Around the World in 80 Dresses

The embroidered pouch, the petit point bag and the silk gloves are cherished fashion items from my mother and grandmother. Used sparingly with a modern outfit there is still place for these heirloons. My belts are a  mix as happy as it is incoherent. For the lilac belt made of crocodile leather I spent the greater part of my first salary on a new job when I was young and a spendthrift. It happens to match the pouch of the same colour from Argentina, I acquired much later in that eldorado for leather lovers. Shoes get a whole new meaning depending on where to wear them, for outdoors, for indoors, and for those late night outings. So, just one or two pairs of black ones won't do. However, I am neither Imelda Marcos nor Grace Mugabe. My shoes are still fitting into my wardrobe albeit I have to admit shoes can become addictive. Here they crowd my water lily basin’s rim to be in the lime light.

Grey winter days even ask for more prominent accessories than summertime to brighten them up. My Burmese dancer, Willy, my Namibian rhino who used to be my watch dog back in South Africa and the fan from Taiwan are adorning themselves with all sorts of necklaces. All the festive events winter has in store are intended for glittering jewellery, handmade clutches and unusual belts. The opal from Australia is sparkling in all hues of blue, green and yellow. I didn’t scratch for it myself but bought it in a glitzy jewellery shop in Melbourne’s downtown when I was on visit at my daughter's host family during her school term overseas. © wimkantona, Melbourne, tram, pixabay

Eroll Arendz from Cape Town is a magician. He knows how to make women look good. The shapes of his dresses and coats are rather simple. His secret lies in the cut. Add lovely fabric and fluid forms. I have chosen the long brown dress and a beige coat enveloping me in the lightest wool you can imagine. On colder days I change the coat for the fun fur west by Wanama from Buenos Aires. Their motto is Live better dreams . Well, Live your dreams would have done it for me, but Argentinians like to exaggerate. Adding a pale aquamarin shawl to the dark brown makes the dress fit for an outing for dinner in town. The plain brown dress offers endless possibilities for accessorizing. Playing with accessories is so much fun. It does not matter if it is classic, fancy or crazy, if it is costing next to nothing or preciously hand crafted by a renown arrtisan. With Eroll Arendz' dress everything goes.

Years ago my then time sweet heart brought me a precious painting from Russia. The icon is showing Saint Catherine in an embroidered dress in front of a star studded background. The painting makes me always think of my own visit to Russia.  It was a romantic evening in early winter in St Petersburg. The first snow was falling slowly on the square in front of the Hermitage.  From that journey I brought home a lovely fringed scarf. Russian women wear these large scarfs for special occasions. Mine is made of royal – or should I say imperial - blue silk accentuating the embroidered chrysanthemums.  ©  St Petersburg, Nicolle,Shekin, pixabay 

I got a visit of a dear lady friend. When we looked at each other we laughed. By coincidence we had both chosen animal print, she for her top and I for my scarf from South Africa. We do love leopards. As Halloween happened to be around the corner we agreed that we'd rather disguise ourselves as the beautiful wild cats than as witches. One thing sets us apart from leopards, only. We do love dark chocolate and indulged in the delicacy my friend had presented me with - in an animal print bag for sure.  

I spent my last Indian summer day at Frankfurt's newly refurbished Altstadt , the medieval town centre. The round square in front of the Römer , the 600 years old city hall and the surrounding timber-framed houses are restored to their former picturesque beauty. From there it is a short walk to the river banks of the Main with their subtropical park on one side and the string of museums on the left bank. © Städel Museum At Frankfurt`s main art gallery, the Städel  I had a surprise encounter with Lotte Laserstein. The Berlin based Jewish painter had one great subject, the new woman, the independant city girl of the twenties hatching out of the protective cocoon the Belle Epoque had kept her in. Lotte's bold portraits remindend me of another German born lady painter I greatly cherish, of Irma Stern from Cape Town (see post March 20, 2018). I felt elated in the company of this Damengesellschaft / ladies gathering, a name the museum cleverly attributes to thei