Around the World in 80 Dresses

Grey is the new black. It is so elegant and softer. My dress comes from Denmark made by Charlotte Eskildsen for the label Remix. I purchased it in Bergen, Norway. For me the colour is reflecting the silvery grey of an overcast day in the North. Bergen seems to be one of the wettest places on earth. There they love to tell you all sorts of jokes mocking their rainy weather: An American tourist asked a boy: Tell me young man, is it raining here every day? I don’t know, madam , did the lad answer, I am only eight years old.  The gathers in the front of my dress add just that bit of playfulness needed for a less sober look. Draped jersey is Charlotte Eskildsen’s speciality. Grey has the great advantage that it lends itself to endless possibilities of combinations. Sometimes I add violet boots and bag and a lot of silver, sometimes I feel more like jazzing it up with gold and an Asian spencer. The plushy spencer is doubling as a wind screen for chilly days. A red turtle neck swe...

The most treasured piece of the South African distant past is the Rhino of Mapungubwe , a small expertly shaped golden rhino found in the North close to Zimbabwe. Mining gold has been and still is the corner stone of the South African economy. Johannesburg was founded in the times of the gold rush and its indigenous name is Egoli , the City of Gold. To own a piece of African gold besides the Krugerrand is seducing. So, I went looking for some gold jewellery that would not empty my wallet completely. Finally, I found it at the Watershed, The market place of South African handicraft at the V &A Waterfront in Cape Town. There Famke Koene, a young designer who studied in the Netherlands, is interpreting African gold in a minimalistic style. Her pieces are looking cool and they do not consume all too much of the precious metal.              Aenne Huette from Germany could have been her aunt. She had a similar concept of using gold in  a...