Shoe Shine #22

Shoe Shine is on!

Get your kicks by showing your kicks!

These shoes are new in my shoe wardrobe (shoedrobe? shwardrobe??), and I've only worn them once - so recently, as of the writing of this post, I haven't even posted the pictures!

They are purple and green iridescent leather. One of my coworkers told me that in car paint, this colour is called "trout". Welcome, Trout Shoes, to my shwardrobe.

I love the menswear styling of these, although one person said they looked like bowling shoes. Pshaw, I say!

They are by Miista and were made in Germany.

I'm developing a love for menswear shoes - do you have any in your shwardrobe? 
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I Get My Kicks in Poppies and Angora

How appropriate that I wore my red poppies rainy floral skirt today - it is raining!

However, we are due for more clear skies soon, thank goodness. Just in time for le weekend!

• Sweater - The Limited, consignment; last seen here in December 2014 with a big red fail skirt
• Skirt - Un1Deux2Trois3, thrifted; purchased here for $4.00
• Shoes - Marc; featured here for Shoe Shine #15, and last worn here in November 2014

A comfy outfit. I liked this sweater better with the A-line skirt than with the full midi-skirt. I'm still a little iffy on the sweater itself, but for now it stays.

But wait!

BAM! 

La la la...

"If I can't have any more food, I'm out of here."

The skirt was good to wear. I think I will get my $4.00's worth out of it.

Hold on.

KICK!

Okay, so what's all this kicking about? I got an email from reader Jessica asking if I "approved goofy kick poses requests." Typically, I immediately block those senders and ignore them and delete their emails, but after a quick search, I found her blog (here). Girl likes to kick!

And while I'm not sending pictures of me kicking (or anything else, looking at you, veiny feet picture requesting people!) to anyone, I am quite happy to post pictures of myself being goofy. There you go, Jessica. Link back to my blog if you like. Cheers!

The stuff:

Great galloping shoes of red fabulousness!

Red bling:

And some wooden bling in there too.

• Cuff - Rimanchik
• Wood ring - Dots
• Square wood/lucite ring - consignment
• Silver/coral ring - Oscar & Libby's
• Earrings - local

Shoe Shine is on starting tomorrow! I'll be back on Sunday with a wrap-up of my fun-filled weekend ahead.

Pink Shirt Day, and No Try

Today is Pink Shirt Day, where you wear a pink shirt to support the anti-bullying movement. 

Pink sweater, close enough. It was amazing to see so many people in my office wearing every shade of pink to support this great cause. I was bullied quite badly as a kid in elementary school - it's not something we ever talked about then. I know I felt very alone and unwanted.

• Sweater - Talbots, consignment; purchased here for $24.00
• Skirt - Danier, thrifted; last seen here (6th outfit) in November with green velvet
• Shoes - Camper ; last worn here in January with all the jewels

I loved wearing this new-to-me sweater today - the sleeves are like wings that both keep me warm and keep me aired out.

And who doesn't like a black pencil skirt? Not this cowgirl.

The stuff:

Sweet shoes of speckled goodness! I walked to and from our other office (4 blocks each way) in these, then to my hair appointment, then to and from the bus stop. My feet are good.

Shiny bling:

My glass snake! Rar!

• Glass snake - gift from Mom, Venice
• Death star ring - Stone Roses
• Crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop
• Earrings - local 

One of my WW members gave me a little present last night at the meeting:

I love her hand-written decoration on the paper. "No try".

One of my favourite sayings to my group is the quote from Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try." Saying "I'll try" implies failure to me. Do it or don't do it.

I never try. I do. Or I do not.

Thank you, Christine!

Positively Peachy in Shiny Shoes!

It's almost spring, I can feel it! I also resemble it.

Especially in peach, which (although I loathe pastels in general) is probably my favourite pastel. Okay, maybe yellow pastel is okay. Just a little.

• Sweater - Jaeger, thrifted; purchased here this past weekend for $4.00
• Skirt - Melanie Lyne, consignment; last seen here earlier this month with some books
• Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevogs; purchased here this past weekend

Back in 2009 (here), I wore a peach camisole and I was all, "Peach is going to make a comeback!" And here we are - it only took 6 years.

Love this skirt. This outfit overall got a lot of love - as in "I would totally wear this!" That kind of reaction always surprises me, since of course, I wear ALL the outfits...I guess this is low-key enough for people who aren't as adventuresome in their clothes as me.

The stuff:

Classic heels - adventuresome colour! These got more than a few gasps of admiration; only one of the VPs was in (the VP of Mischief, I call him), but he was suitably impressed and happy that I'd bought a really cool pair of shoes with their gift certificate.

Copper bling:

The shoes are officially designated as bronze, but they go perfectly with all my vintage copper! 

• Necklace, earrings, cuff - Renoir, vintage 60s, Grandma J's
• Silver/blue ring - bought in Scotland in 1996 with L when we were dating
• Copper ring - vintage fair

I've had this copper set from Grandma J - which she gave to me in person - since 1985. That's 30 years I've had it! I recall wearing it to university in my first year. It was a little dressy for my classes, but I have never stopped wearing it all this time. 

Sprung Weekend Wrap-Up: Shopping and Gallivanting About (and New Shoes)

Whew! The weekend is officially over, and not to rub your noses in it, but this is what February looks like on Canada's west coast.

Pretty spectacular, eh? No snow out in this part of the country, my friends!

On Saturday morning, Land I headed downtown to go for brunch.

Still feeling a little mentally grey, but why not be that in Dolce & Gabbana?

• Sweater - August Silk, thrifted; last seen here (5th outfit) in October 2014 with marsala pleats
• Skirt - Dolce & Gabbana, thrifted; last worn here in December 2014 with a telltale heart
• Boots - Prepare Guide, Fluevog; last worn here (way down at the bottom) in January

Lurker in the bottom of the picture!

Since it was so sunny, I actually went bare-armed (but wore a warm coat!).

First, we had to do some grabbin'.

"This is so undignified for an officer."

A little squirmy cuddle and all was good.

I happily showed off my Dolce & Gabbana skirt to anyone and everyone.

Outerwear? Outerthere!

I love leather coat weather!

The view from my stairs.

Only a few stray clouds scuttling past the castle.

This street is lined with Japanese cherry and plum trees.

Half of them are out right now - the other half blooms in about 2 weeks.

L and I joined the throngs waiting at Floyd's for brunch.

You can't miss the hot pink building.

A sneak shot of the inside.

Yes, that's Santa holding the menus. He's wearing a Canucks hoodie (he's in disguise).

More blossoms.

These are miniature daffodils.

Each bloom is maybe an inch big.

Gnarled Garry Oaks reach for the sky.

There are so many of these big puffy pale pink trees.

It looks like snow when the blossoms start to shed.

They smell wonderful...but make me sneeze. Spring has sprung!

I meandered around the thrift stores after brunch. I had a bit of luck with this lovely peachy sweater.

It's a really fine cotton knit - definitely not a t-shirt. I always prefer a thin sweater over a tee, just for the extra structure. This one is slightly flared at the bottom.

By Jaeger, made in the UK.

For $4.00? Score! Oh my gosh, their plain knit tops start at $183.00 Canadian! Holy smokes, I did get a deal!

Well! That was exciting! I also found this lovely skirt.

Another watercolour floral but I love the bold red with taupe and brown and rust. So pretty!

This one is by Un1Deux2Trois3 - it is made in Poland.

I don't think it's as high of quality as the Jaeger sweater, but it's still nice enough for $6.00.

I also found this graphic novel, Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill (a current writer I'm grooving on) and Gabriel Rodriguez.

The Eisner nominee means it's practically guaranteed to be good! And only $7.00, so I'm happy with that.

I wandered over to the Velvet Crease again (that's a bad store for me! I find too many good things!), and of course, had good luck.

This is merino wool, made by Talbots. It was $24.00 and fits me just right. I love the hot pink!

I am a sucker for a vintage maxi skirt.

Curtise, do I have your approval?

Black velvet waistband and all the good colours.

Pink, magenta, turquoise, black, white and metallic bronze.

I don't know the name Alex Colman of California, but I'm happy to add another size to my array.

G. This is a size G. G for good? The Vintage Fashion Guild (linking here 'cause I love) pins this to the late 60s/early 70s. How cool!  I love knowing when my clothes are from.

I had a gift certificate from the four VPs at work from Christmas that I hadn't spent yet. Look what I found...

I KNOW. They are the same as my Big Presence Desmond in orange canvas, but these are metallic bronze leather.

I could eat them up. The metallic leather was a special run for Heart & Sole shoes in town - can't buy these on the Fluevog website!

Do you "heart" them? I do! And I think the VPs will all approve. They were $249.00 before the $100 gift certificate and there were only a couple sizes left. Lucky me!

On Sunday, I dragged myself out of bed to get groceries, and meet up with Yvonne for an eyebrow wax and a bit of shopping.

Why yes, I am a cowgirl.

• Dress - Love Dress O, Bodybag by Jude; last seen in August 2013 here (4th outfit) 
• Boots - 1883 Lucchesse, consignment; last worn here (3rd outfit) for a wee bit of weekend shopping in January

Although I haven't worn this dress in a year and a half, I'm still keeping it. It fits wonderfully and I love the feel and look of it, despite it being very limited for styling.

It was easy to try stuff on with this on (everything goes under or over the dress). The boots are practically a weekend shopping staple.

Geared up for another lovely day.

Yes, only a jean jacket! I was a little chilly so added the long leather gloves (they are cashmere-lined).

The stuff:

First wearing of this thrifted leather and ponyhair belt.

• Belt - Danier Leather, thrifted
• Cuff - Rimanchik

The shopping was good. I found these bronze teardrop studs for $15.00.

They are by Graceful Hunter and are locally made.

I took Yvonne to Flavour Upstairs (I hadn't been there for a while). She found a skirt, a dress and a cashmere cardigan, all for under $55.00.

I didn't find anything for myself, but I did score a couple of cool shirts for L:

Ben Sherman, long-sleeved houndstooth in black and white with navy and burgundy.

And this vintage Arrow shirt:

Ha, the "Iron Cheater"! It's also long-sleeved and the colours are turquoise, brown and deep blue. Both shirts were $17.99 each.

Then Yvonne told me that She She Shoes had a "last pair" sale on. Well, of course we had to go look! Yvonne found a slate blue pair of Miz Mooz, and I fell in deep, iridescent love...

Oh sweet mother of pearl, aren't they fabulous? They are by Miista and were on sale for $140.00

I am so in love with these! I want to wear them every day.

Ah, but I restrained myself today. I still have a lot of new-to-me items waiting to be worn!

Like this fabulous forest green vintage 1960s sweater!

• Sweater - Dalkeith, thrifted; purchased here last weekend for $10.50
• Skirt - Bianca Nygard, thrifted; last seen here in January for our VIP work visit
• Shoes - Fly London; last worn here in December with a sweet vintage dress

I'm linking this outfit up to Patti's "Visible Monday" at Not Dead Yet Style - get yourself over there!

These shoes exemplify one of my "rules" about vintage: wear modern shoes! Otherwise, the outfit can skew to the costume-y look (which is cool, but more of a going-out vibe for me).

I was quite pleased with this outfit, including my 50-year-old sweater. There is not actually any green in the skirt at all!

The stuff:

Killer shoes!

Leafy bling:

And there are my new earrings.

Necklace - Lisner, vintage 60s, Grandma J's
Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
Earrings - Graceful Hunter

And how was your weekend? Any blossoms in the forecast? How about spring shoes?

Shoe Shine is coming this Friday!