The best laid plans

So when I started this blog I hoped it would be a way to combine my creative writing ideas with some interesting things of the world. But then came family illness, a difficult period at work, and just life in general. This made it difficult to keep up with blogging. At some point I had no energy to get home and work, let alone blog about a dress code.

Good things have happened too: I am getting married, and starting a new job, one that will be more in line with what I am interested in, and what I like to write about.

As of 1 September I am Media Officer at the Fair Wear Foundation. This organisation seeks to improve working conditions for garment workers. As such, this job combines my interest in human rights and labour issues, with my passion for garments that are well made, and made well.

Exciting times are afoot, and hopefully I will be able to combine this better with blog writing!

What do I actually dress for?

In case anyone wondered, I am a PhD student specialising in the migration patterns of  high skilled migrants, at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

To finance that, I moonlight as an editor and translator in the combination English-Spanish, with a slight twist of Dutch. This is the Netherlands, after all. Currently, I have a very good client in Arnhem, the Netherlands, that’s why I commute everyday. A medical association that shall remain nameless. I also (mostly) work for different NGO.

In my free time, I like browsing through websites of clothes that I cannot get (a.k.a. any brand in the US) , checking my email compulsively, reading compulsively as well and writing short stories. I also like thinking about combinations of clothes that make me look good. Then again, I don’t always succeed in practice.

I have been diagnosed with IBS (it may be a bit gross to read, so click at your own peril), which means I try to eat super healthy, and I follow a strict gluten-free diet for medical reasons. So no luscious cake postings on my feed. That makes me sad!

That’s me all excited about finding gluten free treats at a random food place in NYC

And that’s me eating a fabulous gluten free hamburger in NYC

If I could have one wish it would be to move to NYC where there are so many options to eat gluten free safely, and buy clothes to further develop my quirky style.

I am Mexican by birth and Dutch by choice 😉

For a visual overview:

The Creative Closet

So now that I am starting this project in earnest, I have looked for opportunities to link with different people who share this interest.

On instagram I found this great challenge of sorts, set by Jana, of Life Could Be a Dream, and Maegen from The Modern Tulip.  The idea is to get a prompt, and upload a picture every Tuesday (the actual rules can be seen here).

The Creative Closet

I had already set out my wardrobe idea, which was something like this:

A very simple sheath dress, on a hot day

But of course yesterday my mood was a bit more somber, and I ended up wearing a weird combination of things with very little white. And decidedly not hot.

Plus the weather did not cooperate with me, it was so cold yesterday!

So I did this instead:

Not quite as hot as I expected…

The next challenge is Bold & Bright. But even if it is in the rain, I get another excuse to try my hand at colours!

I should probably add that I was waiting a bit to post about my monthly buy, which was that very same white jacket, bought in XXS from the new collection at Mango.

One of those days… (outfit fail!)

Everyone has one of those days…

Today I woke up a full hour before my alarm and could not get back to sleep. I was not rested at all!

So zombieface (me) decides to throw together an outfit that’s all in line with the weather last night (guesses?). I generally plan carefully, but this morning my brain was not yet up and running, apparently.

As I am about to leave the house, I realise (horror of horrors!) I have a very important meeting with my new boss. It was only the we-are-deciding-your-future-at-the-company sort of meeting, so no biggie.

All of a sudden that loud red button-up makes a lot less sense than 2 minutes ago. So I quickly change into a beige sweater and throw a gray blazer over my shoulders. Is this the moment to say I was wearing black jeans?

Due to my little wardrobe mess I missed my train connection. No need to panic, there’s another train 15 minutes later. But then THAT ONE’s delayed which makes me miss my second connection (the glamorous commuter life, sigh).

Then I finally open my eyes and I look at myself in the mirror. I look dark. Very dark. Bags under my eyes, disheveled hair, black on gray with beige combo. What was I thinking?

Thankfully I am not hired for my sartorial skills (yet?), so I get to keep on editing, at least for the foreseeable future.

Moral of the story: plan your outfits, Alba. Even being a morning person cannot always work.

A colorful weekend

Those who know me know that I am not one to wear much colour.

I have always stuck to the easy combinations, my wardrobe includes mostly black, blue and sometimes white. I have ventured into colorful territory with combos like this:

Primary colours to the rescue for a casual day

Even then though, this is more like me (and not only because I love food!):

Yup, the uniform: blue and white with white and blue

So this weekend, because I could, I decided to try this out.

There’s colour for you. Polka dots, a bright blue button up, even bright blue socks!

Not sure yet if it worked out, but it sure was daring! Polka dots, and bright blue, and the shoes, oh dear the shoes!

I am also not sure I will keep experimenting with colour this way, but it didn’t really hurt to try.

The thing with colour for me is that I always fear I am not doing enough, and then I end up doing too much. But with the summer almost ending, I am afraid I will never again get to wear my green polka dot pants, so there!

On hindsight, I should have taken the socks off, I suppose :S

On the topic of jewellery (Josephine Colsen’s to be precise)

I have a short neck. Sometimes this really annoys me because I like the chunky necklaces, but I end up looking like I have no neck.

So I generally go for small pendants on long chains, like this one:

As you can see, my jewellery collection is not really big, and I choose to use other accesories (mostly bags, come to think of it).

Yesterday I was walking down the Sint Jansstraat in Amsterdam’s (in)famous Red Light District, which has been made home to design ateliers in an effort to give it a more family-friendly reputation. I came across this window with beautiful jewellery hanging from it. I wanted to snap a picture to remember the name of the artist, but a lady tapped on the window and said I couldn’t.

I totally understand her perspective. Her creations are unique, and very creative. I did, however, manage to find her work online, and I am posting the piece that I most would like to have, because this IS a statement necklace!

Copyright: Josephine Colsen

name: necklace mondriaan

material: brass

measures: length necklace 50 cm length object 6 cm

price: 45,- euro

design: josephine colsen

available at: http://www.colseninteriorproducts.nl/

It is based on a paiting by Piet Mondriaan, and of course I fell in love. I am not yet sure how it would fit with my wardrobe decisions, so I am waiting before buying it, but I think I will definitely keep her designs in mind if I ever want to buy jewellery.

I don’t know the artist, but I am already in love with her work.

 

Work outfits that work for me

The Dutch have a very laid-back approach to appropriate work attire. I have even seen people go to job interviews wearing jeans and tattered t-shirts, I-kid-you-not. Also , this is apparently the country where it is totally normal to go out wearing red trousers, even to work.

However, I always try to dress the way I would anywhere else in the world, but with jeans instead of more formal trousers. It is quite unique, I think, that my colleagues always say I look fabulous when all I did was wear a dress. At my office nobody ever wears dresses.

This is a very simple dress that I bought on a trip to Japan. I love it because it fit right off the rack, even though I am curvier than your average Japanese girl.

And this is how it looks on me

I think it it is quite ok to show up at the office wearing this, and between you and me, I love the elastic in the middle, although I generally cover it with a gold-coloured belt, so that it doesn’t look that elasticky.

I do not wear high heels (I should), but the shoes are pointy and make my day because they are comfortable.

So this is what “dressing up” for work looks like where I work!

And since I hadn’t let my face be seen:

That’s me right there, getting ready for a day’s work!

It’s the weekend again! (Why I wore 2 different outfits in 1 day) Part 2

So on Saturday we had the Gay Pride Parade in Amsterdam.

It is generally an occasion for much rejoice, regardless of your sexual orientation. It is just an opportunity to o a bit crazy and enjoy the weather.

Then again, this is the Netherlands, so let’s not get too crazy with the sunny days.

So the parade was almost over, when we got this:

I still had a dinner date with great friends, so I needed to go home and change. I was wet to the bone, so I decided to not even try to dry myself. But I also wanted to be comfortable.

So I changed into a comfy cropped black pants / bright green boxy shirt combo, and ran out the door.

I managed to be fashionably late (never a good thing), but all was forgiven over a mojito and tapas.

Talking to friends about life, and the universes was a great way to recharge for work on Monday.

It’s the weekend again! (why I wore 2 different outfits in 1 day) Part 1

This weekend Amsterdam turned pink for the famous Gay Pride Canal Parade. It is a really cool parade because instead of cars they have boats, along the canals of Amserdam. It is a really great opportunity to go a bit wild, and have fun. However, there are some serious messages throughout the parade.

This was the first time I sat front row at the parade, on a boat, along the canal, even though I have been living in Amsterdam for 5 years! Can you believe it?

I didn’t know what to wear (because…weather). The organisers even had the parade begin 45 minutes earlierbecause of the weather forecast and oh! were they right.

1.
The outfit

The feathers were a later addition, courtesy of the friends who invited me on the boat.

2.

The parade!

Some of the things that I saw were really, really cool. Like this guy:

Or my very own 90’s nostalgia with the Vengaboys. I was so excited (more than I should have been probably). Later I heard that I could have actually gone on the boat where they were performing… But my friend didn’t want to be part of the parade so I missed out.

(Yeah, that’s the Vengaboys)

All in all, it was a really fun time, we were really close to the parade boats, and I really liked my outfit, so win-win!

However… My worst enemy (the weather, in case I had not yet complained about it) showed up again and then:

3.
The aftermath

The day began really, really sunny. We had drinks and bites on the boat, so life was good.

However, almost at the end of the parade this was the general idea:

Umbrellas did not really help with the weather, I can tell you. So after the parade, I was completely soaking wet.

I still had a dinner date with my friends, so I had to rush home to change out of my lovely pink clothes.

The “evening result” will be posted next.

 

First outfit of the day

This weekend I went to a city in the south of the Netherlands called Maastricht, home to the treaty of the same name, and to some of the nicest food and most laid back cafés I’ve ever been to.

It was for a special occasion (10 years together with the boyfriend, if you must know), so I had to wear something that looked good, but that would also be comfortable enough to walk around.

It has been a pretty nice summer here in the Netherlands, so I thought about wearing proper summer clothes. However, the weather forecast was not on our side: rain, loads of it, throughout the weekend.

An earlier post deals with the weather forecasts here in the Netherlands, and how I should just never pay attention to it for my own good. So I thought I would beat the rain by wearing flat shoes, a skirt and a warm top.

Of course then the weather decided to play me a fast one: it was sunny and 28 Celsius during the weekend. Here I was in my nice, warm clothes. Nevertheless, it loked great, so I regret nothing!

I bought the top in the US, at LOFT. The shoes are also from the other side of the pond, Nine West, a brand I love and I just found out can be ordered on Zalando in the Netherlands. It is of course a limited range, but oh well, better than nothing.

The skirt is T by Alexander Wang, and I found it on the racks at the most current sale at de Bijenkorf in Amsterdam. The bag is from Dune, and it is just my favourite bag in the world. If you remove the chain, it becomes a clutch. It is practical, just the right size and perfect for a petite. I also got it at the Bijenkorf.