Le Noir!

Dear readers,

Vogue continues digging deeper into their dark side and I am actually kind of loving it! In the September issue of Vogue models Kate Moss and Saskia de Brauw both represent the gothic theme in a very "dark" shoot while wearing among other brands Dolce & Gabbana, Lanvin and Bottega Veneta.

Do you like the result?

Love, Melissa

Film noir!

Dear readers,

Daria Werbowy covers the cover of Vogue's september issue alongside Kate Moss and Lara Stone. I find this shoot the most amazing one out of the three, although all three covers are simply stunning! This shoot, shot by Mert & Marcus, reminds me of the era of film noir. I love it! What is your take on this shoot?

Love, Melissa

Stand for something!

Dear readers,

Just came across this picture on Carolina Engman's blog Fashionsquad and thought it was incredibly cool! What do you think?

 

Just some inspiration for today, a lovely and rainy (at least In Holland) Sunday! :)

 

Love, Melissa

Zara Lookbook Fall 2012

Dear readers,

I love to take a peek at lookbooks! The fashion, the styles, the creation, the pictures, the model...it all comes together in such a good way! The Zara Lookbook for this coming season is no exception! Want to see it for yourself? Ok, here goes:

Can't wait to get my hands on one of these items! I especially love the style portrayed in picture 5, how about you? And can you notice the color that keeps coming back? Exactly...BLACK! So pulling out all of the black items I have in my closet for this fall! :)

Love, Melissa

LOL...AWFUL!

Dear readers,

People in China trying to enjoy the nice weather LOL! Sorry, couldn't resist posting this picture!

 

 

Have a great day!

 

Love, Melissa

 

Remove plastic out of your daily life!

Dear readers,

These days I am making it a mission to remove most - if not all - plastic out of my life. Plastic is one of those materials that found a way into our lives without us people questioning it. It's not only bad for the environment, but it's also really bad for our health! Why is that? Well, because plastic contains chemicals like BPA and phthalates that interferes with our body's hormones. It is poisonous as hell! So, be a better spokesperson for your body and try to use glass instead of plastic, buy less processed food (a lot of times, this comes packed in plastic) and use a reusable mug, reusable shopping bags, etc.!

Just this past week I decided to turn my plastic habits around and to opt for a life filled of glass instead of plastic. I would always carry a plastic waterbottle, but those days are over! I bought myself a reusable glass waterbottle and drinking out of it already makes me feel better and more empowered! You can do this too!

Let me know what step you took TODAY to become more plastic-free in your own life!

Love, Melissa

After you'd gone!

Dear readers,

You know how I love to read books! My favourite writer is Santa Montefiore, but now and then I pick a totally different writer, because I love discovering new writers! So a little while back I bought this book by Maggie O'Farrell, called "After you'd gone" and while it was a little difficult to stay focused in the beginning, I have to say that in the middle of the book I couldn't put it away. I was so into the character of Alice and I wanted to know how the story would unfold! While the end of the book was in sight I caught myself sobbing and let me tell you...it takes a lot to see me cry, so I applaud Maggie for that :)

So, if any of you want to read a good book these days, this is my tip for you!

Enjoy it!

Love, Melissa

Lana Del Rey for H&M

Dear readers,

Remember Lana Del Rey? She is the singer of 'Video Games'...ahhh, now you remember her, right?! So, aside from singing, she also does some modelling work and H&M is the lucky store who got the chance to collaborate with her for this coming season. H&M already put up some sneak peek photos on their website and here they are!

What do you think of this collaboration and of course the collection? I like the campaign, but I do think her facial expression is one and the same.

On september 19 H&M will upload the commercial on their website, so sit tight for that one!

Love, Melissa

The sun is out...

Dear readers,

FINALLY, the sun has shown its face here in The Netherlands and I am loving it! Enjoying every single minute of it...or at least almost every single minute :) I mean, I got lots of other stuff to do these days.

Anyway, couple of days ago I went out for a drink with my boyfriend and his mom. Here proof of our lovely afternoon :)

I am wearing trousers from Zara, top and necklace from Topshop, bracelet from Michael Kors, sandals from Marc O'Polo and sunglasses from Guess.

What are you up to these days?

Love, Melissa

Beautiful horse!

Dear readers,

Since the Olympic Games I am so intrigued by the beauty of horses, so for today's post I wanted to share this beautiful picture!

Has this the WOW-factor or what? I think so!

Have a beautiful day!

Love, Melissa

Feeling blue!

Dear readers,

When thinking about my upcoming trip to Dubai, I see myself wearing classy and light clothing! With this in mind, I created a new outfit for today's post. What I especially love about this outfit is the returning elements of the ocean: blue, coral and of course the starfish-bracelet! :) I hope you like it!

Love, Melissa

P.S. As always, all items can be found & loved on my Fashiolista page! Are you a follower yet?

Our other Olympic Champions!

Dear readers,

I have tributed a post to Epke Zonderland's accomplishment during the Olympic Games, but of course I needed to write a post about our other Olympic Champions as well! It wouldn't be fair otherwise :)

So, lets see which Dutch athletes have won medals during the Olympic Games of 2012 in London.

First off, Teun Mulder who won a bronze medal with Keirin (indoor cycling).

Another cycling medal was won by Marianne Vos, but this time it was a gold medal! :) It was actually the first gold medal we won these Olympics.

On the BMX we won a bronze medal. Laura Smulder, an 18 year old girl, managed to get the job done :)

Then we are setting our eyes on Judo, where Holland won 2 bronze medals, one for Henk Grol and one for Edith Bosch (you know, the woman who subdued the Olymic bottle-thrower :P).

Now, moving to the department of beautiful horses! :)

What did we win? Three silver and one bronze medal. Silver with Jumping (team of four men: Gerco Schröder, Jur Vrieling, Maikel van Vleuten and Marc Houtzager) and again with Jumping, but this time on an individual base. Who won? Gerco Schröder and men, what a nerve wracking finale it was! Another silver medal was won by Adelinde Cornelissen for her indivual dressage. A bronze medal was won with Dressage (mixed team of three, being: Anky van Grunsven, Adelinde Cornelissen and Edward Gal).

Leaving the horses and moving to Rowing where the Dutch ladies won a bronze medal!

We are staying in the water, 'cause with swimming we won FOUR medals, two gold ones, 1 silver and 1 bronze! The two gold medals were won by Ranomi Kromowidjojo: one for the 100 meters freestyle and one for the 50 meters freestyle. The silver medal was won with the estafette group of 100 meters freestyle. The woman included in the team were: Inge Dekker, Femke Heemskerk, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Marleen Veldhuis. The bronze medal was won by Marleen Veldhuis for the 50 meters freestyle. What an accomplishment ladies!!!

Ranomi and Marleen after they realised they both won medals during the 50 meters freestyle!

Sailing was another sport which we were pretty good at, because we won a gold medal, a silver medal AND a bronze medal. The gold one was won by Dorian van Rijsselberghe, the silver one by Marit Bouwmeester and the bronze by Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout! Good job you guys!

From sailing we are going to hockey, were the ladies won a gold medal and the men a silver medal! WOW!

And of course, we won this beautiful gold medal with the high horizontal bar (turning), or actually...Epke Zonderland won this and ok...I will post another photo of him :)

That makes it a total of 20 medals of which 6 gold medals, 6 silver and 8 bronze. I think it is quite an accomplishment for a small country like ours. We are positioned at number 13 which is GREAT! I want to congratulate each and every athlete who won a medal during these Olympics, but I also want to congratulate all the other athletes who didn't make it to the stage, but did make it to the Olympics, because that alone is already something to be very proud of!

Can't wait for Rio 2016! How about yourself?

Love, Melissa