Hello September!

We went through some extremely gloomy Summer months here in Belgium, and unless we get a delightful Indian Summer, it's apparently not getting any better. Fortunately, this "in-between season", where we resume studies or work, also has its charm! For me, it is the season I love most ♥.

With today's September issue, I want to give you two things to consider. In the theme of sustainability, I want to inspire you to give new life to forgotten items from your own closet. Let's call it la rentrée recyclée! You'll read more about how I did this myself with the indispensable help of a girlfriend. On the other hand, I thought it was about time to spotlight the importance of women's empowerment these days. Therefore, I will take you behind the scenes of our shoot: who is part of my team, how did we find one another and how are we complementary?

La rentrée recyclée

May I introduce you to Laurence, the pretty blonde girl on the right photo above next to me. Laurence and I met at a L’Oréal event some years ago, when I just started the blog and was full on discovering this all blingy, new world. I immediately recognized myself in her: wearing her heart on her sleeve, spontaneous, and sometimes a little emotional. Countless events with uncontrollable laughter -and even a memorable press trip to Lloret de Mar- later, we have become really good friends. We don't get to see each other that often given she lives by the sea and I closeby the capital, though when we do it's like we have seen each other the day before.

Behind the camera is Annelies. If you’ve been here, it’s impossible not knowing her. Being best friends starting from high school, later on at uni – I’m proud to call her part of my #sacred team. She makes 90% of all pictures showing up on here. It all started as an experimental project in the streets of our university town with, if I remember well, a black leather skirt, orange high heels, and a really epic motorcycle matching the outfit. The pictures turned out to be lit, the rest is history.

What Laurence and I undeniably have in common is our sense and love for fashion – both in a totally different way, nevertheless I secretly get inspired by her combinations and reckless try-outs. Laurence is a part-time stylist and helps people to reinvent their wardrobe. Since also I sometimes can no longer keep track of what is in my closet, I enlisted her help and eagerly used the excuse to be able to see each other again and, not to mention, to support her in her passion by writing a piece about it. After all, shouldn't girls do that more often?

These are two brand new outfits we recycled together. The blue woolen top even dates from when my Mum was younger, and it hadn’t been loved ever since. Throughout our treasure hunt I realized: this job was just made for her. And I haven't been more happy with stuff that I almost forgot about.

Annelies and me are the same when it comes to creative thinking. She perhaps in the slightly calmer, reasoned way that makes sure organization runs smoothly. I'm the whirlwind who gets us there, with preferably the craziest ideas first. Our interaction and compatibility makes that, when we're out and about to shoot, I am so at ease. She knows how to catch me at my best, knows every angle and almost anticipates at every pose I’m about to strike – and when I run out of them for a minute, she just reminds me of all those still left for us to capture. When she e-mails me the results – gosh – it’s in every tiny detail. Rarely have I met someone so passionate about her job, and does it oh so right.

What brought the three of us together, is what we have in common. Besides our fascination for the digital world, our love for fashion and creativity – an urge to make female empowerment, collaboration and complementarity a normality. Celebrating femininity, girl bosses and their businesses on their way to the top.

Even though, even with our similarities, we will never be the same, I love how we somehow always manage to make magic happen. How we can combine our interests and respective superpowers to achieve THIS result. I wouldn't trade these moments for anything in the world. I am SO proud of these two creative, gorgeous minds.

These thoughts are everything I wanted to share with you today ♥ How do you and your girlfriends lift each other up?

♥ Outfit 1: Victoria’s Secret pink kimono, Bobo Erpe-Mere white blouse and belt, IRO white ripped jeans, Island Girl coral handbag, slippers from market Saint-Tropez

♥ Outfit 2: Blue wooly top -unknown-, River Woods trousers, sneakers -unknown-

♥ Visit Laurence's portfolio

♥ Visit Annelies' portfolio