Happy New Year!

May 2013 be just as good as 2013 or even better. Seems almost impossible to me, since 2012 was the year I graduated cum laude from high school, moved to Amsterdam, met a lot of amazing people (both in Amsterdam as at other places), spent the best month of my life on the road during our Interrail, got a tiny spot in Italian Vogue with Miriam de Waard's collection, and been to many great concerts, amongst others Van Morrison, Macy Gray, Kyteman, Janelle Monae and Will & the People. Besides all this, there have also been downs of course, but also many less striking but still marvellous moments in 2012. But I have the feeling 2013 will do a good job as well, not only because 13 is my lucky number (born on Friday the 13th) but also because life in Amsterdam keeps surprising you. Every single day.

Enjoy your evening, darlings!

Chuck and Blair, the most passionate pair

Normally I'm not really into all that romantic sugary stuff, but for me, Chuck & Blair are pure dynamite. After seeing the final episode of Gossip Girl (I won't say anything, in case you haven't seen it yet!), I just had to write a post about them featuring a selection of the most powerful photos of them. Which weren't hard to find, since they are so absolutely photogenic together. Maybe it's the fact they both have a huge attraction towards each other or it just because they are both that good looking. Who doesn't love Chuck Bass (what it is, I don't know, I guess this bad boy thing and well, just the way he looks...) and wants to look like Blair Waldorf (or well, at least have her clothes!). Anyway, it remains to be seen if any other show will have such a plot line as Chuck & Blair, it hardly seems possible.




Chuck: ''I destroyed the only thing I ever loved''. Blair: ''I don’t love you anymore. But it takes more than even you to destroy a Blair Waldorf''. Chuck: ''Your world would be easier if I didn’t come back''. Blair: ''That’s true. But it wouldn’t be my world without you in it''.






Blair: ''What if we need games? What if without them we're boring?'' Chuck: ''We can never be boring''. Blair: ''You say that, but I know you. You're Chuck Bass. Chuck: I'm not Chuck Bass without you''.

Truman Capote: the forerunner of Gossip Girl?

When I thought about Truman Capote, I always thought about this chubby, bold guy who wrote 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. All true of course, but there was so much more to him. The homosexual Truman Capote, who was born in New Orleans, lived the life of the rich and famous, but also suffered from alcoholism, drug addiction and mental problems. Definitely not a boring life. When you add a few scandals, you can imagine Truman Capote's life wasn't all glamour. After reading the article about Capote in Vanity Fair's december issue, I found out Capote's story has many links with current shows as Gossip Girl. Some similarities are very striking.

Truman Capote began writing at the age of 11, after the divorce of his parents. This made him a lonely boy, one of the reasons he taught himself to read and write. He recalled coming home from school as a little boy, writing short stories for 3 hours. After Capote and his mother moved to New York in 1933, he attended several schools, among which Military School, Greenwich High School and Franklin School. In 1943 he began working as a copy boy at 'The New Yorker', where he was fired 2 years later because he made poet Robert Frost angry.

Whereupon, Capote started writing lots of short stories and many great novels later, of which the most famous are 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', 'In Cold Blood' and 'Other Voices, Other Rooms'. Though Capote was openly homosexual, he spent a lot of time with beautiful and rich ladies, like Gloria Vanderbilt and Lee Radziwill (Jackie O's sister). Capote himself didn't grew up that rich, but he had an obsession with the Upper East Side people and managed to get himself in the crowd. Those people loved him; he was a great story teller and had a charming way of behaving (though he wasn't that good looking ;))

His friendships with many of the forerunners of the it-girls, didn't prevent him from writing gossip or true stories (who knows?) about them. This is where Gossip Girl comes in. Whoever has seen the show, will know the book Dan Humphrey writes in one of the last seasons: Inside. Every chapter is about another character, who also are his friends. Though he says he was writing the truth, you can ask yourself: is it a moral thing to do? He lost a lot of friends by doing this, but he had always been an outsider: a boy from Brooklyn in the Upper East Side, longing to become part of the rich and famous.

40 years earlier, Truman Capote did the same kind of thing. The book where the article in Vanity Fair is about, 'Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Story', contained one chapter, 'La Côte Basque 1965', that provoked a lot of scheme. It was published as an individual chapter in Esquire Magazine (just like the chapters of Inside were published in Vanity Fair and the Spectator) and marks the social suicide of Truman Capote. He calls his female friends 'swans' in the chapter, in stead of their real names but everyone knew who he was talking about.

Until his death in 1984 (he died at the age of 59 of liver cancer) he didn't make up with many of his friends. They felt betrayed and Capote felt he was writing the truth. Maybe it's because he never fully became part of the elite in New York, felt a bit of an outsider anyway, or he just found fame and writing more important than his friendships. He did leave some outstanding books behind and a few unfinished ones (like 'Answered Prayers'). Truman Capote was a genius, but destroyed by vanity (Vanity Fair!), alcohol and drugs. 'All literature is gossip', he once said. And maybe he was right, fact is true that Gossip Girl was inspired by Truman Capote, just in another appearance ;)

Macy Gray presents Stevie Wonder's 'Talking Book'

One of my favourite artists ever, Stevie Wonder, once made a great album, which he called 'Talking Book'. It included songs like 'Superstition', 'You are the Sunshine of my Life' and 'You've got it Bad Girl'. One of my other favourite artists, Macy Gray, decided to cover the entire album and make her own version of it. This was almost 40 years later. It was the first album that was fully covered ever (like Macy said so herself, lots of movies are remade, boobies are remade, etc.) and Macy Gray actually did a great job.

Last Friday, me and my friend Ramai went to see Macy in Melkweg, Amsterdam. Macy would give a concert honouring Stevie Wonder, so we expected she'd only play Stevie's songs. No problem, if you ask me, cause Stevie Wonder is a true legend. The opposite was true. Macy Gray only played a few of Stevie's songs, like 'Tuesday Heartbreak' (I love her version of this one!) and 'You and I'. The rest of the show was dedicated completely to her own songs. Which wasn't that bad, cause Macy has some amazing songs and Ramai and I knew all of them, but I was a bit disappointed she didn't even play 'Superstition'.

Macy and her band gave a marvellous show though. Very loose, no strict playlist and it all seemed very unplanned. The members of her L.A. based band all played an important part in the show. The two big momma's/background singers, both had amazing voices. One of them performed 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas' and the other one a more unknown song. They had an amazing attitude, which was shown even better when they wore two awesome Macy Gray hoodies and big black sunglasses.

Macy looked amazing herself as well. As always, at least the two times I've seen her before, she changes her outfits several times. She started in a beautiful over-the-top pink glitter dress, with a pink boa. Later on she wore a long red dress, which wasn't very special. And she had saved the best outfit for last, a gigantic black dress with lots of tule. She is pretty tall already, but while wearing this dress, she looked a bit unreal. In a good way though. A woman that definitely commands respect.

Her voice wasn't always that brilliant but she really knew how to threw a good party in the Melkweg. Unfortunately it wasn't really a dedication to Stevie Wonder, but when you're in such a vibe, who cares? Macy Gray also tought us a few lessons, on the day the earth DIDN'T break down and only a few days before Christmas. She told us she and her band had discussed the best things in life. Some of them voted for love, some of them voted for sex (including Macy) and some of them voted for money. But they came to the conclusion the best thing in life is freedom. Freedom to say and do whatever you want. This gave me a bit of a glow, since freedom is so very important to me. Which you'll find out in a few days ;)

Anyway, Macy Gray is the leading lady in giving inspiring concerts and to come to my conclusion, if you want to experience a true Stevie Wonder moment, listen to 'Talking Book' performed by himself, but also take time to listen to 'Tuesday Heartbreak' cause Macy Gray really outshined Stevie on this one.

By the way, sorry for the horrible quality of the photos (first one is by Bart Heemskerk), but I somehow managed to forget my camera. Student life is taking its toll on me ;)

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Wherever you are in this world and with whomever you are (friends, family, lovers), may you have lots of chocolates and big Irish coffees!

Whether you are in...

London

Copenhagen


New York City

My lovely Amsterdam

Edinburgh

Paris

Or your own cosy hometown...

May you all have a marvellous, wonderful and glitterful Christmas!

You could be my flamingo, cause pink it's a new kind of lingo

Bored, big-eyed and beautiful, Bambi in pink. Title of this post comes from the song 'Pink' by Aerosmith by the way, those lyrics are just great.

Sinterkerst

Not another Dutch holiday you are not familiar with, but something we (my roomies) created as a handy way to celebrate both Sinterklaas and Christmas at the same time. Since it isn't very easy to find a date with 16 students living in one house.

Anyway, we ate a delicious meal and all both marvellous presents for the house. And we made some amazing pictures of course. After all, what's Christmas without some cheesy photos? Thank god we also made a couple of very spontaneous and original photos. What a couple of sparkles can do for the atmosphere.

UNI2 by Sapling

Result of a shoot I did last week.









"A true sustainable collection that shows the possibilities when we recycle"
Models: Bente Schreurs & Wick van Nierop
Photo: Lucas van Twillert

Designers: Esmay Hijmans, Anbasja Blanken, Sanne van der Wal, Elena Minejeva, Angela Groen
Styling: Angela Groen, Esmay Hijmans, Anbasja Blanken