The bounty of Spring

The gorgeous weather we were treated to in the run-up to the official start of Spring continued on Thursday the 20th of March, with highs of around 20°C.

As I'd planned another lunch time outing to explore the delights the city of Antwerp has to offer, I'd taken my camera into work again. 

The destination I had in mind would involve another tram ride. However, arriving at the tram stop opposite my office building, it turned out it was running late, which meant I wouldn't be able to make it there and back within my 45 minute lunch break.

 

Time for a plan B, which was walking the length of the Meir, Antwerp's main shopping thoroughfare, which is quite literally around the corner from the office. Not for a spot of shopping, mind you! I was intent on keeping my eyes peeled for the splendour which is to be found well above the generally uninspiring and generic shop fronts.

But let's have a look at what I was wearing first. 

My red skirt, with its blowsy indigo and white flower pattern, is vintage, and was picked up for a song at Think Twice in March 2023. 

Its companion for the day was a funky Western style blouse from the defunct Belgian Who's That Girl label. It was part of a haul from an Outlet shop in the Autumn of 2022.

Brooch: vintage, flea market find.

Belt: fast fashion turned slow by having become a wardrobe staple eons ago.

The midday sun was shining brightly in a cloudless sky of the purest azure blue. The canvas of blue offered a striking contrast with the white tower cranes on the building site where the Meir almost seamlessly segues with the Leysstraat with its opulent 19th Century buildings.

The cranes, which look like mighty giants, are marring Sir Anthony van Dyck's view towards the object of his desire. And no, it's not the rather demure lady on the top left!

It is obvious that he only has eyes for the mesmerizing Electra! Gilded, winged and holding aloft a lightning bolt in each hand, she is taking pride of place on top of the neck-shaped gable gracing a monumental department store built in neo-Flemish renaissance style in 1901. 

I can't really blame him as I've got a soft spot for her too! Her creator was the Belgian sculptor Emile Jespers (1862-1918). 

Initially, the shop space was occupied by electricity business Moyson. However, as early as 1910 the property was incorporated into the adjacent Grands Magasins Leonhard Tietz. As Tietz was German, the department store was placed under sequestration after the end of World War I in 1918. In 1920, it was sold by the Belgian state to Les Grands Magasins A l'Innovation, now still going under the name Inno.

Looking at the wealth of eclectic monumental late 19th century architecture which graces both sides of the Leysstraat, it's nothing short of mind-boggling that these were partially threatened with demolition in 1964. Thankfully, in 1971 this unique ensemble of residential and commercial houses was protected  for its architectural value. 

All the photos in the above collage were snapped while I gaped open-mouthed at the variety in construction and decoration, the sumptuous gables in their varying heights, the more austere neoclassical style enlivened by playful neo-Gothic baroque. 

There is, however, an imposter, as the building on the top right is actually on the Meir, and not the Leysstraat. It is the entrance of the famous Stadsfeestzaal, the former City Festival Hall built in 1908. Now an opulent shopping centre, I promise to blog about it some time.

The weather gods amped up the temperature a couple of degrees to a lofty 22°C on Friday the 21st, with the gentlest of breezes carrying the delicate scents of budding Spring in the air.

I was determined not to waste such a beautiful day inside, but again I'm taking you through my outfit first. 

The skirt is another vintage one, wrestled from a shop dummy in our most local charity shop all of six years ago. The King Louie cardigan, which I'm wearing here as a lightweight jumper, was recently found at the same shop. 

My accessories were a mix of new and new-to-me, the butterfly brooch and necklace of wooden disks being the former and the ring and belt being the latter. All have been in my wardrobe forever. The necklace in particular, which was bought from Accessorize when many years ago they had a shop around the corner from my office, has made countless appearances on the blog.

As Jos - or more to the point, his bladder - wasn't up to walking for any length of time, and my friend Inez was babysitting her grandchildren that day, there was nothing for it but to go for a solo walk.

Hof ter Linden, in the neighbouring village of Edegem, being easily reached by bus, presented itself as the obvious choice. Nevertheless, Jos insisted on driving me there. 

Walking up the avenue of lime trees leading up to the estate, I was bracing myself for the current view of the castle ....

... which is now finally under restoration!

Although temporarily disfigured by scaffolding, I couldn't have been happier. Hadn't I been lamenting its increasingly crumbling state (see here and here, for example) for many years? I was aware that work had started back in September, but I hadn't seen it with my own eyes yet. If all goes well, the project is scheduled to be finished by  the end of the Summer of 2026, although knowing how these things go I'm not exactly holding my breath.

As they'd finished clearing the sludge from the clogged-up castle pond and moat, and the often muddy footpaths had been given a facelift, doing a circuit around the pond was on the menu once more.

I strolled at leisure, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and rejoicing in the bounty of Spring. A pair of Egyptian goose and their fluffy offspring, who were taking a breather on the grassy edge of the pond, swiftly took to the water upon my approach. 

The circuit finished, an hitherto unexplored path was tempting me into the woods. Across the moat, which ran to my left, I spotted a boardwalk which I'd hoped to be able to take on my return journey, making my walk circular. 

However, with no opportunity of crossing the moat in sight, I had no choice but to turn right, away from the moat and onto the broad tree-lined avenue you can see on the top left in the below collage. Another right turn at the end of this eventually brought me back to the pond I'd circuited earlier. 

Still, it was worth the diversion as I stumbled upon this magical, otherworldly pond which suddenly appeared like a mirage in the woods.

Birdsong accompanied me back to the castle, although the peace and quiet was soon interrupted by a group of schoolchildren and their teachers who had invaded the grassy field near the castle for an afternoon of games.

While waiting for Jos to pick me up again - he insisted! - I milled around the courtyard in front of the castle. 

Obviously, I couldn't leave without having a chat with those haughty sphinxes and docile lions!

Down memory lane

Friday the 14th of March got off to a frosty start and a bitterly cold northeast wind halted the mercury in its track at barely 6°C.

It was the day of my postponed hairdresser's appointment and by now my hair was sorely in need for its long overdue colour and cut. As I would have needed to take both a bus and a a tram to get to Antwerp, which would have taken forever, Jos took pity on me and drove me to the nearby town of Mortsel which offers the relative luxury of two tram options. I hopped onto tram 7, which was the first to come along and the most straightforward, with a stop just around the corner from the salon. 

This was what I was wearing to combat the day's chill factor. Again the outfit is brought to you by Angelica as by the time my two-hour session at the salon had finished and I'd finally made it home again, I had lost the will to live. Or at least to make the effort of taking outfit photos!

The caramel button-through cord skirt was an irresistible retail buy back in October 2021, while the striped jumper, originally from New Look, followed me home from a charity shop one day.

Black and white was the theme for my accessories, which included one of my stretchy belts found on the high street, a carved ceramic heart brooch from a craft shop in Cardigan, and a charity shopped string of black and white ceramic beads. 

I was early for my 11.30 appointment, so I made a little detour by meandering along a couple of side streets. Once upon a time these were as familiar as the back of my hand, as they lead to the old punk haunts we frequented on Friday and Saturday nights in the late 1970s.

I must have walked past these Neoclassical entrance gates, giving access to Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts, countless of times back in the day, peering through its railings at the garden with its atmospheric 16th and 17th century former monastery buildings.

Founded in 1663 by the painter David Teniers the Younger, the Antwerp Academy was one of the first art schools in the world. Over the centuries the academy with its historic campus has become an established name in the international art world. It is also the home of the world-renowned Antwerp Fashion Academy, which was founded in 1963.

It took until well into the 1980s for me to step through its gates, when first a boyfriend and then my sister were students here for a year, reading photography and architecture respectively.

The intermittent sunny spells accompanied by a wind chill which turned the air frigid continued through the weekend. 

For a day of running an errand followed by a spot of pottering on Saturday, my forest green suedette skirt from Mango came out to play again, making it officially my most-worn Winter skirt. This time around, its main companion was a funky green and tan shirt by the Danish InWear label, charity shopped almost exactly a year ago.

Accessories were a vintage caramel beaded necklace and big green bird on a branch brooch, both supplied by the charity shop goddesses, and a stretchy belt with a leopard print buckle picked up from the high street.

On Sunday, for a day of household chores, catching up with blogland and joining Bess on the sofa with my latest read, I wore a long-sleeved Trevira fit and flare dress found at Think Twice in September 2023.

There's a tiny bit of green in its pattern, which I picked up with my accessories.

Both my brooch and beaded necklace came from the indoor flea market - which for obvious reasons we'e been giving a miss so far this season - while the elasticated belt with its gold-tone lion's head buckle was a charity shop find.

We were treated to some gorgeous Spring weather half-way through the working week that followed, with temperatures nudging 20°C on Wednesday the 19th.

As variety is the spice of life, I decided to seek out pastures new during my lunch break and took the tram to Het Zuid, Antwerp's fashionable south district. After several decades of decline, the area has seen a revival since the mid 1980s and is now one of the most trendy neighbourhoods in the city.

30-odd years ago, in what feels like another lifetime, I used to live around the corner from this impressive Neoclassical building.

This is the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), which showcases seven centuries of top art, ranging from the Flemish Primitives to modern masters, with prominent roles for Peter Paul Rubens and James Ensor. 

In 1877, Antwerp City Council held a competition to design a new museum, but none of the entries was entirely convincing. The city eventually invited the young architects Jean Jacques Winders (1849-1936) and Frans Van Dijk (1853-1939) to combine their respective designs in a single plan. 

They took everything into account, from a sense of grandeur to functionality and security. After six years of construction work, the new museum was opened to the public on 11 August 1890.

In 1905, the pair of chariots designed by sculptor Thomas Vinçotte (1850–1925), with a team of two horses and a charioteer apiece, were hoisted to the roof by a dozen men. They were intended to symbolize the triumph of art and have been the emblem of the museum ever since they were installed.

Behind the museum, and even closer to where I lived, is this stunning Art Nouveau house. Affectionately known as Het Bootje (transl. the little boat) because of its corner balcony shaped like a ship’s prow, it was built in 1901 for an Antwerp ship builder called P. Roeis. It was designed by Frans Smet-Verhas (1851-1925), who was one of the leading Art Nouveau architects in Antwerp. 

My trip down memory lane took on a bittersweet taste when I rounded the corner of the street I used to live on for nearly ten years, from 1985 until 1994. My heart made a little uncomfortable jolt when faced with my former home on the first floor of the white-painted house in the below collage. The windows and the railings of the tiny balcony were painted white back then, and the façade had clearly received an upgrade from its peeling late eighties, early nineties incarnation. 

Alhough I was reasonably contented during the first handful of years I lived here, they were heady times, and it took me a rather wasteful amount of time to admit to my insecurity and that I wasn't really happy in my own skin.

I took my time returning to the office on foot, basking in the glorious early Spring sunshine and slightly sweating in the coat I'd still been in need of when I left home that morning. Thankfully I'd had the presence of mind to remove my cardigan before setting forth from the office.

On the top right, you can see part of the large monument called Schelde Vrij (transl. Free Scheldt) which was inaugurated in 1873 to commemorate the settlement with the Netherlands that allowed for the free passage of ships to Antwerp, which was vital for the city’s maritime commerce. Standing triumphantly at the top is Neptune, god of the sea, holding a trident in his right hand, and popularly known as Jef Ferket, the latter being Antwerp slang for the Flemish word vork (which obviously means fork).

My outfit that day consisted of a vintage skirt, which is one of my oldest in terms of ownership. You can see a close-up of its textured fabric, with its touches of red, green,white and black, in the below collage. 

The white blouse with its profusion of different sized blue and red dots, is from the defunct Belgian Wow To Go label and came to me by way of a charity shop.

The red chunky knit cardigan is King Louie and was bought from an outlet shop in Poperinge in Belgium's west country back in the mists of time. To its lapel I pinned a vintage daisy brooch found on a flea market. If I remember correctly, it came from the Brooch Lady's vast collection.

Finally, both the blue stone necklace and the red plastic butterfly brooch were charity shop finds.

So, that's it for now. Would the gorgeous Spring weather continue in the run-up to the weekend? You'll read all about it in my next post, which I'm hoping to cobble together very soon.

Hello yellow!

My wardrobe is a rainbow of colour! No need to tell you that really. There isn't a colour under the sun which isn't represented in one way or another, although some colours are more plentiful than others. Take yellow, for instance. Although I have a couple of predominantly yellow frocks and am the proud owner of a mostly yellow 1960s suit, more often than not yellow is just part of a print, often clinching the deal when I'm in doubt whether or not to buy a garment.

And I'm sure that you've seen my yellow cardigans and opaques enough times for them to incite a little yawn here and there.

There's a substantial amount of yellow jewellery ...

... and even a pair of much cherished yellow vintage 1970s shoes!

The only thing that was missing was a yellow handbag. Envious of the little handbag belonging to my Twiggy doll, I'd been looking for something similar for many a year.

Here I was strolling back to work after a visit to my hairdresser's in the week before last when, passing one of the not-so-very-exciting second hand shops lining this particular street, I detected a flash of yellow out of the corner of my eye. Lo and behold, it was a yellow handbag, and exactly the model I was looking for. Its strap can be adjusted in length, so that it can be worn either as a handbag or a shoulder bag, like Twiggy's!

Sitting next to it was a shiny red vinyl bag, which the yellow bag seemed to be friends with. Not wanting to leave it orphaned, I bought them both.

I am now swiftly moving on to the Sunday before last.

It was another sun-drenched day and there was no way the cold I'd developed was going to keep me inside. There's nothing like a breath or two of fresh air to clear those blocked sinuses!

We did, however, ditch our original plans to go further afield, and drove down to De Schorre, which is only a 15 minute or so drive away.

Well known the world over because of  the legendary EDM festival Tomorrowland, people tend to forget that it is also a nature reserve, which was established on the site of a former clay pit.

As promised, I was wearing both the vintage blouse and the blazer I'd scored on Saturday, both contributing to the amount of yellow in my wardrobe.

Ah, that blouse! It's easy to fall in love with its busy floral print in pink, green, white and yellow, reminiscent of a Summer garden.

My yellow blazer was adorned with a pink and green flower brooch, a perfect match for the blouse's print.

I wore my new-to-me acquisitions with one of my wardrobe staples, an A-line skirt in light grey tweed criss-crossed with red, green, white and yellow stripes. My vintage snakeskin belt came out to play as well.

You can just catch a glimpse of my green cardigan - peeking out from under the blazer - and my jewellery consisting of green beads and a red plastic ring. More green was added by carrying my green handbag, the floral scarf I was initially wearing tied to its handles.

Yellow opaques were the obvious choice, and  my feet were happy I was wearing my old brown boots.  They are slowly but surely falling apart, but they are so comfy and just perfect for walking. Whatever shall I do when they eventually give up the ghost?

We hadn't been to De Schorre for a while, and took a different route than usual, taking a path sloping down to the deepest part of the reserve, where an old clay dredger majestically reigns over a deep  green pool, a water-filled former clay pit.

The water was reflecting the blue of the sky and the rusty red of the derelict dredger, its body almost swallowed up by the rampant reeds edging the pool.

From there, we followed a boardwalk path meandering through the domain.

Once or twice, we veered off this path and explored some of the barefoot paths which have been laid out. Not on our bare feet, obviously!

I particularly loved this path, consisting of higgledy-piggledy half-rotten planks of wood floating mere centimeters above the marshy ground. Dwarfed by giant grasses, I walked until the path ended, drowned completely by the swollen waters.

Apparently, new barefoot paths are being introduced shortly, but these were strictly forbidden until the 1st of April, when they are officially opened to the public.

After skirting the main part of the domain, we walked over the 537-metre-long One World bridge, which is actually an art installation created especially for the Tomorrowland festival.

Symbolizing the connection between people and bridging their differences, the bridge has a total of 210.000 inscriptions, based on messages left by the festival visitors, etched on its wooden floorboards, railings, and even on the benches placed at regular intervals.

What goes down must come up!

Having taken the gentle descent down into the former clay pit, we now had to climb these steps all the way up again.

Needless to say, my bad knee didn't thank me for this, but I did make it to the top in one piece.

Paisley Park

Isn't it typical to get a cold just as the weather turns fine? A week ago on Friday, I woke up with a telltale lingering headache which just wouldn't budge even when attacked with a dose of Paracetamol. This was swiftly followed by blocked sinuses, a scratchy throat and watery eyes.

Oh well, I hardly ever get sick, so I'm not complaining, and I'm certainly not going to give in that easily either!

The best medicine is wearing something I feel great in, so I unearthed one of my favourite frocks from my wardrobe.

It's one of my black florals, and I love the vibrancy of its exuberant print, as well as its cowl neck and full skirt. Even if my head was spinning, I couldn't resist doing a twirl!

I wore the dress with a green vinyl belt and a pale green cardigan to which I pinned a pearly wreath brooch. A long off-white beaded necklace and green and peach butterfly ring were my other accessories, while teal opaques and tan slouchy boots completed my outfit.

After a good night's sleep, I felt much better on Saturday morning. I even thought it had been a false alarm, but alas it wasn't to be.

Not to be deterred, we went for a little spin to the charity shops. I wasn't expecting to find much this close to the much scorned "Retro Day", which will be held on the 9th of March, but nevertheless I found one vintage blouse lurking among the otherwise mediocre stuff.

Isn't that print gorgeous? I will be wearing it in my next post, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait until then to see it in its full glory.

From the same shop came this fabulous pair of shoes, which I left behind last time we were there, as they are a just a bit too large for me. They were only € 3, and I was already regretting my decision, so I didn't think twice when I saw they were still there. I've tried them with shoe insoles, which seemed to be doing the trick, but if I won't be able to wear them after all, I'll make someone else happy with them.

And how about a brand-new-looking, intricately embroidered tea cozy for € 0,50?

There were two more buys at our next stop. The first was a yellow tweed blazer, its pockets trimmed and buttons covered with chocolate brown faux leather. I'll also be wearing that in my next post!

Finally, there was this pink rattan bag, with bamboo handles. I'm such a sucker for these things!

Our final shop was followed by a walk in the nearby park. As it was such a gorgeous day, it would have been downright silly not to make the most of it.

Let me show you what I was wearing.

I picked up the burnt orange bits in my dress by wearing a plaid blazer in rusty browns, adding a caramel belt at my waist to give it more shape. More orange appears in the brooch I pinned to my jacket's lapel, a foursome of tiny Matryoshka dolls.

My turquoise beret and opaques were inspired by the bright, tealish blue of my dress.

Clumps of snowdrops were everywhere and we detected the odd Crocus as well, all welcome signs of Spring to contrast with the winter-bare trees.

I wasn't the only one posing for photographs! Jos is wearing a pair of chocolate brown trousers, one of the pairs picked up, together with the belt, during our recent retail shopping spree. His orange River Woods shirt and Harris Tweed jacket were both charity shopped.

We have walked in this imaginatively laid out and planted park countless times since we discovered it back in 2013. One of our favourite bits was the colourful herbaceous border planted between the path running just in front of the bench in the picture, and the reeds bordering the shallow pond. For some reason, most of the plants were dug up from this area last year and we were sad to see that, apart from the odd survivor and the rampant reeds, the border was left bare.

Here's a closer look at the dress I was wearing, which I charity shopped several years ago. 

I wore a turquoise open-work King Louis cardigan on top. I love the fit of their cardigans, and have several of them in my wardrobe, all of which were charity shop finds.

Another Paisley-esque print, splashes of green can be detected among the profusion of orange. The silky fabric has an equally slippery blue lining, so that the dress swishes satisfyingly with every move. It closes with a back zipper, has two box pleats at the front and a tie, which I fastened with a brooch featuring an orange and green swirled stone.

More turquoise was added in the form of a beaded necklace and plastic ring, but I opted for an orange belt to provide an extra pop of colour.

The gorgeously embroidered handbag, in pristine condition, was a Think Twice find, and even though I've had it for a while, it only now got its first outing.

Making our circuit of the park, we were horrified to notice that some of the infant trees which were planted only last year had been vandalized. Quite a few of them had been snapped in two, and one had even ended up in the nearest pond. And don't get me started on all the littering! 

I can never find it in my heart to make photographs of these random and heartless acts of vandalism, preferring to gladden your hearts with the timeless beauty of nature.

I will be linking Saturday's outfit to Patti's Visible Monday and Mica's Weekday Wear Linkup once they are up.