Never do I pay attention on how to hold my bag when a photo is being taken. Look at the photo above. With the back towards you. Never mind, plenty of photos to come where I am holding it the right way.
The Max Mara cherry print dress is a beauty in my eyes and I don’t wear it enough. When I bought it last year, I convinced myself that I could wear it as a dress and feel comfortable. Which I did in this post. Alas, I do think it is too short at the front for my taste. And I would only wear it as a dress if I can add dainty, high heeled shoes with it. And the latter hurt my feet, knee and back.
Below: The solution, of course, is to wear it with trousers and trainers. Only, I bought the darned thing to show off my legs, which are my best feature. Still, I think it is a nice garment, even with trousers. The brand of the trainers is AMA, season 2020 or so.
Below: I chose a posh area of The Hague to do the photo shoot as I knew there were a lot of pretty buildings here. This is the ‘Groot Hertoginnelaan’ (translated: Grand Dutchess Lane).
Below: I particularly like these ones. I would call this ‘elaborate’.
Below: The houses had a little park in their midst. (Yes, the dress has pockets.)
Below: Marjolein was my photographer. She had on a really nice outfit herself. She always dresses so well, bless her.
Below: She found this shirt in a thrift shop and immediately thought of her pink trousers. I love the combination. By the way, Marjolein is very much a cat lover.
Below: Close-up of bag, trousers and shoes. Great styling.
Below: And let’s not forget her earrings.
Below: I tried wearing the dress open like a jacket. Not bad, but I prefer it buttoned up.
Below: Because I still crave high heels, I brought along a pair. I am wearing them in the first photo of this post and below. They are about 15 years old and made with eel skin. They are far more comfortable than they look.
Below: OK, this photo is one too many. Indulge me.
Below: 4 more magnificent buildings. If you are not into them, scroll further down.
Below: When I was putting the outfit together, I liked this combination best, with my All Stars trainers but my trousers weren’t fastened, so the legs seemed longer than they actually were.
Perhaps I can find some second-hand white trousers with a straight leg and this length. I like it cuffed like this.
What happened in my life this week
I picked up the pearl necklace my mum gave me, from the jewellers. They had repaired it beautifully and I am wearing it now as much as I can to stretch it a bit as it is strung rather tightly (a necessity). On my way back I found myself a new bra at department store The Bijenkorf (=bee hive). The strangest thing was however, that after wearing it one day, it felt too tight and I had red marks on my body. It is the same size as I always have. This happened to me once before so I knew I had to buy a little extension piece for the back. Still, it is a weird thing.
Of course I visited mum again and beat her 2 to 1 with Rummikub.
I took Kitty for a coffee with cake as a present for her birthday a couple of weeks ago. She has a new way of taking selfies with an iPhone. She put the phone against her bag in the middle of the street, camera at the bottom, put the timer on 10 seconds and GO.
Below: This is the result. Not the most flattering photo of me, but who cares. This was already the fourth shot. Every time Kitty had the camera set, a car would be driving into the street. We just let the people wait until we had taken the photo LOL. (Link to original post with this green dress.)
We had a handyman coming in to fix the curtain rails at the front of the living room. A couple of grips had come undone in the middle and the rails were sagging. Ron had fixed it before but clearly there was something wrong which we didn’t know about. I was glad I called in professional help. He knew exactly what the trouble was and fixed it. Yay. These little things really bug me.
I had a day with mum, taking her to the eye doctor and after that straight through to the hearing aid professional. Mum’s hearing aids were bugging her. Turned out that a lovely woman who cleaned the soft bits of the aids, swoped left for right haha. Also mum’s left ear is partly blocked so I made an appointment with the ear doctor next week.
We then had a lovely time on a terrace, having coffee and watching the world go by. There was still time left for some shopping. (She can still walk but not long distances, so we used a wheelchair.) Let there be a good bra shop! We immediately went in and mum now has a good fitting bra. As she dropped quite some weight (don’t worry, we are monitoring it), her bra size changed considerably and I didn’t want her use her two-sizes-too-big ones any longer. It was a shop with old-fashioned service and a vast stock. Where do you find them these days? All in all, a very fruitful and enjoyable day.
Thursday the weather changed to more rain and a bit lower in temperatures but it was still lovely. You just have to plan around the showers. Which Loes and I did on Thursday morning. We started bright and early to do a photo shoot before the rain started. And some coffee and cake afterwards.
You must think by now, that this is the only thing I do all week, drink coffee and eat cake. Well…you are not far off LOL.
Thursday was the day my mum turned 95. I had arranged cake for the entire nursing home (sounds more expensive than it was). And they all had coffee and cake in the morning together. Early afternoon mum’s hairdresser picked her up and they (and some other ladies at the hairdresser’s) had cake and coffee. They gave her a lovely white orchid as a birthday present.
Below: Mum coming back from the hairdresser. (Now and then I will post photos of mum, just not every week.)
We arranged to have lunch with mum on the Friday (she hates missing her hairdresser’s appointment haha). Below you see sister and brother next to each other and our spouses on the other side. And of course the birthday girl.
See you next week.
Greetje
I find you, your blog, and any content you wish to present … delightful. Thank you from one of your fans here in the states. And the photo of your lovely mother reminds me so much of my Grandma. She, too, never wanted to miss a stylist appointment 🙂
Thank you very much for your comment. Who doesn’t want to receive the compliment “delightful”. Really nice. I hope I can keep you entertained for many more years.
I love your cherry shirt, it’s cute. Marjolein’s shirt is also very pretty. Your open shirt, as if it were an overshirt, I like it even more, more informal like this and with white shoes more than with heels. I love your photos of Dutch architecture and also the cute family photo.
I had never thought you would prefer the open shirt and the white trainers over the first photo with the high heels. But there you go..
Love the cherry dress. It’s so cheerful and such a lovely cotton. I like it with the black All Star trainers (sneakers as we call them). Nice contrast with the black.
Happy birthday to your mother! She looks lovely with her freshly styled hair.
As you may expect from a brand like that, the dress is indeed made from a really nice cotton.
I am also still in favour of the All Star sneakers, but first I will have to find trousers which are the right length (and shape).
Mum always reads my blog (comments and all), so she will see your birthday greetings.
The MM dress is wonderful and I love the look with it open. I’m also a fan of MM Weekend , especially tops and jumpers (fortunately I’m short).
Marjolein’s shirt is wonderful – I’m a cat fan too and would definitely wear that. So many tops with cats on are babyish.
The buildings are fabulous. Do people still live in them? Looks like it with curtains etc in the windows. Or are they companies?
Wish your mum a belated happy birthday and have a great week!
It is a good thing that I am not shorter or I would buy so much more of these brands and would probably bankrupt by now. LOL
You are right, Marjolein’s shirt is a grown-up shirt.
Yes, people still live in these buildings. Either they are very wealthy or they only live on one floor of the building.
If it is a detached mansion it usually is occupied with a company. Again, unless you are really wealthy.
Mum reads my blog and the comments, so she will read your birthday wishes.
I must say, your Mum looks amazing for 95! Belated Happy Birthday to her.
I still love this dress on you, no matter how you wear it. It’s just so much fun and brings happy memories of shopping with you in Paris. I’d forgotten that it has pockets, such a plus!
The architecture is so unique, and I think of the skill of the designers and craftspeople that must have gone into it. Beautiful! Looking forward to chatting with you this week!
Mum always says “I look a lot fitter than I really am” haha. That’s what you get from not sitting in the sun, very few wrinkles.
I too have happy memories of shopping with you in Paris. Of all the times we did that. And the laughter when you corrected my on the Tibetan terrier haha.
You are right, the skill of the designers was really good, but in the back of head there is this voice that says “And the craftspeople probably did dangerous work for a penny”. It was of course possible because labour cost next to nothing.
Be hearing you soon.
Your cherry print makes me smile. There are prints that you meet that just encourage happy thoughts. Thank you for sharing it.
Happy belated birthday to your mother. She looks wonderful. She has a great family supporting her.
My husband and I had gone to the Max Mara shop when we were in Paris in April last year. He saw the dress and told me he really liked it. I immediately saw the length and dismissed it. Then the next day I was in that shop again, together with Susan (of the blog Une femme d’un certain âge) whom I arranged to meet in Paris. I looked at the dress again and tried it on. Susan’s reaction as I came out of the dressing room, made me buy it. You know, a reaction of holding your breath and then saying Oohhh. LOL
Your mum looks amazing for 95. How kind of the hairdresser to give her an orchid. I like how you show us the different way you style your clothes. I agree about your favourite combination with the white jeans and Converse All-Stairs. Enjoy your coffee and cake this week!
The hairdresser together with two of her clients, gave the orchid. The hairdresser has become a friend of my mum and a good one too.
I will search for a second-hand pair of white trousers to create the Converse All Stars version.
As for coffee and cake…I already had quite a few haha.
I love the cherry dress! Marjolein found a cute shirt as well. Hope your mom had a very happy birthday!
Mum celebrated her birthday three times haha. She was pretty tired afterwards.
Thanks for the compliments on my cherry dress and Marjolein’s shirt.
Greetje … I loved the pictures of your mother at 95. She looks amazing and an inspiration to all of us when we have had a bad day at 75! I also love your pictures of buildings. It allows me to revisit parts of the Netherlands that I have known in the past. And, in case you think that I’m not looking, I do enjoy your fashion choices.
Hahaha, thank you for looking at my fashion choices. I often wonder about my readers. What are they like? Why do they follow my blog? I will never know.
Mum still reads my blog, so she will see your comment.
Lovely to read about your mother. Mine lived to 103, very fit and still had her memory, looked amazing but her hearing was a problem. It runs in our family so hearing loss is something I can expect, but luckily the tech is improving all the time. As it happens my mother had a Dutch friend called Tien Gaarlandt who lived in the Hague. My grandmother had known the family , and then my mother. Unfortunately I don’t know any living descendants but remember several older family members very well – brave people. Tien’s brother Dick set up a kind of older people’s communal living place in his 80s! We also have two beautiful Dutch painted cupboards, and I found out more about them from Lars Tharp of the Antiques Road Show .
You have a very nice Dutch connection then. Communal living for older people is the future I think, as there will be less and less people to look after the elderly. They will have to help each other although that sounds like the blind leading the blind.
I love the Antiques Road Show and watch it all the time.
Love the cherry print dress, white trousers, and the white trainers. And your other model, Marjolein, is quite stylish as well. Maybe you and your friends could start a “mature models” agency!
As always, I’m a big fan of your architecture photos. You have quite the eye.
Have a good week.
I love your idea of a “mature models” agency but I am afraid they already exist. Only they use very pretty old ladies with perfect bodies and usually grey hair to demonstrate they are older (in fact they usually are not).
It is sweet of you to say I have ‘the eye’ haha. You couldn’t be further from the truth.
Greetje, You look very nice. I love your eel skin shoes! I just love all of the unique architecture you show us! I would love to see inside one of those houses.
Marjolein looked so summery! What a nice day!
Your mother looked great for her 95th birthday! You are so lucky to have her!
This has been a hard week. My husband is trying to retire but he is the top in computers here. There was a terrible problem with auto updates. The entire ordeal lasted 8 days. He worried so much and was so exhausted he wasn’t eating right and started having an upset stomach. I took him to the emergency room because he is a heart patient. they tested him and did angioplasty over 3 days.
Our hospital is very large, and most of the parking is in one end. I was exhausted with worry and all of the walking every day.
Yesterday, before he came home, Shadow got up very early to potty. I walked off of the top of the bedroom steps and fell to the bottom in a big heap. My shin on the right leg is very scratched up and I had a big knot. I am lucky the stairs have carpet. It hurt to use my right ankle. Our son picked up my husband and my daughter took me to the urgent care center where they x-rayed me. I have a bone fragment in my left ankle. I’ll get a big boot this week. I have a big bandage on my right leg. Very sore.
Greetje, I really like the first photo with you in the black heels but understand the discomfort. Maybe just for meals out when you’re mostly sitting. The other shots that Marjolein took are fun…I like the sneakers for walking about. The open dress looks good on you too…shows a nice full length of you and your long legs.
Happy Birthday to you, Mum ! 🎂… now there maybe a few too many candles at 95 to blow out! But coffee and cake…yummy!
How wonderful to celebrate such a special event. I think she looks particularly lovely beside the gifted orchid!
Thanks for sharing , Greetje, and thanks as well to your Mum for being so gracious .
As Lise said in her comment: “Maybe the fact that your favourite way of wearing the dress (with the converse trainers and longer trousers) is making your legs shorter, is not so important, as you think it is just flattering enough.” And she is right. Sometimes I will go for what I like and not for the best way my body is presented.
Mum still reads my blog, so she will see your comment.
Gosh, your life isn’t easy at the moment. You have just healed from another injury. Now you are in for another long time of healing. And your leg muscles will have gone completely when you can walk properly again. What an ordeal.
Your husband seems to have a little too much loyalty to his company, which, in itself, is commendable, but he neglects himself. This way he will shortly not be able to help the company at all AND ruin his health, his retirement and your life together. Not worth it. Companies will never demand less as they don’t care at all.
Really liked the pictures of the area and the outfit with the trainers. Your mom is looking really well. Have a splendid week.
Thanks for your comment and compliments. So far the week has been pretty good. Wishing you the same.
I like the longer length of the cuffed trousers in that one picture and I’ve come around (finally!) on trainers – I prefer that look. Although I like the white trousers, it’s not the same white as the top, which bugs me (that’s me, lol). Love Marjolein’s outfit and that cute top! why don’t I find tops like that??
Happy Birthday, Mum! You look lovely!
I know a lot of people have this problem (off-white and white together). I have adopted the attitude “it’s all light”. Similar with black and blue or black and brown, “it’s all dark”.
Makes life easier haha.
Don’t you complain about not finding tops like Marjolein’s. You find plenty fantastic tops.
I like the outfit a lot, but I probably give away my age by preferring the more delicate shoes with the dress closed and the trainers with the dress open and tee underneath. But I can’t imagine wearing those heels – perhaps kitten heels, ballet flats, or even sandals. So glad your mum is happily installed in her new residence and taking care of her health needs. I am close to her age and acutely aware of how many parts of the aging body need attention. She is lucky to have you.
Well, the high heels made a cute picture, but I wouldn’t go into town with them either. That’s in the past.
It is an understatement to say that growing older isn’t for sissies. Really, a lot of aching and ailments come your way.
Such a cool item, the cherry dress, and I like it the most with the white trousers and white trainers. I think because of the length of the dress/shirt, that length is more flattering than longer pants. I think it could work as a dress but with your white trainers, not high heels. But I hear you that you find it too short in the front. Marjolien’s cat shirt is also so cool. I would happily slot both of these shirts into my closet 🙂
You think so? I was very taken with the Converse sneakers and this outfit, but I didn’t want any skin showing between the baseball trainers and the trousers, which is why I choose the white trainers. Max Mara designs all their dresses for Italian women who are usually shorter than tall Dutch woman. I have more of them and of Sportmax and Weekendmax. All the same length, all giving me the same problem. You’d think I would have learnt by now.
Marjolein and I will keep our treasures well away from you haha.
🙂 I had another look and am still of the opinion some skin showing in the ankle are is more flattering proportionally with this long shirt. The black converse and full length pants look cute but make your legs look stumpy, which we know they are not. Maybe this is not so important, known as JFE; just flattering enough. I think the one you feel most fabulous in is the best one.
You are right. A bit of skin showing in the ankle is flattering. But knowing I have good and long legs, I squander my ‘wealth’. ‘Looking cute’ is something I sometimes desire. I can look many ways but cute is not really one of them. And we all want something we cannot have haha.