10 Things I've Learned from New York

Part 1

Saturday morning 04:38 AM. I've decided to embrace the jet lag. That's why we gave in to our sleep at eight o'clock and now we are sitting in bed with our laptops open. The city is always awake and so are we. A nice moment to summarize the lessons from New York Fashion Week so far.

1. New York is out

No, of course not. I only wrote that to grab your attention, but when it comes to shows, it's not looking great. Lacoste has traded New York for Paris (logical, since that's where they come from), Tommy Hilfiger is moving the circus to London, and many brands are choosing to showcase their collection through a presentation. Understandable, as it's much cheaper (just take a model, a photographer, and shoot away) than a show where a brand can easily spend half a million, but it's a bit less captivating than we're used to.

2. The prettiest girls

Fortunately, there are shows like Tom Ford's, where Doutzen shone in a floor-length red dress with a sheer trim on the side that left very, very little to the imagination. And Calvin Klein and Tory Burch showcased a nice, wearable collection presented by among others Maartje Verhoef, Jessie Bloemendaal and Marjan Jonkman. Tonight Alexander Wang will go all out again. For the show, we were allowed to pick up our wristbands yesterday. The # is WangFest, so it will probably be quite a party.

3. This is good news

Due to the few shows, we had some moments to spare. Since I had never been to a museum in this city (DON'T tell anyone), it was time to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their new policy is that you pay what you think it's worth. Now, I would pay the world for a museum with their collection, but on the other hand, J.Crew was calling and I knew I wouldn't stay longer than an hour. Ideal if you just want to pop in and out, sniff a Monet or a Man and move on.

4. Boats are affordable

Yesterday we walked a rough 20,000 steps (sore muscles) and passed the small lake in Central Park. With the boats. I thought of course that the guy next to me would find it terrible and ‘too Efteling’ (which it might be just a tiny bit), but hey, an hour only cost 15 dollars, the sun was shining, and what great photos it would yield.

5. The outfits of the presenters

My mother is a sailor's wife and always found it fun to analyze the outfits of the news anchors in every country they were in or passed by. For example, Merel Westrik from Hawaii always wore fresh flowers behind her ear. In the USA, the female news anchors are very casually dressed; summer tops in mint green, a blouse with one arm bare... And then talking about hurricane Irma and the evacuations. I find it difficult.

6. The sheets

Also something like that. Hotels no longer have duvet covers (at least, the ones I sleep in don't), but sandwich the duvet between two loose sheets. Little sheet, duvet, little sheet. A bit of getting used to, but at least you can see that the duvet you are under is clean and doesn't have any dirty ‘you know what stains’.

7. This is bad news

The euro and the dollar are almost equal. That's convenient because you don't have to calculate, but it's also shocking because that glass of wine really cost thirty euros. And you didn't even get an olive with it.

8. Long live the Chinese

If you want to keep an eye on your budget, eat at a Chinese restaurant. Yesterday we paid 13 dollars 50 for a noodle soup with seafood and Peking duck and rice. And how delicious it was.

9. About Rihanna

She has launched a makeup line here. A really nice idea, but can we talk about those shoes? Couldn't someone have told her that the rollade association was a bit too obvious? Watch out for these practices.

10. Style tip from Katie Holmes

Yesterday the news was full of Katie Holmes and her finally outed love with Jamie Foxx (they secretly dated for five years due to Tom Cruise's divorce clause, FIVE years) and while they were at it, they immediately went through her outfits of the day. There were four. What I found a successful combination was the overall she wore with a blazer over it. Very tricky when going to the bathroom, but Katie probably doesn't do those things.

More tomorrow, love from NY.