they hate dresses
I took the day off today so that I could look for a dress and shoes for my cousin's wedding next week in the States (we leave thursday, wedding is saturday). I was so optimistic! The weather was gorgeous, the main shopping area of town was not mobbed with tourists or others and I had the whole day. I started by doing a few errands then stopped at a cafe for a coffee, bagel with brie and honey (oooo lekker!!) and to read my new book for a while. Fast forward 3 hours and about a zillion stores later: Moaning to E on mobile in very crowded store with sweat drops running down my face that "the Dutch hate dresses and/or anything remotely pretty". Let me explain: In the Netherlands, going to a wedding in jeans or a frumpy linen suit you would wear to work is perfectly fine. Well that is actually an unfair generalization but I have actually seen it...and heard about it...Anyway, I found nothing appropriate. Not one dress- nada, niks, nothing. It's very strange! People tend to dress very casually here and that's cool with me, I'm not exactly a fashion plate, but sometimes it is neccessary to actually be a bit formal. We (non-dutch people) joke about Dutch things alot and shopping hell is definately at the top of the list. Yes we are in Europe but it's not Rome, Paris or even Madrid when it comes to fashion. Now I am forced to shop -with jetlag- one day before the wedding. The upside is that the Euro is stronger than the dollar so it will be cheaper and I know for a fact I will find an outfit in less than 2 hours. I love the Netherlands and 98.9% of the time the Dutch, but I hate shopping here. Oh well, there's my rant.