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/ What is still one of the most interesting things to me about the nineties is the fact that for the first time in history, underdressing became a thing. Sportswear, undone hair, deliberately looking casual and effortless. The phobia of being underdressed was finally completely displaced by the fear of overdressing.
/ A graduation collection from Tom Nijhuis inspired by the mid/late 90s Dutch hardcore house scene. A sub culture where gabbers dressed in exclusively sportswear and girls danced around in sportsbras and high ponytails.

Sportsbra: Nike
Image: Meinke Klein for Tom Nijhuis

Lately menswear is becoming more like womenswear. Where changes per season are often seen in big ways; a drastic change of silhouette, color, print or theme. Whereas the changes in the menswear would often be more subtle, about what kind of stitching, tailoring, button placement, slight changes in proportions; a higher hem, an exposed ankle. Menswear has a certain delicacy to it.

The way men dress changes less or slower per season, compared to women. If the cliché of men rarely shopping is true (that they know what they are missing in their wardrobe, buy it and get out) you could say that my shopping behavior is quite manly. I never dedicate an entire day to shop. When I need something, I order it online or go straight to the store and rack where I can find it. You won’t catch me in a store trying on piles of clothes for fun. The men’s department always looks more ‘boring’ than the women’s department, because it is filled with mostly basics in basic colors.

I still find it immensely inspiring to look for these subtle whispering details on the classic pieces in the menswear shows, my boyfriends closet or in stores as opposed to flicking through the often loud and ever changing womenswear collections. Menswear is still kind of a safe haven and a place to enjoy fashion in a less hysterical and fast way.

Also the practicality of menswear inspires me immensely. You should see the depth of the pockets in my oversized wool mens coat; they fit my wallet, my glasses including their case, some cosmetics and even my camera. MY. CAMERA. No need to even bring a bag. Isn’t it kind of anti-feminist that often form comes before function in womenswear?

shirt: Raf Simons via Tres Bien
jacket: Muji

I think colors can divert attention away to much more interesting details. Like the fit, fabric and texture. Rearranged my closet a bit and brought the pile of white sweatshirts more forward to get a bit mentally prepared for autumn. When I saw all these textures on top of each other in slightly different shades of white I thought it was worth a photo shoot picture. I love adding more depth to monochromatic outfits without adding any accessories or colors, but just purely playing with textures and materials.

quilted: thrifted (similar)
fluffy: thrifted
knit: COS ( similar )
basic: American Apparel

heres a special story
My dear friend Suzanne went to New York for fashion week and rented a room via air-bnb, coincidentally it was in Lyndsy Welgos appartment, who was just working on her online magazine Topical Cream and was looking for people to feature. Suzanne introduced us to each other and ended up doing an interview with me. This was super special because not only is Suzanne a brilliant magazine editor and conceptual thinker, she is also a very good friend. The cliche questions like who is your style icon were not asked, instead Suzanne turned it into an in depth conversation. On top of that, Romeo was commissioned to shoot the portraits, who besides being my boyfriend is also my best friend. I came up with the idea to take pictures in which my face wouldnt be visible. The end result turned out being such an intimate collaboration, I dont think interviews can get any more personal than this.

/ Sharing the meaning of my tattoo feels very strange because it is so very personal and important to me. It is about staying focussed, staying on your path that aims to your goals and dreams. The line is almost never 100% straight because my arm is always in movement, and so is life. There are curves and bends but the line is always there and can always go back to its original straight form.

To continue last years tradition, Im sharing my home made calendar again for all of you to download. Im not a graphic designer, merely a lover of graphic shapes and typography, especially a fan of the slash as you can see. The calendar is timeless and universal, you can apply it to every month and year, just write the number of the month behind the large slash and the number of the day behind the small slashes corresponding with the days of the week.

Im wishing you all have an overflow of creativity and productivity with the three magical words get shit done. Lets own 2014!

Click
to download the calendar

Im sure youve seen these items around more than once here on Love Aesthetics. Thats because I always run to them, they always work, never let me down. The leather top is so stiff that it automatically always sits well and looks structured and polished. And though jeans are definitely not my favorite piece of clothing, the schizophrenic Dutch weather dictates that it is often the best option - like today - when the weather consists of alternating rain, bright sun and hail. Its not laziness that makes me grab the same thing over and over again, it is because I found clothes in which I feel most like myself, the urge to have a dress up experiment isnt something I have every single morning anymore.

jeans: Cheap Monday
leather top: DIY
scent: Maison Martin Margiela

Lets be honest. There was just no way that I was going to make the actual content of what Im taking to Melt festival look good enough for a blog post. My bag is packed with chargers, wires, wipes, band-aids, disinfecting gel, bug spray, extra socks, towels and more random stuff that you need to go out camping. The actual clothes that Im taking are only a fraction of my luggage. Though I am very proud that I managed to fit everything inside one single backpack. Getting to chose these clothes was a bit of a hassle, picking footwear was the most problematic. See, I just dont want to put any of my babies shoes through the mud, sand, trash, stomping, dancing this weekend. Instead I got a pair of vintage platform trainers for the heavy duty. What Ill be wearing will be very simple as always, no fuss, just some monochromatic basics. Havnt even figured out my outfits exactly; but because it is all black and white it surely will work out. Off to Melt!

top: I made it
backpack : Eastpak
small backpack:
Love Aesthetics x Blackblessed
trainers: vintage

Last week the international launch of all the Eastpak Artist studio bags took place in Antwerp; a project in which selected artists from 14 countries projected their vision and creativity on the classic Eastpak Pakr Backpack. All proceeds of the sales will go to charity organization Designers Against Aids. It was an honor to be asked to participate and a lot of fun to come up with a concept and make my backpack.

Customizing the bag by adding decorations without a clear function or a purpose did not make sense to me. When I got the classic Eastpak Pakr backpack to do whatever way I wanted to it; my first thought was that this was actually already a great design; the ultimate, basic, archetypical backpack.

So I chose to make a few small yet radical changes to the bag; I changed the solid back of the bag for clear perspex and moved the outside pocket to the inside. This way only the wearer can see whats inside and the outside is left completely bare. I wanted it to be about exposure and concealment, with the disease of aids in mind which is often an invisible problem.

/ Update:
About when it will be restocked and where it will be available; bad news, there is only one of them. This concept-version that I made myself. Every artist was given one bag to customize. The fact that you guys see it as a product available for purchase is such a huge compliment to me and means that Ive achieved the goal I had in mind for it; making a functional and wearable bag while at the same time communicating a message.

Eastpak Artist Studio 2013

This has been one of the most exciting projects Ive ever done in my life.
Designing a small capsule collection for BlackBlessed and getting complete freedom was just ...-and I deleted everything that I just wrote, because there is no way to describe how incredible it felt-.

I decided to make basic pieces that are all about functionality. They are very simplistic but if you look closely, youll see that they all secretly have more than one function. Heres three individual explanations about the multi purpose pieces I designed:


/The Pant-Skirt
I came up with this about a year ago. After I made a leather wrap skirt but found out how it often didnt fit into my daily life. Riding my bike, running after my kid, was impossible in such a short stiff skirt. The back seam that it had sparked the idea of splitting the skirt into two legs, creating shorts with an overlapping skirt-front.

/The Jacket
Still obsessed with an anti-shape, unfeminine silhouette the jacket in this collection had to be a boxy one. I stripped it from as much as possible; no collar, no visible seams, some seams edges left unsewn, no pockets. Even got rid of some seams altogether on the front and merged the pattern into one big panel, creating a nice fold instead of a seam under the arm. And though it might look like youre not carrying anything, the inside of this jacket is packed with secret compartments; a zipped pouch, a place to put your phone and some slits to hold your cards.

/The Bag
Backpacks I love because of their practicality, clutch bags I love because of their lightness, to tuck them under your arm when youre carrying little. But sometimes you cant plan your day, your luggage might get bigger or smaller and youre stuck with the wrong bag. Packing for trips I also only like to take one bag that will be suitable for all situations. So I came up with this simplistic rectangular bag (can you see the paper lunch bag influence?) with detachable straps. You can wear it as a backpack, reposition the straps and use it as a shoulder bag, or take off the straps and fold it (or roll it like that lunch bag) into a clutch.


It was incredible to meet Floriana Serani, who singlehandedly created blackblessed.com; designes her own products, does the production and updates the blog. Working with someone like her, who makes things happen and makes her dreams a reality like putting up an independent, affordable online boutique, was super inspiring. The collection is available as of today! (hurraaay!) on Blackblessed.com, take a look if you have time!

/Blackblessed is giving away one of the jackets!
Follow them on instagram and leave your name/ size / email under this image.
Next friday someone is getting that jacket!

I love this recipe for how minimalistic and uncomplicated it is; only four ingredients, very few steps, very little time and it is vegan (meat/dairy production wastes natural resources). Usually I like my food as colorful as possible, but these creamy vanilla coconut cubes just screamed Love Aesthetics. So here it is; my first ever food related blog post! I am not a very good cook so dont expect more recipes, but these are so easy to make and the result is so beautifully that I could not not share this with you guys.

Ingredients explained/
Agar Agar is an Malaysian/Inonesian desert, very similar to jelly pudding with a sightly more bitable texture, if made with water it is incredibly thirst quenching. Though unlike gelatin jelly which is an animal product (made out of animal bones and pig skin), Agar Agar is plant based made out of seaweed. It comes in a variety of colors and flavors but for this recipe youll need the flavorless, colorless kind (avoiding all the artificial ingredients). You can find it at almost every Asian supermarket, it is also known as Kanten in Japan. Instead of sugar I used agave nectar, but you can use whatever sweetener you want.

1/ Prepare the Agar Agar as instructed on the package. But instead of using water, use coconut milk. Bring the coconut milk to a boil, add the powder, the agave nectar and the seeds of the vanilla bean. Stirr well and take your pan off the heat.
2/ Pour the mixture into a container. Let it cool off outside the fridge for a while to give the vanilla seeds a chance to sink to the bottom before the pudding sets.
3/ After about an hour in the fridge, cut the agar agar into cubes. If you insert your knife a little diagonally like I did, youll get slightly inclined cubes with visually more 3D effect.
4/ Take them out, flip them over to expose the black vanilla speckles and eat!

need
/agar agar powder
/coconut milk
/a vanilla bean
/agave nectar (or sugar)

While working or reading, listening to something that makes you want to sing or dance along doesnt do any good for productivity. At least for me it works like that, for such moment I rather like more monotone music that doesnt invade and disturb other thoughts.

Ever since Philips gave me their new CitiScape earphones to test out, they havent left my work area. Usually I dont wear earphones when listening to music, but while working from home it has been really nice to isolate myself completely by putting them on and being able to focus without any sound distractions. It definitely helps that the ear pieces are super soft an comfy, after a while you barely even notice theyre there.

Here are five of my favorite songs that I put on when shit really has to get done:

Glasser / Apply
SBTRKT / Atomic peace
Massive Attack / Paradise circus
Gazelle twin / I turn my arm (Alixander III mix)
Sigur Ros / Glosoli

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