So once back outside after a heady fashion rush at the MoMu, I get to loiter the cobblestoned streets of Antwerp. On this particular day it is a national holiday so the stores are closed and crowds are minimal, which actually makes it quite fun to windowshop…
and pretend to know what’s going on behind pretty doors…
The best part about Antwerp is that no matter how many times I’ve been here, there are always new corners to discover…
and random churches that harbor hidden gems such as displays of antique lace:
Best of all, even the well traveled spots in this town never get old to me!
My mind’s eye is all about colors like mustard yellow, Peruvian turquoise, clay orange, and avocado green. But by far I favor the color black for all practical intents and purposes. So Antwerp’s ModeMuseum (MoMu)’s current exhibition of BLACK. Masters of Black in Fashion & Costume (running through August 8, 2010) is right up my alley.
I’ve always liked the city of Antwerp because roads like these…
lead to the MoMu:
Beyond its traditional façade are a modern entrance
and a sunny, lofty interior:
Before you enter the main exhibition, there is a display of the MoMu Award 2010 winner Mariel Manuel’s quirky collection:
Then it’s on to a fantasy world where the color of night rules…just as I like it. Zwart is Dutch for black. And what better way to meet zwart than to be greeted at the door by this first piece, a Givenchy couture gown by Riccardo Tisci…
followed by provocative groupings of black clothing,
accessories (I especially love the leather harness in the first picture of the series below), and jewelry
by Belgian and international designers like Olivier Theyskens, Ann Demeulemeester, Victor & Rolf, and Junya Watanabe to showcase the history, evolution, and art of fashion in the context of the color of black.
I really enjoy this comparison between a McQueen and an 18th century gown…can you guess which is which?
Now you can’t possibly let me leave this entry without a nod to my favorite designer who made black de riguer, do you? Next to the simple black Chanel sheath dress, there is a quotation from a 1926 Vogue review: The Chanel “Ford:”…the frock that all the world will wear–its model “817″ of black crepe de chine…it will become a standard wardrobe component for all women of taste…” . I can’t think of a more apt or prophetic description for the little black dress.
It’s truly impossible to photograph the color of black, especially when flash photography is not permitted, so I’ll leave you with this one last shot that I tried to take a few times to capture all the details of the lace and beading used in the capes:
Tags: Ann Demeulemeester, Antwerp, Chanel, Givenchy, Junya Watanabe, Mariel Manuel, McQueen, MoMu, Theykens, Victor & Rolf
1. No vintage bags.
2. No lambskin bags.
3. No children-sized bags.
Those have been my longstanding rules in collecting bags. However, there’s an exception to every rule.
Now, you’ve seen me drag a Gucci bag across the Sahara and a Balenciaga through the snow, so you must know the road does not make a friendly companion to more precious bags, particularly the Chanel kind. So in anticipation of this summer’s trek that will involve planes, trains and automobiles, I found a couple of mini flaps that I believed would be more suitable for traveling.
This first one, a quilted, semi-circle goody from the 80s, was a no-brainer purchase since the price was just too good to resist. It has been lovingly broken in yet immaculate on the inside, so I know it will be perfect for sweltering, rainy, or any other kind of day when I don’t want to carry the Hermes I posted about the last time.
The chain is not quite long enough to wear it messenger style, but the lambskin is supple enough to hold a lot more than expected. They sure don’t make bags like this anymore! Here’s an action shot of it on some random street in Antwerp (more about this in the next entry):
It’s also a great size to double as an evening bag. I suppose after this trip the bag will get sent in for “spa services” and hopefully it will come out looking even better than ever. But the one bag from a seller in the UK is the one I had written about before I left LA…
When I finally picked it up here and saw it in person for the first time, I was hooked. How is it possible that I never gave these vintage bags a second look simply because they were not made…like yesterday?
This particular bag is probably over 15 years old and yet it looks like it’s been held maybe twice. It is in better shape than some display bags I’ve seen at the Chanel boutiques. I can wear it messenger style, by the arm by doubling the chain, or in the hand as a clutch if I hide the chain. And you know, all those lovely ladies I see around Europe in their vintage Chanel bags that show a whole spectrum of wear and tear…I’m starting to become a believer that there’s an amount of charm–a je ne sais quois if you will–to carrying bags that show as much life lived in them as in the faces of the women who wear them. If every laugh wrinkle on my face records some fantastic memory from a trip, then why not carry a lambskin bag that will witness and commemorate those memories as well?
So those are my reasons for breaking the first two rules. As for the last, I’d like to think that by carrying a smaller bag that may look more like a full-sized bag on say, a ten-year-old, I will save my shoulders from the weight of a jumbo-sized classic flap (you gals know what I mean here!). The smaller the bag, the less temptation there is to fill it up with unnecessary things that we women like to schlepp around on a daily basis.
PS: I guess this means I brought 3 bags on this trip. And yes, also an extra pair of sneakers 
.
Tags: Antwerp, Balenciaga, Chanel, Hermes, vintage bag
I’ve blogged numerous times about Antwerp (Antwerpen/Anvers), one of my favorite cities in Belgium. But I don’t think I ever mentioned the most popular story behind how the city got its name. Legend has it that there was once a giant named Antigoon who charged a toll on shippers crossing the river Scheldt. If they failed to pay the toll, he’d cut off their hands and toss them into this very river. One day a young hero, Brabo, defeated the giant and threw Antigoon’s hand into the Scheldt. This same lore hence explains the name Antwerpen as having derived from the Dutch words hand werpen (werpen = to throw):
Walking around the streets of this culturally diverse city during the holidays is a fantastic experience…
and Antwerp’s Christmas market is one of the better ones I’ve seen so far. It is held at the Groenplaats, just in front of the Hilton:
There seem to be better vendors to me, even if overall the merchandise is more or less the same…
The requisite outdoors ice skating rink is also there, in front of City Hall:
And near the front entrance of the grand Cathedral of Our Lady there’s a life sized nativity scene,
which you can recreate yourself in miniature sizes by buying the individual pieces at the church’s gift shop:
If you’re waiting for another gratuitous picture of the Belgian waffle, it won’t happen in Antwerp. Because when I’m in this town, it’s a tradition to get dim sum instead…and I got a lot of it earlier today…
which might explain why I’m working off my heavy lunch by offering to work for Santa Claus…
Sure hope I get to wake up to a white Christmas tomorrow morning!
Tags: Antigoon, Antwerp, Brabo, Cathedral of Our Lady, Christmas market, nativity scene, Scheldt
When I was in Antwerp last February, it was hovering around freezing point and my hands were shaking every time I took them out of my gloves to take a picture. I’d blogged about viewing the museums and main sights then, so this time it’s just about hanging out in one of my favorite cities on a very helter skelter day weatherwise. The day starts out chilly yet sunny, then rainy, then hot and cloudy, then clear and breezy, all in the span of some 6 hours. I put on and remove my jacket so many times I don’t know if I’m coming or going.
The picture above is taken outside out Antwerp’s Gare Centrale. To the immediate right of the train station’s front entrance is the main gate to the zoo which I introduced you to yesterday. You can barely see that winged copper statute in both the picture above and below:
That large red carousel you see in front of the train station is a really cool merry-go-around called the Manège Carré Sénart, created by François Delarozière.
The moving parts (the seats) on the ride are all custom built in magical shapes of insects, buffalos, and fish…
The more I look, the more charming the ride becomes. It’s a lot like looking up at stars in a night sky; the longer you look the more you see. It’s theatrical and whimsical…stuff of childhood fantasies re-interpreted by adult minds and hands. This installation has traveled through Europe and will be in Antwerp through the end of August. If you are not lucky enough to see it in person, check out the fabulous website for Manège Carré.
Because the zoo runs along the side of this magnificent train station–in my opinion it’s one of the most brilliantly designed stations in the whole world–I am able to capture pictures like these:
And just when, after viewing a few animal exhibits, I start to tell myself that I could be standing in the middle of any zoo anywhere in the US, I look up to see this view beyond the picnic area and am reminded of Dorothy’s wide-eyed comment to Toto: We’re not in Kansas anymore:
And also, appropriately enough, lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!
By the way, I’d be remiss to not mention the baby elephant that’s been all the rage at the zoo:
She was born on May 17 in captivity after a 22-months gestation period…and here you thought 9 months were bad! This picture reminds me of how all first-time mothers look to me when you go near their newborns:
Tomorrow we observe the 2-legged wildlife in Antwerp.
Tags: Antwerp, francois delaroziere, Gare Centrale, Manege carre senart, train station, zoo
