The splendour of decay

Where I was born there are no unmowed lawns, no overdue maintenance of paintwork and definitely no rotten fences. Neighbours watch each other closely to ensure everyone keeps their home tidy and clean. Everything is well-kept and perfect - perfectly boring. What's the fun in houses that all look the same? How can you see someone lives in a place that looks like an Ikea showroom?

I'm spending a week in the south of France, where imperfection doesn't seem to be feared but embraced. The gardens are unkempt and from cracks in the walls grow various plants. And yet it does not feel like I'm stuck in a landfill site. On the contrary, the surroundings are breathtaking. With these photos I tried to capture the beauty of this imperfection, because sometimes a rusty garage door looks more like an abstract painting.

The beautiful gowns, handbags and shoes that have been perfected by a team of renowned fashion designers take my breath away, but I must say I do enjoy a bit of imperfection from time to time. The autumn/winter collection of Saint Laurent felt very refreshing - I saw outfits that seemed to be designed for real, beautiful but imperfect women.

Apart from taking photographs I spend my days sipping Perrier on terraces watching people, canoeing and exploring little villages. The environment is amazing, but we'll leave for Spain in a bit. Hopefully the surroundings will be as picturesque as here.

Japanese zen in London

London is fantastic but after a hectic day I sometimes long for a little peace and quietness. Looking for a place where there just aren't many people is rather impossible and therefore I now focus on finding a spot where people are quiet. Search results: churches, libraries and museums. I decided to choose the last option and headed to the British museum.

Mummies intrigue me, but this section of the museum is always crowded and I've been there a few times already so I decided to leave that part and focus on the quiet areas. Turns out they have an entire section devoted to the Japanese culture!

From what I've seen of this world, Asia is my favourite continent and Japan is really high on my 'Countries I want to visit Top 196'. There is a lot I admire in both nature and culture of Japan, but their traditions and beliefs are also a mystery to me.

I found the artworks truly mesmerising, and found many connections with modern and Western artworks and trends in interior design and fashion.
The landscape for example reminded me of the bomber jackets you know see everywhere, the colours of the fan (and the combination of off white and wood) can be found in every interior design store and skulls are staring at you from many earrings, necklaces, tshirts and rings.

Asian clothing is also a pretty big thing this spring, with origami-shaped dresses at Christopher Kane and Mugler (second picture from the left) and Kimono-like jackets (Etro, first photo, Prada, third photo and Haider Ackermann). The origami skirt from Zara that every blogger seems to own also has a VIP place in my closet to be honest.