ra ra ra

Happy new year! I don't like doing retrospectives because it freaks me out, but now that my laptop is virus-free and I finally got my photos from the trip to Antwerp restored, these next few posts will be going back quite a bit. Better late than never, right?

We visited ra and it convinced me that when I'm older I'd like to own a concept store with friends and we would sell books and clothes and homemade things and food and we would all do different kinds of freelancing elsewhere. Usually when I latch onto ideas like that I've exhausted them within a few weeks but this one has stuck with me. The vibes were just so positive and you really get a feel for the community among the people who work there and hang out often. Besides that, there's just so much great stuff -- a balance between fancy art books and zines, independent designers and big names, etc. -- and the folks who showed me around knew their products and were excited to share interesting background information.

The space is great, I guess technically it's pretty big and a couple stories but it's divided up into small little worlds which makes it cozier.

Stephen Jones hats in honor of his exhibition (post coming up! I should, however, warn those with frail health: that you might get a hernia.)

Perfect loony Meadham Kirchhoff artsncrafts Courtney Love tiaras and Narelle Dore cotton candy crown.

Adorable Swash prints.

Charlie Brown!

There was a GREAT vintage selection, including 70s Chanel and 90s Yohji.

And this Schiaparelli hat?! Which I probably infected with my head but it was WORTH IT.

I mean REALLY.

I forget the name of this designer but these clothes are calling for a sticks fort to be worn in.
Ah, wait.

Perfect!

It should be noted that one of their owners gave me shoes she designed and a brooch by an independent designer they were selling, but I think it would be pretty hard for me to have not already loved the place. If you are in Antwerp I would definitely recommend a visit, just know that you need a lot of time to spare. If you don't, not to worry -- your responsibility will be forgotten once you've opened up a Mark Borthwick book in one of the bunk beds.