Cocktail dress without the cocktails - but with daylight

Quick question: what do hotel rooms, cocktail lounges and student beer bars have in common?

Answer: they all lack daylight for shooting nice photos!

And if you're drinking your mojitos or whisky sours when there actually is daylight.. all I'm saying is that I'm not judging! :-P

Now if I were a social celebrity like Paris Hilton which admittedly I am not,.. I would be inclined to arrive at a club and have a few people just take photos of me on a red carpet with their incessant flashing. That way, I would have already some nice clear pics of my dress that night. But since that was not the case (duh), I had to "settle" for a small photo and video shoot during the day in Rotterdam.

As you can see, it's not the typical dress one would wear if you're just strolling along the water. And yes... I did get some strange looks by joggers and people who were walking their dogs, but these days.. I stopped caring what other people might think!

I get a lot of compliments about my super sized sunglasses and I do like how they give me this look of a movie star who wants remain inconspicuous while at the same time obviously drawing all the attention to herself! :P

It was also very very windy and chilly, so after these photos I quickly changed my pumps for boots by Forever 21 (hands down, my favourite boots!). Perhaps not as effective as a winter coat or my snowboard jacket, but still warmer. :P

Again, I'm sure while shooting these photos a lot of people sitting on their balconies were looking down trying to figure what these crazy people were doing.

Like I write in my previous post, we also filmed a little video clip. When posting these video clips on YouTube, I get a lot of people sending me messages with request. Now some of them.. I'm not even going to put into words here,.. because seriously .. EWW! However, one of the more normal requests was that they would love the hear the sound of clicking heels. And that is something I could totally do.. so I hope you all like this! :)

Almost like a real professional photo shoot - part 3

Alrighty then! I planned on doing these three blog posts all three after each other.. but somehow.. social life got in the way. And since I do want this blog to also be a representation of what's going on in my life.. interruptions were sometimes necessary. So without further ado, here's the third instalment.. and I hope the reception to this is more like it was to The Last Crusade than to Return of the Jedi.

(and if you don't get that analogy.. you have some brushing up to do with respect to your movie knowledge!)

So, in the second post.. I had already changed into my yellow dress, but because I was changing in the open air, I was still wearing my jeans. We all agreed it looked quite fashionable.. so we shot some pics. Of course, the idea of the yellow dress was ultimately to wear it with bare legs and sexy high heeled sandals. So, off with the jeans and the boots!

Not much to tell about this shots, since I'm not wearing that much! The dress is still by Lila, the high heeled sandals are from Dorothy Perkins.. and the legs and hair are by yours truly. :P

Speaking of hair, one of the fun things I like to do with my hair is to just grab it all.. and throw it in the hair and let the photographer burst shoot a handful of photos. Of the bunch, I thought this one was quite nice. What do you think?

Everyone who knows me.. knows that I like full body shots.. mainly because I'm a shoe person.. and I like to see what people are wearing on their feet. I admit, however, that sometimes partials shots are also pretty cool. Especially when they're done by a skilled photographer.. and we have already established that that is the case!

The place where we were doing this small shot also had a few concrete slabs on which they put antenna masts.. and of course,.. I climbed on top of those slaps in my 5 inch heels just to get this shot. Vanity, it does make me do some rather stupid things.. but whenever I see that the photos turn out really nice, I can say without a shred of doubt that it was all worth it!

Hope you enjoyed the three posts of this semi-pro photo-shoot. Like I said, it was awesome and I hope I get more of this opportunities!

Meanwhile, I made a small video of me in my cocktail dress that I wore during my cocktail night two months ago. During the evening and night, I only took a few pics.. since the focus was on drinking! :P Therefore, the next day I asked a friend to film me in daylight. I will write a post about that.. but for the impatient among us, I included it down here for ease of clicking. :)

Shoes and art - my love for high heels

The plan for this post was to be the third and last instalment of the semi-pro photo-shoot, but since life doesn't always always follow a strict planning.. neither will this blog. The yellow dress with bare legs and strappy high-heeled sandals will have to wait a few days! :-P

I pride myself in knowing and fully acknowledging what my weaknesses are.. and my number one weakness without exception are high-heeled shoes! Pumps, boots, the above-mentioned strappy sandals.. preferably thin.. and even more preferably high! 4 or 5 inches.. and I'll only consider 3 if the shoes are very very pretty and meant for 8 to 10 hours of walking.

So, last Friday.. I was reminded that there was an exhibit of the history of high heels in the Rotterdam Art Hall (Kunsthal) and that they would be open until the 11th of May. So my friend Mireille and I headed there in the morning (since I had other appointments in the afternoon) and after a capucino.. we entered the world of SHOES!

I must tell you, my words will no do justice to all the fantabulous shoes one can see! They go from the outrageous as pictured above to the classical ones below. If you have the opportunity, you should go! Like now! Finish the blog when you get back home! :-P

The designer of the shoe on the left should be super (like duh) obvious to anyone with a bit of high-heel shoe knowledge. Yes, they are Louboutins and they are beautiful.. and I still want one or two pairs!

Needless to say, I had get a photo of myself with a couple of his earlier designs.. you can see I'm quite happy there! Don't worry though, I wasn't neglecting the other gorgeous shoes as you can see on the right. ;-)

Of course, I also did some photography myself, since all these shoes gave me so much inspiration! And an exhibit about high-heels would not be complete without a quote of the Sex and The City star Sarah Jessica Parker, right?

We had a great time at the exhibit and after a nice lunch, we went outside.. looked at our own shoes.. took a few pics of ourselves and then we hit the road! I will leave you with the following inspirational quote.. I think it speaks truth! :-D

Almost like a real professional photo shoot - part 2

So like I wrote in the previous post, that during this semi-pro shooting session, it was a beautiful and sunny day! And in my book, any day with lots of sunshine really asks for a dress, skirt or shorts.. basically anything where bare legs can be shown. I tell ya, there's nothing quite like the feeling of the wind flowing past smooth legs.

Still.. when I was changing into my dress, there was a brief moment when I was both wearing my jeans, my boots and the dress at the same time. And the consensus was.. that it was not such a bad combo. I liked it at least, so that's why I'm sharing it with you all!

In my previous post, I also didn't mention the boots.. which of course must be rectified. :-P These boots are from H&M, 5.5 inch heels with a modest platform. They're quite high, so I'm not gonna go on a day long shopping trip, but they do fit well. To give you all an example: during this shoot I actually climbed fences,.. that's how well they fit!

So, after the getting rid of the top and the jacket, I put on a cute yellow dress from Lila (that's the brand, not the colour). Perfect for summer weather.. so I expect to wear it quite often in the coming months. The one thing I don't really like about it is the meshed waist.. just a bit too revealing for my taste, so I covered that up with a black belt. Perhaps that also has to do with the fact that I'd rather show off my legs than my waist. :-P

Speaking of showing off legs, that will be the subject of the third and last post, where I got rid of the skinny jeans and changed the boots for my high-heeled stiletto sandals. Quite the challenge to walk around and not sinking into the sand and grass.

Sure, I could've worn wedge heels or sneakers.. but where's the fun in that?

Partying in Belgium!

We interrupt this three-part series on the semi-pro photo-shoot for a quick post on my weekend partying with my girlfriends! My work situation is really demanding at the moment and sometimes it just drains all the energy out of me. So,.. no surprise if I grab any chance to get away from it all and drive to my friends and hang with them! Last weekend, I visited my friend Julie and she had also invited another friend, Iris.

3 girls wanting to get ready, 1 bathroom... I guess these kind of logistical problems are normal in any house/apartment. Fortunately, that did give me time to get some pre-party shots of me in my red dress!

The boots are my trusty black boots with 5 inch heel from Forever 21. And this gorgeous red (the official colour is oxblood) bodycon dress is from Love which I got from ASOS. Can you believe that it was only 15 euros?!

Yes, we also do the traditional selfie (ussie?) of us just before the party! :P

I think it's safe to say that all of us had a great time at the party! Great atmosphere.. had a reasonable amount of white wine.. and lots of fun chatting with all my friends. On top of that, the songs they played completely put me in the mood for some midnight dancing,.. so that's what we did! :)

Having an awesome time with friends.. the smiles say it all!

It's quite a long drive for me to see most of these friends at this monthly party (I don't go that often), but I have never regretted going. It's totally worth it and I have smile on my face that lasts well into the next weekend!

Paying the fees and making funny faces while I'm at it. :P

So after the party ended, it was time to go back to the car, pay the parking fees and head back home to go to bed (well.. after a last beer, that is..) and dream about wonderful night.

To all who were there, thanks for an awesome night!

Almost like a real professional photo shoot - part 1

It would be a fair thing to say that I love photography and videography, both in an active way as well as in the sense of the subject being captured. In the digital sense that is... not the creepy stalker driving a van with tinted windows kind of way!

It would also be a fair thing to say there are hints of narcissism and vanity present in me.. especially when I'm all dressed up,.. but a little bit of this is not a really bad thing, I hope? Yes.. I do look in every mirror when I'm shopping in stores and I do try get glimpses of my reflections in the store windows, but (and please do say so if I'm wrong),.. I don't act like a spoilt princess. :-P

Considering all of this, it then comes as no suprise that I love a photoshoot.. and what I love even more is when it's a photoshoot that in terms of photographer skills, guidance and equipment almost approaches that of a professional setting. Last week, I was lucky enough to have myself photographed by a good friend who is a) good with cameras & equipment b) good with editing software.. and most importantly c) a dresser.. thus familiar with all the challenges of capturing the femininity.

It was a very sunny day and again, I wanted to stay away from the true-and-tried darkish black, grey, brown colours. We did three outfits that afternoon (the second outfit being a cross-over between the first and the third one). And this is the first outfit, as you can see.. quite colourful and happy: a pair of lightblue skinny jeans, a pink top and white cream jacket. Nothing too special, but it doesn't need to be that all the time, right?

Besides the photographer and me, there was another person present during the shoot.. and she was not just there for moral support. She also moved around with a separate flash.. giving me that extra needed light.. which perhaps counter-intuitively is more the case on a bright sunny. She and I were following the photographer's orders to the letter and I must say, occasionally.. that's very nice when doing a shoot.

We didn't do any video filming that afternoon, because of course.. that would also have to be done in a semi-professional way. And that would've meant a much longer session with lots more work. Hopefully, we'll get to that in the near future!

For now, I just wanted to thank my photographer and partner for a wonderful day! :-D

The post with the second and third outfit will follow soon, but I might mix it up with other stuff. Stay tuned!

Casual in the sun - red jeans, black high heeled boots

So, for some (both women *and* man), dresses are the epitome of femininity and when I was younger (and arguably a bit more stupid) I agreed wholeheartedly! Nowadays, I'm a bit more flexible in my ideas on women's clothing.. and on stuff in general!

During the last few years, I have been observing what fashionable women have been wearing other than pretty dresses and I have grown to genuinely love the simple skinny jeans + top combination. Of course, in my case, the outfit should always include heels... because it's me we're talking about.. and I'm pretty much incorrigible when it comes to heels.

Seeing as the obvious choice for jeans would be something in a blue-ish colour, I decided to try something different.. red.. because apparently, I have a thing for primary colours.

Also, I'm quite the lazy type, so I added a white top which according to Glamour Magazine is one of the "10 Wardrobe Essentials Every Woman Should Own". You can Google the webpage yourself, because they shamelessly turned this list into a 60-page slideshow. I understand that they want to earn some ad revenue.. but this is ridiculous.

Another thing I would never have thought about 10 years ago is wearing a cardigan. I think it says something about my evolved dressing mentality that all my 5 cardigans were acquired in the last 18 months. And coincidentally, a black cardigan is also on Glamour Magazine's list.. just putting it out there! ;-)

As always, there is a video of me wearing the outfit, but it's a rather short one... because despite the sunny rays, it was quite windy and rather cold! So, after shooting a bit of video.. we quickly focused on shooting pictures. Unfortunately, because the car was nice and warm, shooting more video footage of this casual jeans/top outfit was quickly forgotten. I hope I can be forgiven for that,.. next time I'll try to get more.