NEXT STOP, ANTWERP

It’s amazing to think that in the same time it takes me to travel to my hometown in south west, England, I could also be out the channel tunnel and half way across Europe; via the Eurostar, not only do you not have to go through all the rigmarole of weight limit baggage issues, but its also greener and faster than flying. On Tuesday Alexxsia, Matthew, Michael and I boarded the first Eurostar to Brussels filled with excitement, with the all stations ticket you can connect from Brussels to over 200 other destinations – and we were headed straight to Antwerp, my favourite city! We had a pretty extravagant journey, celebrating Michael’s birthday with champagne and stocking up on ham and cheese croissants, whilst Lexxi snapped away on her iPad. I love that last shot of Lexxi and Michael struggling with all their excess purchases, haha, I can’t wait to share the rest of my holiday with you!

A huge thank you to Lucy at Eurostar for making the journey possible!

It’s easy to reach Antwerp with Eurostar. With one easy connection in Brussels, passengers will arrive in Antwerp less than three hours from London St Pancras International. Eurostar offers return fares to Antwerp from just £80. Eurostar also offers connecting fares from more than 200 stations in the UK. For more information or to book, visit eurostar.com or call 08432 186 186.

JUST ANOTHER WAY TO DRESS IN FUR

On our last Friday night in Brussels the shops stayed open for the Modo Parcours, each shop had its own entertainment and drinks led out onto the street. It was sort of like Fashions Night Out but much cooler and less structured. Michael and I headed to Icon, where we’d been earlier that day to see the Piece of Chic exhibition, featuring giant animal heads reconstructed out of vintage furs, on top of printed silk shift dresses. That night the animals came alive in the form of electro pop Belgian sensation Hong Kong Dong; the most exciting live performance I’ve seen in a long time.

 See more of me dancing like a mannequin and the night rounded up here…

ELISE VISTE

Elise Viste is a young Belgian fashion designer, recently graduated from La Cambre in Brussels. Her work has been hailed as ‘clever and focused’ by Mr. Raf Simons himself! Her latest collection is about contrasting fabrics and techniques, using real beetle wings, leathers, knits and silks. It was a pleasure to meet her in Brussels this year for the Modo Parcours, she said she’s even thinking of moving to London! I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for what she does next.

HOTEL BLOOM

Whilst staying in Brussels for the Modo Parcours, I was lucky enough to stay in the Hotel Bloom; from only 69 euros a night the rooms were beautiful, each room had a unique hand painted design of it’s own by a young european artist and overlooked the city centre. The trip was pretty full on, so I was happy to be able to kick back and relax with a bath and a new copy of Encens magazine on the final night. The breakfasts were out of this wold too, you got to poach your own eggs to avoid any of those rubbery disasters you spy at most breakfast buffets, also a range of fruits and yoghurts as well as pastries and cereals; seriously the perfect start to every day.

Thanks Hotel Bloom for having me and to Elke from Modo Brussels for organising the trip! 

MARGIELA MOMENT IN BRUSSELS

Visiting the first ever Margiela boutique in Brussels was pretty special, every last detail was thought about and it was impossible to not want to explore everywhere. I wasn’t allowed to take photos of the staff or design team so just details had to do. I especially love the white painted window wipers on every pane, as well as the tabby foot carpeted walls. You can see the narrow stairs I was talking about, nearly tripping down and breaking my neck! At least I got to leave my mark alongside Jean-Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld and Michael..

The Margiela boutique is situated on 114, Rue de Flandre, Brussels

FADING OUT

Wearing: Helmut Lang knit, T by Alexander Wang tank, Ann Demeulemeester skirt and boots, Mimco bag, Dominic Jones ring.

Outfit worn on the second day of my Brussels visit; this was the outfit I nearly died tripping over down the Margiela stairs (more to come on that later), but this was quickly healed by the designer telling me how beautiful it was to see women in long skirts again. I love the fishtail on this skirt, the way is moves when walking is really elegant and quite dramatic.

 Thanks Michael for the shots!

BRUSSELS PHOTO DIARY

This isn’t by any means my last Brussels post, but I thought it could be a nice break between all the shop-hopping and see some sights instead. I had so much fun roaming around the city with fellow bloggers; Michael, Alex, Isabelle and Sarah, we walked everywhere, took in everything, sampled the beers and the great food – although I can’t say I tried out the escargot van. Maybe next time..

 I have to give a huge thank you to Elke from Modo Brussels for making the trip as incredible as it was, we were so well looked after, it just made the whole experience even more enjoyable.

HUNTING AND COLLECTING

To see Brunel Mintona‘s collection up close was a feast to the eyes; holding a presentation at the Hunting and Collecting store in Brussels, we saw a mixture of textures and soft colour combinations with pops of orange and gold. I really loved the choice of accessories; especially the knee high suede boots with cascading net-knit, it felt kind of refreshing to have all the models in different shoes for once. You can see more of Brunel’s work HERE.

KRISTOF BUNTINX WEARS HIS FASHION LIKE A CROSS

I think the most eccentric designer of the Modo Parcours was Kristof Buntinx; wearing a red noose necklace, we met in the Dun-Dee concept store on the Rue Bodenbroek, where he was presenting his collection of accessories, my favourite being a giant cross backpack the size of me that opened up to reveal scissors, pins and other garment making tools – “because we wear our fashion like a cross” he said. Other items featured were a giant ‘cursor’ handbag and a facebook ‘like’ necklace (Kristof’s personal fave); which is your favourite piece?

THE FIRST STOP ON THE MODO PARCOURS: ELVIS POMPILIO

The first stop on the Modo Parcours fashion trail was to renowned hat maker Elvis Pompilio, on the Rue Lebeau. Everything from the eccentric to the completely wearable was on display; cat hats made of rabbit fur, little jumper hats that could be styled to look more or less like a jumper if so desired. My favourite was the spirograph hat seen on Elvis himself, so beautiful and intricate! I really enjoyed spending time in Elvis Pompilio’s store, he has an energy that rubs off on everyone around him; he wants you to play and try everything on. Speaking of which, do you like the upside-down lady hat I’m wearing?