What I learned from Oprah

I am one of the few people who didn't devour every episode of Oprah, but I think it was meant to be that I had to see this episode, because it made my life a lot more comfortable. Oprah had a famous friend on her couch – I believe it was Uma Thurman – and they talked about famous girlfriend things. How you dealt with fame, that it was sometimes difficult to go on vacation incognito, but also what another famous friend thought was the pinnacle of luxury. And that’s when I perked up my ears. Because when time and money are no object (not that Oprah is swimming in her time but she is in money, so she can hire people to arrange things that take time), how do you pamper yourself?

I once read an incredibly deep interview (cynical, cynical) with Yvon Jaspers and when asked what made her happy, she replied: “A long walk in the woods and then a cup of soup.” Look, Yvon, I think you’re a pretty good person, but in terms of enjoyment, we are far from aligned. A cup of soup, I find that just like ‘a warm meal’. But I digress.

Oprah and Uma were clearly on the same page when it comes to real pampering and enjoyment. ‘Sheets,’ they both exclaimed in unison. Uma almost jumped on the couch like Tom Cruise had just done when he declared his love for Katie Holmes, but it was close. I heard an endless enumeration about the happiness of beautiful sheets. The hotel feeling, the softness on your body, that your room looks so nice right away because hey, a duvet takes up a large part of the space, that you spend eight hours a day in your bed and still want to be literally surrounded by the best of the best and the most beautiful of the most beautiful. That it also looks so nice when it’s neatly in your closet. Those kinds of things. Now you should know that my grandparents have a laundry, so that love for beautifully ironed and perfectly folded sheets was already well ingrained in me. I always folded my sheets with a Vogue in the middle to get the perfect, straight stacks.

But I had never heard of thread count. It had to be high, Oprah and Uma exclaimed, as if they were two linen evangelists. I looked it up immediately. A thread count is the number of threads used per inch of fabric. For a regular duvet cover, that can be as low as 100, if you want the better work, you go towards 450.

Recently, I was at a press breakfast of a new Dutch duvet cover brand (good Wordfeud word), Kepri Cotton, started by two Tilburg fabric men who found it quite difficult to buy a qualitatively and sustainably produced duvet cover for a reasonable price. One thing led to another and suddenly they have an amazing product. Only available online because this way they can keep the price lower by cutting out the whole store-and-staff chain. I really fell in love with their product, the colors, the names, and also the fact that it is all sustainably produced. And they also thought about the fact that some people might find it exciting to buy something like this online because you can return it within 100 days. Free of charge. Of course, no one does that, because once you sleep under it, you’re completely sold, but still.

Anyway, these nice gentlemen told me about thread count and about percale (a weaving technique that gives you a bit more of that crispy hotel linen feel) and satin. Satin is actually just cotton, but woven in a different way so that more threads are on the surface, making it feel softer and shinier. Satin is a bit more expensive because it requires more threads, but it’s a matter of taste what you choose.

If all goes well, my cover will arrive today and I’ve been looking forward to it for days. And I immediately ordered one for my parents, because this is really the best Christmas gift. If anyone has Oprah's address: let me know, then I’ll send one her way to the US. Even if it’s just to thank her. What I learned from Oprah: Amayzine.com.