vanaf €250 krijg je de verzending cadeau💓

Yes, 90% of my winter wardrobe is black. And other thoughts on uniforms

hanne-vandersteen-black-rub-off-dress-1 I was feeling very frustrated about the state of my wardrobe lately. It was - very cliché - stuffed with clothes, but I didn't had anything to wear; or so it seemed. I've put on some stress pounds the last couple of months and it's been difficult dealing with those. Some of my favorites clothes surprised me by no longer fitting me after the summer. Now, that's what I call a bummer. So, while I slowly work on getting rid of those and eating me back into my clothes, I needed something to wear! In the mean time a lot of my clothes became frumpy from wearing them too much,. This all together made me realise I needed some help in the closet department. And who better to invite than some friends? So two weekends ago, I invited Anneke and Stéphanie over for a massive closet clean-out. A lot of items are on their way to the second hand store now. I feel a massive relief, even though it's just clothes. It's great to open the door and now that everything hanging there are actually things I enjoy wearing! Also, 90% of them happens to be black. It wasn't on purpose... For my birthday this year Stéphanie also gifted me a piece of fabric from her stash that I've been drooling over each time I visited. It's black, it has an animal/lace hybrid print and it was the perfect type of ponte to make into another version of my favorite, relaxed yet flattering dress. (See the previous versions here, here and here, the last one is gone now, the fabric was too scratchy) hanne-vandersteen-black-rub-off-dress-2 hanne-vandersteen-black-rub-off-dress-3 hanne-vandersteen-black-rub-off-dress-4 This made me think about uniforms a lot. As you might know, I teach art to children; As you also might now, children have no clue about if there's paint on them or not. They also tend to hug you, even when they are covered in paint. I don't like my *pretty* clothes to get paint on them. So there was a problem that needed a solution. I needed some kind of uniform that I could wear on teaching days and that would still make me feel like myself and pretty. The fabrics also needed to be washable and preferably not to need ironing. I knew that I could turn this fabric into a dress that would be perfect for teaching, hanging out with friends and general living! So I started with this fabric and turned it into uniform dress number 3. Since, I've made two more uniform dresses and I'm very happy to report they are all in the laundry by Saturday evening. They get washed on Sunday and are ready to get back to work on Monday. Talking about a system! hanne-vandersteen-black-rub-off-dress-6 hanne-vandersteen-black-rub-off-dress For the moment, I'm paring these dresses with opaque black tights, and brogues, loafers or pumps with laces. Depending on the weather and how long class will take. When it gets colder, I'll add some over the knee socks or shorter socks to keep my toes warm. I add a cardigan and a scarf and I'm ready to get to work! When I'm doing an activity that involves paint, clay, a lot of glue... I still throw on my apron, but I'm a lot less stressed about getting dressed for teaching days! Since taking photographs I made two more of these dresses and I'm thinking that I need one more to finish the collection of uniform dresses. Now, just need to find the right fabric! Do you have a uniform for work? Would this work for you?