Wednesday, December 30, 2015

BIRTHDAY GIRL

Happy birthday to me!
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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

WONDER WEEKEND: WELLNESS & WINE | VLOG

Hi my special friends!

I am sharing my latest vlog on here because I feel like the whole world should know, haha!
Daniel and I have been together for five years now, and on top it's my birthday the 27th. He therefor surprised me by taking me to a resort in the east of our country and we spend a short but great weekend in the hotel. I hope you like my vlog. Leave me a comment down below. I would love to hear your thoughts!

xx,
Mar

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Monday, December 21, 2015

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS 2016

There is just something about New Year's resolutions that really speak to me. A new year, a new start. A promise to yourself to make your life a little better, in any way you like. It's not as if I don't challenge myself throughout the year but the first day of a new calendar year gives me the most energy to really kickstart my intentions. Goals that I set myself are not particularly original as a lot of people value these type of objectives. But I want to share my New Year's resolutions for twenty-sixteen with you nonetheless!
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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

LONDEN IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA | TRAVEL VLOG

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Thursday, December 10, 2015

JINGLE ALL THE WAY| CHRISTMAS TAG

This week I decorated two Christmas trees. One in our home and one at my university. There is just something about this tradition that makes me feel all warm inside. I love December! There is video footage of me enthusiastically singing along to an entire Christmas cd getting the lyrics completely wrong haha. But hey, A for effort!
Seeing that I love this month and especially the holidays I figured it would be a fiiine idea to do a Christmas tag on my blog. So I googled a little bit and found these questions over at Samantha Maria's channel so credits to her.
I hope you are just as excited as I am, let's dive into the questions!

The Christmas Tag

1. What's your favorite holiday movie? 
Woah, you know how to start this tag with a difficult question. There are so many...Love Actually, the Holiday, While you were sleeping...  I remember going to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas in cinema for my birthday party with a whole bunch of my friends in primary school. I'll probably pick the Grinch.

2. What's your favorite christmas color? 
Glitter. Oh wait, that's not really a color, is it. It would have to be gold!

3. Do you like to stay in your PJs or dress up for Christmas?
Dress up 100%. If there is one time in 365 days to dress up, it has to be Christmas right? But maybe on day two I would change into a more comfortable but still dressy outfit.

4. If you could only buy one person a present this year who would it be? 
It would be for my brother. Mostly because he is just really sweet.

5. Do you open your present Christmas eve or Christmas morning?
Because we celebrate Sinterklaas on the fifth of December, we skipped presents at Christmas most years. Seeing that my birthday is on the 27th, affectionately called third Christmas day by me, we didn't always do presents with Christmas. But over the last years we started giving each other small gifts on Christmas morning.

6. Have you ever built a gingerbread house?
No I haven't. But there is a funny story I would like to share. Last year, my sister-in-law got us a gingerbread house kit for Sinterklaas. She lives in London and traveled to the Netherlands by plane. At customs they picked her out of line and violently opened up the Christmas present because X-ray showed some suspicious white powder. LOL. So when we got our present it was all teared up and damaged. Shame on us but we still haven't made the gingerbread house. I'm definitely planning on doing it this year!

7. What do you like to do on your Christmas break?
Read books, go on long walks, cook multiple course dinners, watch movies and spend a lot of time with my family. Basically all those things you wanna do every day but don't always have time for. 

8. Any Christmas wishes?
A white Christmas! And one day I want to have a huge Christmas tree in my house that touches the ceiling.

9. Favorite Christmas smell?
Pine scent. And oliebollen.

10. Favorite Christmas meal or treat?
I am a sucker for gourmet/raclette. Completely vegetarian of course. And maybe an apple crumble for dessert?

11. Which holiday do you celebrate?
In the December month I celebrate Sinterklaas, Christmas and New Years.

12. What are you doing for the holidays this year?
Christmas eve and Christmas day will be spend at my boyfriends house. Than on Boxing day we are at my family's and the day after is my birthday!

13. What's your favorite holiday drink?
Probably glühwein (mulled wine) and hot chocolate!

14. Candy cane or Gingerbread men?
Hmm... I would say oliebollen...

15. What's your favorite holiday/Christmas song?
When Lea Michele (Rachel Berry in Glee) sung Merry Christmas Darling by the Carpenters.

16. What's the weirdest gift you've ever received? 
Ehm. Maybe a Santa dress that is a little too short hahaha...

17. Have you ever made a snowman?
Of course I have. I used to make one every year with my best friend!

18. What is your favorite winter fragrance?
Any winter, holiday, Christmas candle!

19. What is at the top of your list this Christmas? (or whichever holiday you celebrate!)
Stella McCartney Falabella bag but it's a bit outrageous so I'll just keep on dreaming!

20. What is most important to you about the holidays?
Relax, enjoy the company and food, be thankful for everything you have. Enjoy the snugness of your home and laugh!

That is my Christmas tag this year! I hope you enjoyed it <3 have a wonderful December!
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Monday, December 07, 2015

THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE

Today I would like to devote a post to the Pomodoro Technique that has helped me beat procrastination. For those of you who don't know what it is I'll briefly explain: The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method that works with a timer. You work on a task for 25 minutes. When the timer goes off, you take a break for 5 minutes. Every 4 Pomodoro's you take a longer break for about 20-30 minutes. According to the website, the Pomodoro Technique is unique for the following 4 reasons:
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Sunday, December 06, 2015

LONDON CALLING


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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER

Hi loves,
Yes you got it right, the woman staring at the screen in the picture above is truly Mar me! It is one of the things I like to do most: letting bloggers and vloggers inspire me. Sometimes though, when I look at the screen it's been hours while it feels like I've only been watching for half an hour. 
If we're gonna be honest, and I know we can because we are all grown up women around here, sometimes all we wanna do is just not wear make-up, don't do our hair, chill on our beds, put on some Netflix, drink loads of tea or coffee from large mugs, eat healthy snacks that get less healthy as the day goes by and all of that in pajamas... 
But at the end of that day you're gonna feel like the laziest person in the world. Don't get me wrong though. I highly encourage you to do what makes you feel good and if you don't try you'll never know... and if you do try, it will make you wanna be a more productive person that is time efficient and knows how to combine have to's and want to's in 1 day. Lately I've putten a lot of thought into my daily schedule. Even though it feels like when you make a schedule you have to do all these things, it actually gives me more free time to do unplanned things. For example, what happens when I don't plan anything I end up being some sort of super mega multitasker. I will do some laundry, I will be checking my social media accounts while chatting with my friends and making breakfast. While doing that, I will get all of these ideas, to do's and thoughts in my head that I'm trying to pen down as soon as I can before they vanish into thin air. I end up doing a lot, but not doing a lot. If that makes any sense. Instead, I've tried to familiarize myself with new habits. I believe that it doesn't require a lot of you to get used to new habits in your life. Somewhere I read it takes up to three weeks. I wanted to become a more time efficient person because I have a lot of things in my life that all deserve my energy and love. I'm not just talking about college, but especially family, friends, pets, personal development and: hobby's. I'm personally never bored, there are always fun things I can think of that it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. I try to work with notebooks in which I plan out things that I want to accomplish that day.
To stay focused on the things that actually matter in my life, I try to wake up everyday at the same time which is usually around 7am and then I write in my 5 minute journal to immediately have the right mindset and to know what is important to me. If you don't know what a 5 minute journal is, I suggest you go to this website and inform yourself. I found it to be a highly useful tool.
So my point of this ramble is to really ask yourself what is important to you, what do you wanna accomplish and prioritize it. You can do so much!!! While doing this, always keep in mind that everyone will have different interests and that you should always follow your own path. If that means you end up watching YouTube video's for three hours guilty so be it. But from my experience, noting down the three things that are important to you that day, it helps being able to check off those things so you can then do what your heart really wants. Ice scating, reading, photographing, cooking, writing... you name it. 
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FOLLOW US AROUND MALTA | TRAVEL VLOG

It took a little while for me to edit the footage we shot in Malta but now it is finally ONLINE! Our Malta Vlog from last August! We truly had the most wonderful holiday. My expectations were pretty high because of my unreal Pinterest board but the reality was even better! 
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Sunday, November 08, 2015

LITTLE BLACK BAG

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Saturday, November 07, 2015

FRIENDSHIP AND FALL

Exactly one week ago, my best friend Evelyn came to visit me and we decided to go to the forest because the weather was so beautiful and we had a lot of catching up to do. We took a bunch of nature pictures and of course: us in it! It was a super busy weekend day, lots of families gathered to find beauty and peace in the woods. Thanks to my telelens, it almost seemed we were doing a fall fashion shoot. At least that's what we think people thought, haha.  Because we had such a lovely day, I wanted to share these moments of friendship and fall with you. If you can, call up your friend to go to the nearest park or forest while the leaves are still gorgeously colored! Celebrate friendship!
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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

RITUALS LOTUS SECRET SCENTED CANDLE

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Monday, October 26, 2015

10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT ME

I hope you all had a wonderful Fall Break. Mine ended this morning when waving my boyfriend goodbye on this beautiful October morning. We woke up early because he had to drive all the way to Friesland. I have been a little absent over the course of the last week. I went on a city trip unexpectedly and I didn't wanna be working on my blog at the same time. But now I am back. And in full swing! I'm kicking off this week with a meaningful blog post. I want to encourage you to write down ten things you love about yourself. For some this might be challenging, for others not so much. But your life will be a much lovelier thing if you can learn to love yourself first. I already wrote down my list which you can read below. 

1. My angelic patience. I always have a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. You don't see me mad or impatient.
2. The thick long hair I got from my mother. It means a lot to me. I use it as a way to express myself.
3. My endless positivity. Nothing will ruin my day. Simply because I won't let it and I choose to see the bright side of life.
4. My long nails. They are strong and healthy. It looks neat and taken care of.
5. The freckles in my face that double in number during the summer months. It is both cute and delicate looking.
6. My choice to live a vegetarian life at the age of ten. I am still so happy with this lifestyle.
7. Sense of humour. I am one of those people that laughs at her own jokes way too loud :)
8. Photography talent. I enjoy photography so much and I am hoping to become better at it every day so that maybe I can even turn it into my full time job.
9. The fact that I can entertain myself very well, I am never bored and am happy to be all by myself. I always need my alone time when I come home from a party, school or work.
10. My voice. I am no Christina Aguilera but I love to sing and I know how to put my feelings into the words.

Now it's your turn. Grab a piece of paper and write down ten things that come to mind. Come on, I know you can do it <3
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

MY FAVORITE TV SERIES

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Monday, October 19, 2015

I LOVE ROCK - iPAD MINI CASE BY PURO

The other day I went grocery shopping with a friend. She had to run errands and we ended up at the drugstore for shampoo. While she was picking out her necessities, I walked through the aisles not looking for anything in particular. I wasn't even on the lookout for a new iPad case but when I grabbed this off the sheIf I was sold. My old case that I'd been using since the beginning had become a little smudgy. That's what happens when you're in to white-colored accessories. When I saw this studded model by Puro I could already imagine how great my Instagram pictures were gonna look! The crazy mind of a blogger girl...
 Through this video I found out that my iPad case belongs to the Puro ROCK Collection.  In Puro's own words: "A cascade of sparkling studs plays a starring role in this ROCK Collection, to give your device a definite and glamorous touch! Golden rhombus-shaped or silver dots-shaped studs by PURO are the ideal accessory for those who want to look like a star, without sacrificing the design and the maximum of protection."
I have to say I agree with the description given by Puro. It is a very on-trend case while being the shield your iPad needs. If you are like me, you take your device with you everywhere you go. I bring it to school, on the train, to grandma and when I go away from home for a couple of nights. It then just sits in my bag along with all my other belongings. I always try to place my iPad between two bigger objects so it is double secured.
This case has an elastic to make sure the flap stays put over the screen to protect your iPad mini from scratches. This flap has a little magnetic something built-in which makes your iPad go to sleep when you close it, and lit up when you open the case.
I really really like the way the studs look on the outside of the flap but I am afraid to see how short long they will last. My experience with glued-on studs is not so good. Especially when you use your iPad a lot and, like I said before, take it with you in a bag. But we will see how it goes and if the studs manage to exceed my expectations. Only time will tell!


I got my I Love ROCK Puro iPad case at Kruidvat for only €3,99 where it was originally sold for €15,99. What kind of tablet do you have? And how did you dress it up? ;-)
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Sunday, October 18, 2015

INSTAGRAM FOR YOUR PET

A lot of you may already know that I am the (co-)owner of three instagram accounts: respectively @marjoleinevelien @rakkerthecat and @maylowbc. The first is my personal account where I share lifestyle, fashion, food and travel photography complete with witty caption. I would love it if you'd follow me there! But today I wanna talk about the other two accounts. These are so called petstagram or instapet accounts and I'm sharing with you 10 tips and tricks on how to make your pet a popular instagram celebrity! It is not only fun to capture your animal and get tons of enthusiastic comments on your photos. There is more to it: You will be creating a timeline with amazing photos of your furry friends adventures.
My cat Rakker is a seven-year-old black and white European shorthair. Maylow is a three-year-old Border Collie. Maylow is officially not even my dog because he lives at Daniels house but I treat him like he is my own pup! And I know he loves me all the same. These two #petstagram accounts will be todays example on how to quickly make your pets Instagram account popular. I am not claiming to have super popular Instagram accounts but I do know how to get there and see results fast. Pet owners are naturally really proud of there pet. For me it makes perfect sense you want to have lots of followers on Instagram because you want everyone to see your amazing photography and be in touch with like-minded people. When you have an #instapet account, this also applies because you want the whole world to see how cute, funny, clever or freaky your dog, cat, horse, pig or chick is.
While it takes a lot of work to get thousands of followers, and your own goals might be different, I can tell you that Instagram gets a lot more fun when more people are following you! I have a few important things to say before we get into my tips and tricks for making your pets Instagram account a success.
  • Always make your pets state of mind your number one priority. You can do this by making sure your pet enjoys being your supermodel. I found that sometimes my dog and cat deliberately turn their heads the other way. I think it’s their way of saying: “Not now”. 
  • Don’t wake your pets for a shoot because animals are really fond of their sleep. Wait for the right time
  • We sometimes play dress up wiht Maylow. Don’t go overboard on this one. In the photo below you can see him during Halloween 2014. We made sure to give him compliments and treats for his good work. For Rakker there isn’t much dressing up because he just refuses, haha. And I respect that. Which is why I use props in his photos instead of items that touch him. I usually catch him in one of his famous lazy poses when he least expects it #candidcamera
  • Reward you pet for co-operating with you by giving him or her something you know will hit the spot. Rewards don't always have to be treats. For Rakker it is a good grooming session, Maylow enjoys playing with tennis balls!
So now that we've established some ground rules for making an Instagram account for your pet enjoyable for both you and your beloved furry friends, let's get into my 10 tips on how to quickly get popular on Instagram!
  1. Take good quality photos. This goes for any type of Instagram account because they simply get more likes. High quality photos are the number one thing to get insta-famous fast! However it's far better to post nothing than to post a bad photo. This doesn't mean you have to shoot with a DSLR. You can use your phones camera for taking good photos. Light and angle are key!
  2. Make your account public. I cannot stress this enough. People will want to see your photos before they decide to follow you. 
  3. Make a list of popular hashtags in Notes that match your pets breed and race. This way you can just copy+paste the hasthags with every photo you post
    #bordercollie #sheepdog #dogsofinstagram #instapet #happypaws etc...
    #catcorner #catworld #igcat #catsofig #cat #kitty etc...
  4. Follow similar accounts with more followers than you. Interact by letting them know you post the same type of photos and you look up to them. Just start by saying hello, add a nice compliment to your favorite photo on their account
  5. Speak in cat-chat or dog-slang. In other words: meows, yowls and other vocalizations will be your new conversation fillers
  6. Make fun of humans, this will definitely boost your pets Instagram account because humor is the second best thing to get people to follow your account
  7. Personification, give human qualities to your animal. For example, in this photo we pretend Maylow is reading the newspaper as if he were human
  8. Find something that makes your pet stand out from all the others. You can do this by zooming in on an aspect of your pets appearance or by taking a certain type of photos or maybe you can choose to only post black and white images. Or just let them play and you will have super spontaneous photos. The possibilities are endless!
  9. Post regularly. With Maylows account we try to post at least three times a week. But it would be better to post daily and even better to post twice a day! Your presence on Instagram shows your followers how active you are. If you don't post, your account is more likely to shrink than to grow
  10. It's important that you post the kind of photos that your target group wants to see. Interact with your followers to find out what they post and like
    I have a lot more tips for regular Instagram accounts so be on the look-out for upcoming posts regarding that topic. If you have other tips let me know in the comments below. Also be sure to let me know if any of your pets are on social media and don't forget to tell me their usernames so Rakker and Maylow can make new friends!
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Friday, October 16, 2015

GUESS OVERNIGHT BAG IN NUDE

 Let me introduce you to my favorite bag: the Overnight Tote by Guess in nude. I won't ever throw or give away this bag. It is so beautiful and moreover it has sentimental value as I got it from a special someone; my brother Stefan. He gave it to me as a 22nd birthday present in December 2013. I have to admit, there was a time when this beauty was put away in the dustbag but that was only because the handles looked and felt a little fragile and I was afraid it would break. Lesson learned: don't carry stuff around in your handbag that is too heavy.
 But I recently started wearing this bag again as it is quite big and really versatile. And its looks are awesome! Another thing that I really like is the fact that it is a faux leather model. Even though I'm not vegan but vegetarian, I do like to invest in quality items that are produced without hurting or killing animals. 
 The bag has some minor damages such as a few nips from scratching a wall. It really hurt, to see my baby's wounds for the first time. But there is a wise saying and it goes something along the lines of: you can see it's been lived in. Well not literally, obviously, but this bag has come with me to many occasions, formal and informal. And everytime I find how easy it is to combine this bag. There isn't one coat I own, this bag doesn't go well with. It's an allrounder. 
I remember picking out this bag in a store with my mother. The moment is still clear to me because we encountered it unexpectedly in a chic store we had never visited before. It was such a huge present to receive for my birthday and I am still really happy and thankful for it. 
 I am happy Guess has chosen to add a small tag instead of those huge ones that are kind of in your face. This is nice and subtly done.
I think the color is pretty special. We all know nude colored heels, but I don't often see bags in this color range. Downside is that you can see every little spot or scratch very clearly on the material. What is your favorite bag?
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Thursday, October 15, 2015

STARBUCKS WHITE RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE COOKIE (but better)

Okay, I'll admit it. Even though I'm not blue, I am a cookie monster. I was super disappointed to find out Starbucks was discontinuing my favorite cookie: the White Raspberry Chocolate Cookie you will be missed. I even complained about it on Twitter but to no avail. Starbucks stayed silent. So what better thing to do than to recreate (and exceed) this heavenly bite? I did so today and I am sharing the recipe with you now. It's super easy, just follow my steps and you'll be in for a treat!
What you will need for 15 cookies:
  • 200g all-purpose flour
  • 300g white chocolate
  • 140g dairy butter
  • 100g cup white sugar
  • 100g cup light brown sugar
  • 100g raspberries
  • a small bag of vanilla sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • a pinch of salt

What I always do before I start baking is putting everything I'm gonna need within reach. Here you can see all the ingredients. Make sure the dairy butter is at room temperature and if you're using frozen raspberries, those to! Take half of the chocolate and break it into tiny pieces. Cut those pieces into even smaller ones (1cm) that will mingle well in the dough. Mix flour, butter, sugar (all three kinds), salt, baking powder and egg until well blended.
Add chocolate pieces and raspberries to the dough and mix carefully. Leave a couple of raspberries to the side for garnish. You want the raspberries in the mixture to remain in tact for the biggest part. Knead the dough with your hands. Sprinkle flour on the surface and turn the cookie dough into a role of some 4 cm thick, then wrap it in cling film. Allow to rest at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. 

 Here is a cute picture of my cat I wanted to share. Whenever someone is in the kitchen, he always joins them. Sometimes he is hoping to catch falling crumbs, other times he just likes the company and watching the outside world go by. Today he did just that.
 Help. We're about to go in the oven!
Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F. The role I cut into 15 equal pieces and I pressed them flat like the cookie shape I desired. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cookies start to turn dark. 
Now that the cookies are out of the oven, they need a little time to cool down and get crispy. In the mean time, melt the rest of the chocolate a bain-marie. If you don't know what that is, it is a technique to cook delicate stuff or melting things such as butter or chocolate. Once the chocolate is fully melted, dip half of the cookie in it and push tiny pieces of raspberry in when the chocolate hasn't cooled down yet. Put the cookies in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Et voilà!

Take that Starbucks! Ha. You should never have discontinued your best cookie because now I outdid YOU. PS. Starbucks, if you ever need a cookie taster/photographer/social media expert, I'm your girl!
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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

A BRACELET BALLET

I don't wear a lot of jewelry on a daily basis. There are two pieces I wear everyday. A silver ring that I got from my parents and a pair of subtle earrings that I pick out each morning. I sometimes add a nice watch and that's it. But there are days especially in Spring and Summer when I wear a lot of bright statement necklaces and bracelets. In these photos you can see my favorite arm candy all year 'round. I like beads, animal prints, gold, silver and tassels. Basically any type of bracelet! When it comes to jewelry I don't care about brands but I do have a preference for items from Costes, Sacha and H&M. Mainly because those stores are always on trend and not super expensive which means I can invite different pieces to my arm party each season!


My two trick to effortless but put together bracelet stacking? Match items that you wouldn't think of pairing at first! Don't be shy, you can definitely pair different colors, textures and sizes. But make sure there is only one eye-catcher, that gets supported by the other ones. 
The cute black bracelet holder is from Xenos but you can practically find a similar one in any store. 
How do you keep your bracelets organized?
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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Turtleneck Dress | FALL FASHION PART II

 This look is one of my favorites during this time of year. I don't like wearing jeans all the time. Give me a pair of tights or leggings and I'm really happy. There is just something I like about dressing up feminine. It makes me feel good, gives me confidence. I got this turtleneck dress at Jane Norman a couple of weeks ago. It was on a hanger which didn't do it any justice. When I tried it on I was amazed by the fit. It is bodycon but not super tight. It brings you a Kim K vibe but more classy #nohateThe grey color makes the whole look super sophisticated and it's easily paired with different colors as you can see. This one was definitely going home with me! For this photoshoot I was looking for some nice stairs until I found this brick wall and thought the cement layers between the red bricks complemented the vertical pattern ànd color in my dress really well. The material of the dress is kind of thick so it'll keep you warm through winter. Turtlenecks make your hair look longer, which is a plus for me. And you can do all kinds of fun things with it. For example you can pair it with a statement necklace that will get all the attention because there is no skin showing. The turtleneck is also an excellent layering piece. You can add a cardigan or simple long tee with a high round neck. Fold the turtle neck neatly over to create a cool effect.
I would really like to hear some ideas from you. How can I pair this piece in multiple ways? Right now I'm headed to the gym in a less fashionable outfit, haha. But still I think my gym attire is quite on point. Would you like to see?

Are you into the turtleneck dress?
OUTFIT DETAILS
Turtleneck Dress| Jane Norman (here)
Tights| ZARA
Scarf | C&A (here)
Hat| H&M
Bracelet| J-Club
Black Boots| Van Haren
Bag | Paperchase (similar here)
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