Spring is Here!!! Time For A Pink Pedi (O.P.I It's A Girl)

This picture would not have been possible without Nuxe's Huile Prodigieuse Or because my feet are actually shockingly white and ugly from winter.

H&M jeans

Givenchy shoes

Pink toes by Ming at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong (O.P.I color: It's A Girl)*

*Jane, look at my middle toes... longer than the big one - that made me smile just now. Maybe I should get them fixed :)

Tai Hang, Hong Kong, and some Lab Made ice cream

At this rate it will be 2017 in a heartbeat. I am back in Hong Kong after a whirlwind trip to Holland. Every time I leave there I wonder how in heaven's name my country is so high on the list of densely populated nations, because this is all I ever see from the A2 highway on the way to the airport.

Holland, near Abcoude - just grass, trees and water.

Back in Hong Kong we walked around the city on a beautiful Easter Sunday and got ice cream at Lab Made in Tai Hang. If you are in the neighborhood, you must try it - it's absolutely delicious.

Happy Easter!

Tai Hang is such an interesting little neighborhood. Go on a sunny day and walk slowly around its jolie laide streets with some ice cream.

Antennas sticking straight out onto the street in Tai Hang.

On Monday (we call it second Easter day in Holland) we walked around Wanchai, which is constantly changing. The tiny streets east of Star Street have beautiful little boutiques and interior design shops. Very much worth a visit as well - and a few blocks farther east the scene changes again completely - think fish guts in the street at the Wanchai wet market.

Jouer, a delicious pastry shop and interiors gallery - also a must visit, please click HERE to discover more. I love supporting beautiful independent shops like these.

The intriguing and attractive ugliness of the Wanchai wet market.

Fashion-wise it's been a great week, because for some mysterious reason it is still cold and relatively dry in Hong Kong. I have been embracing the classics this week with navy blazers and dark jeans, and stripy shirts from J.Crew. I love an all navy and stripes outfit with black and white accessories.

Inspired by De Stijl

Jumper and clutch by Lacoste

Trousers by Marc Cain

(from Harper's Bazaar Nederland, March 2016, inspired by De Stijl)

Van Gelder Indian Jewelry

Model Julia van Os in Vogue Nederland, March 2016

I like this photo of yet another beautiful Dutch model, Julia van Os, but what I love most is the Indian jewelry she is wearing. Find Van Gelder Indian Jewelry HERE, the website is stunning. Shame I just missed TEFAF in Maastricht, the most important art and antiques fair in the world, where Van Gelder exhibited for the last 10 days.

Unzipped is showing on Cathay Pacific

Just 12 hours from Hong Kong: the fresh air and pine trees in my beautiful native country of Holland

I didn't cry in the plane!*

Or so I thought about nine and half hours into my flight from Hong Kong to Amsterdam. But then I discovered Unzipped** is showing on Cathay, watched it for the 137th time and before long I was a bawling baby one moment and an insane elated super freak the next - dancing in my chair, arms and torso snake-like, a devastating embarrassment to my daughter across the aisle, to Sandra Bernhard's version of Sylvester's song "Mighty Real"***.

Unzipped inspires me senselessly - I must tell my husband when I am 96 and pretty much dead he must find an old dvd player somewhere and play the Unzipped dvd I bought in 1997 and I know for sure I will walk again.

Because you see, just five minutes after watching that sweet gem of a film, I want to write, I want to draw, I want to make clothes and I apparently see my life expectancy at  96+. Unzipped should be the character test in every person I meet from now on. Did you like it? I shall ask with a piercing stare. Because if you don't, yarn't**** ever gonna be a friend of mine. 

I cried on the plane! Of course I did. I do so every single time. 

* I always cry on long distance flights. I even cry at the HSBC commercial where the handsome private banker offers his worldwide excellence to the even more handsome billionaire hedgefunder. Is it the air pressure that's turning us into blubbering slobs without the wherewithal to know that good-looking hedge fund owners do not need tears shed for them?

** Douglas Keeve's documentary masterpiece about the making of Isaac Mizrahi's fall 1994 show.

*** I don't know if there was ever a proper soundtrack for the film, but you can listen to Sandra's version of "Mighty Real" HERE. "Happy Sad" by the Pizzicato Five plays during the credits and is also a firm snake dancing favorite.

**** Isaac imitates Bette Davis' drawl from "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" with Joan Crawford.

The colors of Hong Kong by night

Damiani ring for Hope

Damiani rose gold ring

J.Crew jumper

COS shirt

At tea with the indefatigable Jo Tang, the chairwoman of the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital Foundation, I got to wear the Damiani Hope ring for a few minutes - but it took only seconds to feel beyond greedy and full of i want it now. If Gordon Gekko is to be believed, greed is good - well, in this particular case it is, because Damiani's ring benefits the above mentioned Foundation. The company donates twenty percent of annual sales of this beautiful ring so don't be shy, go have a look. The ring comes in rose and black gold and it is absolutely stunning, see the black version HERE.

All joking aside, the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital Foundation is very worthy of your support whether it's through Damiani or a direct donation. If you are a mom like I am, you know how horrible it is when your children are sick. I cannot begin to imagine the pain, sadness and desperation of parents who have a severely ill child but who do not have the funds and access to quick and efficient care. This is where the Foundation helps - you can read about some of the young patients who have benefited from the program HERE. 

Inspired by Louis Vuitton to take off my jeans

wow this picture makes me dizzy

Isabel Marant Étoile trousers with leather lace-up detail

J.Crew shoes

This morning I watched the Louis Vuitton show for the coming winter and I think it will be the most influential presentation of the season. Nicolas Ghesquiere always surprises - first I never quite know if I like it, and then two weeks later I can't stop thinking of anything else. For Fall his vision is sporty, and I loved all the cropped trousers with side zips over boots. It made me get out of my jeans for once this morning and into this old but favorite pair of trousers by Isabel Marant Étoile. For winter I may have them cropped a bit more and wear them with chunky boots just like Nicolas' girls. See Ghesquire's work HERE.

Gigi Hadid for Chanel

Along with a billion other people I have a full-on model crush on Gigi Hadid. These pictures were sent to me from the front row - courtesy of Petrina and Fleur, two gorgeous longtime friends, who get just as excited about all things fashion as I do. Gigi is nothing like any model I have ever seen. First of all, she's got a beautifully soft chubby face, the face of a girl who loves to indulge in French fries with mayonnaise ever so often. Well, I made that up, but it's not farfetched because the second best thing about Gigi is that she is half Dutch. Her Dutch mother Yolanda is the only character on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills who is not a backstabbing gossip monger. Yolanda suffers from Lyme disease and when the lovely Gigi recently won Celebrity MasterChef, she tearfully explained that she would donate the prize money to the Global Lyme Alliance, to combat the disease her mother and sibling are battling. I have always thought models are better off keeping quiet to maintain their mystique, but Gigi is the full package, beautiful, intelligent and totally charming. And I shouldn't forget to mention that I love her style too. She doesn't need Chanel to dress her... although she looks beyond lovely in it.

PS: how cool are those shoes?

J.Crew's fabulous new sunglasses

J.Crew was a treasure trove today - enamel hinged bracelets in countless colors and the best sunglasses ever from a high street store. I love the Sam style above - which comes in three of four colors. Sometimes all you need is a new pair of sunnies to make you feel like Spring has sprung.

Do I look like I forgot to get dressed?

I love these pajama-style trousers from Zara. But I really can't figure out how to make them look like I am wearing clothes.

Fendi at the Peak Lookout

This mongrel stared at me all afternoon from right behind that banyan tree - I love the whipstitched edges of the bag though, the leather cord is threaded through gunmetal grommets.

(Fendi Peekaboo bag)

The Butchers Club on Wellington Street - How Do You Eat This Thing?

apparently you stab it?