ANTWERP PHOTO DIARY

 The full and final post from Antwerp, where we attended the stock sales, celebrated Michael's birthday and generally ate and drank the local delicacies. Favourite eatery was Renaissance - used to be the Yohji boutique but is now a store and restaurant combined; favourite bar has to be the Het Kathedraal Café, situated just down from the Cathedral and FILLED with religious statues; as well as serving a large variety of beer made by monks and twice the usual percentage; finally, favourite boutique was the RA, which luckily were having a 70% off sale when we were there and stocks favourites Simone Rocha, Damir Doma and Ann Sofie-Back.

 Tomorrow I'm off to Paris to party with Farfetch at the other RA, with S.C.U.M and Singtank! Follow me (girlalamode) on Instagram for updates throughout the day.

OUR STAY AT SIR PLANTIN

Whilst in Antwerp we had the pleasure of staying at the Sir Plantin hotel in downtown Antwerp, just a 10 minute walk away from Centraal station. On arrival we were greeted by the hotel manager, Wim, who filled us in on where the best eateries were in the area - which did not disappoint.

The quirky boutique hotel designed with contemporary suites dominated by a huge tudor painting on one wall of the room - ours had old queen Liz looking down upon us in shades of green, whilst the boys next door had Anne Boleyn in orange. I loved the contrast between the dominant artwork and the subtle minimal furnishings; the bathroom was tiled all in black with white highlights, whilst the rest of the hotel was a mushroom grey with black furnishings. The paintings continued throughout the hotel but were chopped up and put together, a selection of hands on one wall, faces on the other. 

Other than the decor, one of the highlights was the breakfast bar from 7am, where you'll be offered waffles and coffee or can help yourself to hot food and pastries. Such a perfect start to the day! To end the day you can wind up at the bar, along with your complimentary drink ticket you receive on arrival. There's also a free minibar in each room with a selection of water, fizzy drinks and beer.

It's worth a big mention for all bloggers out there that there is free high speed internet. Always the nightmare of any journalist, having to fork out money for internet that can't even handle it, but at Sir Plantin the internet was amazing! 

Thank you so much to Wim for having us, and making our Antwerp trip that much more enjoyable.

You can see more of the hotel on their website.

CATHEDRAL WALL

Wearing: Ann Demeulemeester top, skirt and boots, ring by Dominic Jones

Wearing some new items bought from the stock sales in Antwerp this week, totally besotted with these new boots, they're so beautiful! Also picked up this beautiful white chiffon top, it has some amazing back detailing that i'll have to capture another time; and lastly this wrap skirt that caused me a bit of trouble in the wind and also got me a few stares when we accidentally stumbled upon the red light district, looking for a club, woops! 

Thank you Michael for the photos