Fun & Famous

THE QUEEN OF THE BALL

Marion Pauw and her dress

“Jet, I have a dress for the Book Ball and this designer deserves all the attention in the world,” Marion said to me with a slightly hysterical voice over the phone. “He mainly makes clothing for princesses from Dubai and the most beautiful Moroccan high society women and I GET TO WEAR A DRESS BY HIM. And I’m also going to order a wedding dress from him right away because he is fantastic.” Immediately images of Said Mahrouf (the designer) popped up in my WhatsApp, along with many outfits of his design. Insane. Really very beautiful. “Okay, Marion, tell us all about that special dress and about the ball,” I said, and she did.

Glamour sparks

‘I obviously look stunning in sweatpants, the favorite clothing item of – I suspect – every writer, but by the time the Book Ball looms on the horizon, I start to seriously long for glamour. I spend too much time surfing clothing sites and usually buy not one, but at least three dresses, because I’m just a bad decision-maker. Luckily this year I didn’t have to search myself anymore, but the glamour came to me. By plane from Casablanca.’

This called my name

‘When I attended the show of Amsterdam/Moroccan designer Saïd Mahrouf during MB Fashion Week in January, I immediately fell head over heels in love with his beautiful dresses. The dresses are all made of slender colorful fabrics and draped around the body in such a way that they are interesting from every angle. Or as my friend Susan Smit, who was with me, said: ‘Even the sides are stunning.’ Said's clientele mainly consists of the Moroccan high society and princesses from Dubai, but since his whole family lives in the Netherlands, Said always shows here as well. After the show, his lovely assistant Nadia Doudou came up to me and offered that I could borrow something from Said. I immediately thought of a beautiful silk cocktail dress in orange-red and mouse gray, beautifully draped around the body in Said's style, and very cautiously asked if I could wear it to the Book Ball. And I could! I was so looking forward to this dress. And all the other dresses seemed like clichés compared to mine, because: black sequins or black lace or something else black that we had at least seen a hundred times. And also so nice: I could just wear a bra under this dress and that is quite nice for dancing. I was sure I would be the queen of the Book Ball, even if Esther Gerritsen was actually that.’

But then it went wrong

‘Three days before the Book Ball came the crushing news: the dress was still in Casablanca and the person who was supposed to bring it to Amsterdam unexpectedly canceled his trip. I swallowed, reacted very sportively with ‘I have something hanging’ and started to sniff around on Net-a-porter just in case, but no dress could charm me anymore. Once you have a Said in your head, there is no turning back.’

Most beautiful evening of the year

‘As if Said could smell my distress from the northernmost point of Africa, he decided to come and bring the dress himself. Because: a promise is a promise. While I was talking about the Book Ball on Koffietijd and what color I would paint my nails, Said walked in directly from Schiphol with the dress. It turned out to fit perfectly and even the nude-colored shoes I had thought of matched. What a man! What a designer! And what a dress! And the Book Ball was again wonderfully fun. And I really think that only works if you have the right dress.’