The subject of this post aren’t really the blue patterned trousers, but art objects. The ones my neighbour Monique and I saw at the exhibition OBJECT in Rotterdam. The art object you see above and below has nothing to do with the exhibition; it is a statue by a Haarlem artist called Hannes Kuiper (see in full below).
At the exhibition I wore these trousers with a white second-hand top. You should always carefully check a second-hand garment, inside and out, which I neglected to do. Failure, as it is 2 sizes too big; I just thought it was oversized. When I saw the photos Monique kindly had taken of me at the exhibition, I didn’t like the outfit. Mainly because I wore flats. I will never like myself in flat shoes.
Below: What I wore to the exhibition. Sensible old pointy ballet flats.
Below: As Loes had returned from her holiday (YAY), I immediately asked her to take a photo of the trousers with a nicer top and prettier shoes. It was cloudy and windy as you can see. To link the outfit with the lime dress to the outfit with the white top, we chose a location with art. This work of art is near a small Haarlem railway station (not the big station).
Below: I wore these Lara Design earrings with it. Lime stingray pendant, a brown buffalo horn square in the middle and a golden button on my earlobe.
Below: The buttons of the lime linen dress are in the shape of a fish, a star and a circle.
Right, let’s get cracking. Have yourself a cuppa as you are about to see many, many photos of the exhibition. As usual I haven’t paid much attention to the artists names (terrible, I know).
The OBJECT exhibition in Rotterdam
If you want to see more photos (heh heh heh) or know more about the exhibition, this is the link: OBJECT.
Below: A garden bench by Kranen/Gille. Ron and I like it very much and if we have saved some money again, we might buy it to put in front of our house.
Below: The same artists made this table for a café or restaurant. That bottle hole is so funny. On the other end of the bar under the table you can hang your bag.
Below: How about this folding screen? Diederik Schneeman / Rademakers Gallery
Below: I was in awe over this chandelier made from old perfume bottles. It takes a year to make it and costs € 35,000. Also made by Diederik Schneeman / Rademakers Gallery.
Below: Close-up of a few perfume bottles.
Furniture
Below: Fun yellow chair. It actually sat more comfortably than it looks.
Below: I asked Monique to pose for me.
Below: A bench inspired by the New York Subway benches, with Monique in the background. (Artist/maker: Gjalt Producties.)
Below: Van Waay & Soetekouw sells this chair by Piet Hein Eek, a very well-known Dutch designer. I love it but the seat is much too low for me.
Below: Fun chairs. No idea by whom.
Light
There were many light features.
Below: Ron called these condoms.
Below: More lamps from another designer. This time I know by whom: VANTOT.
Below: The same designer as above, also created this ‘wall of light’: VANTOT.
Below: I thought this light might be nice above our dining table; it is called VAPOUR light by Studio Thier & Van Daalen.
Below: This reading light we are probably going to buy. It is wireless, with a docking station to charge. You can buy an attachment to put your iPhone in while it uploads. Now that is great. It is called the Roxxane Leggera by Nimbus Lighting. The shop that sells this one and many more is Van Waay & Soetekouw.
Objects and accessories
Below: Fun glass objects. I photographed three of them.
Below: Colourful wool scarves by Knit Wear Lab.
Below: Object. Cannot say anything else about it.
Below: This colourful column is a plant pot. The proud artist is standing next to it and I didn’t take his card. Shame on me.
Below: Gold plated bracelet. One that I really wanted but I don’t wear bracelets much, so I refrained. It is made by Tweek-Eek (Twin sisters Eek).
Below: I liked this one too. Both bracelets and all of their jewellery are made with a focus on sustainability. The sisters teamed up with a factory that usually produces high tech parts for the automotive, aeronautical and furniture industries. The jewellery is produced by the same powerful machines. They are brass or silver based and then 24 carat gold-plated. Quite a bit more expensive than my Lara Design ones.
Below: The pieces are cut out and the leftovers are re-used. With my current focus on modern earrings, I really loved this cross, but they weigh 8 grams. Still very lightweight, but most of my Lara Design earrings are 5 grams, the long ones being 6 grams. That is the utmost my earlobe can handle.
Stained glass
Below: Two examples of beautiful newly made stained glass by Atelier Emski.
Below: In the old derelict industrial building where the exhibition was held, there were some stunning stained glass windows to admire.
Below: I saw this woman and had to secretly photograph her. What a style, what a gorgeous woman. Had I been a man, I would have tried to take her on a date.
Below: Monique and me with a well-deserved drink.
Below: Outside, Monique took another photo of me and we called it a day. We spent two hours at the exhibition and both our feet and eyes were tired.
What happened in my life this week
A LOT. What a busy week.
Saturday, in the morning, I cycled to kpa.haarlem to let Karlijn take a photo of my pale green shirt for her Instagram account (below).
Below: Karlijn of kpa haarlem: beauty and brains.
In the afternoon Anke, one of the Shopping Saturday friends, came for some shopping and she succeeded very well. Afterwards we had lunch/coffee at a café.
Below: This time I remembered to take a photo. It was a lovely day. I didn’t buy anything. Good girl.
Sunday Ron and I were at mum. Ron removed the weeds from the garden and did some shopping. I did other things and dog Watson decided he was a lap dog after all (see below).
Monday I picked up friend Marjolein (below) from the station and we drove to a new outlet in Halfweg.
Below: We both bought this yellow jumper which was reduced from € 69 to € 16. Now that is a bargain.
Notice our shoes: by chance we were both wearing white shoes with silver and a kiltie (or flap).
We were quite disappointed in the outlet. Lots of vacancies for shops and many of the ones that were there, carried a collection I have never seen in the shop. The Max Mara group had a large shop and even they weren’t able to tempt me. Tsss. Nevertheless, we had a great day.
Tuesday neighbour and friend Loes, back from holiday, came over for a cup of coffee. In the afternoon she was so kind to take the first photos in this post with the lime yellow dress.
Ron and I got our first (of the two) vaccines against shingles. That is not a standard thing in the Netherlands as I believe it is in the UK and the USA. Recently they have become available if you pay for it. Most of the health care in the Netherlands is free, well…covered by an insurance which costs you about € 200 a month at the utmost). We gladly pay for the vaccine as it is very painful when you get shingles. And when you are over 55 you are more likely to get it.
Wednesday Ron and I got the opportunity to look inside the new house of Ron’s daughter and her husband. What a perfect house they are getting; they definitely won the lottery.
In the afternoon friend Neiske and I had dinner at Hotel De Hallen in Amsterdam. Below: both with a sgroppino. Do I have to add it was a delightful evening? I bet not.
Thursday was another busy day. First Marcella of Lara Design came over and we ‘talked shop’ for an hour or so. Well, really, we looked at her gold-plated jewellery. I now have a pair at home to try (…).
After she was on her way, I travelled to Amsterdam to meet Janna of Timelessstyle (below) in Hotel American. We connected through Instagram and met last year for the first time. She is an intelligent woman with a cheerful personality who likes clothes etc as much as I do.
Below: A view of the beautiful restaurant of Hotel American in Amsterdam. The hotel is now a Hard Rock Hotel with a Hard Rock Café. WHY??? Because so many rock celebrities stayed there?
Below: In the bar of Hotel American, wearing jeans, sneakers by Vic Mattie and a blouse by Ganni. Earrings by Lara Design: green glass button with gold branches dangling from it. There were also branches in the blouse. I think about such things. (Close-up of the earrings in this post.)
And to finish this Thursday, Ron and I had been invited by our friends Georg and Marla to have dinner at restaurant Bodega in Haarlem. Lovely food consumed in lovely company.
Below: The waiter took this photo.
Friday I worked on this blog post and that took me hours. We had planned to go out for the day and I was so glad we decided not to. Pffff…what a week.
Oh and I had a conversation with my IT guy because I need a new computer. This one is getting tricky and is about 8 years old. Time to get another one. Expensive!! And I didn’t save up for it.
The fact that I also defrosted the freezer isn’t really of much interest, is it? Haha.
I hope you are still with me and have read the whole post. It will have taken you a long time.
Greetje
I enjoyed the eclectic furniture and lighting fixtures in the exhibition – thanks for sharing those photos with us. The perfume bottle chandelier is fabulous, but can you imagine how much that weighs?
I got a shingles vaccine this past winter and there doesn’t seem to be any age requirement for getting it here in Canada (I am 59). You do have to pay for it though.
Can you imagine dusting that chandelier? You need a very big house with large rooms and high ceilings to put this baby up.
Greetje I actually liked the white top (although the yellow is more special). But I’m sure you can find an exciting way to use the white top again 😀
Hmmm, I will do my utmost to style the white top. I am less sure about finding an exciting way to use it than you are haha.
You have been a busy bee! The art photos were so interesting and I liked the way you styled your fashions. The blue pants with the yellow top was very striking but I liked all the looks. It is always nice to see your friends, your Mom, Ron, and Watson.
Yes, it felt very busy indeed. By the sound of it, you enjoyed this post, which pleases me. Hope I will do well coming Sunday too (wink).
Lovely long post Greetje, a sort of cornucopia like MidlifeChic’s! Love the scribble trousers and would totally wear them, I gravitate towards quirky things. Karlijn looks fantastic in that pink shirt – is it from her shop?
Also fascinated by the art objects, especially the bottle chandelier and the table with the wine bottle holder. You look radiant in yellow! Have a great week!
I always liked Nikki’s word ‘cornucopia’. The scribble trousers are soooo comfortable. And the fabric is a bit thicker so you don’t see every lump and bump. Mind you, it is a bit warmer too.
Karlijn is wearing one of the shirts she sells indeed.
Monique and I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition. I am still amazed I didn’t buy anything. The bottle chandelier makes your mouth drop.
It has to be said – you were born to wear yellow dear Greetje!!!
Of course your story is super cute too – did that lady ever figure out you photographed her? She did look cool!
Have a fabulous week.
xoxo Yvonne
http://www.funkyforty.com
I am glad you agree about the yellow Yvonne. Not everybody does. Oh well, so many people, so many tastes.
The lady did not figure out I photographed her. I thought she was not that recognizable that I had to ask permission. (A bit naughty, I know.)
Love to write stories next to the photos. Doesn’t cost me any effort.
Thank you for taking us to the exhibition in Rotterdam. That table with the bottle holder is genius. Every restaurant should have them. All your posts are full of colour, but this one is exceptionally the case. You are my model for retirement.
The designer of the bottle holder table will fully agree with you haha.
I like colour and I think colour likes me. Just a preference I guess. I like black and white too. Would love to be as aestheticly dressed as Victoria Beckham but it just isn’t me and I don’t have that lifestyle either. (Or the money.)
Being retired surprised me with being so nice. It helps that I have many friends to do nice things with.
Great post, as always! Your posts truly are like a mini vacation as I’m still not getting out much, as least not for anything fun! I got my first shingles vaccine last week, too, and was surprised by how sore it left my arm. The pain lasted at least four days. Totally worth it, of course, but I wasn’t expecting it to last that long. Did you have a similar experience?
Thanks for being so faithful about posting each Sunday.
My husband had a sore arm for three to four days too. I only had a mildly sore arm for one day. (Lucky me.) As you say, totally worth it.
As for the faithful posting…it is my hobby and I am very disciplined. The two things together provide you with a post each Sunday. Glad you enjoy it so much.
I really like the look of your scribble pants with the flats, Greetje, more than I liked them with the yellows (which don’t quite match). All of your tops in this post are so baggy – is this a style you’re gravitating to?
I loved seeing all of this art, and you have such lovely friends! I really enjoyed this nice big juicy posts! I have defrosted a few freezers in my time, and kudos to you – it’s a thankless job.
Take care, my friend! Have a good week!
That’s a good name for the trousers: scribble pants. Thanks. I don’t think all colours always have to match. Yellow and blue are good together which is why I chose it.
Baggy tops? Hmmm, I suppose you are right. In the last photo I am wearing a fitted dress (the orange one) but indeed I like the baggy tops. Mostly I wear tops which I can tuck in at the front of the trousers and let hang loose over my (tiny) bottom.
As my figure has changed I have to watch tight clothes. I am getting a bit of a high stomach (just under the boobs), I have a bit of a belly, no hips, no bum. Tight tops aren’t doing me any favours. I wonder how tight your black one is going to be… (ai).
Our current freezer defrosts quite painlessly and quickly. I was surprised.
Have a good week too.
I really love the white top with the ballet flats!
Good for you for having the shingles vaccination. My husband has just had his third bout of shingles. The first two bouts were very painful but the third was excruciating. Discovered the rash on the last night of vacation and he started tablets the following evening. The key with shingles is to start the course of drugs as soon as possible. The extreme tiredness and exhaustion in the several weeks before the rash appeared should have been a warning. He hopes to have the vaccine in the next couple of weeks.
Oh gosh, that is bad. How strange that your husband didn’t run for the vaccine after the first bout. Didn’t he know how painful it can get?
Too young on each occasion to have the vaccine – you have to be 70 in the U.K. but we’re hopeful that having had it three times they might relent
Oh gosh, I understood you could get the vaccine when you turned 65 in the U.K. but apparently I was wrong. Fingers crossed it won’t come back another time.
We have fingers crossed too. Husband spoke to the doctor this week, they’re agreeable to him having the vaccine earlier. However, it can’t be given until after one year has passed following a shingles attack. Doctor has also sent him reading matter as side-effects of the vaccination aren’t a bundle of fun either. So he has lots of reading and thinkingto do and then they’ll have a chat and decide next course of action but nothing can be done until May 2022 at the earliest.
Nobody told us anything about side-effects. We already had the first vaccination, so let’s keep our fingers crossed we won’t get green ears or something like that.
Hello Greetje,
I enjoy your posts so much since sometimes it feels like going traveling without getting on a plane. In addition, I get to see your wonderful fashion sense. Your posts are not long to me since it is always filled with your humor, joy of fashion, and enjoyment of food and drink.
The flooding is serious and I hope people remain safe. My thoughts go out to those affected.
Gayle
Thank you Gayle. The flooding is indeed very bad. People are collecting money to help and of course the government steps in.
We live at the west coast where everything is bright and sunny. Mind you, due to climate change the sea level is rising and we are 6 metres below sea level. It feels a bit like being in California in the earthquake area. You think it will hold but who knows?
There were people in the south of the country being warned for the weather, they went down to the river and saw it was wild but by no means threatening. Two hours later a wall of water completely destroyed their house.
I didn’t mention it in my post as I have nothing sensible to say about it. So I kept it light. The main object of my blog is to entertain and make people smile and the flooding isn’t making anybody smile. But it is nice of you to be empathic.
Great exibit. Creative objects of very little use!! Now, i know why i keep those little and big perfume bottles!! Imaginative possibilities. Like, small chandeliers lighting the sides of the beds!!!!!
You are a very busy bird, indeed. Love the oversized shirt. Chic and modern.
Lovely dining spots with people you like.
Smart move on the shingles vaccine. I had an old one that I didn’t bother to update, came down with shingles and the old vaccine saved the day. I wasn’t aware for quite sometimes that the very mild itching on the sides of my waistline was “it”. it came and went, the old vaccine saved the day!!!
Lovely post. keep it coming.
While in NYcity visiting my daughter sometime ago, went to MOMA for an Objects display. Saw an oversized armchair covered in fabric simulating hundreds of three dimensional male organs. Creative!???HA,HA.
Some of the objects you can use very well, especially the lights. Good luck on your perfume bottle project. Have a good look at the close-up I showed to see how they are attached to the tread. No idea how they have attached it at the ceiling side. Prhaps their website gives you clues.
We have an artisit (quite famous) on the Netherlands who does male organs too. Bas Kosters is his name. Ron once came home with two silk scarves: one had the image of a hamburger and one had male organs on it. Which one would I like? I took the hamburger haha.
Wow, what an amazing exhibition and such creativity! That perfume bottle chandelier is stunning! Seeing all of these cool modern pieces really makes me want to redecorate! 😉
I think the reason you don’t like the flat shoes with that outfit is because the top is oversized. A heel (or even the fun sneakers you’re wearing with the jeans) would add more visual volume on the bottom to balance out the top.
I almost always find outlet shopping disappointing. But the yellow sweater is fun, and a good find!
I had the same feeling as I walked round at the exhibition: wanting to redecorate our whole place. (Ain’t gonna happen.)
You might have a very valid point there my dear. I will try the outfit with the white (sculped) sneakers and see how that looks.
I hardly ever visit outlets, but the Max Mara group outlet in Turin (or perhaps in the whole of Italy) is an exception to that rule. Found some amazing stuff in that place. Big thank you to Daniela who took me there.
I look forward to your posts all week. Never too long for me!
Gosh, my loyal readers are indeed very loyal. So good to hear. Knowing that you lot appreciate my creative efforts makes blogging so worthwhile.
I always read every word you write and enjoy your pictures and history lessons so much. A busy week indeed, rest up for next week!
Oh, how very nice to hear. Thank you. I don’t have a huge amount of readers but I do have very loyal readers. Fine by me.
Resting up as I type this.
I am still with you and did indeed read the whole post! A fascinating display of objects, lovely friends, and I adore that yellow top!
You are a die-hard haha. I am kidding; I am really pleased you liked it. There were so many photos I was scared people would have upload problems.
Such a busy woman. No it is not too long, I love to hear all about your adventures. I am pleased that you are able to get out and enjoy so much, and what fun to meet up with a fellow blogger that loves clothes as much, and lots to chat about. Thanks for another fun sunday. Oh, and Watson looks so cute on your lap.
People told me my agenda would fill up in no time once I was retired. I didn’t believe them, but they were right. Enjoying the heck out of it.
So pleased you liked this long post.