Remember I showed you these trousers before with an orange and cream top and I didn’t like the combination? This time I combined the pebble coloured trousers with a neon pink top and I love it. I think both are a bit ‘arty’.
I wore this combination when I met Janna at the Beurs van Berlage (the old building of the stock exchange) in Amsterdam.
I posted a photo of Janna (@Timelessstyle.nl on Instagram) last week, wearing a lilac outfit.
The story of this building is quite interesting. The architect Berlage was a convinced socialist. Designing a stock exchange building was totally against his beliefs. But he was sure the stock exchange wouldn’t last long so he solved his dilemma by designing it like a grand community house (read the story here).
Below: Janna and me having a delicious lunch in this beautiful building.
Below: We wanted to do a photo shoot in the building but it was far too dark for proper photos. We took a few iPhone photos.
Below: Janna, wearing a casual business suit with trainers. Very modern.
Below: Outside we had better light and the building provided a lovely background as the two photos below show.
Below: This is what the building looks like seen from the square.
Below: Why this lady was feeding the pigeons, beats me. They get enough food and are quite a nuisance.
Below: A closer look at the building. The building is now used for big events and, as I mentioned, there is a restaurant in it as well. Because of the lovely weather, they had opened the terrace on the square.
Below: We had fun with the bull on the square. The bull was placed there one night in 2012 by artist Arturo Di Modica. He wanted the statue to be a positive sign in bad economic times. It represents a ‘bull market’, a market moving upwards. He didn’t have a permit for that and it got moved once but put back again.
The artist did the same in 1987 with an even bigger bull at the stock exchange of New York.
The photo shows the slit at the bottom of the trousers very well.
Below: The entire bull.
The colour of the top is difficult to show with a photo. I wore it before with white jeans in this post where the colour is just right.
Below: Janna was pretending to call a taxi in front of the new stock exchange. We both are into new poses. Remember the workshop in catwalk and poses we did together in February?
Below: Catching the drops of the fountain.
Below: Demonstrating the batwing sleeves.
Below: Black earrings made from polymer clay. The artist (Baublehaus) ceased her jewellery design work, so I cannot link to her anymore. The belt is by Loewe.
Below: We thought the display of Chanel lipstick at the department store Bijenkorf was the same colour as my top. NOT.
Below: Across the road of the Bijenkorf is a new shop by Christian Dior. Janna wanted a peek inside and the doorman let us in. The staff was very nice and helpful, although they must have sussed out we weren’t going to buy anything. The shock on my face when I heard that a belt was €680 and the disbelief when we saw the price of the jeans below (€1,380), gave away we weren’t buying customers. But still, they were very nice to us.
Below: I really liked this coat which was around €3,500. Totally out of my league. Besides, you need a car and a driver to drop you off with this coat, as it doesn’t even have buttons. Clearly not meant to be worn on a bike in the Dutch rain LOL. I declined an offer by a staff member to try it on. My motto: “Don’t touch what you can’t afford.”
Below: Outside again, we spotted this beautiful lady and I asked whether I could take her photo and put it on my blog. She was a good sport and posed for me. A striking and clearly confident woman.
We came to the underground (subway) and I said goodbye to Janna and went to see the jeweller to have my pearl necklace repaired.
Below: On Rokin (a large street in the centre of Amsterdam) you will find this majestic statue.
Below: This is the whole statue, photographed from the side. It is a fountain with water running in the middle. The tree isn’t growing from the statue, it is on the other side of the street.
Below: Beautiful buildings in one of the little streets behind Rokin.
Below: This is what I mean with little streets. What I love about them, is the number of green plants.
Below: The above street is called ‘Gebed zonder end’ which means ‘never-ending story’. It is a saying in Dutch, literally translated ‘prayer with no end’. I think it is funny that they named a street after it. There used to be many convents in this area, perhaps that has got something to do with it. The sign with this street name is very popular and gets stolen a lot. One solution in the past, was painting the name of the street on the stones.
Below: One last pretty picture to finish this part of the post.
What happened in my life this week
It was a lovely week. I didn’t visit mum last weekend as my niece and her family visited her.
The story of mum’s old landlords continues as they sent her a registered letter summoning her (us) to do the work on the floors (removing the glue) as they have demanded many times before. And our arguments for not doing so, haven’t changed, so mum will write a letter back saying we will not comply. They might pay a company to do the job and charge us for it but we won’t pay. Then the next step for them is to take us to court. We’ll see.
What I find unbelievable, is that after all this nastiness, one of the landlords visited mum last Wednesday at the nursing home. Just for a friendly chat. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard that.
Below: On a lighter note, Marcella and I went out for a cappuccino and ended up on the same terrace I was with Marita three days before. (Why do they have these ugly nets hanging from the buildings when I take a photo? I know, I know, they have got to do work to the buildings, but this seems to be going on everywhere, all the time.)
Below: Marcella had created another cute earring for her business Lara Design. It is not on her website yet.
Below: We had dinner with (bonus) daughter and her husband at a really nice restaurant. It was a late birthday present from them to us. We couldn’t celebrate our birthdays because I was still recuperating from my operation. We had totally forgotten about this present. (Link to original post with this dress.)
Below: Wore this outfit one day, visiting an orthopaedist as it gives easy access to my knee. (Link to original post with this outfit, only with different earrings.) An X-ray was taken and I am still in phase 3 (operation is in phase 4). The orthopaedist explained that 70% of people with a new knee are very happy. But 30% are not! With complaints varying from still in pain to not being able to walk. Which is why everyone recommends waiting until walking is really impossible and you are in a lot of pain, because if you are in the 30% bit then, you won’t feel so sorry.
I am going to try a Hyaluronic acid injection. According to the orthopaedist I have a 50% chance it will work with me. Another motto of me: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Below: Another joke from Ron with the parrot. He put the parrot in our jasmine hedge, sitting on a ‘nest’.
Below: And put eggs in the ‘nest’ haha.
Ron and I went to the beach a couple of times as the sun has found the Netherlands again. Dog Watson loves the beach.
Below: And I had dinner with Aafke. She is such a ray of sunshine. We laughed all evening. It was already late when I thought of having our photo taken, which explains the grainy picture. (Link to original post with this outfit.)
Which concludes this week.
Greetje
What a wonderful catch up. I really like the pants and top. Being neutral, the pants will work with so many tops. I like the color of the top (coral/pink?).
I am sorry that the saga with the landlords continues. What a shame.
Fingers crossed that the shot in your knee helps.
Great photos of the city. I like the small side streets with all of their greenery.
That is what I thought as well, the trousers are neutral so they will go with many tops. It turned out that the top has to be a bright or a dark colour and preferably a little edgy. Who would have thought.
The colour of the top is neon pink.
The landlords can do what they want. We are finished with them.
I have decided not to get a shot in my knee. A reader mailed me and pointed out the small danger of a bacterie entering my knee together with the injection. It is a small danger, but any danger is too much when it is not really necessary. I don’t dare take the risk.
Amsterdam is so lovely to me because there is so much green in the city.
I always enjoy your city scenes! I had a couple of the shots before I finally replaced the knee. The shots only lasted about four months. I am pleased with my new knee. The PT was not fun, but worth it. Within three months, I was walking just fine.
As I said in the post, I am going to take the advice of the surgeon and wait until I really am in pain. At the moment I am not doing too badly and I don’t want to take the risk of being in that 30% bit with more pain after the operation or perhaps not even being able to walk. But I am happy the operation worked out well for you.
The neon pink is great on you. Very, very pretty. Hope your Mom continues to do well and hope the landlord problems go away.
I am hoping with you. Mum and I had a lovely day yesterday and we managed to get her a new bra. She has lost weight and changed size. I want her to keep on looking good. Had coffee on a terrace overlooking a square. Nice day.
The neon pink is such a good purchase, I bought it in neon yellow as well LOL.
Hi Greetje! That top makes you simply glow! Love it on you and it works really well with the trousers. That is a very flattering outfit on you! Fantastic!
That is what a colour should do with your face…make it glow. It is quite important to know what colours suit you and which hue of those colours. I know I need enough yellow in my green for instance. Bright colours are my best colours. After you know that, you may choose to ignore it from time to time of course. As long as you know what they do for you.
I liked the shape of the top with the shape of the trousers.
HI Greetje and friends, this is the first time I’ve responded on your blog. Personally I love wide trousers (btw I do have wide hips and shoulders so I think it depends how one wears them). I really wanted to comment on the picture of the small homeless woman feeding the pigeons, because it recalled the Bolivian woman called Lydia who lived on the streets here in Camden. She had come here with a work permit that ran out, and had clearly suffered a great deal both back home and in the UK. She had a profound fear of men and of other refugee communities but was very popular with local people. Always clean, quiet, colourfully and prettily dressed.. Apparently halfway through a mental crisis she felt she saw a vision telling her to feed the birds. So every day she would collect left-over food from restaurants in the area and scatter it in the local parks. The birds knew her and would come in flocks. Last year she died and our local newspaper helped create a memorial service for her. I did not go, because I felt our real task had been to find her a home and none of us had succeeded (me included – I tried quite hard too). Looking back, and looking at your photo – I wonder was there something in the Andean culture and folklore which directed her towards feeding the birds? Somehow it gave her a purpose. I would also like to put in a good word for trainers. Small dainty shoes tend to make the body look wider I find, so bigger footwear and big bags put the whole ensemble more in proportion.. Best wishes to you all, Amsterdam is a gorgeous city and I loved seeing the backstreet of everlasting prayer, which Lydia would certainly have appreciated!
And what a lovely comment you wrote. Thank you for the story of Lydia, it made me humble and question my reaction. I judged without knowing anything about her. If I would put Lydia’s story on the Amsterdam woman, I would only have pity on her and understand her. Thank you for teaching me a lesson I had already learned but forgot.
As for dainty shoes…I think they worked well with these pebble coloured trousers, but would perhaps work less with for instance skinny trousers.
I love your pink top, it’s very pretty and very original, I love the design, the color, the volume… The outfit with the pants is very successful.
Thank you. I thought the same. I think the trousers are quite modern and need a bit of an ‘arty’/modern top to go with them.
LOVE your top! It’s coming over as “peach”. You always look nice.
I don’t like anything with “trainers”. There are and have been a number of comfort shoes out that elevate an outfit.
I hope you don’t have any trouble with her former land lords.
Nope, it isn’t peach, it really is neon pink. I have grown accustomed to trainers now, but I don’t like them all the time and with everything. The words “comfort shoes” and “elegant” usually do not go together. It is a very hard combination for me.
YES, this is the outfit for those putty-coloured trousers – I love that neon top and your poses are awesome. Great pics overall.
I need a more ‘arty’ kind of top with these trousers, right? Thanks for the compliments.
The Netherlands looks lovely in your blog but I hesitate to visit after reading you are submerged by, and fed up with, tourists, is it really so bad?
That depends on your character I suppose. I can handle crowds very well and many people usually don’t bother me. But for the Amsterdam people, it is as if aliens have taken over their city. I must say that the difference between 2019 and 2020 (the latter is the lock-down year) was significant. But like this weekend, with the Dutch holidays in the Amsterdam area, it was pretty quiet as well. All the Dutch people were on holiday haha. I wouldn’t let it stop you from visiting the Netherlands. Just make sure it is between June and September. In those months you have less chance of rain, although there aren’t any guarantees.
This is a great post with lots of beautiful pictures of your outfits and buildings. I especially like your red earrings and belt in the belated birthday dinner photo. I’m following the knee conversations. I know I’m going to need to do something at some point myself.
Pooh on the idiot landlords. What is it with them? They’ll be sorry they went up against you!
The red earrings are by Lara Design (of course) and I also have them in bright green.
The belt is Max Mara and was a birthday present from my mother. I used to only wear belts on mid rise jeans and occasionaly in my waist. The red one is definitely a “waist belt”.
I just love seeing your outfits. I love the bright pink top! I wish I could wear wide leg pants. I cannot. I have very wide hips and shoulders and I feel like a cow in them! lol. I marvel at how you put your outfits together. I bought a really nice oversized shirt by Karl Lagerfeld which I will wear with leggings. The shirt is white with muted black stripes. I just love it! I cannot advise you about your knee. I still have my original knees lol, and don’t need any surgeries! I know people who have had a good surgery and one who is still in pain after surgery. I just hope it gets better. I had a shopping experience like yours sometime ago. we were in Neiman Marcus and a pair of short shorts (which I would never wear at my age of 74) were $650.00 dollars. I almost fainted!!! lol
I remember when we had a blogger meet-up in Vancouver in 2015 and we all went into the department store Holt Renfrew. We fainted a couple of times then as well. If you click the link, you can see Sheila’s face as she discovered the Prada price tag haha. Fun post. https://www.nofearoffashion.com/2015/08/01/blogger-meet-up-in-vancouver/
If you have wide hips and shoulders, I think a jumpsuit and a wrap dress will probably look good on you.
Hi Greetje,
Please do not let anyone inject anything into your knee if it is not ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. A doctor once warned me that of course the needle is sterile, but the needle can still take bacteria into your knee and then the trouble really starts. It is very difficult to get rid of that bacteria. Even if your doctor suggested the injection, please do not do it.
Big hug,
Mary
I googled the chance of a bacterial infection with an injection. A leading medical university in the Netherlands does mention it. They say it rarely happens but apparently there is a chance, as you so adequately pointed out. Hmmm… that is indeed a complication I have to consider. They never told me about this risk when I got an injection in my knee at the time it was inflamed in 2018. Luckily that went well. But you are right, it is not absolutely necessary. As they say “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke”. Because I didn’t live by that rule, I got the knee in the first place (having had a wrongly created support sole for 7 years probably caused the arthrosis).
Wow, that pink is perfect for you!
As you know Lise, any bright colour will do haha.
Hi Greetje, I just want to comment not to delay the knee replacement for too long either. I’ve had both knees replaced, and am very happy with the results after suffering for about 8 years and having lots of physiotherapy to keep me going. But I should really have had them done earlier as the 2nd one was in such a bad state by the time I had it done that I had a lot of very painful muscle spasms after the op. I think you’ll have a sense for yourself of when you need to have it done.
Good luck with a future op – it does make a huge difference (oh, and my surgeon quoted 80/20 for the satisfaction/dissatisfaction percentages!)
Thanks for the advice. It is still a gamble though, isn’t it? My other leg is fine. The arthrosis in my left knee is probably caused by faulty support soles (sigh). Which I didn’t really need anyway.
I will weigh everything carefully.