What I wore in September - Part 2

Time is marching on relentlessly. In just a matter of days, we'll be turning the calendar's page to the year's penultimate month. Still, no matter how hard I try, my blog keeps running way behind the times, so let me whizz you through the rest of the month of September.

The weather in the week of the 15th of September was a jumble of clouds, sunny spells and showers, with temperatures ranging from 18 to 22°C.

Work continued to be hectic and chaotic, leaving me too tired to do anything else than flop down on the sofa after work. I'd been feeling a bit out of sorts as well, slightly nauseous and headachy, as if one of my migraines was coming on. Consequently, not a single outfit photo was taken.

By the end of the week, the weather gods decided to crank up the thermostat one last time, treating us to highs of 27°C on Friday.

Not having to go into work, I woke up feeling completely revived, a sure sign that all of my ailments were work stress related.

Still, there was no rest for the wicked, as I had a hairdresser's appointment at 10 am. To save me the bother of using public transport, Jos drove me into Antwerp. As I was early, I was ambling around taking a couple of photos - just look at that deep blue sky! - when I was approached by a girl with a camera. She introduced herself as a photography student and asked if she could take my photo.

She told me she was looking for people with individual style and loved what I was wearing.  As you can imagine, this really made my day!

This was my outfit of the day, which wasn't even something all that special in my book.

My skirt was bought brand new on the high street a couple of years ago. The sailor-style short-sleeved jumper is from Belgian retro label Who's That Girl by way of a charity shop, while the green shoes were an adventurous buy from Think Twice in September 2023. The bee brooch I pinned to my jumper was found at the indoor flea market in April 2024 and, finally, the green and yellow beaded necklace - from Les Cordes, one of my favourite brands - was a birthday present from my friend Inneke.

Hair freshly and expertly cut by Michel,  I went for a quick browse in the charity shop near the salon and fell for this brick coloured, ruffled Soaked in Luxury blouse. As the weather had taken a turn for the worse by the time I was ready to photograph it, the colour isn't exactly true to life. Fear not, though, as you'll get to see me wearing it very soon.

Saturday was mostly cloudy but very humid and muggy at around 23°C, with lots of rain in the afternoon.

I dug out one of my Diolen Delights - a Think Twice find in the Spring of 2024 - adding a charity shopped snake print belt at my waist. The silver and gold patterned ankle boots were found in a second-hand pop-up shop in Antwerp in April 2023.

The eagle-eyed among you might have noticed the postcard propped on the shelf in front of the glass-fronted cabinet behind me. It was a lovely surprise found in a recently charity shopped book, where apparently it had been used as a bookmark. The perfect reminder to make another batch of Welsh cakes soon! Go on, do have a try if you like. They're absolutely delicious!

For some reason, nothing felt quite right that day and even going for a rummage wasn't exactly  straightforward. We'd planned to drive to the shop in Mechelen, where we hadn't been for ages, but as this was complicated due to roadworks, we decided to go to the three-floored shop near the park in Duffel instead. Here, however, we found the car park being chock-a-block, so that there was nothing for it but to make a U-turn and driveve back the way we'd come.

We were about to give up and call it a day, when we remembered the charity shop in Reet. This is one of the smaller shops and tends to be a bit hit or miss. However, as if to make up for our thwarted plans, I was in luck this time around. 

First up is the teal retro-style Wow To Go dress on the left. I used to be a big fan of the label, which was considered to be the grown-up sister of the aforementioned Whose That Girl, back in the day. In fact, I even bought this particular dress in one of their sample sales about 12 years ago. Sadly, it had become too small and I'd moved it on, although for some reason I'd kept the belt. A very serendipitous thing to do, as my new acquisition came without one!

The zipper front dress on the right is a King Louie in a thick knit and I've got plans to wear it this Winter with a contrasting pair of opaques.

I also grabbed two blouses: a ruffled one with a lovely leafy pattern (above), which is from a Paris label I'd never heard of called Daphnea ... 

... and a black floral tie-neck one by Zoë Loveborn, which I wore on Sunday the 21st of September. 

I patterned mixed it with a skirt in similar colours and picked up the green bits in both garments with one of my beaded necklaces and a stretchy belt.

And just like that, Summer had come and gone, and we now found ourselves officially in Autumn.

What's more, it was a miserable start to the new season, with granite grey skies, lots of rain and a considerable drop in temperature.

To cheer ourselves up we booked a couple of days at our favourite B&B near Bruges for the first week of November. Not long now!

The weather continued to be cold and miserable, with highs of only 16°C, in the last week of September, when the weather gods presented us with the kind of soul-destroying murky days on which daylight hardly gets a look in.

Work continued to be relentless too, but at least my energy levels were up, so that I was more than happy to show you what I was wearing on the Wednesday of that week.

My dress with its Art Deco style pattern was another King Louie which I found during one of our rare visits to the Oxfam second-hand shop in Wilrijk in June 2021. The long orange cardigan and necklace were charity shop finds, as were the slouchy tan boots.

T2 was having another round of their famous sales and with prices down to € 4 by Wednesday, my weekly cappuccino catch-up with Inez was followed by a rummage, which yielded a green wallpaper patterned short-sleeved dress and a blue and red patterned oatmeal blouse.

I also found a peach coloured vintage slip - these things are rare as hens teeth these days - but the colour didn't photograph well, so that I'm afraid you'll have to use your imagination.

And so we've arrived at September's final weekend, starting with Friday the 26th.

A cold wind was blowing from the East, but had thankfully died down by late afternoon.

I made a start with my wardrobe changeover - always a very daunting and lengthy project - switching around some of my skirts and coats. Unfortunately, I haven't got the space to leave everything out all year round, which would make things a lot easier.

Another King Louie with an Art Deco style pattern, my blouse was charity shopped back in June. Its companion, a green zig-zaggy St. Michael skirt, was a gift from Vix which I keep reaching for time and again. 

A wine red belt, greyish green wooden necklace, multi-coloured glass ring and green squirrel brooch completed my outfit.

We were looking after our neighbours' three cats, Bobby, Billie and Pip, that weekend, so we walked over for final instructions before doing a food shop in the afternoon.

We were treated to the odd sunny spell and highs of 18°C on Saturday, which I guess wasn't too bad for the time of year.

For its first outing, I paired my recently charity shopped Soaked in Luxury blouse with a floral extravaganza of a skirt in shades of burnt orange, blue, pink and fudge on a chocolate brown background. I pinned one of my vintage brooches at the blouse's neck (but might have wrecked it by doing so) and chose a multi-coloured beaded necklace picked up from the charity shop in Poperinge many years ago. The tan leather belt with its unusual buckle was charity shopped earlier this year.

Apart from the pleasurable task of feeding the the cats across the road and playing with youngster Pip, we hadn't chalked in any plans for the day. I continued with my wardrobe changeover and then we dropped off a couple of bags of donations at the charity shop in Mortsel in the afternoon.

In return, these two books came home with me.

We continued to be in the weather gods' good books on Sunday, when we went for a walk in Hof ter Linden after lunch. The castle is still under renovation which seems to be coming along nicely. For some reason, I only took a handful of photos that day - none of them of the castle's progress, alas.

Proof of a lack of rain over Summer is in the puddle (below, bottom right) which was all that was left of the mysterious pool I first laid eyes on back in April ...

Finally, here's a look at the dress I was wearing that day. It's from a Finnish labels called Heikkilä and, although it was a Think Twice find quite a while ago, I believe this was its very first outing.

My necklace, belt and Mephisto boots - which are my preferable footwear for Autumn walks - were all charity shopped at one time or another.

I'll try to squeeze in one more post before we are off on our next adventure. If not, see you on the other side!

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!

Sunny days in the West(hoek)

It's the final installment of my September travelogue. And about time too, as it's now more than six weeks ago that we woke up to sunshine streaming in through our window on Friday the 5th of September. 

The weather forecast for the day ahead looked very promising, with highs of 22°C, which felt positively balmy now that the wind had finally taken a backseat. We had thrown open the cottage's French window while having breakfast and were enjoying the antics of the resident sheep (a.k.a. the lawnmowers), when a telltale sound coming from across the road made us leap up from our seats and walk over to the cottage's front door. Yes, it was that time of year again: hop picking had finally commenced!

We decided to make the most of the fact that the weather gods were on their best behaviour by going for a walk and enjoy the bounty nature has to offer. Not wanting to stray too far that day, we'd selected Helleketelbos (bos is the Flemish word for wood), which, in theory, would involve a drive of less than 15 minutes.

However, as there were roadworks along the route which would normally take us there, we decided to catch two birds with one stone and take the road we could see in the far distance when looking towards the Franco-Flemish hills from our balcony. 

A couple of houses on said road had been catching our attention for years, so we were wondering if we would be able spot our cottage if we'd seek these out. And we could! As it was in the shade, however, it wasn't exactly straightforward to pick it out among the surrounding trees, so I've added a helpful pink arrow for you!

From there, finding Helleketelbos should have been a doddle. After all, the road we were now on was called Helleketelweg (weg being the Flemish word for road), so we presumed that this was where it led to. So, we refrained from entering our destination in our Satnav, deciding to rely on our - admittedly shaky - sense of direction and a rudimentary map. 

Well, what can I say? Those winding country lanes did get the better of us so that, after literally driving around in circles, we finally admitted defeat and tasked Truus, our Satnav with the Dutch accent, with pointing us into the right direction.

By the time we finally made it there, our shattered nerves were sorely in need of a spot of Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. It was then that we remembered that, in spite of the existence of numbered markers which correspond with the handy map we were carrying, we always seem to end up getting lost here.

So, why not throw caution to the wind and start our walk the other way around, taking the path we usually - and eventually - arrive back on?

This seemed to have done the trick, as we finished our walk without any hiccups whatsoever. Or perhaps we have finally learned from our past mistakes?

Helleketelbos covers an area of around 56 hectares. The name Helleketel, which literally translates as Hell's Cauldron, is not as ominous as it sounds. In old Flemish the word helle means hillside and ketel refers to a depression at the bottom of a slope. 

Helleketelbos is a remnant of an early medieval forest. The current wood consists of plots of deciduous, coniferous and mixed woodland and is surrounded by agricultural land. 

At the edge of the wood is a small half-timbered farm labourer's cottage, which used to be part of a large farmstead. It is locally known as the Witches Cottage. The cottage, which is in an enclosure with a picnic area, has been restored in recent years. Sadly, however, signs of vandalism are already apparent, with one of the windows giving access to the basement having been smashed to smithereens.

We rested here for a while, but as we hadn't brought a picnic and it was getting late, our faintly rumbling stomachs demanded that we drive back to our cottage for lunch. This was followed by a siësta, after which we drove down to Poperinge.

Here, we started with a visit to the local charity shop, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Although I've found many a treasure here over the years, the stock wasn't up to scratch at all this time around and prices were considerably higher than where we live. I mean, € 11,50 for a dress, that's almost double what we're generally paying here.

We then continued to St. Jan's Kerk (St. John's Church), which has its origins in the 13th Century. The church is a well-known place of pilgrimage, connected with the nearby Mirakelhuisje (Miracle House) where it is said a stillborn child was brought back to life by Our Lady of St. John in 1479.

About 400 meters from the Market Place it is a little bit out of our way, so that it was only our second visit to the church in the 14 years we've been coming here.

But it was the Market Place we'd come for, and more specifically, the terrace of well-known establishment La Poupée, for an afternoon treat of waffles and cups of cappuccino.

Although we were already salivating at the mere thought, we stopped to photograph the magnificent neo-Gothic town hall for the umpteenth time. 

Our last day, Saturday the 6th of September, dawned sunny with some light clouds, which the sun would soon make short shrift of. With highs of 25°C forecasted for the day, there was no need for a jacket, so I made do with my faithful haori style cover-up to protect my arms from the sun.

This time, we stayed even closer to the cottage for our morning walk. 

A short stroll along a bumpy unsurfaced path, the whitewashed chapel of Ons Heerens Boompje (literally translated as Our Lord's little Tree) would have been visible from our balcony if only some trees hadn't been in the way. 

The top of our cottage was visible from the path we were walking on, basking in sunshine across a field of cabbages (above, top right).

Harvest was in full swing as we walked along the maize fields, until we came to a sign nailed to a fence post and pointing us towards the chapel, which, as you have probably gathered, is kapel in Flemish.

Quite why there were two signs, if even one would have been superfluous as at that point the chapel in its copse of trees was clearly visible, we'll never know. 

It is a so-called "fever chapel", where people come to pray for the relief of fever and pain as well as miracles in general.

The bushes and trees surrounding the chapel are hung with ribbons, handkerchiefs and other pieces of fabric - indeed in some cases whole garments - since legend has it that this would make fever or pain go away.

We usually burn a small candle here, for whatever it's worth. Last time we were here, though, in September 2020, we only had a € 5 note on us. In order get our money's worth, we lighted both a small candle and votive candle, and took a spare votive candle back with us as a souvenir.

If we were hoping of invoking the odd little miracle, we could never have guessed that it would actually work. As it was, exactly nine months later Jos's youngest grandson was born, although his parents had long ago given up hope.

Again, we had lunch at the cottage followed by a little siësta, after which I went to post a letter at the post office. 

Only joking! The post office I am about to enter in the above photo is part of an open air museum called Bachten de Kupe, about 20 kilometers from Poperinge.

The museum introduces you to the fascinating traditions of yesteryear.

It is a reconstructed farming village from the Westhoek region and consists of 46 authentic buildings, the oldest of which dates back to 1650, as well as thousands of objects that bring the past back to life. 

Old cobbled streets lead you through a village with shops, an inn, a farmhouse, and much more. Too much really, as every available nook and cranny is crammed full of stuff, which makes the interiors of the shops and other buildings a bit confusing and unrealistic.

Whether this is down to a lack of funds to properly display all the objects the museum is being donated, I have no idea, but somehow I can't help feeling that it's a bit of a missed opportunity.

It didn't really help that our visit coincided with that of a coachload of slightly inebriated folk, who were talking and laughing too loud and were making fun of some of the exhibits. A couple even attempted to ride the bicycles which were on display! Trying to keep one step ahead of them was our main object, but in the end they were literally everywhere.

Still, my camera kept working overtime, so here are some snapshots of the things which caught my eye.

After our rounds of the village, we finished our visit with a drink on the terrace of the inn on the village square. Service here was quite confusing as well, but we managed to get our order of non-alcoholic beers in the end!

So, that was it, our September holiday 2025. 

We spent our last night wistfully staring out of our window, and noting the progress made by the hop pickers in just one day, leaving a huge chunk of the hop poles bare.

It will be business as usual in my next post, starting with a massive round-up of September outfits.

See you soon!