RIP John Galliano (the brand)

Well, who didn't hear about the John Galliano scandal, see the video of him talking badly about jews, read about Natalie Portman's reaction as the new face of Miss Dior Cherie and had to see his magnificent show after (where he wasn't even present)..? I guess everyone did.

I don't really want to have an opinion about it, but it did shock me to see the video. As I first believed it to be all rumor and lies. But I love John Galliano as a designer. He brought the house of Dior to a whole different level of extraordinaire fashion and style.

My budget wouldn't allow one of those beautiful creations he used to come up with, but I could afford a dress from his John Galliano line. I found a dress in pink with newspaper print, that came in various forms, but I loved the shape of a certain dress. A truly feminine, classic shape. Not too short either. Loved it, bought it..

The picture above is from Halloween, or Harlow-een if you will, 2010. I dressed up as vintage vixen as I possibly could. That was the theme of our family party.

After that I didn't get an opportunity to wear it for a long time. But about 3 weeks ago, my friend was invited to one of her friends birthday party. She didn't know anyone that would be there and was allowed to invite someone, so she asked me. I decided to go with her, but was living from a suitcase, since I was staying over. I hadn't brought any dresses with me, except for the Galliano, because the fabric feels like second skin. I hadn't worn it outside anymore, because I don't want to support anyone that expresses him/herself like John did though.. But feeling like a hypocrite for still wearing it inside the house, I put the dress on. I put a tank top underneath the dress, because I didn't want to be too exposed. The dress shows a lot of cleavage and we were heading for the kind of club you normally wouldn't want to be at all. *giggles*

It took away just a little bit of the 'spice' this dress gives. But mainly felt comfortable.

Actually, I just hadn't thought that anyone would ever approach me about still wearing Galliano at all. Quite frankly, I'd expected not even anyone in my town to know who Galliano was, let alone the scandal. But at the end of the night, right before we left the building, a bouncer came up to me to ask me why I was supporting a designer that was anti-semitic. Before I could realize what he was saying, another bouncer & a clubber started to ask me as well, whether I was against jews, why I'd be wearing something which I'd not fully support etc.

I politely answered that I am against any form of racism, discrimination and humiliation, but that I still loved my dress. No lies.

They kept throwing harsh words and questions at me over how wrong it was, so I just smiled, told them I couldn't make it any different than it was, that I understood what they meant, but that I wasn't going to ditch a pretty dress over the situation. I said pretty, but I thought pretty expensive. For me, this didn't come cheap. So to have a situation like this happening, where you suddenly can't wear it anymore, because the designer disgraced himself, is just sad.

Anyway, I left the club, couldn't stop thinking about it and again haven't worn it ever since. It was a great night with an uncomfortable ending.

I just can't make up my mind on whether it's still fitting to wear it sometimes. I bought it before all the drama, but it does have his name on it and since everyone knows, it seems to be offending to other people. That's why I've buried the dress deep in my closet for now. Just to show a little respect to those John Galliano had offended. Sad though. Such a waste of talent. I hope he'll have a good future either way.


In my book, this brand is no longer a 'do' due to various reasons. 

*SMOOCHESSS*

Lanvin ♥ H&M

And you're thinking 'that's ages ago'. I know. But that's because recently the news broke that Donatella Versace changed her mind about doing a collaboration with H&M and will be doing it this year. All the previous collaborations, I missed either because I had a lack of interest or couldn't get myself to go to the store fighting the masses & missed out on the pieces I'd wanted.

Not so with Lanvin. I actually bought 3 dresses from the collaboration, but had to return 2. I had managed to buy them online, but only one was worth the keep. I didn't like the material on the other ones too much..

I still like it, but don't wear it too often as it feels like fulnerable material. Also, it's too short for my taste. Like with one of the Jane Norman navy dresses I blogged about earlier (with the buttons) I dislike it when it shows so much hip. Anyhow, I have mixed feelings about the Versace collaboration.

Versace is luxuriously attractive, but Donatella announced it's going to be 'rock & roll'. And well, if you've been keeping up, you'll know I don't like any harsh fashion. However, let's not judge before we see the results.. Perhaps I'll fall in love with a piece (or more) at sight!

*Kisses*

On the stairway of the sea wall

Kinda sounds like a fairy tale, but it isn't. You guys know that Holland is famous for it's 'dykes'. No slang interpretation here please. I seriously mean embankment.

In Flevoland, a region close to Amsterdam (20 minute drive), there is a stairway on to the highway with the water on the other side. It's pretty, but they are still building a lot of houses and of course there are the cars driving by 'upstairs', which makes it difficult to take a walk alongside the waters.

These pics were taken by a friend on the stairway aka 'the safe side'. lol. You wouldn't want to run over just to see the water and get hit by a car. Okay, I did run over pretty quickly, but it seemed so dangerous and illegal (there is no sufficient path on the other side) that I even forgot to snap a picture. Bummer..

I have to add..It felt super romantic to be alongside such beautiful waters, nature & flowers. Tried to capture the moments, but the camera doesn't draw them out as beautiful as it really was. It's a 'go see for yourself' kind of thing, I guess.

So at the top of this bloggie you can see a still, little picture of the sun dawn made by H.H. De Graaf. Found it via Google, but decided to not post the full picture, due to copyright infringement. It's just to give you a look to see how beautiful the other side of this stairway is. They need to make some path there. It's too romantic not to be able to see up close (without risking your life).

*SMOOCH*