fashion week event

It was fashion week in London last week and although I didn't make it to any runway shows (invitation must have gotten lost...) I did get to go to an event put on by the London College of Fashion (london's equivalent to FIT in NYC). One of the members of Goodenough was showing his most recent shoe collection so a group of us went to the event - definitely a mix of art and fashion. Apparently everything they were showing were prototypes. There was fashion/bags/photography but the highlight for me was definitely the SHOES! Here is a sample of what I saw...

...I'll take a 7 1/2 in all of the above please?? 

There was also clothing, some wearable, some straight up conceptual...

and a few accessories sprinkled in

and here was our friend explaining his shoe line - made of suede with wood soles and steel heels. These were definitely my favorite! Absolutely beautiful - I have a good feeling about scallops this season

Amsterdam

Seeing as it is "reading week" and I am very behind on the reading, I thought I would just post my favorite pictures from Amsterdam. I went with another American friend from college last weekend and suffice it to say I could have stayed for ages - SUCH an amazing city and I loved absolutely everything about it. Amazing art, amazing food (stroopwaffles, cheese, mustard practically falling out of shops in the form of generously portioned free samples - yes please), and amazing scenery - the canals were simply beautiful.

Rijksmuseum was the first stop - 

lots of Rembrandt! 

...did I mention we stopped by his house too? 

Compare the following...a Protestant Church...

vs. a Catholic church. Pretty typical.

some really cool street art...(love my van gogh)

and real van gogh - 75 works on exhibition at the Hermitage Amsterdam. SO PUMPED to see this gem among them!

and then there was more art...it doesn't get old.

and then it snowed!! 

so beautiful.

We hit up the maritime museum - ships/water/etc = a very important subject here in the Netherlands considering most of the city is below sea level and really, had they not interfered, the whole place should really be ocean...(thanks to those wonderful windmills, entrepreneurs in the 17th century could pump water out and tadaa! it became new land they could sell). The Netherlands was also extremely important in terms of trading with the 'Far East' in the 17th century (their 'golden age' of sorts). This ship is a reconstruction of a Dutch East India Company ship that actually crashed. Oh don't worry, we went inside the hull and checked out the captain's quarters - not bad! (could never stay on that thing for 8 months though, the average time it took to get to China on one of these bad boys)

and then there were more canals...

and the royal palace in the middle of the city

pretty sunsets

and SO MANY BIKES!

and that was about it - I would totally go back in a second! 

Bath

A few girls and I went to Bath for the day on Saturday - such a beautiful city and it was such a beautiful day!

We got up bright and early to catch an 8:30am train - once we arrived we went to one of the oldest "tea and eating houses" in England (it has been functioning for over 300 years). Sally Lunn's has more than tea though - they are famous for their buns (a light, fluffy bread bun with optional flavored butter - I got apple cinnamon) and coffee (thank goodness) - we sat upstairs next to the windows and had a lovely brunch to start the day.

First stop = the Roman baths. 

Uncovered in the eighteenth century, there is now a museum around the natural hot springs. 

Right next door is Bath Abbey - really fascinating place with all kinds of touching effigies on the walls and floor and it was beautiful silhouetted against the blue sky.

After this, we walked around the city...headed first to Bath Circus, the home of none other than Thomas Gainsborough - we were more than happy to be nerdy art students and take pictures in front of his house...

We also went to Royal Crescent, home of the ultra-wealthy aristocrats - it was unreal how gorgeous the area was and peeking inside the homes with drawn curtains revealed the most amazing chandeliers, stucco-carved ceilings and glimpses of furniture. It is famous for having many interiors designed by none other than Robert Adam. 

Here we are together! 

After this we headed to lunch and warmed up at an amazing pub/restaurant for burgers, wine, and triple-cooked chips. YUM!

After having spent a solid 2 hours at lunch, it was getting darker so we walked around the shops and ended up at a few pubs to end the night. Our train left at 10pm and we were home by midnight. Such a fun day!!