Jacket Repeat / shirt Zara / trousers Zara / bag Chanel / shoes Chanel

Last week we paid a two-day visit to Paris to escape the rain in Holland. I love taking a walk through Paris and enjoying the atmosphere. Paris has a special place in my heart and I can't get enough of that city. We did some shopping on Rue St. Honoré. Checked the stock at Mulberry and did some browsing at Colette. Naturally, I had to pay a visit to Chanel at Rue Cambon. I spotted the cutest classic mini flap in patent leather, but since I'm on a Chanel shopping ban, I had to let this one go.

We ended the afternoon with a visit to the Eiffel tower and couldn't resist taking a funny picture...

Coat Zara / shoes Zara / purse Chanel 

I'm enjoying a holiday until the end of this week and am even spending less time behind my computer and just try to reload before the madness at work starts again. I need some extra energy for my business trip to Berlin this month. Really looking forward to meeting my trademark friends and colleagues again! :)

I still ow you the pictures we took in Paris and will sort them out tomorrow hopefully so that I can share those with you as well.

For now, here are some pictures we took yesterday when we paid a visit to the beautiful village Kinderdijk with me wearing my beloved new camel coat from Zara. If there's only one item you would like to purchase for Fall make sure it's a camel coat!  

As indicated before, we took a lot of pictures during our short break in Puerto Banus. We stayed in this lovely apartment which is surrounded by a beautiful tropical garden including a private pool and lots of fountains. I loved it so much, I really wanted to share some pictures with you!

Again, I made some new friends. This time with Mr. Frog! :) Mr. Frog likes chilling near lilies and bathing in the sun.











Mucho tranquilo, don't you agree! ;)

Pictures taken during a lunch at this cool restaurant in the harbor of Puerto Banus.

Hi guys! I'm back from a short break to Puerto Banus, Marbella, Spain! Oh boy, we took so many pictures, since I bought a new dSLR camera! But before showing you a selection of pictures first some counterfeit news.


Frommel wants to join us on our trip to Marbella!

Well, basically if you're looking for a nice designer bag (authentic or fake), Marbella apparantly is the place to be. For the ones that never heard of this place before, Marbella is the St. Tropez of Spain. With the mondain harbour Puerto Banus, lots of people find their way to this decadent place to enjoy the sun, good food, beautiful cars and many designer shops.


Welcome to Puerto Banus and please watch out for the bar...

Brands such as Missoni, Gucci, Tod's Hermès, Dior, Valentino, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, etc are well presented here. Unfortunately despite the fact that many people in this great place should have plenty of money to spend in one of these stores, lots and lots of them rather spend their money on a fake bag or watch you can easily purchase on the street.

The streets of Marbella are full with counterfeit vendors out in the open offering their fake stuff to tourists as if it's legal merchandise they're selling. On a regular night that we went out to have a few drinks, every 3 minutes these guys would pass by and offer their fake products, most of these fakes being Louis Vuitton bags!

You could tell that Louis Vuitton is very popular in Marbella. For every authentic LV bag you could easily spot 10 fakes. It's shocking to see so many women and (teenage) girls carrying the fake version of the popular Speedy or Neverfull in Damier Azur Canvas.

After being confronted with this tsunami of fakes I think I never ever want to buy a Louis Vuitton again! :(

Here are some pictures of counterfeit vendors, that we secretly took:



 

 

 
Prada? Louis Vuitton? I guess these pictures speak for themselves.

And you know what? For some strange reason we even felt sorry for these guys. Most probably these guys are just trying to make a living. It's the criminal organisation that is taking care of the supply/logistics of these fakes and underpaying these guys that is the worrying part!

When going through my pics I took of Boston, I found out that I made way too little pics. My schedule was so packed that I had hardly any time. Luckily, thanks to a jet lag I woke up early in the morning the first couple of days and managed to take a short early morning walking tour through Boston.

 

Our hotel was situated in the higly fashionable Back Bay neighbourhood, just a few blocks away from Newbury Street.



I love these "old fashioned" items you could find on the street.

Newbury Street must be the most fashionable street of Boston with the many fashion boutiques located there, such as Chanel, Valentino, Marc Jacobs, etc. I was also happily surprised to find so many restaurants with lovely terraces where you could enjoy a nice meal in the sun watching all the people walking by.



Valentino

My favorite: Chanel of course! :)



A visit to the US is not complete if you did not make a stop at Victoria's Secret with our national pride Doutzen Kroes on the right!

Boston is very green! A lovely public garden was only a 15 min walk away from our hotel and there were so many flowers everywhere.





I even made new friends in the park!



The real "Cheers" bar, which was the inspiration for the TV show, is located next to the public garden.



Such a fun and charming way to advertise isn't it!?



Just around the corner of our hotel... New York is only a 4 hour drive from here!

Life in Boston must be great!

I will be travelling to Boston to attend the Annual International Trademark Association (INTA) Meeting from tomorrow until next week. INTA describes this meeting as the largest and most prestigious meeting of the international trademark community, with more than 7,000 participants from more than 130 countries.

It will be a period filled with meetings, cocktail parties and receptions. You can imagine my excitement! :)

I'm bringing my camera with me and hope to be able to shoot some nice pictures to capture the atmosphere over there, to share some moments and hopefully a bit of Boston as well!

Here are some pictures of the things I'm taking with me to Boston:



Some essentials to carry with me in my handluggage



I can't believe how many chargers I need for a one week trip! Crazy! And I really need all of them!



Shoes! :)



A selection of the clothes I'm taking with me: pied de poule jacket, classic cardigan, pencil skirt, little black dress and accessories.

See you next week!

Missoni @ Puerto Banus

Just little over a month ago I went on a holiday to the luxurious Puerto Banus in Marbella, Spain. The rich and famous love to spend their holidays on one of the beautiful yachts and to take a stroll in the harbor named Puerto Banus.

Me in front of Lanvin store @ Puerto Banus    One of the many lovely stores there

If you love everything that falls in the category designer fashion, this is the place to be. Many designer stores, such as Missoni, Tods, Gucci, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, etc. are located in this area. Almost every designer has his little own store to keep the rich and famous' shopping needs fulfilled.

Illegal? Merchant @ Puerto Banus

Surprisingly, the streets of the harbor were packed with merchants walking up and down trying to sell extremely poorly produced counterfeits. Just in front of the designer stores.

Even in fabulous Marbella there are many wannabe's that want to act like they are part of the scene and since they cannot afford the real deal, they buy obvious fakes from these street merchants.

Just a tip: these fakes do not even come close to the originals. You can tell they are fake from a far distance! Steer away from them and save yourself the embarrasment!