the stand holders told us they were selling well. I didn’t take any photos (what is happening with me?), but here is one from a couple of years ago. (More photos and details in this post.) It is very much like the brocante markets in France.

Antique market

Sunday was for leisure, reading, washing etc.

Monday I went into town to have my fringe cut and all the terraces in the sunshine looked so good (summer has definitely arrived). But I was strong and went straight home. After lunch Ron told me he was going to take me into town to have drinks on terraces. The darling thought up this plan early morning, knowing I love it. We had a wonderful time.

Tuesday was this photoshoot above, something I enjoy immensely.

Wednesday the gardener came to plant some extra jasmine in the garden as a few had died due to the cold. Only we found out they weren’t dead at all. The branches were bare but with loads of little green leaves springing from them. We decided to give the old plants the space to grow full again. The new plants were loaded back into the truck.

Jasmine

Thursday Ron and I spent at the beach with Watson. It was like being on holiday. In the evening we had our first dinner in a top restaurant with our friends Georg and Marla since two years. Oh it is nice to be fully vaccinated. Did I think of taking a photo? Nope.

Friday. Went to restaurant Ruby Rose in Utrecht with my friend Aafke.

Below: Aafke and me.

Aafke and me

Below: Two photos of the restaurant’s interior. Ever so nice. The food was delicious too. I highly recommend this place.

Restaurant Ruby Rose Utrecht

Restaurant Ruby Rose Utrecht

Below: This is me head to toe, with a pretty Utrecht canal behind me. The colour of the dress is different than on this iPhone photo. See the original post. I totally forgot to take a head-to-toe photo of Aafke. Honestly, I am going from bad to worse.

Orange dress in Utrecht

Totally enjoyable week.

Greetje

No Fear of Fashion

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