ORACLE FOX

Mandy Shadforth (aka Oracle Fox) went from an everyday surf rat to one of Australia’s most popular fashion bloggers. She shares her creativity and passion for surfing with the Billabong Design Team. Together, Oracle Fox and Billabong joined forced to develop a gorgeous line, that will make you embrace the wanderlust and live with reckless abandon. This vintage-inspired collection features casual and feminine pieces to fashionably spend summer days by the beach. I totally love the loose t-shirts, shorts and bikinis adorned with geomatric patterns. You can check out (and order!) the whole collection here.

Tony Cohen for DSM

High fashion meets high tech innovation at Amsterdam Fashion Week! Tony Cohen presented his exclusive collection for DSM, with a spectacular fashion show at the Westergasfabriek. My dad is been working for DSM for over 30 years now, so I was kinda curious how this collaboration would work out… I never thought of fashion, when I thought of DSM (one of the largest chemical companies in the world).

But guess what? DSM is a huge supplier of man-made fibres for the international textile industry, fashion designers and manufactures. So they decided to sponsor the event and entered into a joint venture with Tony Cohen, a designer who has used man-made fibres in his collection for many years. The result: show-stopping pieces that are sumptuous luxurious, endlessly chic with flowing fabrics. Hurray for DSM! (and Tony, because he finally got rid of those watercolor prints)

In My Mailbox...

...A note from Vogue NL! I Like! :)

Cold Method AW2012/2013

On Tuesday night I went to the Companietheater, to see the brand new collection of men’s fashion label Cold Method. Since I’m not working as a journalist anymore, I don’t get that much invitations for fashion events, so I was actually quite happy with this one. Especially since a friend of mine is working for the brand and I was really looking forward to see her again. We all gathered in a large – yet very crowded – theater area, where the show took place. I really liked the burgundy and ochre colors in the collection, all combined with grey to keep it classic and dandy. And because the label celebrated their fifth birthday that night, they organized an amazing after party with great music and… delicious cocktails! There I found myself drinking and dancing! With my boss! On a Tuesday night! What a blast…

The Borrel

Modefabriek is a biannual professional trade platform where hundreds of brands and labels present their latest collections to the retail industry, press, stylists and other fashion industry professionals. It’s not really an open event, so it’s only accessible to registered trade visitors and accredited press. But actually… the fun part of this fair is The Borrel, traditionally on Sunday evening!

Please enjoy the pictures of these (outstanding!) beautiful people…

Save the date

Mark your calendar for a three day exhibition of ILJA & Ready to fish_ in the MC Theater. Date: 26th, 27th and 28th of January 2012. Time: 12pm - 9pm

The Harper Bag

Who needs a Birkin Bag when you have a baby? It appears that Victoria Beckham has a favourite new accessory which outshines her £1million bag collection. And she is in no hurry to put her down. Could somebody call child protection?

My New Year's Resolutions

I find it a pretty good idea to put my New Year's resolution on the wall, because I don't want to make the same resolutions each year… This will help me to remind it every day of the year. Happy 2012!!!

SALE SALE SALE

Whoohoo, it's sale so I don't need an excuse to go shopping!

Happy Holidays!

Yesss my vacation starts here: at this fabulously decorated table for 15 people! Everybody will bring his or her favorite course, so that – of course - results in a strange mix of Thai, Italian, Dutch and French food. Sounds like a great menu to me. I wish u all the same! Merry X-mas!

Santa Brownies

Don't you love this X-Mas dessert? It's a brilliant holiday treat if you'd ask me! They look so good and easy to make… Check Daisy's World for the recipe. Enjoy, and ho ho ho!

Multiple Rainbow

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. This double rainbow outside my office window was so beautiful; I just had to catch it! Look how the second arc is above and outside the primary arc and has the order of its colors reversed (red faces inward toward the other rainbow). So pretty!

My Cup Of Tea

No... I'm not referring to the T Bar in London, but a REAL Tea Bar in Amsterdam. This unique tea bar sells over 70 different loose teas ranging from black to green to herbal. You can smell the wonderful aroma as soon as you step into the store. There are many transparent cases for you to view, and sniff, their fine selection of teas.

I decided to mellow out with a glass of freshly brewed tea called “Nut Dream” and the color turned out to be shocking pink! I’ve never seen such a beautiful color in a cup of tea… and it didn’t taste like nuts at all. But like a really sweet bubble gum. Mmm!

FAIR-Y-TALE

Crisis or no crisis, the Millionaire Fair has opened in Amsterdam. After three years of being an employee of Millionaire magazine, it was my first time being a guest this year. My BFF Valentine took me to the VIP night and we had loads of fun. We were surrounded by the best of the best that the international luxury goods have to offer. The most exquisite bites and drinks were served and Elle Macpherson (a.k.a. The Body) was there to take care of the official opening.

I was wearing a beautiful fairytale dress from Anderson & Lauth that I scored last season at Bianca van Leur Agenturen. I've worn the dress once to a fancy dinner in Ibiza with slippers and beachy hair, but with high heels and an up-do hair style, it was perfect for black-tie. I really felt like an elf from Reykjavik!

The first Dutch Vogue cover...

The moment where we've all been waiting for… The first Dutch Vogue is coming out soon! And the first question to arise is: "Who will be shining on the first cover?" Well, Dutchies are super hot in the high-fashion world… so it must be one of our own pretty girls.

In recent seasons, fashion has come to love models like Doutzen Kroes, Lara Stone, Bregje Heinen, Patricia van der Vliet, Daphne Groeneveld and Saskia de Brauw. They are all Dutch, very popular and have achieved a Vogue cover already… And since the U.S. Vogue devoted a full page to Dutch models last year, they've become a Dutch phenomenon.

Unfortunately I can't tell you who the next cover girl will be, but of course I'll keep you posted!

Piecing together the daily puzzle called life

Last friday we celebrated the relaunch of NSMBL; one of the coolest online magazines in The Netherlands about fashion, lifestyle and life. The beautiful editor in chief is Anna with the Difficult Last Name (Nikbakht Nooshin) and the location for the party: Witteveen. Not my favorite spot in town because of the amount of kids running around. But good news from that front: from the 1st of December the ‘kids area’ will be closed, so we all can enjoy our diner, high tea or whatsoever. For now: congrats to Anna and here NSMBL team! Keep up the good work! More pictures are here. And here.

Fringes!

If I had to choose my favorite designer, I would pick Isabel Marant. I love love love her clothes. Especially the SS2011 and AW2011 collections were awesome! And since I’m not a millionaire yet, I have to go for the best rip-offs…. So I ended up shopping at Supertrash. They have these fringe-boots and they’re totally inspired by Isabel Marant. Okay, I don’t love love love them, but I really like like like them!

Movember Mania

I really wonder how this facial hair-do turned out to be a fashion accessory. It’s just a piece of hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip... But anyhow, for some reason I love it! On jewellery, coffee mugs, clothes, nails and finger tattoos... You name it! My personal favourite is the pillowcase set from Urban Outfitters. This could be a really nice x-mas gift for your boyfriend! Ow and by the way... Bar Moustache (Utrechtsestraat 141, Amsterdam) is a very fashionable place to go as well!