Welcome back, my friends! I hope you've all had a stellar weekend, whether it was chill or social. We had a nice mix of quiet and busy ourselves, with a brunch, a small park gather and People In Our House (exciting!). I also discovered a wee spider on my deck, so you've been warned.
On Friday night, L was out with friends, so I hung out with Vizzini and watched the
Great Canadian Baking Challenge - very soothing, but I did eat all the chocolate I'd purchased for Saturday night (oops). On Saturday, we were up mid-morning to meet up with Nick for brunch at the Ruby.
The forecast was for hot temps and bright sunny skies. I had to break out my JC de Castelbajac jumpsuit!
- Jumpsuit - Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, vintage 90s, thrifted; last worn here in July 2020 with chartreuse
- Shoes - Wonders; last seen here (2nd outfit) in June 2020 with a long floral gown (Flashback on the shoe there)
I'll be doing a short Flashback on my jumpsuit in a bit - if you've never heard of JC (Jean-Charles) de Castelbajac, don't feel bad. I'd never heard of him before I read about my blog-pal Wendy Brandes' love for his designs (link
here to her posts on him, link 'cause I love, of course).
You know I love to dig deep when I find something that's real designer! You can read about him
here, You might not know the name, but you might remember Lady Gaga wearing his coat made up of Kermit the Frog stuffed animals in December 2018 (link
here).
My jumpsuit is linen and predates JCDC (how he's often referred to) online, so I suspect this is from the late 90s or early 00s. I spotted two more of this same jumpsuit online when I searched around recently: one was 350 Euros (about $725), and the other was listed at over $600.
Isn't the print glorious? I love the deep blue - if you look closely, you'll see that the drawstring waist has little red, white and blue pony-beads on the ties.
I let my bra straps hang out. Clutch your pearls!
I'm sure that most people who saw me thought I was wearing a maxi dress, but no....
It's most definitely a jumpsuit!
The legs are ABBA-esque, with three giant flounced tiers. I have it tailored after I bought it to remove about six inches off the hem so that I could actually wear this. It was made for someone 5'10" or taller!
My cover-up is my pink cashmere/silk pashmina.
I was in a hurry, so some of my pics are blurry, sorry!
Hark, is this brunch I see in my future?
The Movie Star Wrap for our quick drive to town, followed by some errands (erm, replacing the chocolate that I ate).
Masked up - I love the bold pink and white of this one, to go with my pink shoes and wrap.
L is doing an ode to Frank Bonner, the actor who played the loudly-dressed salesman Herb Tarlek on TV's
WKRP in Cincinnati back in the 70s80s. Sadly, he died this past week, so L decided to break out his Etro plaid wool pants to commemorate him.
I wore my straw hat to the park, as the clouds cleared by afternoon.
Must keep covered! I am fully sunblocked up here too.
Accoutrements:
I couldn't resist giving my new-to-me Enid Collins bag a whirl. It holds more than I thought it would.
- Mask - by Mom
- Bag - Enid Collins "Roadrunner", vintage 70s, consignment; purchased here for $25.00
- Pashmina - Portolano, thrifted
The stuff:
I walked (slowly) to the park in these pink leather shoes - they are super comfy. Yes, that is a wooden last.
Blue and silver bling:
First wearing of my new blue bangle.
- Cage cuff - Bauxo
- Silver earrings - consignment
- Dragon bangle - Lazy Susan's
- Lucite bangle - Lazy Susan's; purchased here for $4.00
- Shield ring - Nine West
- Silver/lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
Speaking of, when I was in Lazy Susan's on Friday night, I noticed that they had a bag that looked very much like my Enid Collins purse, above - it was marked at $89.00 and they told me that it was from one of her kits (a "make your own" thing) from back in the 60s/70s. When I told her that I'd only paid $25.00 for my signed Collins bag, she noted that I'd gotten a "real deal."
Flashback: JC de Castelbajac Jumpsuit
I purchased this jumpsuit
here in May 2019 - I spotted it hanging in with the long floral dresses at Flavour Upstairs and immediately could tell by the pattern and the fabric that it was special.
Such a wonderful textile!
There's the nice label, with the size tag in the colours of the French flag.
It's 100% linen and light as a breeze.
I like when the ink prints right through the fabric - it's a good sign of quality (I loathe when the backside is solid white).
Yes, I paid $37.95 for this.
It's a total steal.
I wore it right away to work on a Casual Friday in May 2019.
I paired white shoes with my red cardigan, and did silver accessories.
I always have to show off...
"It's really a jumpsuit!"
Again in July 2019, for the Canada Day long weekend.
That's the first time I dyed my hair blue-ish. I did orange accessories this time, with rust-brown platform sandals.
I wore my orange cardigan as cover-up.
The obligatory shot - "Look, it has legs!"
And this is the last time I wore it, in July 2020 to go for brunch with L.
I added my long chartreuse cardigan and sandals.
"Reach for the stars!"
I hope you can truly appreciate what massive, swooshy legs it has! It's so fun to wear. As I stood in the breeze at the park this weekend, the legs flapped like sails.
Mathy stuff: I haven't really had the chance to wear it all that much - stoopid pandemic! - but it's not going anywhere. I'm only on the 4th wearing of it, so I'll have to update my Flashback in a few years. We're at a decent $9.75 per wear right now.
How you do feel about jumpsuits? What would you wear with it?
I didn't take my camera to the park - we did a small gathering for Nick as we are coming up on a year since our dear Karen died. Instead, we just focused on being with each other. Cat and Ross came over to our place later (Vizzini was ecstatic - more visitors!) and we played board games until the wee hours.
Trigger Warning: Spider Pics
I noticed a tiny white blob on the plug of one of the strings of lights on the deck this weekend.
At first, I thought it was a piece of fluff, but when I got in close I realized it was a tiny spider. I am NOT a fan of spiders. No, no, nope, nope, spiders begone!
However, this one was SO tiny, that I got right in close and had a good look. I thought he was dead
"Buzz off, Lady."
But he moved a leg when I gingerly poked a pen at him, and he was gone a few hours later. I did some research and discovered he is a Goldenrod Crab Spider (source
here).
Vizzini, are you cool with company out there on the deck, another denizen sharing your space?
"You heard what he said: Buzz off, Lady."
And with that, I guess I will buzz off! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I'm going to go soak up some sun.
I love the cut of this dress - the waistband angles downward from my waist to just below one hip. 
I'm wearing my thin petit-pants to prevent my thighs from rubbing (I loathe that feeling), and a full nylon slip to keep the dress from clinging to itself and to keep it from being too sheer (it is a very thin cotton). 
Very few folks around in the office - our company is still encouraging employees to stay home, as they work out a plan for return to work in the fall. 
I was glad of it by the end of the day. 
