A Vacation Week Treat: Showing My Drawers

Actually, I'm showing my jewelry boxes. Shame on you if you thought anything else, ha!

This is where I keep my jewelry:
On the left is my Bombay Company jewelry box. It is massive and gorgeous. On the right is my Gram S's jewelry box, and there are various bags and boxes and things laying about, like my yellow and grey snakeskin bangles and my hairbands.

Gram S's jewelry box is where I keep my vintage jewelry. I asked for this after she died - I have a few pieces that are hers, like the green/yellow rhinestone brooch below. This is the bottom tray, that pulls out:
I keep my plain longer necklaces on the left, my mid-lenth necklaces in the middle and my brooches on the right.

The top tray:

Bracelets on the left, necklaces and more bracelets on the right.

The smaller tray that sits on top:

I keep my earrings and small pins in here.

The big yellow silk bag is where I keep all my metal bangles and sturdier necklaces:

I love big, bold jewelry. That's like a treasure pile!

The smaller bags and boxes:

And now the bigass Bombay box. I have to apologize, the pictures are dark - my bedroom is not well lit.

I had to put this one in - I am totally cross-eyed, ha! The box open:

Starting from the top:
The top flips up, there's a mirror inside, and I keep all my good gold earrings and my stand-by hoops in there, along with my two pairs of studs.

The first drawer is rings:

I like that there's a jumble area, and a display area.

The next drawer is divided into three sections:

These are my brooches and some of my good sets that L's bought me.

The next drawer is dived into four. I store the bulk of my earrings here, sorted by colour.

I often dump this out and rummage through it. Fun!

The last drawer is halved. I keep my larger pendants, jangly bracelets and large earrings in here.

The bottom section is actually a deep drawer. It holds mostly bracelets.

The sides of the box open up and have three hooks per side for hanging necklaces:

Work neckaces.

Some vintage, my pearls and big necklaces:

My jewelry box is so much fun to root through - I often find inspiration in it for an outfit.

L also has a jewelry box, by the way:

It's also a Bombay Company box. We bought them for each other for an anniversary a few years ago. His holds his cufflink collection, a bunch of rings and some pins/brooches.

This is the top of my lingerie chest (which matches my dressers and our jewelry boxes):

That's another little jewelry box on the left, and those are my perfumes. I almost never wear it, but these scents have meant the most to me over the years.

Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene - that belonged to my dad. I gave it to him for his birthday sometime back in the 80s and I think he wore it all of twice, for me. When he died, I asked to have it. When I miss him, I smell it. Grass by Demeter. I loved the Gap's Grass perfume, but they don't make it anymore. This is the closest I ever found. Salvador Dali's perfume. Shi by Alfred Sung (because a few people call me She). Tribu by Bennetton (it smells like tea).

Check out the Salvador Dali perfume bottle:

Cool, eh? I bought this in 1986, and it still smells amazing. It makes me think of going clubbing, wild carousing and kissing dangerous men. *happy sigh*

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little tour of pretties. I'll be back on Thursday - I took a few days off work to recharge my batteries.

Tomorrow is Canada Day! Woo hoo! Happy birthday, Canada!

Special Occasion - Dinner Out

My uncle Brian was in town from Australia, so he, Mom, L and I went for dinner. We had a lovely stroll down to the neighbourhood pub/bistro and back - a lovely sunny evening.

I have been dying to wear this dress since I got it a couple of weeks ago. I had this all planned out to wear last night - I even flat-ironed my hair for the day to go with this. I just love the style:
The designer is Kitchen Orange (warning, that's a link to a large pdf file). I think this dress is about 4-5 years old, and I'm pretty sure it hasn't been worn much. This is the most expensive consignment thing I've ever bought - it was $89...but I had over $60 in credit from taking in my cast-offs, so it wasn't so bad. I've seen a few tops by them around (one on a friend, one in a consignment store) and the neckline is always unusual.

It's kind of hard to see, but the back of the dress comes up quite high on the back of my neck. There is also a belt-type strap that goes from the front seams across the small of the back.

The neck:

The industrial zipper is so cool. I was insanely overdressed, but then L had on a navy suit (lined in sunflower gold), with an emerald green shirt, blue and green and gold tie, and green Fluevogs, so we went well together. I enjoy being overdressed.

I wore my 'Vogs as well:

Forgot to photograph the earrings this morning (they were some dangly brass balls). The bracelet was a gift from one of Mom's students from when she was a teacher before she got married (in the early 60s).

Dress (Kitchen Orange, consignment), shoes (Fluevog Listen Up), bracelet (Mom's, 60s vintage).

Casual Friday - Empress in Wooden Heels

Happy Friday! Look, my Christmas cactus is blooming: I was very happy that Friday had finally arrived, I recall in retrospect, sitting here on Saturday afternoon. I do look like I need a good nap:

The challenge of putting an outfit together around this necklace (which I haven't worn in easily 12-13 years), is that...nothing really goes with it. It's an odd shape, and it hangs a bit awkwardly for standard necklines. I kind of had fun with it, though. A bit of mustard, a bit of brown, and a dab of baby blue for contrast.

Because it's still chilly near the water:

Love that mustard bag!

The stuff:

The shoes everyone avoids calling hooker shoes, but secretly think it. I like them, but the outfit has to be really toned down. The leopard inserts are Dr. Scholl's since these kill my feet.

The empress necklace is cool. I love celtic designs - Mom and Dad brought this back from England (London) for me about 13-14 years ago. The ring is from L, from our first Christmas. I love amber.

Blouse (Mexx), cami (InWear), skirt (Smart Set), shoes (Jessica Simpson), belt (Denver Hayes, gift from Ruth), necklace (St. Justin Pewter, gift from Mom and Dad), ring (Past Times, gift from L), jacket (BUM Equipment, thrifted), bag (Tignanello, gift from Caro).

Mourning Stars and Morning Stars

Things happen in threes, it seems: Ed McMahon died, and now Farrah Fawcett, and now Michael Jackson. I'm not ashamed to say I shed a little tear for each of those stars; everyone dies but it always makes me sad. Ed was old, but I used to watch "Star Search" and Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". Farrah was always "Charlie's Angels" to me (and I remember when she was Fawcett-Majors...*gasp* married to the Six Million Dollar Man!), and cancer is such a horrible way to go. Michael was so...weird, but so talented. More like a comet that blazed across the heavens and then faded away.

I mourn them because we all die, and ultimately, we all die alone and that scares me sometimes, and other times I actually find it comforting.

I also put on my stars this morning:
Sorry the picture's dark, not sure why. I consider this a pretty boring outfit: the skirt is from when I was still losing weight, so it's about 4 inches big in the waist, but I love the colours.

The stuff is what I like:

I love these platform Mary Janes.

And there are my stars! I got the bracelet and earrings (and a pin, which I gave to my mother-in-law for Christmas) at the Museum of Modern Art, in the gift shop, when I was in NYC with Mom in 2007. They were in a sale basket, regular around $45 for the bracelet and about the same for the earrings. I got the bracelet for $11 and the earrings for about $6. They are gold, and each piece is different, replicated from various star-shaped things in the Museum's collection. One is a Byzantine star, one is a compass, one is a replica of the first photograph of a snowflake.

A close-up:

They are so pointy they actually drew blood when I poked my hand with one. Made me think of another Morning Star.

Both pieces are stamped "MMA" and the bracelet has a tag that notes the dates they were produced: 2002-2006.

And finally, a bit of Joni Mitchell:

We are stardust, we are golden,

We are billion year old carbon,

And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Rest in peace.

Cardigan (Vero Moda), sweater (Planet), skirt (RW & Co.), shoes (Bleka), bracelet and earrings (Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Ruby Crystals and Teal Slippers

Did I say you can't wear rhinestones to work every day? Well, how about two days in a row? L gave me this gorgeous crystal necklace for Christmas a couple of years ago, and I put it in with my Grandma J's rhinestone set and totally forgot about it.

Never wore it. Until now!
I'm doing the "La la la, I got engaged" pose to show off another really old piece of jewelry (more on that in a bit). I haven't worn these pants for a while and they are feeling a wee bit snug in the thighs. Now, I'm good with my thighs as I've said, but this does serve to remind me that I am still trying to get rid of the few pounds that crept on at Christmas that I have not been able to shake.

As you might know, I lost 50 pounds over 2 years ago, and I still go to my Weight Watchers meetings every Saturday. I worked really hard this week, since I was starting to creep up to my goal weight (I like to be about 8 lbs under it), and lost 3.2 lbs - hurray! Even after my "free" day of Saturday (since it's weigh-in day) and Winesday (and know I was into the wine and the yummy food with the gals), I'm still working this week to get another 2 pounds off.

Anyway, wearing these pants was a good reminder not to get complacent. Bison burgers and corn on the cob for dinner tonight! Yum! And popcorn (with 1/2 real butter and 1/2 olive oil) for my late snack. Maybe a square of chili chocolate. Maybe not.

The necklace and the big ring:
The stones in the necklace alternate between pure red and irridescent finish (it's a strong turquoise colour, which is why I chose to do turquoise shoes).

The stuff:

I love these shoes! The flower popped off while I was on the phone today at work, so I glue-gunned it when I got home (it's missing in the top picture).

A close-up of the necklace and ring:

The necklace is stamped "Made Austria" on the hook, so I know it's the genuine article. It has a good weight to it, and I know L paid a bit for it.

The ring came via Mom, and I think it might have been Gram S's or pilfered from Mom's jewelry box in the 80s - I'll have to ask her when I see her on Friday. It is a very pinky gold (so high copper content in it), and has been repaired at some point on the band.

The setting is very old-fashioned with the prongs, and the stone is very worn down at the edges. It looks like it's been worn a lot. My research points to either garnet or red tourmaline - those are both fairly hard stones, but this ring has been around the block a few times. I suspect Victoria era.

It's stamped inside "BLG & SON" and "GOLD SHELL".

I couldn't find anything on the "BLG & Son" relating to jewelry, but found out that a lot of Victorian jewelry was gold shell and 9K gold.

Blouse (RW & Co., consignment), cami (InWear), pants (Club Monaco, consignment), shoes (Le Chateau), necklace (Austrian crystal, gift from L), ring (vintage), gold hoop earrings.

Rhinestones at Work

Today's outfit was built around the necklace. I haven't had it that long - maybe a couple of years? - but I can't remember where I got it. Was it a gift? It's not Mom's...maybe I bought it? Honestly, I don't know. But I know I've never worn it.

It's not like you can wear rhinestones every day (well, I guess I could, but then people might think I'm even more eccentric - and many already think that!), so I kept the rest of the outfit down to a dull roar.
I usually test out my whacky poses in my closet mirror to see how they look. I was feeling very James Bond.

I love these wide-legged plaid pants. As you may have noticed, I'm really not a pants gal. And this jacket is my new favourite. I just love the cut. Quality!

The stuff:

The shoes are not as orange as they look there, and the blouse is not that greyish.

Jacket (Club Monaco, consignment), blouse (Tristan), cami (Plum), trousers (Vero Moda), shoes (Luichiny), necklace (?, vintage).

Edelwiess, Cruise Shoes and My Bathing Suit

A couple of things:

1. Tina from T Minus, T Plus (love her!) suggested that when I get something new that I show what I got rid of, following my "one in, one out" rule. I love this idea! As it's too late for some of my stuff - it's long gone to consignment, charity or friends - I will start anew.

I'm going to a big swap event in a few weeks, so I've taken pictures of the 15 items I'm getting rid of from my closet. I have to take them in early, so they are leaving my house in the next couple of days. When I get my new 15 items at the swap, I'll post pictures of the stuff I gave up and the new things. In fact, whenever I buy new clothes, I'll post the "in" and "out" together if I can.

I say "if I can" because I actually have credits in a few categories (I keep a tally of ins/outs and I've been very enthusiastic about weeding out stuff I don't love), so that when I shop, I know what I need in my closet. I need skirts, jackets, pants, tops and sweaters, and dresses. Wee! I think I should go shopping!

2. Okay, okay, you asked...here's the bathing suit - NO, I will not post a picture of me in it.

The pattern is totally distracting, it has a tummy panel and the ruching down the centre makes my waist look tiny. It makes my thighs look massive, but you know what? I have strong thighs that did a marathon, and do aikido, and walk miles and miles...I LIKE my big thighs. The brand is It Figures!

All right, down to business. I always look forward to summertime so I can pull out my "cruise shoes". When I was planning this last night, I sort of ended up with a theme again (I like themes): wearing some piece of jewelry that I have never worn (either at all, or on the blog). Hee, Inigo's coming in for a rub on my ankles.

As per my usual Monday morning lack of creativity, I went with brown and turquoise, with the brown dress worn with a teal cami, then the textured jacket to pull in the lighter colour in the shoes.

It was breezy out this morning, so I wore a wrap over it all:

Man, I look miserable in the mornings. Ha! Mom bought me this glorious turquoise/brown pashmina in Italy a couple of years ago.

My groovy woven bag:
Another "summer only" item.

The stuff:

Oh, how I love those shoes. They are one of the only pairs of department store shoes that I've ever paid regular price for (well, they were an extra 30% off, so not quite full price).

The pouf of white there is this brooch:

It's silver and feathers, and yes, that is an eidelweiss flower! Mom and Dad bought it for me in Switzerland (Davos?) many years ago. I have never worn it.

Shout out to my mom, who called me yesterday and gently teased me about all of "her" jewelry she's seeing for the first time in years. I'm sure I told her whenever I borrowed stuff...um, and I still have it.

Jacket (Final Touch, thrifted), dress (Suzy Shier, consignment), cami (RW & Co.), shoes (Franco Sarto), belt (The Bay), bag (Nine West), wrap (Italy, gift from Mom), brooch (Swiss, gift from Mom and Dad), crystal stud earrings.

Thrift and Gift Week - Casual Friday - Boho Who?

And here we are at Friday, ending my week of second-hand clothing and accessories.

My co-worker, Luke, said this outfit made me look like "Gwyneth Paltrow, Cleopatra and Marie Antoinette":
And here all I was aiming for was a little Boho! Who knew?

The stuff: I have never owned a pair of flip-flops (I am showing my age by referring to my shoes as thongs), and have been trying to learn how to walk in them without them falling off. My toes are getting quite the workout!

The necklace was a gift from Mom in 1983 - I used to wear this to high school (I had a cool kind of gypsy outfit I used to do, complete with my tapered voluminous harem pants...which is why you won't catch me in harem pants this time around!), with the earrings.

The earrings are Mom's - I acquired them from her jewelry box around the same time - they are from the 60s. I converted them from clip-on to pierced back then. It is probably at least 20 years since I have worn either piece. Wow, time flies.

Here's a close-up of the earrings:

The little coins are stamped "Republique de France".

Have a lovely weekend!

Cardigan (Express, thrifted), blouse (Zara Basics, consignment), jeans (Seven7, swapped with Caro), shoes (Naturalizer, consignment), necklace (gift from Mom), earrings (Mom's, 60s, vintage).

Thrift and Gift Week - Yellow, Orange and Traumatized

If I look flustered, it's because I just spent two hours shopping for a bathing suit. I have not owned a bathing suit in over 20 years (body issues...oh, where was Sal back then?). However, I did find a lovely black and white retro one-piece (no, I'm not posting a picture of it), and it wasn't quite as traumatic as I'd envisioned...although being confronted with one's jiggly bits in the garish light of a fitting room is sufficient to drive me to full-body coverage for a few days.

Onward:
I really wanted to showcase the new-to-me shoes (which were barely worn, and I recall seeing in Towne Shoes last fall) that I got a couple of weeks ago.

Although Ruth disapproved of my tweed in summer, I like the orange skirt and it was neither too hot nor too cold.

The stuff:
Love the shoes! The second-hand store also had exactly the same pair in pink trimmed with fuscia, but I'm so not a fan of pink. They were around $20. The necklace and earrings were Christmas gifts from L.

Cardigan (no label, consignment), blouse (French Connection, consignment), skirt (no label, consignment), shoes (David Dixon, consignment), necklace & earrings (Lucky Brand, gift from L).