http://parismorningsnewyorknights.blogspot.com/2015/12/an-ode-to-san-francisco.html Wild Young Minds: September 2012

Monday, September 24, 2012

Dreaming of McQueen

Though the genius has passed away for a couple of years already, the label stays really qualitative and inspiring. I really loved this advertorial. It's simple yet full of beautiful details, light and charming yet gothic and deepminded. Corinna by Sandro Bäbler in “Dreaming of McQueen” for Fashion Gone Rogue

Saturday, September 22, 2012

I'm in Italian Vogue!

Last week I found out there's a photo of me in the September Issue of Italian Vogue! Miriam de Waard, the designer who graduated from KABK in The Hague last june, was featured in this issue. A small photo, but a marvellous thought!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

'The Seven Year Itch': iconically, fresh and funny

Every single person alive must have seen the iconic Marilyn Monroe photo once in his/her life. Marilyn Monroe, in a white dress, standing on a subway grate, when a train passes and her dress is blown by the passing train. Recently, I've seen the movie in which this famous scene takes place: 'The Seven Year Itch', directed by Billy Wilder in 1954.

As a fervent Audrey Hepburn fan, the step to watch a Marilyn Monroe movie wasn't a small one. But after I'd seen 'Some like it Hot', I found out she really is a hilarious actress. Not in a bad way (she isn't good either) but very adorable. She always plays the sexy type with whom men have an affair. I can imagine that must've been hard for her, to always play a type like that. But back in those days, actors and actresses were more likely to play a specific type in every movie. Audrey Hepburn had the same problem. Though I'm not sure she'd mind, can't fill that in for her!

Anyway, 'The Seven Year Itch' is about Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell), who is a middle-aged publisher (a bit of a geek, for he always talks to himself) and stays home the entire summer for work, while his wife and son are having a vacation in Maine. Richard and his wife have been married for seven years and his wife tends to play his mother. One summer evening, he works on a book in which a psychiatrist talks about the problem many men have in the seventh year of marriage - they cheat more often. After this, Richard imagines having a conversation with his wife where he tries to tell her that he's very irresistible to women and she laughs it off.

While he's imagining this, a tomato plant falls from the window above him, and he meets a woman who he invites over for a drink. This woman is Marilyn, and she's exactly like she is in 'Some like it hot': beautiful, naive and a bit dumb. She is a model and actress, she plays in a commercial for tooth paste.

The next few days, they spend more time together and though Richard imagines himself doing all kinds of things, like trying to grab her whereupon she tells everyone and Richard's wife finds out. All these things don't really happen, which makes the movie very comical. In real life, nothing happens, Marilyn knows Richard is married, but she only finds this reassuring. But of course the power of attraction grows and grows...

The famous scene is not that special at all, it lasts for only a few minutes and it doesn't play any important part in the film. However, the dress is now an icon of the film industry and it became a real inspiration for many designers in the fifties and sixties.

'The Seven Year Itch' isn't a film of major quality (and the parts where Richard talks to himself, can be a bit annoying) but when you're sitting on the couch on a rainy sunday, you should definitely see it. It's iconically, fresh and funny. Just like Marilyn was. Or at least, appeared to be.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Those lazy hazy crazy days of summer...


I wish that summer could always be here

Sunday, September 16, 2012

One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain

Last week, my weekend consisted of nothing (except work) but music. Friday night Ramai and I went to Appelpop, a free festival in the neighbourhood. The atmosphere was good, but unfortunately it was extremely crowded and the people were mostly a bit young or a bit old. Not the Lowlands kind, if you know what I mean ;)





But the artists were very, very good. We mainly saw artists we had already seen before but that was no problem, because we liked them so much we could've seen them perform on and on. We saw Chef' Special, Selah Sue, de Jeugd van Tegenwoordig and Within Temptation. I really love Chef' Special, I found myself having a crush on both the lead singer and the guitarist (have the feeling I told you this before) immediately, the first time I saw them. Selah Sue is one of my heroes, de Jeugd van Tegenwoordig always make a good party and Within Temptation actually was the only band I didn't really like that much but because Ramai is crazy about them (and I am so kind!) we went to see them anyway.




On Sunday I visited Avalon in Maastricht, a place in the south of the Netherlands (2,5 hours by train from Amsterdam!), where she lives since last month, and we went to a free festival as well. The line-up wasn't as good as Appelpop, but we did see our favourite band again: Will and the People. It was a lovely summer night, relaxt and filled with good music.


Saturday, September 15, 2012

Vogue Fashion Night Out

One of the many benefits of living in Amsterdam, is that there's always something to do - anywhere. In this case there was a lot to do - everywhere. Vogue Netherlands organized the very first Dutch Vogue Fashion Night Out (this concept has been a great succes in among others New York, Paris and Berlin).




The shops in P.C. Hooftstraat (which is the Dutch Champs Elysées or Fifth Avenue, compare it to your preference) and surrounding streets were open until 10 pm and the Bijenkorf (a large Dutch department store) was open until 11 pm.







All the stores handed out many delicious drinks (most of the time champagne, but also cocktails and wine), snacks such as cupcakes and sushi and there was a lot to see (clothes but also many fashion people) and to do (like having your picture taking with Viktor & Rolf or shoot your own Vogue cover).



I couldn't miss this event, so I went with a friend and her schoolmates. We had a wonderful time (didn't expect anything else) and didn't become bored a single time. For this was my first time in the P.C. Hooftstraat, for the fact that I saw a lot of famous Dutch persons such as presenter Valerio, actors, designers as Judith Osborn, tv personalities as Bastiaan van Schaik, models as Ymre Stiekema and the woman that has the job I desire most: Vogue Editor-in-Chief Karin Swerink. And also for the fact that I saw saxophonist Candy Dulfer perform and Selah Sue (it was the fifth time I saw her but that didn't make her less talented.




Unfortunately we didn't took a picture with Viktor & Rolf (the line was way too long, it would've taken us two hours to get in), but we did take advantage of the many free drinks.

At the end of the night, we went to The Bijenkorf to see what was happening over there and that was where I saw one of my favourite designers Iris van Herpen. She looked extremely thin and as if she hadn't slept in days (which is probably true anyway) but my friend did got her looking straight in the camera when she took a photo. God, I know it sounds cheesy, but how fabulous to say that I stood right next to her.



At the same time a photographer asked if she could have my picture taken for the Vogue website. I felt extremely honoured (it was already the second time this happened to me since I moved to Amsterdam) and pleased immediately. The moment I saw my picture on the Vogue Site between the other 20 photos, listed best dressed of the night, I felt, well, really happy.



After we saw Selah Sue (we didn't see the complete concert, cause we were really tired) we took the tram back home but we had a lovely and not unimportant, free night filled with fashion. I hope for more of these nights to come!