Archive

Lifestyle

A little while back I did my very first Kindred Spirits interview with Nicole Blaak, the owner of the lovely and eco-friendly webshop Babongo. Then some weeks ago Nicole asked me if she could send me some products to review and of course I was thrilled because she sells only beautiful things. Of course I’m a fan of stationary products and Babongo is the only Dutch salespoint for the beautiful stationary products of Esme Winter. Esme Winter is a ‘modern English designer’  who makes eco-friendly paper products from recycled and responsible sourced papers. She has a background in textile design and is currently working on her first textile collection. I love the abstract patterns and since I’m a paper lover the notebooks and wrapping paper are just bliss to me. Nicole also send me one of her new products: a bamboo breakfast plate in the form of a mouse, so cute! Do make sure to check out Babongo for high quality eco-friendly products and if you see something you like you can get a 10% discount on your order if you apply for the Babongo newsletter!

ewiewiibabongo

{Photo’s were made by me and embellished with the help of the newly released and pretty rad app ABeautifulMess by Elsie and Emma. Love their blog too! }

I’m slowly coming to the end of my London feed, but of course I had to blog about Marks & Spencer. I love M&S and was thoroughly disappointed when their enterprise in the Netherlands almost ten years ago didn’t turn out to be a good investment. They changed their appearance and business plan and now, after a decade, recently opened a new M&S in Amsterdam in the Kalverstraat. Actually the grand opening was just a couple of days after I returned from London blissfully unaware of this fact. Everything I bought over there in their amazing food hall because of its amazing packaging can now easily be bought in Amsterdam. Just so you know… I felt a little bit… well… foolish…

marks and spencer imarks & spencer iimarks & spencer III

Granted I’m not aware of everything that happens in fashion, but I could not believe I missed the exciting news of H&M group starting a new store concept with the title & other Stories. So when my sister-in-law told me and emphasized their style was great and I would love it I was eager to find out and checked the website. I did love what I found! What luck then, I was to go to London where they have a store on Regent Street! & other Stories just fills the gap in style between H&M and their low prized casual day-to-day style and the minimalistic Scandinavian feel of COS. & other Stories just fits in perfectly, it’s classy, playful and colorful and lets you create your personal style from shoes to make-up, BAGS!!! and lingerie. Everything is of high quality but affordable, although more expensive than H&M.  It’s a definite must-see and the great news is they ship to Holland with low shipping costs (6 euro).

&otherstories&otherstoriesii&otherstoriesiii&otherstories&otherstoriesiv&otherstoriesl

As promised my post about Tate Modern. I really loved that museum, not just because it was nearby our hotel, but also because it’s a great building (I actually loved the building even more than the actual collection – although that was pretty great too). In museums I’m always intrigued by people looking at art. I mean the gaze is a much debated subject in psychoanalysis  and a popular question in philosophy or cultural analysis is where does meaning start? Is it indeed with the artwork itself, with the viewer or somewhere in between, in what we can call the narrative of art? Anyway, I will not turn this into a philosophical discussion, but the photo’s of Tate I took are somewhat ‘indirect’ since I only photographed people having the experience of art which I find very intriguing.

tate modern fasgftate modern iii fasgf blog

I was totally smitten by the Charleston house of interior decorator Angie Hranowsky in the latest Lonny Magazine. Although some of the furniture pieces in the living room do not exactly coincide with my taste (lamp and side table), I love love love the couch (that couch takes guts) and colors she uses, the paintings and general feel of the place, the purple diner area and the wooden shelving. I can’t actually believe people really live like this! (You should take a peek at her portfolio!) Can you?

Angie+Hranowsky+pink+couch+glass+topped+coffee+ettCImMJ84_langie hranowsky photo lonny magazineAngie+Hranowsky+Built+shelves+books+surrounded+b6h77y1JYiHl

{I was supposed to post a blogpost on my London trip to Tate Modern, but due to a small creative emergency I didn’t find the time today. So, for now this previously prepared post will have to do..}

I have to admit I was somewhat worried about the London hotel we booked, since we got this recommendation via via, you never know do you… But I was definitely very happy when we arrived. CitizenM is trendy, functional and very well organized. You get to watch a free film every night, have a tablet with internet on your room (and Wifi in the hotel) and if you book breakfast you will be sure to wake up to a really nice one. I got a little bit carried away by the mood lights you can control in the room, it took up most of my room time. It was really close to Tate Modern which was nice and we were also close to Borough Market were you could find all kinds of fresh and organic foods. It is definitely on my list to visit again!

citizenm london fasgfcitizenm london fasgfcitizenm londen fasgfcitizenm fasgfcitizenm

Since I really saw a lot in London and I’d love to share it all I’ve decided to post more frequently the coming weeks. While we were in Harrods which was like a shopping heaven (for those who can call themselves Big Spenders) and makes our department store De Bijenkorf seem like a baby, we stumbled upon a Dior exhibition. Imagine finding the dress Charlize Theron wore in the J’ adore commercial and more recently the one Natalie Portman wore in Miss Dior. It was pure chance we got to see it since it ended the very next day (but just so you know I don’t believe in chance).wk6diorimageupdateddior at harrodsdior in harrods iidior in harrods iiidior in harrods ivdior in harrods vdior in harrods vi

I’m back from London and oh boy what a city that is! I go every year for the London Bookfair but always just for one day so I never get a chance to really look around. In high school I went for a school trip but that was ages ago (like in the last millennium) and I barely remember anything from that couple of days except St. Paul’s being the reason I’m now afraid of heights. We walked around a lot, saw a lot of museums and shopped a lot. That pretty much sums it up! I will share some highlights with you, but for now here are some London pics I took.

St. Paul's fasgf blogtate modern fasgf blogharrods london fasgf bloglondon view fasgf

{1. St. Paul’s cathedral / 2. Tate Modern / 3. Harrods / 4. Millenium Bridge}

Sometimes I get an email that makes me smile and when I saw the press release for the TimeCapsule my heart skipped a beat. I love the concept of keepsakes and really am somewhat of a nostalgic person. Do’t you just love it when you roam the attic and some old box pops up with trinkets and toys from your youth? Or when you read some old diaries and love letters? They take you away to another time and place. TimeCapsules is like that! It’s a collaboration between founder Anouk van der El, the award winning product designers of OfficeOriginair, creative collective Venour and graphic designers Mae Engelgeer and Marlous Sijm

94913-baby-large-1360445424

time capsuleInside your TimeCapsule you find a booklet that you can decorate with handy question stickers, your answers and personal messages from friends and family. You can stick photos, drawings and sketches onto the pages in the booklet with magic tape. Also included are a handy manual, some graphic wrapping paper, a shiny golden sticker for your #1 memory and funky tags that you can hang onto personal items you want to include. Finally, you find a super strength sealing-strip to close the TimeCapsule with and keep all your goodies safe from curious wanderers for years to come! You can keep the TimeCapsule and fill it with your personal items or you can make a present out of it (wouldn’t it make a really nice wedding present?)

whats-in-it-timecapsule1

94915-wedding_kopie-large-1360445554

94917-timecapsules_letterpress__time_travel-large-1360445627

{I’m very glad to have the chance to do a giveaway with this special product (giveaway only open to Dutch and Belgian readers). What do you have to do? Please tell me what you would like to place in your time capsule or make a photo of the content you would like to put in the capsule. You can send your entry to fairandsoftly(at)gmail.com or post it in the comment box below. This giveaway ends on the 1st of April and the winner will we announced on this blog. Let’s keep the good stuff and preserve a trip down memory lane!}

I discovered the brand SUNO in the January/ February issue of Frankie magazine. I just love their use of color, the loose beautiful silky fabrics and their feminine style. Behind the brand of SUNO lies an interesting and fair story:

SUNO is a New York based womenswear label founded in 2008 by Max Osterweis in collaboration with designer Erin Beatty. The collection was launched in Spring 2009 after post-election violence threatened to damage the economy and industry in Kenya, a long time second home to Osterweis. Using vintage Kenyan textiles that Osterweis had been collecting for years, they created their first small collection, produced predominantly in Kenya. Since its inception, SUNO has evolved its business to include production in Kenya, India, Peru and its home base of New York. Via a combination of traditional, local techniques and high-end tailoring, as well as an emphasis on fit and fabric, SUNO is able to offer a global, unique view of the luxury world in an accessible way. SUNO currently offers a jewelry collaboration with Pamela Love, as well as a capsule footwear collection with Nicholas Kirkwood shoes, incorporating the unique prints and fabrics of the collection into each design to maintain the same optimistic, fresh, and slightly haunting point of view across all lines.”  

suno nysuno ny

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 777 other followers