Blog photos with my hairpiece again. It finally came back with some more hair and my hairdresser cut it slightly. The wide white trousers are new (the brand is 3×1). I had seen them a month ago at LAB Women’s Clothing, when it was still too cold to think about them. On a sunny day I tried them on and fell in love. You don’t feel you are wearing them, so comfortable and soft. The extremely long front pockets are a fun detail to me. Jacket and trainers are also from Lab Women’s Clothing but from a while ago.

The trousers were way too long, I think about 20 cm and I am tall, so I could have easily worn them with high heeled shoes, but I want comfort more and more these days, so they needed to be shorter to suit trainers (sneakers).

I had them shortened and asked for a wide hem in case the trousers would shrink in the wash. Of course, I could have washed them before bringing them to the tailor but A) I like a wide hem and B) just think how terrible it would be if something bad happened to them in the wash and I hadn’t worn them once. (First world problem…spoiled woman that I am.)

Below: The hand on my thigh is a bit strange. Better not pose like that in future.

Below: Then came the question…which trainers? I searched through my collection and came up with a comfortable white pair, which I wore going to the tailor. The trousers have been shortened to suit them. But…when I showed the outfit to my husband, he disapproved. He said: “Those white trainers aren’t really white which makes them seem dirty compared to the trousers”. I had thought of that as well but didn’t have another white pair…so I thought. After trying my yellow shoes with the trousers, nicely bookending the earrings, I decided against them. The soles were too high for the hemmed trousers and I found them too coarse. As I put the yellow shoes back in the cupboard, what do I see, right next to them? Pure white trainers. Forgot all about them. Bad, bad, bad. They are a perfect match.

Below: Marjolein took the photos again and this time I knew how to set the camera. My camera shop man had taught me well. To keep things simple we took the photos in The Hague where Marjolein lives. This sitting down pose gives you a good view of the trainers and the silver bag. Brand of the bag is the same as my larger orange one, Gianni Chiarini.

Below: Close-up of the belt and the bracelet, although the latter didn’t show at all underneath the long sleeves.

Let’s talk a little about the white top. It is by Baukjen. I know this UK based brand from another blogger, and they are coming to the Netherlands, the country where founder Baukjen was born. I say yay.
You know I don’t promote any products on my blog and I do not get paid or gifted items. So this is a genuine big hurray for Baukjen.
On their website I found the best white top, exactly the way I like it: the right neckline (boat neck but not too wide), lovely soft material, not tight around the stomach area, but still fitted and 3/4 length sleeve. PERFECT. Another reason to love Baukjen: they are extremely sustainable throughout their whole business; they are even a United Nations Award Winner.

Right, that was a bit unusual on my blog, wasn’t it? But I say, credits where credits are due.
Let’s continue.

Below: We were near a big church in the centre of The Hague and I have taken photos of it before. Hoping you wouldn’t remember haha.

Below: Marjolein photographed against those colourful shutters. See how well the green of those boots match the fun sweater?

Below: She has such a cute bum, which I envy.

Below: We never miss a pitcher pump. It has the stork of The Hague’s coat of arms on it.

Below: Another building with red shutters, the old town hall, which you probably have seen in a previous post, but worth repeating. We still love it when passing.

Below: The tower of the old town hall.

Below: We were puzzled by the concrete shells which nearly made me trip and fall.

Below: Close-up of green and yellow earrings by Lara Design. I told you a while back that I picked up a few pairs of new earrings at Marcella’s atelier. As I love my black earrings with yellow button, I was thrilled to find a pair with another colour combination. Originally this button was blue, but Marcella customised it with a green button for me. (And I know, I am ridiculously tanned for such a bad spring.) Love my repaired hairpiece.

Below: We had lunch at restaurant Leuk, our favourite coffee and lunch address in The Hague. They are on the ground floor of this magnificent building which is clearly art nouveau. My mother, Marjolein and I, all lovers of curved windows.

Below: Next to it, a majestic building. Terraces these days, are everywhere in Dutch cities, partly thanks to the ban on smoking indoors and partly thanks to Covid. In countries where there is more sunshine, like France, Spain and Italy there used to be far more terraces than in cold and rainy The Netherlands. We have caught up (and installed heaters).

Below: This is the window display of The Aesthetic Lounge, a strange combination of restaurant, vintage stuff and facial treatment. At first glance, we thought the man in the window was real haha.

Below: They have quite a collection of vintage bags. Not my thing, but I did find a nice scarf. I felt the scarf and was sure it was silk. Wrong, it was 100% polyester; just goes to show how much I know.

Below: Quite near, in the Nieuwstraat, we spotted this mural by artists Sogoshow. I remembered their name from the mural tour through The Hague. (See second mural in this post.)

Below: Two more beautiful old buildings and we are done with this part of the post.

We had hoped for beautiful sunny weather which it wasn’t. On the upside, it didn’t rain either until we arrived back at Marjolein’s place. Narrow escape.

What happened in my life this week

Finally, I got a handle on clearing out my wardrobe. I read a sentence on Nikki Garnett’s blog (Midlifechic) which was: “If you were standing in a shop today, would you buy this?” and that helped a lot. With that in mind I assessed two wardrobes and a deep shelf with jumpers. Below is what I got rid of. My apologies for the crumpled duvet cover. I don’t iron these things anymore.

Below: An outfit I wore this week which also got some styling comment from my husband Ron. On the left how I styled it with earrings and bracelet; on the right after Ron gave his comment. Underneath this photo you will find the close-ups and further explanation.

Here is what I wrote on Instagram about it:

“Subtle changes that matter. I styled this highly comfortable outfit by wearing sneakers which are different than standard sneakers and I added accessories. As you can see on the left photo, pink statement earrings and a pink bracelet. My husband told me that the pink of the earrings was too subdued and the wrong colour pink as was the bracelet. My first reaction was a defensive one, a very natural reaction IMO. However, my husband is a good stylist which made me think twice. He said the bright colours in the jumper (sweater) needed equally bright accessories. Which I have. The pink lipstick and bracelet became red and the earrings are more the colours and pattern of the jumper (sweater). I love that such easy additions can lift a simple outfit to a well-styled outfit without losing its comfort. (Not being very modest here, am I?). And don’t forget the silver bag. Metallic shoes and bags go with everything.”

Below: Close-up of the jumper with pink earrings and a pink bracelet. Had the earrings been one of the colours in the jumper than I would have preferred these.

Below: The multicoloured earrings and the red bracelet (and lipstick) are a better match, but as my friend Katrien said: “Although cool, the earrings get partially lost because they blend into the sweater. A solid colour would have been better.” And I agree.

Had an outing with my friend Ayen, visiting Museum Naturalis with their collection of 42 million plants, animals, fossils and rocks. Lots of bones and skeletons. I forgot to photograph the stuffed animals which were far more adorable than the skeletons, but less interesting. We had a great day.

Be prepared for some natural history lessons.

Below: Ayen. It is a blurry photo but a nice one of her. We used to be colleagues when I was in my early thirties.

At the stuffed animals we tried to distinguish the panther, tiger, leopard, cheetah etc. Not easy.

Below: Then we arrived at the fish. Great inspiration for colour combination outfits. My mind is always on that subject.

Below: The skeleton of the Camarasaurus, a dino that was a huge plant eater and lived during the Jurassic period. It could easily reach the highest leaves and was able to pluck several trees bare, without taking a single step. It simply had to move its neck from side to side.

Below: The Triceratops (literally: three-horned face) that lived in the western part of North America, at the end of the Cretaceous. These horned dinosaurs had the largest skulls of any land animal that has ever lived. Their strong jaws and long rows of teeth meant these plant eaters could chew their food finely. As magnificent as this creature is, look how ‘little’ it looks compared to the Camarasuarus above (you can see the Triceratops above on the left).

Below: Another giant, the Bull Mammoth. The skeleton of this large Bull Mammoth is assembled from the bones of around 300 different mammoths.

Below: This is part of a display on depicting the world in the ancient days, when there were still cracks in the earth.

Below: There was an exhibit called Seduction with subsection Penises (of all sorts of animals). I grinned when I read the text below.

Below: I wore this outfit that day, visiting Museum Naturalis. (Link to the original post when the outfit was clearly better. The top needs replacing as it shrunk and the orange belt is not as good as the black and white one.)

Below: The bright pink vest with a mesh top underneath and black linen trousers. Temperatures are rising, summer is finally on its way. The mesh top is a present from Marjolein. We are always searching for mesh tops which are different than just black or white. She found this one and bought one for me too. So sweet.

On Friday I’ve celebrated Maurits’ birthday. He is always very keen on celebrating his birthday and really wants me to come. Normally I don’t do birthday parties anymore, they are just not my thing. But I make one or two exceptions for reasons I cannot reveal (privacy).

Miscellaneous

Below: I bought some pink peonies. They are here again and never for too long, so get them while you can. This bunch is particularly good and only cost me (us) €17.

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, I went back to Amsterdam and picked up my ring from the jeweller. It seems perfect now.

We bought some hanging baskets with white and blue lobelias. Once they bloom nicely, I will put photos on the blog.

I have joined a link-up with other outfit bloggers on Gail’s blog Is This Mutton? with last week’s pink jacket.

Greetje