What I wore in September - Part 1

I have to admit I've been feeling just a tiny bit bereft now that I've finished this year's September travelogue. Now that the last memories have been virtually committed to paper, our time away seems to be well and truly a thing of the past. 

Fear not, though, as we've got another little trip lined up shortly, which I'm really excited about. 

But first things first: it's time for another attempt at catching up, starting with what we did - and more specifically, what I wore - in the week after we came back.

A sweltering 28°C did accompany us on our way home on Sunday the 7th of September, but by Monday the temperature had taken a couple of steps back to a more moderate 23°C. 

I was glad I'd had the foresight of taking an extra day off to deal with the inevitable flurry of post-holiday chores. To cheer myself up, I was wearing one of my all-time favourite Summer skirts. Instantly smitten with its Missoni-esque pattern, it was a no-brainer when I laid eyes on it in a charity shop in the Summer of 2021.

The lobster print top I paired it with was charity shopped new with tags in May 2019. 

Picking up the yellow zig-zags of the skirt, I accessorized my outfit with a flea market find pleated belt and a bubble-gum beaded necklace from a long-gone vintage shop. The turquoise enamelled fish brooch was bought in Ypres during one of our September holidays and the yellow shoes were a post-dentist charity shop find back in April.

Bess was happy to see us and insisted on lots of lap-time, although she'd had more than her fair share of cuddles while we were away as she'd managed to charm her way into her team of catsitters' affections. When our lovely neighbours Wes and Michèle came back from a night out and spotted her sitting behind our front window, they couldn't resist treating her to some nightcap cuddles!

I finished the final chapter of the book I'd started in our holiday cottage. Compared to both Donna Tartt's The Secret History and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca - which is a favourite of mine - I had high expectations for Lucie Whitehouse's The House at Midnight which - although an enjoyable read - it didn't exactly live up to.

My next read, Adriana Trigiani's The Shoemaker's Wife, had been in my reading pile for ages before I finally took the plunge. A slow and long-winded love story spanning two continents and two World Wars, I was soon quite bored with this one, but still managed to get to the end of its 475 pages.

It was back to work - and chaos! - on Tuesday, the only positive news being that it continued to be sunny with balmy temperatures into the low twenties.

I still managed to muster the necessary energy for posing for outfit photos after work on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Wednesday's outfit featured the funky short-sleeved vintage shirt by Finnlene and the brown pleated leather belt I found in the Think Twice sales at the end of August. The pleated green and white zig-zag patterned skirt was a charity shop find back in June and must have been one of my most-worn skirts this Summer. My red shoes were charity shopped a couple of years ago, while the necklace was bought brand new from Accessorize when they briefly had a shop in Antwerp.

The skirt I wore on Thursday was a gift from Claire who used to blog as Winter Peach Photography. From its citrussy colours, I picked orange for my short-sleeved jumper, which, same as the green stretchy belt with its bamboo buckle, was found on the high street.

Both the greyish green wooden necklace and the olive green shoes were charity shopped.

After a short but hectic working week, I was glad that Friday and thus the start of another three-day weekend rolled along.

To celebrate my freedom, I wore a vintage peasant-style C&A dress I found at Think Twice in June 2024. Both the green elastic belt and my burgundy ankle boots were old charity shop finds.

On the menu on Saturday the 13th of September was a mix of clouds and sunny spells, with some heavy rain mid-afternoon and highs of 19°C.

The perfect weather for a rummage at the charity shop, methinks! After our disappointing trip to the one in Poperinge, we were amply rewarded by the goddesses of the charity shops in our edge-of-town shop.

No less than three blouses came home with me. From left to right: ruffle-sleeved Summer top by the Polish clothing brand Nife, long-sleeved blue and white Western style blouse from the Spanish Sfera label and high-necked and long-sleeved floral extravaganza by good old H&M.

Seriously, did I need any more skirts? Probably not, but then I fell in love with this one. I couldn't find any evidence of there ever having been a label, so it might very well be someone's handiwork.

As it's almost impossible to find a pair of trainers which do not have those in-your-face white soles - which I don't like at all - I pounced on this lovely pink and navy pair. They're from the Dutch Van Haren chain and I saw an almost identical pair in their shop just a couple of days later. For just € 5,90, these were mine!

The bookshelves didn't disappoint either, with three more books added to my Tower of Pisa reading pile.

The day's outfit was built around this black and white leopard print skirt by posh label Essentiel Antwerp. I couldn't believe its € 5,30 price tag when I spotted it in a charity shop in February 2023.

My magenta short-sleeved knit was charity shopped in Shrewsbury last year. I added pops of green with my suede belt and wood and raffia beaded necklace (both charity shopped) and enamelled butterfly brooch from a posh second-hand shop back in the mists of time.

Sunday looked set to be a dry day with lots of sunny spells, so we wasted no time in going for a much needed head-clearing walk, for which we chose our beloved Middelheim Sculpture Park.

Finding a parking spot wasn't exactly straightforward, but this was soon forgotten at the sight of a sea of cheerful yellow Rudbeckia which greeted us when we entered the Middelheim-Low part of the park.

Signs of impending Autumn were found in pink-flowered Sedum spectabile, which apparently now goes under the new name of Hylotelephium spectabile. Quite a tongue twister, that.

We wandered at will, following our noses until we passed the Pillared Pavillion by Belgian architect Charles Vandehove (1927-2019). This offers shelter to Sibilla (above, bottom left) by Italian sculptor Pericle Fazzini (1913-1987), and Grande Bagnante N°1 (above, top right). The latter is by another Italian sculptor and contemporary of the aforementioned Mr. Fazzini, Emilio Greco (1913-1995).

The picturesque thatched warden's cottage, Aubette, is currently showcasing merchandise created for the museum shop by The Zangles, a collective of female artists, performers and musicians based in Antwerp.

Crossing the street, we entered the Middelheim-High part of the park, where we sat down on a bench facing the dancing sky tubes which make up the artwork called The Pogo Never Stops.

By Dennis Tyfus (°1979), the work is a nod to the artist's punk roots. It is a nonstop dance performance by thirteen sky tubes, which have drawings of faces and T-shirts of noise bands, its other-worldliness enhanced by the mechanical noise of the blowers driving the tubes.

As we sat there, a couple of children were running riot between the tubes, pinning some of them down by sitting on them, while their parents sat watching them disinterestedly. Sadly, none of the museum wardens were in sight, as both children and parents would certainly have received a good talking to. 

Intriguingly, when we visited the park again last week, the installation had gone ...

Oh, how I wish for some aliens to whisk some people away to their planet for due punishment!

I'll finish this post with a final outfit. Again, magenta was the colour of choice for my blouse, another peasant-style one I snapped up in last January's sales. The maxi skirt was charity shopped in June 2022, and has had many admirers since, yours truly obviously among them. 

My belt - the same one I wore in this post's second outfit - came from Think Twice, while my necklace was charity shopped and my brooch picked up in a Shrewsbury antique shop last year.

I'll be back with more September outfits in a couple of days. See you soon!