Today I realised that I am uttering this excitement more than ever in a perfectionism when it comes to my appearance that day. After I made sure that my daughter’s outfit was tip-top and that my husband’s appearance will be top-notch, I started ticking off the details of my silhouet. I found it somewhat harder that on other occasions, since I’m four months pregnant at this point. I’m not going to dwell on the complete picture yet, just for a little tension :-). I’d rather give you a peek into my preparations during this last week, I think they will be recognisable to many girls and ladies living up to such an important event.

Monday: Pj’s and high heels

I was working from home today. Which usually means: “homewear time, baby!”. This was also the case today, with one difference: I wore these very high heeled Karen Millen sweethearts all day long underneath my not so very flattering pj’s. I will do so for the rest of this week, to avoid the well known “new shoes agony” on the big day.

I also invested in a pair of very strange items, as shown below…

These invisible pads by Bama cushion the front of my feet, thus making walking in high heels noticeably more comfortable. This should help me pretending that I’m very much allright wearing this high heels in my in my pregnant condition. Thanks to air cushion technology with fine air passages, these pads should provide me with softness and a perfect fit. I wonder if they will do the job.

Tuesday: Nail Couture

A girl has to be neat from head to toe, or, from hand to toe, as I worked on today. I went to my favourite nail parlour, Nail Couture 43, and picked a coral red from their wide range of Gelamour colours, #004 Seductive Sun. My outfit will be salmon pink with golden accents. I found it necessary to create a lively contrast when it came to my nails, hence the coral red.

It goes without saying, that my toes will have to be adorned with the same colour. I went on a quest at Di and Parfuma and found myself a holy trinity: Essie nail laquer “Color Binge”, Chanel‘s famous “Le Top Coat” and Elegant Touch “Rapid dry for Nails”. This last one needs to be applied after the top coat and is a great help for impatient ladies such as myself, since it dries your polish in 60 seconds and adds some vitamin E at the same time.

Wednesday: Balayage

Today I gave in to temptation of two things I promised myself  I would never ever do (again). One: cutting my hair in layers, two: colouring it. Partly, Pinterest made me do it. These thousands of picture perfect balayages, ombres, dipdyes and highlights cannot leave a girl unmoved. Also, these shades of blonde always work out better on layers.

But the biggest incentive was the fact that I would like to create an over the shoulder messy fishtail braid on the day of Eriq and Sven’s wedding. Adding a subtle balayage to my already blonde hair will give some extra dimension and playfulness to the fishtail.

So, here we are:

The cut and balayage was performed at Salon Jules. The colouring products are by Vitality’s, which are very hair-friendly and guarantee radiant shades.

Thursday: Extensions

My customers and colleagues in beauty know, that I love to work my magic on my models hair using handmade clip-in extensions.  I have a wide array of hair colours in stock in by now, it becomes quite an addiction, I have to admit. I use clip in extensions to create more volume and/or length in updos, and to secure the curls in loose hairstyles. Sometimes my extensions addiction results in somewhat over the top creative projects, such as for example the “hair throne” photoshoot on my website.

As I mentioned above, I want to wear my hair Saturday in an over the shoulder fishtail braid. I will need some extra volume and length to create a fishtail worthy of its name. For this purpose, I “fitted” different colours of extensions today and, I must say, I found a nice colour blend with my own locks.

If you would like me to create a custom-made set of clip-in extensions especially for you, please let me know

Friday: Baby Belt Glamour

Pregnancy and glamour are not always an obvious match to make. I try very hard not to give into the pregnancy look, and keep glamour on my side as long as possible. This sometimes asks for some secret interventions, which are not secret anymore, since they are published on this blog

For starters, I have to wear compression stockings, type 2, all through my pregancy. This is to avoid having to much varicosity after these nine months. I wear Mediven Elegance in black, skin tone and white, even throughout summer. Mmmm, sexy…

Secondly, I have an “outie” belly button, which means that it pops out because of the pressure of the uterus on the inside against it. Ow yeah, nice…  What a lucky coincidence, that my compression stockings also support my belly, so that it covers up the outie when I wear them.

Saturday, however, I won’t be able to wear my ever so loved compression stockings, since they would show in my beloved Karen Millen stiletto sandals. I had to find an other solution for this nuisance of a belly button. I went to my  favourite place at this moment, the orthopaedic shop, and they sold me a baby belt by Anita (which is a nice looking, oldschool brand from 1886, with a sound history, hence the picture above). It is made of breathing microfibre, and is in fact designed to prevent back aches during pregnancy. It feels heavenly supporting, which I like (I’m a push up type ;-)).  It works magical on the outie as well! I find it awkward to show my belly here in public, but here is a beautiful model showing it for you:

It doesn’t look very sexy, but acceptable when combined with a fine set of lingerie (which I find a bit awkward to show here as well, but bought a way too expensive Chantal Thomass set ;-)). Glamour finds its origins underneath your clothes, darlings.

Saturday: The Big Day

After enjoying the most emotional wedding I have ever attended, I did’nt feel like posting pictures about myself anymore. Suddenly, all of this felt very superficial. These guys made us all cry several times during the day, because of their spontaneity, humour, softness and inegrity. I think that this picture says it all:

Anyway, I think I owe you guys some pictures of the finished look. Here they are.

I visited ‘Sculptures & Drawings. 2000-2014’ at the S.M.A.K.. , an exhibition of the work of Berlinde de Bruyckere of the past 15 years. I expected to enjoy a beautiful tribute to vulnerability and suffering, which are Berlindes chief themes.  The exhibition gave me more than I even expected, it was simply stunning. Especially the technique used to create the sculptures in wax struck me. I was so fascinated by this texture, that I accidentally touched it with the tip of my nose trying to understand what I was looking at. The presentation also includes earlier works in textile and horse skin that gained the artist her international renown.

These pictures are taken by Leen Daems, a very good friend of mine. She is Press Officer at Bozar Expo. Always fascinated by my overdressed appearance, she inspired me to start up this blog. This evening she persuaded me to strike a pose in front of her camera. Since I am not a professional model, and she is not a professional photographer, we giggled our way through the museum trying to produce a decent image. I think it took us about 20 takes to produce the “spontaneous” pictures included in this post. Off went our credibility that night amongst the other opening night visitors.

I’m wearing a jacket by Scott N.Y.C., found it at Rosier 41.  This is a second hand shop in the heart of Antwerp where Viviane and Paul sell high fashion labels at small prices. You can find all Belgian designers here, such as Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Maison Martin Margiela, Raf Simons , as well as international brands such as Jil Sander, Dior, Marni, Chloé, Rick Owens, Damir Doma,  Balenciaga and many others. Underneath I’m wearing a Karen Millen dress. Tights are Mediven Elegance compression tights. I can understand that you might find this a very unsexy item to wear, but ever so convenient at sultry exhibition openings. Shoes are by Cuplé, got them at El Corte Inglés in Barcelona. Make sure you shop at the El Corte Inglés at Plaça de Catalunya 23, they sell more streetwise collections than the department store at the other side of the square. Finally, the purse I am carrying is a gift from my husband. He bought it at Bonaventura, a second hand purse shop in Antwerp, Aalmoezenierstraat 38. Bonaventura is the place to be for second hand handbags and accessories. This cosy shop kept his vintage look and features – as it should- a well filled window. For the bargain hunters amongst us: you can even find some authentic Chanel, Louis Vuitton or Delvaux purses over there.

If you like to know how to create a dutch braid similar to the one in the picture, please have a look at my tutorial.

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.