Seven days, seven outfits – w/ Linda Nouta

I’ve been planning to work with Linda since before I started blogging for real. We met countless times to brainstorm, we wrote long lists of projects, we drank countless coffees, indulged in beer, shared meals together, all of this with the noble excuse of discussing the best way of making everything happen. However, those brilliant ideas of ours kept floating in the outer space. You can call us master procrastinators. But knowing myself, I was certain this state of matters would change. This time we made an appointment (agenda and everything), she came to my place, and there we were. A pile of clothes, the blogger, and her stylist friend (who doesn’t love a good old cliché?).

I have always been resistant to the idea of having someone dressing me. This is a childhood trauma, from the time my mother would make me go to school in the most hateful girly dresses ever while all I wanted was play football. I’VE NEVER BEEN GIRLY – exactly like this, in capital letters -, and I still nourish the most profound hate regarding everything that indoctrinates us to what is feminine and what is not, or what a woman should look like. But since I started “Amsterdive”, getting out of my comfort zone is a mindset I’ve been cherishing. Moreover, you know, Linda is Linda. Not only is she one of my favorite friends in Amsterdam, she is also a stylist, and our tastes do overlap. And sometimes not, and that’s the whole point.

Here’s what I told her: “You can pick whatever you want, I have no saying in this. The idea is that you make seven combinations (a week worth of outfits) which you think would look cool on me. So this is about your personal taste. I’d like to see what you would do with my wardrobe. Feel free to surprise me”. And here’s what she did.

MONDAY

First she makes me feel very uncomfortable by dressing me in a way I regard as ‘ultimate boring anno 2017’ (also, what an ugly place to shoot at). This was the only set in this series that I wouldn’t wear. It’s only getting better from now on, so brace yourselves (by the way, it’s important so clarify I don’t have a strict dress code at my job, so all of these sets would be wearable at my workplace – well, some of them definitely more wearable than others).

TUESDAY

I guess my face in the previous pic was pretty self-explanatory, and because of that Linda wanted to make it up to me. So she threw a long comfy jacket on the whole outfit, which resulted in me getting my cheerful face back, and celebrating the improvement with a tea. However, I must say that a white shirt can make me feel unease at times, because I still relate it to some sort of cliché of people who try hard to look fancy or put together. A white shirt can often be too conformist, in my perspective. Nevertheless, I would go out like this, and I think I wear similar combos at times.

WEDNESDAY

And the fun starts by Wednesday. I love the rock’n’roll details of this set. I wouldn’t have thought of wearing the white shirt (which you also see on the previous pics) under this grey jumper, so it was a finding. And the necklace saves me from looking like I’ve an uniform on. Skinny jeans rolled up, and the shiniest black shoes of the universe, make me feel like a cooler version of myself. It’s just a pity that these shoes are one size smaller, and sometimes I’m just not able to put them on (I KNOW). I usually NEED to wear colour, but well, it can’t hurt to look grey if the outfit really works, can it?

THURSDAY

Here I am in pregnant woman style, which is something mi likes (no jokes allowed, okay?). This is a XXL blouse from a plus-size brand I bought second hand. It is shiny so it definitely needs something to tone it down (hey, denim!), and it is rat-color, therefore the scarf. This scarf is a life-savior by the way. I wear it often on my head. All in all I do wear similar combos every now and then so I feel home in this set.

FRIDAY

Then she dresses me like this, which is a style I find ‘very-Dutch’ (Linda denies having a very “Dutch style”). Let me put it like this, if you don’t wear denim you actually don’t exist in The Netherlands. Pairing denim with a patterned, un-flatering piece of clothing is the next step to the dutchification game, and I must say this is a very Linda-like outfit. I found it hilarious that I instantly looked like typical her, therefore this photo.

WE’RE STILL ON FRIDAY

I usually have a problem with being dressed in blue. For me, blue screams boring. But somehow, on this day, I went to work wearing this, and I felt great. I even got a compliment from my boss. Like knows like. I still feel kinda weird in blue, so I might not wear this too often.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

Here’s an outfit I would have never put together, and I found worked great. This is my favorite dress. I got it from my Dutch teacher, who’s now past 70 and who wore it in the 70’s. Hands up! I’m honored to be entitled to wear a true piece of history. The shirt is all about tropical happiness, and actually deserves to be in the spotlight (next time!). I have to be totally honest: Linda wanted me to wear this set with dark blue tights under it, but that was too much for my sober self. I hope this detail doesn’t count as cheating.

SUNDAY

The whole experiment finished with a happy me. The set I have on on my upper body is one I wear often (Linda was not aware of this, she says), and combining it with the scarf is – the shit -. Linda loved this boyfriend jeans that I own for ten years now. During my adolescence baggy jeans were the only thing that existed in the whole trousers universe. I couldn’t conform to wearing flattering stuff as I knew that, as a female, that was what everyone expected (and demanded) from me. Despite the fact I haven’t worn them often the past years, there’s so much emotional attachment here that I’ll never get rid of them. After this experience I actually think I’ll have these on more often.

THE HERO OF THE STORY

The one and only Linda Nouta. You can check her creations @passingbylinda.

And this is it, people! We had good fun, and we are repeating the partnership. I should show you the bloopers so that you can laugh as much as I did while editing the photos (hey, I might actually do that if you request it – like a lot).

Next outfit post will feature my proposals for Kingsday, that day of the year in which everyone dresses in orange in The Netherlands – imagine that.

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