Summer has come to Brussels. I have discovered that my work capsule wardrobe of about three jersey dresses plus opaque tights is woefully not up to the job. It's been a sticky few days. My one skirt suit and three cotton shirts are looking sadly inadequate now. Shopping in Brussels is not that great either: there's a choice between rue Neuve, to the north of the city centre. Classy it is not: think Bromley high street on a Saturday and you're pretty close. The pedestrianised street itself is always heavily packed, even on a Monday. You'd think unemployed people would have better things to do with their time than go shopping. However on closer inspection it's just the street that is crowded: if you slip into one of the shops (not counting H&M or Hema - a sort of Belgian Woolworths) it tends to be fairly empty. Sisley (an Italian high-street brand related to Benetton) do cute blouses and suits that are slightly nicer than Next's rather boxy offerings, so I may have to venture back there and stock up. French chain Promod are ok for pretty skirts and cardigans. But I still haven't found a decent place to buy shoes. I arrived in September with one pair of black flats, one black heels, running shoes, trainers, hiking boots, birkenstocks and slippers. I have since been home and collected knee-high brown boots, black evening sandals and a pair of pink ballet-style heels that I love.
Clearly though this is still not enough.
The second shopping area in Brussels is Avenue Louise. Avenue Louise is broad, posh and lined with boutiques. I am somewhat afraid to go there, plus it's on the wrong metro line (here you are either on 2 and 6 or 1 and 5). I wonder though whether it may hold the key to my shoe worries...
Gosh what a boring post! Let's publish it, get it out of the way and move on.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
I fear you will be disappointed with Avenue Louise. The only place to buy shoes there that I can think of is Zara. I suppose there is always Chaussee d'Ixelles? Or that shopping centre in one of the Woluwés with the Habitat? Or that shopping centre in Anderlecht that I've never been to? Or Antwerp? Antwerp is probably your best bet...
haha I'm going home in a couple of weekends' time, I'll do it then.
Although... going to Antwerp is kind of fun...
And we haven't even started in on purses yet ;-).
My basic shoe requirements are to have flats, heels, sandals, and knee-high boots in both black and brown. I try not to have too many more pairs than that, though I do have two pairs of running shoes and slippers ... and clogs. And snow boots.
You should take a photo of the pink ballet heels for us :-). They sound cute and interesting!
Post a Comment