Thursday, January 8, 2015

Literary Stylings Link-up; What to Wear to a Hockey Game; Striped Dress

It's a two-fer Thursday! I was out late last night, so this is what I wore to our company quarterly meeting, which was to be followed by a Victoria Royals hockey game.
Eminently practical, but funky, that's me.

  • Sweater - Bandolino, thrifted; last seen here (4th outfit) in March 2014
  • Sweater tank - Dana Buchman, thrifted; last seen here in July 2014 with chartreuse
  • Cape/skirt - Smoking Lily, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) with floral Docs in November 2014
  • Boots - Indigo by Clarks; last seen here in December 2014 with turquoise fringe

This is my first link-up to Gracey's "Literary Stylings" over at Fashion for Giants. I read over 35 books in 2014, the most I've read since I started keeping track of my books in 2007. I'm pretty proud of that; it's easy to get sucked into TV and internet. Books and reading can fall down the priorities list quickly.

Although I didn't make a New Year's Resolution this year, I would like to top my number of books next year. That's a good goal, and one I can work on with no guilt. I also plan to participate in more "Literary Stylings" to inspire myself. Thanks, Gracey!

The book that inspired my outfit above happens to be the first book that I finished in 2015:
I won this from Shelley at Forest City Fashionista - she is one of the contributors! Read about it here.
The postcard doesn't come with it!
This is a book to treasure, to read again and again. You can dive in and dive out of it, without fear of losing the thread. It's based on a survey sent out to hundreds of women, men and other-gendered participants, and is anecdotal in format. One of the pieces that I found hugely fascinating were photocopied pictures of the hands of all of the women in an office, who then talked about all the rings they had on.

It was a fabulous read, full of all kinds of articles about women and their clothes. I kept it in the bathroom (yes, I always have a bathroom book), so it's taken me 2 months to read, here and there. I just want to start it over again.

My outfit isn't really directly inspired by the book, but it went with my thinking and feeling about clothes. I love that most of my clothes are second hand. I love that my jewelry has stories, and in some cases, I know who's owned it before. I dress as armour sometimes. I dress to tell the story of who I am, or who I want to be.

I loved this book. Do yourself a favour and buy a copy for yourself. I can't bear to lend mine, even though I want everyone I know to read it - I did buy a copy for Betty, my receptionist at WW, as I thought she would appreciate the thoughtfulness and thoroughness of it.
A slice of my life in the morning.
I dressed with the anticipation of being in a cold arena after our meeting; however, when I arrived at work, I heard that the visiting team had gotten snowed in, so the game was postponed. Instead, we got to meet Joe Hicketts (player) and Dave Lowry (coach) from Canada's gold medal-winning Junior Hockey team! Joe is a Royals player and Dave is a coach. They both wore their gold medals, and gave us a signed Victoria Royals jersey to raffle off for a prize.
Every time I wear this skirt, I have to explain that it's a cape. I'm wearing it wrong. See? (link to Smoking Lily's Cape of Good Hope - linking 'cause I love).

Bonus outerwear shot:
I had to wear my new leather and fur accessories! So soft and warm! The coat is a thrifted Danier leather, with a distressed finish. It has an up-down zip; good for walking and sitting, but still keeps my bum and hips warm.

The stuff:
Happy cushy boots.

Copper bling:
I was one of the presenters during the meeting (Corporate and Social Responsibility - I help raise lots of money for the local food bank - and the Social Committee), so I wore bling near my face so that people would look at me.

  • Necklace/bracelet - 1970s, vintage fair
  • Earrings - $10 grab bag find, consignment

I went out for a glass of wine after the event, and crashed when I got home. I totally forgot about planning an outfit for today.

What to do? Wear a dress!
Dresses do all the work for you!

  • Dress - no label, vintage 1970s, thrifted; last seen here in November 2014
  • Boots - Aldo, consignment; last worn here (3rd outfit) last weekend

This striped dress is such a pleasure to wear - it fits perfectly and is warm (thank you, vintage double-knit polyester!).

My tights are a pumpkin/caramel colour - they match one of the stripes in the dress.
I didn't want to carry more than my purse to the arena, so I left my walking shoes at work last night. I had to wear a pair of shoes/boots that I could walk to work in, so my default black boots were it.

The stuff:
Good ol' boots.

A statement necklace and mismatched simple earrings.
Did I mention I let the dress do the work?

  • Earrings - gift from Mom and local
  • Necklace - Nygard, consignment


The necklace pulled its weight too!

9 comments:

  1. I bought the book this morning for my eReader. Would love to hear more of your bathroom book suggestions - I read in short spurts as I rock Charlie to sleep or feed her. Hopefully Women In Clothes will give me fewer nightmares after late night feeds than Sherlock Holmes has!

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  2. I agree with you on dresses- they are the quickest outfit options any day! Yet they always look good on their own if we don't have time to accessorise :)

    That sounds like a lovely book too - it is so interesting how we can fell so many emotions about clothes and outfits sometimes! :)

    Have a great weekend Sheila!

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  3. I want to read this book! When it was released, I read a review in The New York Times and thought it's right down my alley -- not only about clothes but about women's thoughts on and relationships to their clothes. Which is at the real heart of my interest in clothing (as part of female life). Glad to hear your positive review. I'll definitely buy it now.

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  4. That dress looks like you could wear it anywhere and fit right in, but still stand out. And it looks great on you! The asymmetrical skirt is so cool - I love sculptural clothes.

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  5. Both outfits are stylish, but the 1970s striped beauty has to be my favourite (naturally!) Both pairs of boots are fab too.
    Well done on the foodbank fundraising. xxx

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  6. You don't need to wear bling near your face for everyone to look at you. They will just LOOK at you! I want to read Women in Clothes as well. There's very little on TV, except I still love my Brit dramas and detective shows.

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  7. Great blog♥

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    I follow your blog. Waiting for you♥
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  8. Thank you so much for linking up! The book sounds fascinating and I'm adding it to my "to read" list right away.

    Also, I love both of these outfits. The cape-skirt is perfection and the red tights with the second outfit make me so happy!

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  9. The striped dress looks beautiful with the tights and boots . The book seems like a good read - I have not read anything not university related for a while now.

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