Design talent: Camilla Salgaard

Last week I visited the 'Modefabriek' in Amsterdam. Modefabriek is a two-day fashion trade show with over 600 fashion brands. There I met Camilla Salgaard, a young talented Danish fashion designer.

Camilla was invited by the Modefabriek to show her fashion collection for autumn/winter 2013, as part of the Next platform. This is a showcase selection of notable international designer labels. 

Camilla (26)  received her bachelor's degree from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in the UK and continued with a Master at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. She was also one of the five finalists of the Designer forTomorrow hosted by Marc Jacobs (Berlin Fashion week 2013).

This collection is her first and is inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Not the girly, fairytale side of the story, but the deeper meaning of Alice's adventures. About a girl in her teens, growing up and feeling insecure about transitioning from a girl into a young women. Size and volume are two strong focus points in the overall black collection.

As stated on her own website, she has a hunger for powerful garments with soul to suit the female shape. I think that's exactly what she grasped in her collection.

Camilla Salgaard with the Cadence coat

Beautiful details

My favourite is the 'cadence coat'. The shape is just stunning. Although not your everyday wear, a piece of Camilla would definitely be great for a special occasion. Prices vary from € 340 euros for simple pants to € 1140 for the lovely coat. 

My Favourite Book of the Moment

I bought this book at the airport in Amsterdam, to read on the plane to New York. However, during the trip, I only managed to read the first two chapeters. Not enough to get a real grip on the book. But now.. after the Christmas break, I'm hooked. WHAT A GREAT BOOK.  A must read for everyone. Inspirational, fun and challenging. And the timing for reading was just right. Great inspiration for my New Years resolutions...

So this is the book: 'The Happiness Project', by Gretchen Rubin.
Gretchen describes her one-year journey to happiness. Sounds a bit fluffy, but the book is actually very practical and also contains a lot of nice to know facts. Gretchen designs her Happiness Project, by defining 12 area's that she thinks will contribute to happiness.  Then she dedicates every month to one of these area's. Every chapter describes one month. She shares her experiences and anecdotes, but also information about the research that she has done about the topic.

The power of the book is that it shows happiness is in the detail. It's not a BIG MAGIC thing that is only available for the happy few. Or something you should only strive for, if you have a crappy life. It's there for everyone and achievable for me (and you :)) too. So why not start to sing a little song in the morning and look at the impact on you kids and husband. Brilliant? I think so. Not shocking, but truely effective and doable. So just try it.

If there is a special occasion, I'll give all my friends this book. It makes you happy just reading it. How simple can things be?

New York visit

Last week I visited my brother and sister in law in Redding CT. We spent a few days at their home and then stayed in New York for a couple of days. We had a great time and I especially liked the combination of visiting the countryside (Redding) and the city. You get a full US experience, in stead of just the overwhelming hugeness of New York.

So here is my top 5:
1: Westport CT
Get out of New York for just one day to have a completely different experience.
Take the train from NY Central Station to South Norwalk. The train ride takes 1 hour. From there it's a 15 minute drive to Compo Beach in Westport. Have a walk along the beach and enjoy the view and the beautiful houses. Then go back to the center of Westport for some shopping (10 minute drive). Lovely boutiques from Calypso, Kate Spade, Tiffany's & Co and William Sonoma. Have lunch at The Tavern on Main Street. For dinner there are excellent restaurants in South Norwalk.

2: Rent a bike
Rent a bike (for instance at Blazing Saddles on Pier 78). Follow the Bike lane on the Hudson River Side and go south. Cross over to the other side through Warren Street (just follow the bike signs) and go over the Brooklyn Bridge. A magnificent experience with spectacular views. You can expand your biking trip by going through Brooklyn a bit and then go back over the Brooklyn bridge again. You could take the Manhattan bridge, but the Brooklyn Bridge is really something special and worth the double trip. Then go all the way down on Manhattan. Stop at St. Paul's Chapel and go in to see this memorial place of 9/11. Really impressive and a must do!
Then continue south towards Battery Park. You could park the bikes here and take the free Staten Island Ferry for a great view on the Statue of Liberty. Then continue along the hudson river side. This is the best bit of the trip. Truely fantastic to be biking on the promenade.having the river on your left side and the view on skyscrapers on the right.

3: St Paul's Chapel
This place is definitely worth a visitor because of it's essential role in the 9-11 recovery works. It was a safe haven for all the fire fighters, police, construction workers and other people that were working around the clock on recovery work. A place for eating, sleeping and peace. Now it's turned into a memorial place showing the solidarity of people around the world.

4: Highline Park
The High Line is located on Manhattan's West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. The first section of the High Line opened on June 9, 2009. It runs from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street. The second section, which runs between West 20th and West 30th Streets, opened June 8, 2011. It's a great place to take a step back from the huge buildings and traffic and enjoy some quiet. After having walked on the high line go to Pastis for a nice French lunch.

5: Top of the Rock
Although very touristic, this is an excellent place to view the city from the 70th floor. Go at the end of the day, just when the lights start to show. You will have a great view on Manhattan, showing Central Park on one side and the Empire State Building and Time Square on the other (The Empoire State building really is beautiful and a shame you can't see it when you go up there for a view). Top of the Rock is on top of the GE building (part of Rockefeller center) and reopened in 2005. Tickets are $25 or adults and $16 for kids (6-12 years). When you finish your visit, don't forget to also have a look at the Ice Rink in the Rockefeller center and you may even want to do some ice skating yourself.

Final shopping tips
Of course you can do plenty of shopping in New York. There are huge department stores, like Macy's and Bloomingdales. We actually found these a bit disappointing. Not like Harvey Nichols or Harrods. Anyway there are three shops I think you shouldn't miss:
1: Kate Spade New York, a brand that combines playfulness with elegance. I think the shop in Soho is probably the best (Broome street).
2: Calypso St. Barth, a lovely shop for elegant cashmere and comfortable but feminine clothing. Also to be found in Soho (Broome street) and meatpacking district (Hudson street). And also in Westport.
3: Magnolia's Bakery, for the excellent cupcakes.  Just enjoy the soft and creamy taste of the cupcakes. There are several locations in the city. We had our cakes from the store on the corner of the Rockefeller centre.
4. American Girl Store, the place to go if you have girls up to 12 years old. New York girls have birthday parties here and they take their dolls for a haircut, a new hairdo or an new outfit. Excellent toy concept by Mattel. On 5the avenue near Rockefeller center (that's why you'll see girls with dolls in the ice rink)
5. William Sonoma for amateur cooks. Just love this shops with all the cookware and tableware. Now also shipping to Europe... (on 7th Av/16th street) and in Westport.

Copenhagen visit

Just before I go to New York and share my experiences about the ´City that never sleeps´I would like to tell you about my visit to Copenhagen earlier this year.


Copenhagen is a very pleasant city to go to. It has a lot of nice architecture, a rich and varied history, beautiful shops, kind people and it´s clean. I visited Copenhagen in the beginning of May and we were pleasantly suprised with the lovely weather.

So here is my Top 5 of Things to do in Copenhagen:
1) Rent a bike and explore the city by bike


2) Visit Christiana, the hippie town



3) Do a boattrip from Nyhaven (preferably in an electrical boat) to have a nice view of the different architectural styles in the city



4) Visit the lovely shops in Kronprinsensgade, in the city centre.



5) And you must definitely have a juice and sandwich at Joe and the Juice



If you are preparing your visit way in advance then maybe you can arrange to eat at Noma, the worlds best restaurant.



We stayed at the Adina Apartment hotel. An excellent place, a bit outside the centre of the city. We rented bikes at the hotel, which allowed us to go into the centre within 5 minutes. The rooms in the hotel were very spacious (apartment like with a kitchen) and the hotel had free wifi in the lounge area and also a fitness room and a swimming pool. We booked the hotel through booking.com




We had lunch at the Royal Cafe on the Amergatorv and ate Smushi's. A very nice place for a lunch or a cup of coffee. Cool interior. The smushi's look lovely, but they're not really my favorites.






Just opposite is the Europa cafe.


A great place for a drink after shopping or a light lunch. And in this area is also Illum, the big department store, with all the designer brands. A nice place shop, also in this area, is the brandstore of Acne.

We loved visiting Christiana, the hippie town in Copenhagen. Below a picture of the living 'rules' for Christiana. It's a great colorful place.






A nice restaurant is Madklubben on the Pilestreade. A great steak restaurant. Nice staff, good atmosphere, and great food. And nicely located in the shopping area.


A suprise for us was the Abercrombie shop. We hadn't expected to find this in Copenhagen, but obviously we were wrong. Lot's of tourists carried the big bags in the streets. The 6-packs might not be as tight as in other metropolitan cities, the girls may just be a little bit plainer, but the shop was as dark and as scented as I remembered from visiting in Paris and Brussels.

And of course we saw the Little Mermaid. And yes, it's just a tiny statue and during daytime crowded with Japanese tourists.. But early in the morning, just at dawn it did have a magical feel.


Copenhagen has some great museums too, but the weather was so great, that we chose to stay outside and enjoy the sun and the elegant and inspiring streets of the city. Just being here gives you a true sense of feel-good.

Shoes report

I spotted lots and lots of great shoes in Paris at the Fashion Week. One thing is clear. It's all about color. For both woman and for men!

Black is always safe, but with a bit of ribbons, fur or studs still quite fashionable.

Fashion shows Paris part 5: My favorite fashion groupie

As you know I was in Paris during the Haute Couture Fashion week in January. I have shared many of my pictures with you in my previous blogposts. 

In this post I would like to focus on just one girl. A girl that stood out from the crowd. The only thing I know is that she is English. I should have asked her name....

Please share your thoughts on her fashion style.

My favourite fashion groupie at Chanel

At Jean Paul Gaultier

At Elie Saab