Doctor Decor: The Closet

With a lot of people around me moving out, buying apartments and building houses it’s hard not to catch the decoration bug (it is also hard not to feel really old – but that’s a whole other thing).

While teenage girls ponder over the perfect wedding and the dress of their dreams, I fantasized about having my own place, being able to decorate it to fit my every need. Over the years my vision of what my home should look like shifted a bit, but the keywords remain: simple and cozy, but with a rich vibe. I love unexpected bits and pieces like a giant pink leopard rug in an all-white living room, modern designer chairs next to an antique dining table, and walls decorated with beautiful artwork. And don’t even get me started on The Closet Room. If by any chance a genie gives me three wishes to grant, having the perfect wardrobe space will be one of them.

all images via Pintrest

The perfect storage space for your clothes, shoes, bags and accessories doesn’t need to cost a whole lot. IKEA (love!) has the best storage solutions, affordable for even the most studious of budgets. This way, you’ll still have plenty to spend on the actual content of the closet. Yay!

1 Komplement – 3,99€

2 Kassett– 7,99€

3 Kvarnik – 12.95€

4 Komplement– 15.00€

Pretty statement pieces that’ll spruce up any room in no time!

1 Muno – Romeo Chandelier Green – 299€

2 Muno – The Wire Yellow – 139€

3 Marie’s Corner –Anniston Sofa – 1100€

4 Muno – Deer Lamp – 119€

5 Muno – Orange Flower Lamp – 99€

6 Didden & Co – Purple Leopard Print Cowhide

7 Degand – Scented Candle – 52€

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Nice to Meet You #2

It's been a while since the last (& first) Nice to Meet You-feature, but here it finally is, the sequel! I received some really enthusiastic comments on the first post, and I couldn't wait to do another one. Today I'll introduce you to another batch of Belgian fashion bloggers (this little country has a lot to offer when it comes to fashion!). So without further ado, I present to you...

Luxurious, eclectic but always fun: the three keywords to describe this lady’s style. Absolutely Mrs. K is a daredevil; she dares to explore, dares to experiment and dares to express. Her love for high-end brands and designers like Miu Miu, Acne and Marc Jacobs translates in one hell of a wardrobe. Mrs. K. always leaves me drooling over every piece she adds to her (already awesome) closet. And don’t even get me started on that precious puppy of hers!

Who loves short shorts? A. loves short shorts! I might as well have added 20 pictures of the Isabel Marant sneaker wedges to this collage about Afrodite, but besides her love for hidden-heel sneakers there’s much more to this girl’s style. A quick browse on her blog The Fashion Folio tells us she loves shorts, sheer blouses and anything vintage. She has an iPhone where her right hand used to be and carries her Canon in style everywhere she goes thanks to the Kipling x Style Scrapbook camera bag. A true blogger, this one!

Again, I hope you’ve had as much fun reading this as I had making these style collages! Which one suits your style best? If you feel my readers and I should get to know you, just let me know (tweet, mail, comment, facebook, write, instagram,…) and maybe you, your style and your blog get featured!

Speaking of the Best of Belgium; Weekend Knack is hosting the Weekend Blog Awards and is looking for the best Belgian blogs when it comes to fashion, interior, technology, ... If you think I've got what it takes to make it in the fashion category, please nominate Dogs and Dresses and all your other favourite Belgian blogs here!

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River Island Fever

Affordable, on-trend and with only one store in this country (that happens to be a 10-minute walk away from my place - the danger!) kind of exclusive: River Island! This British high-street brand has been featured on dogsanddresses a few times before, with the contest over at StyleLab, my reports on the Christmas collection and the Student shop-in and my entry for the River Island Style Correspondent. Here’s what’s new on the Island.



*yaay*, the River Island editors picked me as the winner of their Blogger Contest! My Trend Notes-post turned out to be exactly what they were looking for, so this month I’ll be guest blogging over at the River Island Style Insider blog. My first post will be online later this week, but you can check my introduction post here. Let me know what you think!







Wait, there’s more! Last week, on the first real spring day of the year, River Island hosted its High Summer Salon Show over at the new and improved Oona PR Headquarters. It was a cozy and intimate get-together with bloggers, high heels, blue drinks, skimpy dresses and oysters.

My runway photography skills are not fully on point yet (models have long legs, long legs move fast = hard to capture!) but I did manage to get some runway looks on camera. I’ll upload the catwalk pictures onto the dogs and dresses Facebook page and leave you with a video of the finale.



That’s not all! Of course I just had to check out the new collection in store, and I didn’t leave empty handed (oops). Amongst a few other things I picked up these leather cut-out flats. Purrrfect for spring! You’ll see each and every new addition to my closet in upcoming outfit posts.

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Sunrise Sunset

Pics by Polienne

Happy Saturday! I’m so looking forward to this weekend, lounging around at home, soaking up some sun and meeting friends – oh the good life. Here’s an extremely casual outfit from a while ago, when it was still unacceptable to go out bare-legged. Temperatures have risen since then and I’ve totally went grocery shopping in my summer skirt this week! I’m not really one to shed the layers as soon as there’s a hint of sunshine, but those cold and gloomy days had me loooonging to wear my spring attire, so I just jumped on the chance to get my skirts and dresses out. Carpe Diem!

I’ve been getting a lot of comments about these Ash sneaker wedges. The most common question being: where the hell can we still find these shoes?!! As you might know I ordered mine on Spartoo.nl, but sadly they’re sold out – as well as on every other online shop. I’ll check to see if these will be re-stocked and if so –fingers crossed- you’ll hear it here first!

PS. I updated the Closet Sale earlier this week. Check it out!

Wearing

Sweater – Topshop

Jeans – H&M

Blazer – H&M Trend

Satchel – ASOS

Scarf – Forever21

Shoes – Ash via Spartoo.nl (schoenen)

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House of Harlow Madison Boots

Vintage Levi’s cut-offs, tanned legs, a white tank top and these House of Harlow 1960 Madison boots = practically ALL you need to get through summer. The perfect festival outfit with the perfect festival boots! Flat, so comfortable to dance on all day/night/week long but sophisticated thanks to the intricate beading. Only downside? You might keep looking down at your feet in awe instead of checking out the hot bass player on stage... But that's a risk we're willing to take, right?

Spartoo.nl verkoopt zowel schoenen als tassen.

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H&M Trend Floral pants

Lately I find myself gravitating towards bold printed pants more and more. Printed pants were a big thing on the runways so needless to say they're all over the high street these days. Lucky me! This pair is from the Trend department of H&M, a collection that never seizes to amaze me. Progressive cuts, unexpected fabrics and much more exclusive than your average H&M piece (H&M Trend is currently only being sold in Belgium in both H&M Antwerp stores on the Meir). Not that these pants are even the least bit exclusive since they were seen on almost every stylish woman during PFW (along with the shirt and jacket to match). But the streets of Antwerp are no Fashion Week so I thought: why not! I love the floral print, the weirdness of the unexpected pop of yellow and the fit of the pants. Bring it on sun!

Thanks to my photographer Miss Polienne, who's high up in the sky on a plane towards all kinds of exotic locations as we speak. Some girls have all the luck! The need for a holiday in the sun is enormous, so if anyone has travel hotspots and recommendations, send them this way please!

Wearing

pants // H&M Trend

see-trough panel sweater // H&M Trend

heels // Zara

New Gent Laquered watch // Swatch

Sunnies // Ray Ban

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Bootcamp

Just because it doesn’t always have to be about high heels and feminine sandals, here’s my selection of though boots that’ll go perfect with your flowy summer dresses and tiny denim shorts!

1 // boots: Koah Daysy - bag: Pieces Noomi.

2 // boots: Moma Pamola - bag: Essentiel Carnival.

3 // boots: Koah Cory - bag: Nica Kingston.

Spartoo.nl verkoopt zowel schoenen als tassen.

All clothing by Topshop via Polyvore.

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Currently Loving

Tart Key Lime, Pink Macaron and Creamy Meringue: three exclusive (and equally delicious smelling) new fragrances by DKNY Sweet Delicious. I discovered these three new scents at UPR’s big bloggers bash last week and I’m already hooked on the Creamy Meringue. Yumzz! The three fragrances will be available exclusively at Ici Parix XL from the 16th of April (€37,60 for 50ml).

Finally, the weather gods are on our side! We’ve already had the first rays of sun and I’ve even hung out on my balcony with some music and a glass of wine. Ah the simple things in life! Meet my partner in crime for spring and summer: my Ray Ban Wayfarer. I own and have owned a bunch of Ray Ban specs in my life, but a few got lost and the ones I do still have are bright red and black/white, so I opted for this classic tortoise brown pair. Get yours at SmartBuyGlasses for the best price and service.

Katy Perry Lashes created by Eylure are THE fake lashes for California Girls and Futuristic Lovers. These give you either very subtle and natural looking lashes (Sweetie Pie and Oh Honey!) or bring out the true drama queen in you with extravagant bold lashes (Cool Kitty and Oh My!). My favourite? The double layers of the Oh My!’s, - perfect for Waking Up in Vegas! All lashes are reusable so no worries if you wore them Last Friday Night – they’re ready to roll on Saturday as well. (okay I’ll stop with the Katy Perry song title references now. FIREWORKS!) Available at DI - €8.50 each.

Floral prints, a splash of yellow and the perfect fit: I’ve found my pair of dream pants for spring! These are H&M Trend and are part of an entire uniform: a jacket and shirt in the same print (seen on a lot of pretty ladies during PFW!). I decided to go for the pants only, which have a lot of combination-potential. What is that? You can't wait to see these in an outfit? Well, I can't wait to show you!

As mentioned before I attended UPR’s The Big You, a bloggers-only event at which we got to explore the UPR Showroom and all the amazing brands they represent. Making mood boards at the Camper corner (see mine here), creating our very own Illy coffee packaging, Vogue-ing out in Sacha shoes and getting our picture taken (click here to check out my fellow bloggers strutting their stuff – don’t forget to like/vote for your favourite) and getting a masterclass on how to do the perfect smokey eyes with M.A.C. – my favourite beautybrand of alllll timesss! I had a blast discovering the brands, catching up with friends and meeting new bloggers – such a blast that I made 7 pictures throughout the entire day. Not very blogger-like, sorry!

Probably the thing I loved most these past days: walking around town without the scarf and mittens I’ve grown accustomed to these past months and stumbling upon beautiful views like this sunset in the harbour. Oh Antwerp, I love you.

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Lack of colour

Zero time to talk today, life’s been moving fast! School is busier than ever and the Easter holiday is only two weeks away. Oh how I long for the times in which school holidays were actually meant to take a break from school. Now my two class-free weeks are filled with writing papers, catching up on reading, rehearsing for the exams and finally taking my drivers lessons! Yep, I confess: this 22-year old doesn’t have a driver’s license… But I’m planning on cruising down Sunset Boulevard (aka. the streets of my hometown) by the end of summer and thus before I turn 23. Fingers crossed!

Have you heard about Antwerpenstreetstyle.com, the city’s very own streetstyle blog? If you haven’t, click on this link RIGHTNOW and soak up some of Antwerp’s best dressed boys and girls. The masterminds behind the streetstyle blog are Helen and Lara, two of the sweetest girls I know! Lara took these pictures of me and we’ll try to meet up more in the future to shoot some of my outfits.

Wearing

dress - Topshop

boots - Primark

clutch - Kirilove for Vero Moda

armswag - F21 / H&M / MBMJ

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Shopping list: Black heels

clockwise: Marian - €92 / Maki Uehara - €156 / Carvela - €135 / Ash - €140

clockwise: Blink - €45 / House of Harlow 1960 - €214 / Buffalo - €95 / Frida - €104
Spartoo.nl verkoopt zowel schoenen als tassen.

A good pair of black heels is one of those things you just need to have in your wardrobe. Wether you wear them under a cocktail dress or to glam up your casual boyfriend-jeans-and-t-shirt-look, black heels will always do the trick. I’m still on the lookout for the perfect pair of black pumps (high heels, affordable ànd super-comfortable is a hard-to-find combo!). Here are a few of my picks from Spartoo.nl. What’s your favourite?

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Marni at H&M Brocade Pants

Let me tell you a little story about these pants… It all began on a very early and dark Thursday morning in March. 5 o’clock sharp. The alarm on my phone wakes me – at an hour on which the nightlife-loving student in me often goes to bed. But this time is different, this time I’m on a mission. After snoozing for fifteen minutes it’s time to crawl out of bed, change from PJ’s into warm clothes and head out into the cold morning. First stop: Paulien’s apartment, my partner in crime for the day. Together we hop on our bikes and ride – slightly nervous – to the nearest H&M (Meirsquare). “How many people do you think will be there?” – “Maybe we should have gotten there earlier?”… Worst case scenarios are rushing through our heads, game plans are being discussed and self-defense moves are being rehearsed. After our 1.5 minute bike ride we arrive – and are shocked.

Change of Scenery

This is the last of the long hair! I'm at the hairdresser's as we speak/type/read this - exciting times my friends! Well not really, I'm just having the ends chopped off and I might go for some layers - if I'm feeling really adventurous.

Asking my dad to take "some quick pictures of my new shoes" ended up in full-on photo studio action in our backyard. I wore this right after opening my Ash shoe box for the very first time and I've worn them ever since. It's like walking on clouds (I think.. Never actually walked on clouds before.. But well.. you know...). You'll see these shoes in various outfit posts in the near future and they will even get their own spot in a Belgian newspaper – but more about that later.

Wearing

Jacket – H&M

Sweater – Zara

Pants – H&M

Shoes – Ash Wedge Sneakers

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