A CONVERSATION with Retna Wooller in the ‘Dam

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS ~ December 06,2011

Retna talks us through the receptacles which make her Xmas Day complete. She feels very adult saying that she will ‘bring a plate’. Food is better than any present she thinks. Food, good company and a day off from thinking.

GOOD LIQUOR TASTES EVEN BETTER WHEN SNIFFED AND SIPPED FROM A RECEPTACLE OF CREDIBILITY. WHAT WILL YOU BE SIPPING FROM THIS XMAS DAY?

Iused to be a beer and giggles kind of girl, until I moved to the Northern Hemisphere. Here, they drink to stay warm. Raised on the beach, Christmas was about the blistering sun and eating til you had to lie down. In Amsterdam, it snows, I don’t eat lobster for Christmas lunch and there isn’t any beach to go for a swim. Even though it is everything we understand Christmas to be, I have only just become used to having Christmas in the snow.

One thing that reminds me of the perfumes of my old faith, sans guilt, is a beverage called Gluhwein. It is actually German or Austrian and my god it is so yummy. It is like mulled wine but better! There are so many aromas in there and you serve it warm so it is extra lovely. People drink it when they go ice skating. Serve it as hot as possible.

I will be drinking mine from my Villeroy and Boch Mug from the Acapulco collection. My Gluhwein receptacle.

IN WHICH POT IS YOUR XMAS TREE TAKING UP RESIDENCE?

Oh dear. Christmas here is a little confusing for me. I just put the Christmas tree up in the front of the house and my boyfriend told me that people will be angry I didn’t wait until after Sinterklaas. Today is Sinterklaas’ birthday. He travels about with his helpers (children here black out their faces so they can look like Sinterklaas helpers) and there is a period of about three weeks where you put your wishes in your shoe, along with a carrot (for the donkey or something) and Sinterklaas delivers you little gifts in the lead up to the big gift which he gives out on his birthday.

If you are bad, you have to go to Spain. Yes, I am making this tradition sound a lot more ridiculous than it is, but I have asked so many local people about it and I get a different story every time. Don’t shoot the messenger here.

Plants are sold here in metal pots, or plastic. I actually transfer all the plants I get into a ceramic planter. I have a drill and I drill holes in the bottom, create a surface of stones so as not to let all the water run out, then replant the plant. Plants don’t seem to be happy unless they are in a ceramic pot.

FROM WHICH BOX WILL YOU PULL YOUR XMAS DAY CLOGS FROM?

They have just put the salt buckets out on the tops of bridges, which means snow is just around the corner. As Christmas gets closer you notice more and more people riding their bikes wearing a plaster cast. People slip off their bikes, break an arm and then get back on again. Not me. It is the one time of year I take public transport. I also develop a kind of stomp-like walk to avoid slipping. I look like a complete idiot, but I have not suffered any broken bones as a result.
The other day I purchased my first proper winter boot. They are Timberlands and a lot of the inside is made from recycled material. I always thought Timberlands were for Rappers, but since reading up about this boot I discovered the way they make things is very ethical. The closest thing I can get to wearing something dainty in this weather.

The box my boots came in is 100% recycled and study. I have to store all my Winter boots away during Summer, so i keep all my shoe boxes to make this easy. I actually really love shoe boxes, so I have never really thrown them out. I think of them as part of the purchase.

Retna Wooller is a journalist, fashion stylist and feature writer; residing in Amsterdam, always on the money. http://retna.com.au/