Dungarees; Vintage vs High-End

Ahhh the dungaree! A staple piece to anyone's wardrobe. Introduced in the 1920s as workers clothing to the seventies as long overall and its rebirth in the 1990s as the washed out denim classic to today on the runway. It is a piece which has come very far.

I may have gone slightly crazy with the spending again... when it comes to concerts and clothes and music I can't seem to keep my wallet inside my bag. But today I have a fundamental question;

Vintage vs High-End

So I found myself doing a little of a Sunday shop when I found this:

Dungarees!! An essential I did not yet have in my wardrobe. Set in a lovely cafe/artsy clothes shop at the end of the last of the sales rack, it was. And trust me I was not willing to pay the €60 for it thank God it was on sale. But the price is a secret shhh... I am slightly ashamed of it.

Soon enough I found myself trying it on. It is from the new up and coming brand 'fille'. It has a lovely comfy elastic feel to it and I have to say it was a huge thumbs up!! As it's almost winter I tried it on with a big wooly jumper and tights. But this is a garment can go with more or less anything. I like to go as far as to say that you should break the fashion rules and wear it with black. I know black and navy is a big 'no no' but add a bit of glitter, accessorise and no one will notice (in fact I am as far away from a fashion expert as it can gets).

But before I could say no to my hands I was back at the shopping and then came another one.

Now I didn't try this one on. I just saw the €5 price tag and told myself I had been stolen so sure enough I was taking my wallet out again and there I was at it. Now obviously this one is denim. The fabric is far better though I had to see what it looked on.

The fit was not ideal but hey... it was a bargain. And even more so when I noticed that the brand was Levi Strauss. Perhaps we could say I have two high end dungarees. This one is a bit more tricky to style. Despite it's thick heavy material, in my opinion this piece of apparel is more of a summer item. Ideal with a bandeau bra or a shabby band t-shirt. Colour wise go crazy! Unlike I did. Bring out your inner 90s child and once again break the rules.

Verdict: the vintage wins as per usual. I cannot say that I am stingy but I definitely can't help but love a bargain. Perhaps it's not vintage but the price tag that won. Still we have to see what the two garments look like once washed. I have to say I saw people from the first shop shopping in the second. How artsy can it get? 

Vegan Guide to Brussels

As some of you locals may have realised, Brussels is not exactly the most vegan friendly place on earth. Having been vegetarian for 3 years and vegan for almost 2 years now, I have to say I've struggled when it comes to finding food when I'm out. But things are really improving. Here are some places you might want to look out for during your stay in Brussels.

Say you are coming to Brussels from the Gare du Midi and are feeling a bit peckish. Then luckily for you, won't have to search for long as the first Greenway in Brussels has recently opened there. It is a chain of vegetarian fast food style restaurants. Although It is vegetarian the vegan choice is more than reasonable. They do breakfasts, burgers, salads and wraps. I strongly suggest trying out their vegan kebab wrap as it quenches your cravings for something fatty while being the healthier option and not hard on the stomach (I mean who could say no to veganaise!).

Right in the centre is Moonfood. It is 

100% vegan, raw and gluten free. Its spacious and hip decoration is really welcoming. You walk into a room with a buffet full of mouth watering, healthy, delicious looking food and pay by weight. It's really easy and really fast meaning you can spend as little or as much time as you want there. Go in during your lunch break, or sit in with a book for a while. Their concept is unique here in Brussels. They are another place where you won't feel bloated after eating though you might not want to go for the biggest portion as their food is designed to be filling so that you can enjoy a smaller portion of something healthier all while being able to enjoy a nice drink and desert. Now you might want to make sure you know when you're going in because it closes quite early in the evening and make sure to check out their facebook page too see what kind of food they do considering the buffet changes.

 

You might be looking for something more simple and in that case I suggest Den Teepot. Den Teepot is also a chain, but of bio shops this time (which are in fact not vegetarianan) but their Brussels shop  which is found in the Sainte Catherine area does have a cafe joined to it. If you can't find the place look out for the yellow house ! You walk up above the shop as though you are going into someone's house to find yourself in a charismatic little vegan cafe. It serves soups and also does an amazing platter full of all sorts of veggie goodness. Again, you'll be eating healthy, so no point in depriving yourself from a good meal, you might aswell treat yourself !

 

Flagey is also a great area for veggie food. I recommend Ami, which is not all vegan but has some option. It mainly serves burgers and sandwiches but also has a variety of salads and soups. I personally feel that the portions are slightly small but delicious all the same! Though if you want something more hearty then you might want to go a few streets away to Dolma. This place also has it's own shop and a buffet. You have the choice or certain menus or the buffet. Though it isn't all vegan either, other than the deserts you usually won't have a problem. Just note, the price varies depending on what time of day you're there.

 

Now you obviously don't have to eat in a vegan place to find vegan food but I feel it's much easier when you know where you're going. Just a few years back when I would walk into a place and ask if they had veggie or vegan options I'd often get a funny look. It might be complicated to find something off the bat but there are some chains you'll know there'll be an option such as Exki, Foodmaker, Pulp, and Maki Su. Other than this also depends on what kind of cuisine you're looking for. Wherever you go they'll always be falafel or pitta. But if you're really stuck there is a vegan shop vegasme where you can find everything (they also do some food on certain days). And if you're REALLY stuck just go for the usual source: happycow.net!

 

Sweet Red Bean Paste

An (literally 'Sweet Red Bean Paste') is a 2015 japanese drama by Naomi Kawase staring Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase and Kyara Uchida. The story is centred around a dorayaki (a kind of japanese pastry containing sweet red bean paste, hence the title) shop in Tokyo which is really different and imediately appealing, especially to a western audience. On top of this it is very accessible and suits any age and type of audience.

It follows the lives of three main characters; Sentaro (mainly reffered as Sen or 'boss' throughout the film), a middle aged man who runs a small dorayaki shop, Tokue, a lady in her mid-seventies who claimes that she has dreamt of working in a dorayaki shop her whole life and Wakana, a teenage girl who is a frequent customer of the shop. These very different people come together to build an unexpected friendship and strong bond based around their problems and extreme loneliness.

Despite a few scenes which felt slightly out of place An is interesting portrayal of the problems with japanese society. Although its main focus is the Leprosy Prevention Act of 1953, the segregation the lepers had to go through and the complication they have re-entering society it touches on other themes present in japanese society. The hard working culture of Japan is shown in this film aswell as alcoholism, mental health problems and loneliness this attitude can cause. It is a film embracing the outsiders of society.

What I particularly enjoyed is that it wasn't attacking japanese culture. It was pointing out its flaws but also embracing its advantages. The scenery and images in An are so aesthetically pleasing. It portays Japan as a beautiful country and the japanese as very close to nature, which happens to mirror the main religions shintoism and buddhism. The mentions to nature in this film are almost impossible to count. One of my favourite scenes was when Sentaro and Wakana were visiting Tokue in the area where lepers were sent which is completely isolated from society. As they are walking through the trees and flowers they are completely enchanted by the silence.

An is full of moments which will make you smile and laugh and cry. It takes alot for me to say this but I loved every aspect of this film. I loved that it didn't contain all those annoying stereotypes films tend to have. The character developpement, acting, themes and messages were superb. It was clear, simple and easy to watch and I urge you to go see it too!

Tame Impala at Forest National Brussels

I remember years ago watching the highlights of Pukkelpop festival on tv and a weird band came by. They were dressed in their best Olivia Newton John outfit, ready to give aerobics to the people on the field. If my memory isn’t failing me that band was Tame Impala. Now we’re about 5 years later and instead of playing the smallest tent at the festival and walking around freely on the festival without people throwing themselves at their feet they are bigger than ever. With their latest album “Currents” they even got airplay on the commercial radio stations. They came a long way and yesterday they played an almost sold out show in Brussels. After apparently smashing it at Pukkelpop, without any spectacular outfit choices, they came back to convince the people that couldn’t make it last summer.

Opening that night ware fellow Australians Jagwar Ma. You could describe them as the rebellious little brother of Tame Impala who stole their record collection but still wanted to be different so they threw in an extra dose of electronics. They trio already scored high on some indie list with their debut album a couple of years ago but playing for such a big crowd who is unfamiliar with your work can make everyone look bad. Opener “Man I need” was supposed to be the start of a great dance party but i wasn’t. They had 45 minutes to convince the crowd but Belgians are difficult people to please. Last two songs “Come save me” and “The throw” got the ‘ooh yeah I know that song’-nod from the people who took their time to look up some songs before coming to Forest National. Anyway, I’m still waiting for their next album and look forward to seeing them again in a more intimate setting. Until then I’m just going to polish my dancing shoes.

My expectations for the night weren’t that high since I’m not too familiar with Kevin and co.’s discography. I’ve known them from their first album, back to their aerobics time, but  never got into them besides the basic ‘knowing the singles’ kind of thing. The green gun sight came on the screen, the lights went out and the crowd went mad. For like 5 seconds and then the lights came back on. A joke once in a while is appreciated but you honestly can’t play with people’s feelings like that! The last roadie in white lab coat ran off stage and then we knew it was really time for the show to start. Take 2: lights out, crowd cheering and our favourite Australians of the moment walked on stage.

After the intro hit number one “Let it happen” proved to be a good song for the next karaoke night. Followed by other sing-along hits “Mind mischief” and “Why won’t they talk to me?” it was going to be a promising night with a lot of confetti. “The moment” kind of disappeared into the big venue and before we realised what they were playing the song was almost over. Maybe they sound tech people still need to get used to playing in bigger venues as well? “Elephant” was supposed to be my highlight of the evening but sounded chaotic. Watching the visuals and dancing along to some unrecognizable sounds in the distance was not how I imagined it.

Their latest album “Currents” is by far the most popular album they have and we can see that in their setlist. Songs like “The less I know better” has been played a lot on the radio and the ‘ahahahahaaaaaah’ from “Eventually” or the chorus from “Cause I’m a man” were catchy enough to sing along. Eventhough we sometimes just want the people next to you to scream a bit less, definitely in such a big venue where the sound floats off before it hits you.

For the rather short encore they opened with “Feels like we only go backwards” from their previous album “Lonerism”, which can be classified as a golden oldie. The last 10 minutes of doing weird dancing and trying to look cool ended with “new person, same old mistakes”, some of you might know it as “Same ol’ mistakes” from Rihanna’s newest album. Not the end I expected but oh well, I’m not going to complain. I had a lovely evening with some nice looking people and now I don’t have to spend an entire fortune to see them play at Rock Werchter festival this summer. Only pro’s if you ask me!

Albums of 2015

 Coming back or going solo

Blur – The Magic Whip

The Libertines – Anthems for Doomed Youth

Albert Hammond Jr. – Momentary Masters
Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love

jennylee – right on!

Every year there are some bands who decide to pick up where they left of and make a new album. Some people do the complete opposite and take a break from their band to work on their own projects.  

This year we got the honour of welcoming another Blur album in our life. We all know Damon Albarn was busy with being Damon Albarn, Coxon did some other music related things, Alex James went back to his farm to make some cheese and the drummer probably did something as well. It took them 12 years to get back in the studio and make some great music but the result was worth waiting for.

Another band we were happy to see again on stage were The Libertines. Problem child Peter Doherty got reunited with his best friend Carl Barât and for once it didn’t look like they we’re going to ruin eachother again. Gunga Din, the first single of the album, is another great classic and songs like You’re my Waterloo prove that they haven’t lost the talent of good songwriting over the past years.

Besides that Albert Hammond Jr. proved again that he doesn’t need his friends from The Strokes standing next to him to make an amazing album. Even on stage we can see that he earned his place in the spotlight as frontman of his own band. We can almost call 2015 the year of great comebacks when also Sleater-Kinney decided to drop a new album. Our favourite threesome of screaming ladies proves with No Cities to Love that girl power will never die. Who even needs the Spice Girls for that anyway? Talking about girls, Jenny Lee Lindberg aka every art boy’s dream girl, took a break from Warpaint. On right on! she basically still does the same thing but not as good. Oh well, I can’t really say bad things about Jenny Lee but let’s keep it at “It’s just not as good as Warpaint”.

Dancing queens

Florence and the Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool

Marina and the Diamonds - Froot

Grimes – Art Angels

Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

Now over  to my all-time favourite category. They all have a very secret weapon: two X-chromosomes! Please don’t let this turn out into a ‘female artists are just artists as well’ kind discussion and let me have this one.

Obvious number one here is Florence Welch and her machine. People who’ve known me for longer than 1 day know that in the magical world I live in everything that Florence does is amazing, so is the new album. An album dedicated to her demons, which shows us that even you can overcome your darkest times. If you want a 100 pages long essay with other reason why Florence and the Machine is amazing you can contact me.

Maybe not in the right category but we take Wolf Alice in their Moaning Lisa Smile music video to explain why they deserve the title of dancing queens. Their debuut is a mix of grungy screams and poppy tunes which do make it hard to not move. 

Other queens in the list are Marina Diamandis, also known as the queen of glamour. In this new area she dumped her image of heartbreaker and turned Froot into an emotional ride to show us how it is to be a strong independent woman! Claire Boucher is named queen of weirdness this year. Her experimental songs never disappoint even when the twist in it is sometimes a bit too twisty. Last but not least we have Courtney Barnett, our queen of honesty. In her Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit she takes us on a journey to painfully true situations that everybody has once experienced in their life. Maybe you should just sit, think and listen to her amazing songs. 

Young and British

Drenge – Undertow

Gengahr – A Dream Outside

Peace – Happy People

Palma Violets – Danger in the Club

Swim deep – Mothers

When you live on the other side of a huge puddle of water you start thinking that everything that comes over must be pretty great. In Belgium being an young and British band has turned into a success formula with the cooler kids (including me, an actual adult). 

For Undertow the Loveless parents decided to adopt another child so now Eoin and Rory are joined by their new brother Rob who can play some bass. Besides that not much changed within the band, their sound is a bit more grown up but still haunting and they are still very tall people.

In 2014 we had Superfood and Childhood at the top of this list, this year only one new band caught our attention: Gengahr. Their unusual mesmerising sound makes it hard to put a label on what they do. Do they make you want to crawl under a big duvet, listen to their soft music and pretend everything is okay? Yes! Do they make you want to do weird dancemoves that you might have stolen from Lorde? Also yes! Other good thing about this band is that they just are the loveliest people walking on this planet.

Peace was still In Love in 2013 but they became Happy People in 2015. Chilli Jesson, Sam Fryer and the two other bands from Palma Violets who's names have nothing to do with food gave us a lesson in what and who can be dangerous when you go out to a club. Because sometimes living on the edge needs some safety tips. Swim Deep did something lovely for their Mothers. What a bunch of nice guys they are!

Heartbreakers of the year

One Direction – Made in the AM

Tobias Jesso Jr. – Goon

The Vaccines – English Grafitti

Years & Years - Communion

Justin Bieber – Purpose

For this category we can bring out the big clichés and let my love for commercial popmusic take the lead. I’ll still have to throw in some real ‘quality’ artists to keep up my credibility as a self-respecting music lover but come on it’s 2016 now, we don’t have to be ashamed of liking One Direction anymore.  

Speaking about One Direction, 2015 was really their year. After the tragic departure of Zayn Malik our mourning process wasn’t even done yet and the rest of the band announced that they we’re going to have a break. They might have taken the heartbreaker thing a bit too literally? Anyway, before they left to hang with the Kardashians (How could you Harry?) they still dropped a pretty great album. Over the years their boyband bubblegum pop lost a bit of the pink sticky chewster. Still poppy though, still very poppy. 

Tobias Jesso Jr. is the very tall man that came out of nowhere this year with a great album to accompany you on a night of crying, being lovesick/homesick and overall pretty miserable. Apparently he is besties with the Haim sisters and wrote a song for Adele, who brought us another fun album to have a cry to. Let’s move on quickly now before I drown in my own tears.

Self-proclaimed handsome man of the year, Justin Young, and his vaccinators are already on their third studio album. It wasn’t as short as the first one or as angry and filled with teen angst as the second one. It was a new sound but still kind of the same as we have heard before. I guess it’s kind of hard to really change your sound when you have the same voice. Besides that awful joke they did a great job to mix their upbeat songs with a handful of slower ones. If you already thought All in White was great for your imaginary wedding you should listen to (All Afternoon) in Love. A true heartbreaker!

About Years and Years we can say that it sounds way better on the album than it does live. They were the BBC sound of 2015 so let’s give them the joy of selling out huge venues. It’s just that I’m going to have dance parties on my own with the actual album instead of being bothered about how bad they are live. I couldn’t even afford to buy tickets for Justin Bieber so I put ‘Sorry’ and ‘What do ü mean?’ in my Sandy’s swaggy dance hits playlist as well. Please knock before entering my room! Knock hard! Only enter when I say something in the lines of yes! That makes it all less awkward for the both of us when I’m breaking out my moves in front of the mirror. 

Also worth mentioning

The Maccabees – Marks to Prove It, Foals – What Went Down, Tame impala – Currents , Spector – Moth Boys, FIDLAR – Too, The Garden – Haha, Girl Band – Holding hands with Jamie, Ezra Furman - Perpetual Motion People, Slaves - Are You Satisfied?, Only Real - Jerk At The End Of The Line and many, many more ….