Fashion

Yellow fever!

March 31, 2018March 31, 2018 catoinamsterdam2 Comments

Yellow has always been one of my favourite colours to wear. Nothing says spring quite like a yellow dress or skirt. And in winter yellow paired with black is a beautiful mood booster. I know not everyone likes yellow. And maybe some are too shy to wear yellow. Because we all know that when you wear yellow, everybody’s head will turn. But just try it. Wear a big pair of sunglasses and put on a yellow skirt. Or dress. Or pants!

This yellow with grey was designed by the fabulous Esther Noriega. I’m a big fan of her beautiful feminine designs. Visit her website to take a look yourself: www.esthernoriega.com. The dress is a dream in silk satin with an imprinted floral border. It has cute cap sleeves and the back is gorgeous, with a low V.

Yellow and black gingham slingbacks from Zara (shop here). Basket is also from Zara but sold out. Shop identical here.

Gorgeous yellow and silver skirt from Traffic People (shop here). There’s also a matching bag (shop here)!

I wish I was this tanned again! Black dress with lemon print from ShopForGoodies (here).

Again, yellow and black. A killer combination. Skirt is from Horrockses via Asos (here).

Orange and yellow just screams summer! Dress is from 405 Stories (sold out). The orange clutch I found on AliExpress.

Off course I had to include my Lindy Bop lemon print dress! They recently re-launched it (here).

So, will you try yellow? Or are you already a fan of this fabulous colour? Have a wonderful Easter!

Fashion

Polka dots forever!

March 22, 2018March 22, 2018 catoinamsterdam2 Comments

As you might know, I’m a polka dot fanatic. There’s something just so fun and frivolous about this print, I simply can’t resist any item of clothing with those delicious dots.

It just so happens that polka dots are big for spring 2018. They are everywhere! I can stock up on my favourite print and incorporate a few golden oldies in my spring wardrobe.

Coat in featured picture is from AtlasDay.com. It’s going to be my spring favourite.

My Asos prom dress in navy and white (buy here). Can’t wait to wear it without a shirt underneath!

A golden oldie: one of my favourite dresses from Emily Lovelock (sold out, sorry). The crab bag is from Joanie Clothing and is also sold out. Hopefully they will re-launch it, it’s such a fun bag!

Pussy bow blouse from H&M is sold out everywhere, but Sheinside.com has a good alternative (here). Blue skirt is also from Sheinside.com (shop here). Polkadot pumps are from Asos (here)

Another crab bag. This one is from Shopforgoodies (shop here). The polkadot blouse with pussy bow (yes I like pussy bows!) is from Sheinside.com (here).

Dotted sweater from Zara (Asos has the same, shop here), striped skirt from Asos (old, shop alternative here) and gingham pumps from Zara.

Have a fun spring!

Fashion

Bye bye February!

March 2, 2018March 2, 2018 catoinamsterdamLeave a comment

Amsterdam covered in snow. It’s a beautiful picture. But for heel-lovers like me it’s a nightmare. I love my city but I like it best when it’s warm enough to sit outside on one of Amsterdam’s beautiful terraces, enjoying a cappuccino or something stronger.

Luckily, it doesn’t snow that often over here. But for the few days a year it does, I am the proud owner of two pairs of snow boots. They are ugly, very un-ladylike but they serve their purpose. As soon as I get inside, I change into more fashionable footwear.

February’s outfits

February hasn’t been a good month for me. I fell ill with the flu and it took me almost all of February to recover, both physically and mentally. I didn’t post much on Instagram, so this is going to be a very short overview! I wore my red bow heels a lot: they cheer me up.

This Sheinside.com dress is made of tricot and is very warm and comfortable. I did have to add a belt because the waist was a bit too wide (shop here) The little bag is from Zara, the shoes can be bought here.

Same shoes, different dress. This Asos prom dress was love at first sight. I can never resist anything with polkadots (dress is available in tall and regular).

There they are again, my lucky shoes. The Saturday sweater is from ShopForGoodies (here), they have a sweater for every day of the week. Luckily, my favourite day of the week comes in one of my favourite colours!

Finally my new flamingo dress. Although with a print usually worn in summer, the dress is perfect for colder weather due to its long sleeves and stretch material, which allows me to wear a warm t-shirt underneath (shop here).

And that was most of February. Now I wish to move on to March and spring and pretend February never happened.

Fashion

The joy of customised dresses!

February 13, 2018March 8, 2018 catoinamsterdamLeave a comment

In case you didn’t know: I love fit and flare dresses. This shape is so appealing to me and I’m always on the lookout for these dresses in fun prints and beautiful fabrics. As I’m quite tall, 5.9½ ” or 1.76 m., I’m always having trouble finding well fitting dresses. I can live with a shorter hemline but usually the waist is placed way too high, which looks, to say the least, odd. This is the main reason why I own just a few vintage dresses. I love dresses from the fifties but those girls were a lot shorter back in the day (and have you noticed how tiny their waists were??). I can camouflage a high waist with a wide belt, but it does change the aesthetic of the dress.

Best solution for this first world problem: having your dresses made to measure!

HeartsandFound

Last summer I discovered Heartsandfound on Etsy (here). The first dress I had made was a gorgeous yellow gingham summer dress. I listed my measurements, chose a fabric and about 3 weeks later a perfect fitting dress arrived in the mail.

The waist of this yellow gingham Grace dress fits perfectly and isn’t too high! You can shop and customize this particular dress here but of course you can pick your own dress and fabric.

Heartsandfound then contracted me and asked if I wanted to have 2 more dresses made. Needless to say that I made a little dance of joy after reading that message.

These are the 2 dresses I had made:

The Bonnie dress in a beautiful rose print (dress can be found here, fabric is sold out but there are plenty of floral prints to choose from). I especially love the pussy bow on this one!

The Marianne dress in a fun paprika print. The sleeves make it perfect for winter. You can find this exact dress here or just the dress type (and choose your own fabric) here .

eShakti.com

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by eShakti.com, a site specialising in custom-made dresses. They asked me to pick a dress and to have it customised as much as possible. So I did.

The dress I picked was a sleeveless maxi dress and had a boat neckline. I added sleeves, changed the length to just below the knee and the neckline to a jewel neckline. I filled out my measurements on the site and 2 weeks later this dress was delivered:

The embroidery makes this dress so special. And of course it fits perfectly (sold out).

Needless to say I was addicted right away (good sales strategy, eShakti!). I ordered two more dresses in January. Once you fill out your measurement on the website and create an account, those measurement will automatically load when you order another item. Of course you can change them, especially handy after the holidays! Or, you know, in March, when all those workouts are starting to pay off.

The dress featured in the top picture was a prom dress, which I had shortened and changed the neckline from a boat to a jewel neckline. In the picture, I’m wearing it with a shirt underneath because of the freezing temperatures in Amsterdam. The dress can be found here. Here are the original dress and mine next to each other:

And then I found this gorgeous dress. I had it shortened and added sleeves. The print is so fresh and bright!

Spring is in the air! The dress can be found here.

Finally, one of the perks of being a blogger is that sometimes designers create an outfit especially for you. The very talented miss Jennifer Diederich of Suite by Jennifer created this dress for me. I was so honoured. It is one of my favourite dresses.

A print of clapboards and a black and white striped ribbon! Find this dress and more of Jennifer’s sweet designs here.

Chavah of Chavah Designs designed this outfit for me. It’s so fun and so me. The details are perfect: the pockets and waist of the skirt are lined in a fun floral fabric and the top is reversible: on side has a scoop neck and the other a boat neck.

The colour and fabric of the skirt are incredible! Shop this outfit and see more of Chavah’s designs here.

I have a feeling I will have to make a sequel to this post soon, I have been swooning over a lot more customisable dresses lately. I will keep you posted!