Having said this, I turn back to Elewijt, where there was a true reenactment of such a Thing. Vikings from Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, UK, … gathered there to demonstrate the different aspects of Northmen life. Me and my sister-in-law decided this was a perfect excursion with the kids. If only they were not this grumpy, they might have loved it. Oh well, the mummys had a great time.

The first highlight of the Viking convention for me consisted of the sight of a 4 horned sheep. I think, this must have been a Black Hebridean Sheep, but I’m not quite sure. What I do know, is that this breed was popular during the Viking era and that it is a damn strange creature. The lady at the entrance told us, that these bad ass sheep could wear up to 6 horns on their little clueless heads… say what??

The second fun moment for me, not being an actual Viking connoisseur I must admit, was the photoshoot with “shieldmaiden” Lili. She loved swaying her wooden sword in a dangerous way and wore her tunic with pride. Maybe I should’ve called her “Brynhildr” instead…

Picture by Liesa Vanhamme .

I always feel like an inquisitive child when visiting an exhibition, absorbing the words of the guide as a spongue and scanning the rooms as if I was on a hunt for hidden treasures. Born and raised as an Antwerp fashion addict, I have to love the work of our Antwerp Six beacon Dries Van Noten. But I must admit, that I never fully understood the driving forces behind his collections. The exhibition gave me more than a simple satisfaction of my hunger for new insights. Mr Van Noten doesn’t consider the artwork in the exhibition as a simple decoration, but combined different elements to give us a grasp on his creative process. The combination of these elements and how they are composed behold an unaffectedness that seems über logic to me. The way in which the designer spins his creative web in his mind ressembles the feeling I have when creating a make-up, hairstyling or styling look. One can be inspired by a simple fragment of an image, a person, music, an utterance or even a smell, as long as you know your classical backgrounds pretty well.

Most enjoyable was the fact, that we -and of course a lot of other pursuers of beauty- share the same fascinations. Dries Van Noten is inspired by punk and Vivienne Westwood (who should be queen of Europia if you ask me), animals,  Hitchcock, Jimi Hendrickx, The Piano, olfactoric pleasures, Spanish kitsch and dance-dance-dance! I will try to highlight only my top three eye-openers of this exhibition, in an attempt to tame my well-known prolixity.

1. Etuis de trichoptères by Hubert Duprat. What a marvel. Duprat collaborates with Caddisfly Larvae to build aquatic cocoons from gold, pearls and turquoise gemstones. Unbeleavably beautiful.
2. The scented walls by Sissel Tolaas. Sissel Tolaas is a Norwegian researcher, chemist and artist who is fascinated by the science and art of fragrances. She impregnated two walls with the scent of the earth and the smell of a damp garden. I didn’t want to leave this space, it was too addictive.
3. Elsa Schiaparelli’s 1930’s evening gown and coats. I’m addicted to glamour and evening wear, so, what can I say. Elsa Schiaparelli forms one of the foundations of the idea we have now of what glamour and refinement should be.

Here we are, a fine selection of bloggers, at the new photowall at the entrance of the MoMu. Of course, I had to look up my favourite exhibition in this museum ever, “Birds of Paradise”, all about feathers in fashion, arts and performance. I’m wearing a backpack by MCM, got it at de Bijenkorf in Amsterdam. My cardigan is Karen Millen. I’m chatting with Ianthe De boeck, ‎Social Media Officer at BOZAR and Camille Pollie, host of “Weekend Camille” at MNM radio and fellow make-up artist, two delightful ladies who definitely share my idea of enjoying beauty, having fun and delight in nibbling on a fine Boule de New York, offered to us after the guided tour.

The class of 2015 :-). The long black dress with high split is vintage Mango, glitter shoes by Tamaris and necklaces, of course, by Pieter Nulens.

After this event, my father asked me to go get a little electric heater at the site where we are building our new home, very nearby the Momu, and bring it towards our place in Deurne, where we live temporarily during the renovations. The result of this request was a rather funny appearance of me sitting on the tram wearing my glittershoes, my backpack, extremely long false lashes, yellow acryl nails and this dust-covered heater by my side. A lot of curious glances fell to me.

We started our trip through Wales at the Forest of Dean, which was already enchantingly beautiful. Then on to Cardiff we went, visiting, as I mentioned before, Nick and Gina. Gina appeared to be not only Lili’s immediate hero, but also a magnificent chef. She overwhelmed us with a delicious meal based on vegetables and herbs she raised in her nearby allotment.

After our friendly visit to Cardiff, we stayed a while at West Hook Farm near Marloes, at the very west point of South Wales. We made a boat trip around Skomer island, which delighted Lili with the view of thousands of Puffins, a lot of dolfins and one -slightly confused- seal. We continued our journey northeastwards and made our last stop at the Brecon Beacons National Parc. In the mean time, the weather conditions weren’t as jolly as they should be, which made us look out for an indoor childfriendly activity. I mistakenly thought I found such an activity at Dan-yr-Ogof, or the National Showcaves Centre for Wales. We installed our camper at the “kids allowed” part of the camp site. No kidding, we weren’t allowed to choose a pitch at certain areas because of the presence of a kid in our camper and the noise pollution she could bring along with her. The funny thing about this is, that, later that day, Lili awoke far too early from her afternoon-nap because of the noise caused by someone tidying up the three leaves scattered about on the walkway of the campsite with a very loud blowing machine. Anyway, the next day we headed for the activities of Dan-yr-Ogof. First we visited the showcaves, which are very impressive. They are complemented by more than 200 life-sized dinosaur models, a delight for the kids, of course. But the real fun began when we explored the Shire Horse Centre and Farm. This is by far the most attractive children’s farm I’ve ever seen, simply by looking at the scenery alone. Down at Mr. Morgan’s Farm you can meet goats and Shetland ponies, see alpacas and llamas grazing in the fields, and try to keep up with the chipmunks as they race through tunnels above your head.

In this picture, Lili walks resolutely towards the alpacas. They looked at her, as if they’ve never seen a two year old girl before. Maybe they were a bit muddled by the dress she was wearing. My parents bought this dirndl dress with matching white shirt in Bayern, Germany. The confusion of these animals could also be caused by the outright ugly Crocs Lili was wearing. They are way too pink and even chance colour -they turn into violet- when exposed to sunlight. What a blessing that this kid doenst care yet about superficial style issues and simply heads off for some good outdoor fun, given the suddenly changed weather conditions. This meant pure hapiness for not only this little pathfinder, but also for the radiating mum and dad.

Dirk and Janin take care of seven cats, three chickens and two dogs. Most of the cats were astray and found a place to stay at Le Violon d’Ingres. One of the two dogs is Robin. He is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. This is a small companion dog or toy dog. He is very keen on company from other dogs, cats, as well as grown-ups and kids. Lili was no less than in love with this creature. She caressed him, hugged him, kissed him and even carried him carefully around like a baby. Robin enjoyed the attention and had an awesome time with his buddy. This sweetheart even sleeps together with Thor, a Norwegian Forest cat, giving each other licks and cuddles.  It’s very important to be aware of the background of a dog like the Cavaliers. They are so very popular, which results in breeding on a massive scale at unofficial enterprises. The consequences are well-known: hart failure, eye failure and spinal problems. Always buy your little puppies at breeders who can show you the pedigree of mummy and daddy dog. Robin was born at Bosca Hanica at Bois d’Haine, in the province of Hainaut. Here you will encounter a nice, unaffected lady, breeding her lovely creatures with care.

This picture was taken by Eriqs dad, Dirk Van de Vondel. He was the principal of the school where I studied and am now teaching, from 1996 to 2005. Afterwards, he moved upwards to become the head of our department in Antwerp. During his retirement, since 2010, he still collaborated in the policy of capacity problems for the school department.

The chicken house in the picture is DIY, made from pine wood, which was impregnated to make it wind and water resistant. With a fretsaw, Pieter created the chicken and heart design. The roof tiles are second hand. Inside the ladies mansion, he made a wooden box to serve as a nest and a stick  from one side to the other tot sleep on. It’s very important, to put ambiose, some sort of hemp, on the floor and in the nest of the henhouse, since it doesn’t attract vermin.

The chickens in the picture are Monique and Tineke, named after my mother and my mother in law. Everyday, Lili goes out in the yard and into the henhouse, to collect the eggs and proudly bring them to us. The eggs don’t always survive this trip, since she is still a bit clumsy in the realisation of this mission. In return for the eggs, we feed the ladies a plate full of grain and kitchen left-overs. Be careful not to feed them potato skins or too much bread.

This picture was taken by Greetje Van Buggenhout  for Het Nieuwsblad Magazine of december 2013. Petra De Pauw asked me for an interview in the series “Fashionmama’s”. She was tipped by Greetje about my interest in me and my daughters styling. I’ve been working together with Greetje for  photoshoots since I think seven years now. Lili was a bit cross at the time of this shooting, so we looked for the perfect location for her to be delighted with. She loves being amongst the chickens and likes fetching their eggs, so we took advantage of that situation to get her to strike a pose in front of Greetjes camera.

Lili is wearing a dress that her grandmother bought for her at Lola, stock sale for kids, Antwerp. Her cute icebear hat is H&M. I found the black rubber boots in a little shop in Zandhoven, Belgium. The owner was an old lady who sold her sock at that moment. I suppose her store must be closed by the time I’m writing this down.

I’m wearing my favourite cardigan with maribou bunny tail by Moschino. Got it at Rosier 41 in Antwerp. The white ankle boots are in fact my wedding shoes. I wore a very fragile wedding dress -excuse me, my mothers wedding dress- so the little boots countered this fragility. I’ve been wearing these shoes ever since our marriage, because they are so comfortable and stylish. I bought them at Elsa, Antwerp. Tights are Mediven Elegance compression tights, which make your legs feel light as a cloud during the day.