Weekend in Belgium

Antwerp, Belgium

Saturday 29^th May, 2010

Train from Paris to Antwerp

                This morning the coach met us at the hotel and we said goodbye to Paris! We caught a train to Belgium and to be quite honest I think the train was nicer than the plane we had on the way to Europe. It was nice looking out at the French country-side. The Interior Design girls got off at Brussels and we made our way to Antwerp. I listened to music, read the French Vogue I picked up in Paris and took a quick nap.

Exploring Antwerp

As soon as we stepped off of the train in Antwerp it felt cleaner and quieter compared to Paris. The train station there is really gorgeous inside. As we drove to the hotel the city had a bit of an odd vibe. Our hotel was in was a predominantly Orthodox Jewish area, as our tour guide explained to us when he met us in front of the hotel. He took us to the train station which was right in front of our hotel and took us into the main part of town.

He and his friend/apprentice gave us a fashion-oriented tour of the city. The city is beautiful. It has a very European feel to it and it also has a friendly small-town feel to it. The tour didn’t take long at all. Our guide narrated the story of the “Antwerp Six”, the six designers from Antwerp that have made it big in Parisian fashion, which includes Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester.

After the tour we got some Belgian waffles and a few of the girls and I went to check out a resale shop called Labels Inc that our tour guide recommended. It was an amazing boutique and I found some great Antwerp fashion pieces for good prices. Then it started raining, so we just looked for a place to eat and ended up eating at McDonalds where we met a couple of young locals who were really friendly and told us about some good places we could go the next day since a lot of places were going to be closed on Sunday. That night both Lauren and I were really tired so we went to sleep early.

Sunday 30^th May, 2010

MoMu

                This morning we visited the Mode Museum. The museum featured the Black Exhibit, which explores the history of the color black in fashion. The exhibit went through examples of the color black in historic costume, in painting, and in contemporary fashion and included examples of work by Ann Demeulemeester, Olivier Theyskens, Dirk Van Saene, Givenchy (Riccardo Tisci), Chanel, Comme de Garçons and Gareth Pugh. The focus of the exhibit was on the use of diverse textures such as fur, leather and lace and the different meanings black has had throughout history: mourning, gothic movement, elegance, etc. We were allowed to take photos in the museum and I was able to photograph most of the pieces in the exhibit.

Downstairs there was an open exhibit of the work of third year students from the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. Each student must present eight silhouettes and, as our guide explained to us, the students are pushed by having to create extravagant ethnic costumes which help them not only in technique, but also to better understand other cultures. The museum is a lot smaller than I expected, but the architecture of the building is beautiful.

Evening Escapade

After visiting MoMu Lauren, Daisy and I escaped to Brussels. We took the train (there are trains going there every fifteen minutes, so it was very easy). We didn't have much time because we had to get back for the group dinner, but we got to explore a few of the bars, chocolate shops, bookshops and art galleries in the center of the city. Belgium, I found, has a very artsy culture.

Although Brussels is more popular, what I really like about Antwerp that it is not big or busy and people here seem more relaxed and take the time to sit and enjoy the smaller things in life. Everything is very minimalistic. The city has an odd vibe to it—but I like it. Everyone is dressed very simply and casually, but still very smart and a bit quirky.

In the evening we had our group dinner back in Antwerp. The restaurant was really nicely decorated and the service was very good. The people here seem a lot friendlier than in Paris. I sat next to Dr. Bowen and a couple of the interior design girls and got to know them a bit better.