About boots and 'bootcuts'

I have a confession to make: I absolutely looove thigh boots. I don't mean over the knee boots, I really mean the long ones, that look like leather leggings with shoes. But thigh boots are a bit risky: you don't want to end up looking like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I like them worn in a classy, stylish way, with a pencil skirt or a dress.

Olivia Palermo wearing thigh boots in a perfect way

But beautiful and affordable thigh boots are very hard to find. Last season, I had a major crush on these beauties from Roland Mouret, but they were waaaay to expensive.

Roland Mouret thigh boots

Two years ago, I bought my first pair of long boots: a pair of black over the knee boots in an incredibly soft leather. They weren't exactly what I was looking for, but at that moment, they were 'the closest thing'. The problem is: I have very long legs. So the boots already were a bit short from the beginning. And because they were made of this very soft leather, they started to slip down very quickly and after a few times, they hardly covered my knees and I had to pull them up constantly. Result: my boots stayed in the box and that was a shame...

So I decided to take them to the 'shoe surgeon' and to turn them into ankle boots. And that was one of the best decisions I have recently made: now, I wear them constantly. I wear them so often, that I already had to take them to the cobbler for new heels.



Before...

... and after. Tadaaah! My 'new' ankle boots!

In the meantime, I met Pol Engels from Biography. This Antwerp based designer graduated from the Antwerp Fashion Academy alongside 'the Antwerp six' designers like Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester.  Over the years he also earned a solid reputation as Jan Fabres theatre costume maker. Pol is always in for a challenge, and because I couldn't find my ideal thigh boots, I asked him to design a pair for me. I sent him a picture of the Mouret boots as an inspiration. And after a couple of months, the big moment had come: last Sunday, I could go and pick up my custom made pair of thigh boots... and they are superb! They are so beautiful and sexy, but still classy, they fit like a glove, they are long enough and they are so comfortable! And last but not least: the price was very fair!

My custom made thigh boots by Pol Engels

Pol doesn't sell his shoes in stores (anymore), but you can order them on his Facebook page Engels-Strijbol Biography and in pop-up shops. In March or April, I will be organizing a Biography pop-up shop myself. I'll keep you posted!

Happy birthday to me!

On my wish list: The perfect spring colour

A while ago, I read in a magazine that fuchsia lipstick makes a good alternative to red lipstick, because it looks fresher and less 'grown up'. So I was looking for the perfect shade ever since. But wearing fuchsia lipstick is like walking a very thin line, because the wrong shade can make you look cheap or just ridiculous. Today, however, I bumped into the perfect bright pink lipstick. Check out this amazing Yves Saint Laurent Red Pur Couture n° 19!

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture 19 in Fuchsia Pink

The colour is deep enough to still be stylish and classy, but at the same time it's fun and playful.
I couldn't resist trying it on immediately and after getting complimented by the lady in the shop ("great colour for your hair and skin tone"), I faced my ultimate critic: my boyfriend. And he really liked it! Thought it was the perfect spring colour for me.

Tested and approved!

So from today on, I have a new item on my wish list. Anyone? ;-)

Seriously...

Normally, I'm a big fan of Victoria Beckham's tight and elegant feminine style, but this time, she created a monster... Seriously, is there really anyone who gets away with this...?

Victoria Beckham S/S 2014 - 1500 (!!!) £

Victoria, wearing her own monst... euh... creation

Sorry, Vicky, but... LOL!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2420412/How-Victoria-Beckhams-1-500-tent-dress-55-blanket.html

My january sales purchases

Last week, I promised you to show you all the things I bought during past winter sales. I also told you that I've been a really good girl this time, so today I will prove you that it's true. Since I am fascinated by sewing dresses myself, I'm less interested in buying them, so this time, I didn't get myself one single dress! I especially invested in tops and knitwear, because I haven't made tops so far (although I want to start doing that really soon) and because at the moment I prefer sewing over knitting (but in my wildest dreams, I end up making all my clothes myself). And I bought myself a coat. And not just a coat. A Burberry one.

In fact, the coat is a real investment piece. I fell in love with it in Paris last summer. I was looking for a parka for quit some time and last summer, in Paris, I made the big mistake of walking into the Burberry store. And there it was: the parka of my dreams, and which was even more important: my hubby loved it too, and he really isn't into parkas. I decided to resist the temptation of buying it immediately and to wait for the sales and let faith decide: if the coat was still there in my size, that would be an omen, if it wasn't, then it just wouldn't be meant to be. And guess what… Sales started and my coat was still there. And when God sends you such clear signals, you just have to obey, don't you? So meet my new Burberry treasure, my second one, after the lace trench that I got myself last year.

Burberry parka with detachable shearling hood lining,
detachable raccoon trim and detachable
lining

 Burberry Parka - back

My Burberry Lace Trench Coat

Lace Trench Coat Burberry
Picture: Burberry

Don't have to tell you that I'm very proud of my two Burberry babies. I absolutely adore that brand!

Let me show you the knitwear that I bought. As I'm always cold, I am always looking for new cardigans and nice and warm materials. I found two cardigans that are all me: a black one with lace from Zara and a raspberry one with a sparkly gold thread from the Belgian brand Mer du Nord.

Black cardigan with lace - Zara

raspberry cardigan - Mer du Nord

I also managed to buy two sweaters that were on my radar for a long time at a strongly reduced price: this beautiful wool sweater with beige collar from Edith & Ella, and a silk and wool combination from Talking French (love the stars on it!):

Wool sweater with collar - Edith & Ella

Silk and wool mustard top with stars - Talking French

Detail

Back detail

And finally I got myself three tops: the two from Fracomina that I've already shown you in an earlier post and a cute long-sleeved black top with collar from Mer du Nord.

Flowered top - Fracomina

Top with sequins - Fracomina

Detail

Long-sleeved top with collar - Mer du Nord

Collar detail

That makes a total of 8 pieces, and for me, that's really modest. Hope I can keep up the good work!

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Love my new haircut??

My gelish nail polish collection

As you already know, I'm addicted to polished nails. The discovery of the Orly SmartGELS system (that gives me beautiful polished nails for two whole weeks, which is like.. a world record to me) also was the beginning of a new collection (doesn't it always go like that…?). Orly offers 24 colours (although some sites mention 32 colours, which would be great, because there are some lovely new colours there, but I don't know where to get those other 8 at the moment).

I really love that Charged up colour, but on the site, I can't order it yet!

The colours that are already part of my collection are Haute Red, Star Spangled, Plum Noir, Luxe and Liquid Vinyl.

I'm a big fan of SmartGELS by Orly, but thanks to a colleague, I discovered a second brand that I really like: SensatioNail. Compared to the Orly SmartGELS, SensatioNail has a larger variety of colours at the moment, from bright pinks to deep blues and some greens. 

My collection already counts five SensatioNail colours:

Mauve Maven: a very neutral vieux rose

Sugar Plum: a deep burgundy

Ocean Sparkle: a shiny blue (with a hint of green)

Espresso Bean: a sparkly dark brown

Scarlet Red: a very hot red

There still are a lot of colours on my wish list , so I've decided to buy one new colour every month. For February, I ordered this beautiful bright pink (because there's a big lack of pink in my collection):

Pink Daisy

It looks very fluorescent on the picture, but in reality it should look a lot softer. I can go and pick it up on Wednesday. An ideal colour for spring, don't you think?

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Zoals jullie intussen al weten ben ik verslaafd aan gelakte nagels. De ontdekking van de Orly SmartGELS (die ervoor zorgen dat ik twee - twéé - volle weken perfecte nagels heb, wat mij betreft een wereldrecord!) was ook meteen het begin van een nieuwe verzameling (want zo gaat dat dan altijd…) Orly heeft momenteel 24 kleurtjes (hoewel sommige sites over 32 kleuren spreken, wat erg leuk zou zijn, aangezien er een paar hele leuke nieuwe bij zijn, maar ik zou totaal niet weten waar ze verkrijgbaar zijn…)

Ik ben dol op de kleur Charged up, maar ik zou niet weten waar ze te bestellen… :-(

Momenteel ben ik al de trotse bezitter van Haute Red, Star Spangled, Plum Noir, Luxe and Liquid Vinyl.

Ik ben een grote fan van SmartGELS by Orly, maar dankzij een collega ontdekte ik een tweed merk dat ik erg leak vind: SensatioNail. In vergelijking met de Orly SmartGELS, biedt SensatioNail op dit moment een grotere verscheidenheid aan kleuren:

Mijn collectie bevat momenteel vijf kleurtjes:

Mauve Maven: een neutraal vieux rose

Sugar Plum: een diep wijnrood

Ocean Sparkle: een sprankelend groen-blauw

Espresso Bean: donkerbruin met een glittertje

Scarlet Red: felrood

Er staan nog heel veel kleurtjes op mijn wish list, dus heb ik besloten mijzelf elke maand één nieuw kleurtje te gunnen. Voor februari koos ik dit prachtige felroze (want er is duidelijk nog een gebrek aan roze in mijn collectie):

Pink Daisy

Het ziet er op de foto een beetje fluo uit, maar in het echt zou het er veel zachter uit moeten zien. Ik mag het woensdag ophalen. Een ideaal kleurtje voor de lente, toch? 

Besteld via Collishop

Star Spangled: my new favourite colour...

Check out my new nail colour: Star Spangled from SmartGELs by Orly. I got this colour from my mom as a christmas present and it already is my new favourite colour: a warm red with a red sparkle in it. A little glamourous and it goes with everything!

Check it out with natural light...

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Check mijn nieuwe nagellakkleurtje: Star Spangled van SmartGELS by Orly. Ik kreeg dit kleurtje als kerstcadeau van mijn moeder en het is nu al mijn nieuwe favoriet: een warm rood met rode glinstertjes erin. Een tikkeltje glamoureus en het past overal bij!

In natuurlijk licht...