Fashionata's Ladies Night @ Princess Antwerp

This Wednesday, one of my favorite shops in Antwerp was thé place to be as it was the location for the second edition of the Fashionata's Ladies Night. In Belgium, you can definitely call Sofie Valkiers the pioneer in blogland. Currently this Antwerp based fashion queen is really hot and happening: she already made her own jewelry line with Diamanti per Tutti, last year she had a collection for Essentiel and now it was time for something new: a book! Just like all the others, publisher Lannoo wanted to dive in a fashion adventure with Sofie. And if you ask me, this was definitely worth a party... and a party it was!!!

The book is named 'Little Black Book'. I immediately had to think of the utmost famous little black dress. And coincidence or not, this was also the dress code for the night. But I, the muddle-head, totally overlooked this instruction from Sofie and was totally not aware of it. Until Wednesday morning... I totally freaked out and called my friend Valérie to tell her about my latest discovery. We had planned a full shopping day at Antwerp, and to end the day we would go to Sofie her book launch. But as we are both students, we made our luggage in the weekend so went of without taking a little black dress with us. On top of that, we wanted to shop during the day, and that is impossible with an evening dress and high heels (it is, right?!). So: what to do? I luckily had one black dress in Leuven - don't really know what it was doing there - and Valérie asked one of her friends for some dresses. With our bags full of shoes and dresses we went off to the shopping walhala, wondering what we would do for the night... I don't have to tell you that we shopped the whole afternoon looking for the perfect clothing-combo: stressing as hell! And the best part of all was that we still had to change before we went to the Ladies Night. As true die-hard shoppers we dressed ourselves in the toilet of the central station --> oh so classy(but extremely funny)! I can assure you that when we arrived at Princess we were almost literally dead. What fashion can do to a person, isn't it? 

If I have to give one word to describe the day, it would be 'hectic'. But it was just wonderful! We had an awesome time in Antwerp, and to end the day reading the latest-must-have-book-for-fashionistas was just perfect. Again, a big congrats Sofie and keep up the good work with Fashionata! You sure know how to throw a party! 

Enjoy the pictures from the event below 

==> You can find the Little Black Book by Lannoo at all bookstores

Happy Easter!

Green garden

There's a new dress in town (or better: in my closet)! This time it's green and from the Belgian brand Mer du Nord. When I was younger, I used to wear their clothes all the time, but the last few years this was strongly decreased. I just couldn't find myself in  their clothes anymore. But it seems that this season they have some stuff that I like, and this dress is one of them! 

This summer, all that counts are colors: flashy, pastel, or just the normal ones (yeah, they still exist :p)... You name it! So why not color up my wardrobe with some grass-green? Mission accomplished! 

What are your favorite colors for the summer? And are you guys already preparin' yourselves for the hot days to come? I sure am! 

Outfit: dress Mer du Nord - jacket Zara - shoes Janet & Janet - clutch VII Bruxelles - earrings Bulgari - bracelet Delvaux - watch Rodania 

Mosaert madness

Big news in tinsel fashion town last Wednesday: Stromae had created his own line of polos and socks, only available at the Brussels concept store Hunting & Collection (one of my favorite addresses in Brussels, with brands like Kenzo, Carven, Alexander Wang...). The collection was named Mosaert, an acronym from Stromae, which is again an acronym from Maestro (funfact!). And as expected from this Rwandan-Belgian singer and creative centipede, it was a BOM. When the news came out, I was in the library 'working' on my master thesis, and strolling down the internet. And coincidence or not, I had just planned a trip to Brussels that Saturday... for the show of Stromae at Vorst Nationaal! Ok, not just, because I ordered the ticket months before, as it was sold out so rapidly. Another piece of evidence of how popular Stromae is at the moment. 

But Friday, I've read that almost all the polos were sold out at the shop (and on the online-shop of the store that was already the case!). So I can definitely say that I walked around like a stress bomblet at home, counting down the hours until the moment that I would enter the shop. So the next day, at about 4 o'clock, I stormed in the shop, looking at the only 7 polos that were left: 1 L, 1 S, and the others were size XS. I took the L and S, just on time as a few seconds later a dozen of people were gathering around the peg. Pfieeeeeuw! 

So conclusion of the day: I was very lucky. Afterwards I thought about this Stromae/Mosaert-madness... I let myself go a little, just for a simple polo... It's true that I love fashion, but sometimes you have to be able to look at it from another perspective. Just check the news that came out a few hours ago about the Alexander Wang and H&M collaboration for next autumn. Everybody is already making a big fuss of it... and I have to be honest: it is again working -> highlights in my agenda: DONE. If I have a free day, then I will definitely go and stand in line. But it's not that I will be going gaga if I don't get a piece of that collection (although in my case it is the awesomest collab that H&M has ever done). 

But isn't this always the case when it comes to fashion? Trends come and go. And that's why it stays fun to follow. That doesn't mean that you always have to follow them with your wallet: your eyes can also do the job. But let us be honest: how awesome is the feeling when you get your hands on such an exclusive piece of clothing, after making all kinds of efforts for it ;).

Have you guys already gone crazy over a special line or new collaboration? What were your experiences?

(picture 1 and 3 source Elle.be) 

B2U Deluxe: The Fashion Edition

On the 26th of March, some committed students from the faculty of economics at my university KULeuven organized a fantastic event: B2U Deluxe - The Fashion Edition. The principle of these events is to bring the students in contact with the daily life practicers from all kinds of businesses. And this time it was all about the fashion industry, an industry that I (and apparently a lot of people in Leuven) love! This event was a real success as after just a few weeks it was completely full. Some pioneers in fashion learned us what the business of fashion incorporates: Anne Chappelle, CEO BVBA 32 (from Ann Demeulemeester) - Alexandra Verschueren, fashion designer - Karinna Nobbs, professor fashion marketing and retail brand strategy at the London College of Fashion. And as expected from a real fashion event, the night ended with a fashion show, because let's be honest, after all fashion is all about clothes, isn't it? 

Outfit: it's was time to get the 'Isabel Marant for H&M' jacket out!