The 3rd Capsule Wardrobe Challenge - The Pieces

I'm so excited about this Wardrobe Challenge! Thank you so much to Jane at The Small Fabric of My Life for coralling everyone - if you're in it, drop me a comment and I'll check out your capsule wardrobe!

This my 3rd Wardrobe Challenge of 10 pieces of clothing/footwear and 5 accessories (links to the previous ones in the sidebar under "Fashion Stuff"). I have pretty much got my own formula down: 2-3 skirts, a dress, about 3 tops, 2-3 pairs of shoes/boots, 1 pair of earrings, 1 belt and a mix of bracelet/necklaces and/or a scarf.

I couldn't wait to wear my 3 new things I got at Winner's on Friday night...so I incorporated them into my 10 items! This threw everything into disarray, but what a challenge!

Now, without further ado...

The stuff:

1. Leather belt (Plum)
2. Vintage green bracelet (Mom's)
3. Vintage green bead necklace (Mom's)
4. Vintage crystal clip-on earrings (50s)
5. Gold chain (Grandma J's)

I like having at least one necklace that doubles as a bracelet - in this case, the gold chain.

The tops:


1. Teal thin sweater (Kersh)
2. Mustard tee (Mexx)
3. Graphic tee (Lisa International) - new item, $19.99 at Winners
4. White tux-style jacket (Club Monaco, consignment)

The dress:

5. Grey wool bubble skirt pinstriped strapless dress (Club Monaco, consignment)

The skirts:

6. Black pencil skirt with zipper details (Dahlia Collection) - new item, $29.99 at Winners

7. Green lace skirt (Alfred Sung, vintage)

And the shoes:

8. Faux snakeskine wedges (Aerosoles) - new item, $59.99, Winners

9. Brown/turquoise t-straps (Pink Studio)

10. Brown wedge boots (Outline, consignment)

This challenge's mix was particularly tricky for me, as I have a bunch of senior people in the office this week - I can't look too whackadoo!

I will also be doing a coat and bag on Friday, as well as a scarf/hat/gloves, if the weather doesn't cooperate. For the rest of the week, I will be walking to and from work, so I'll be wearing my usual workout clothes and carring a knapsack - which I'm not counting towards the challenge items, naturally.

Let the 3rd Capsule Wardrobe Challenge begin!

Casual Friday - Stripey Loser

Ah, Friday, sweet Friday.

I went shopping at Winners after work tonight - I finally spent my birthday $60 gift card from the Winesday Women. I got some groovy shoes, a pencil skirt and a t-shirt, and a cool shirt for L.

So, I wore shopping clothes to work:
Boots for easy on/off for trying on shoes, tights and skirt for trying on dresses/skirts, and tops that are easy to pull on and off (once I layer them, they pull off and go back on as a unit). The "teeth" necklace and belt were a bit of a pain, but hey, I had to accessorize!

I also kept my outerwear simple:

The beret, scarf and gloves easily packed into my bag while I shopped. I hate it when I have bulky outerwear on when I'm shopping.

I'll show off the new items in a couple of weeks - I'm busy planning now for Jane's 3rd Wardrobe Challenge! It starts Monday!

Have a great weekend!

Striped tee (Majestic, gift from Caro), "Beautiful Losers" tee (Leonard Cohen tour shirt), skirt (Bebe Sport, swapped, Caro's), tights (Hue), belt (Jacob), boots (Aldo, consignment), chainmail necklace (charity auction), "teeth" necklace (The Bay), jacket (Bebe, vintage), beret (Jacob), scarf (The Bay), gloves (Parkhurst).

A Spring in my Stair

I felt very spring-y in this. The plum and cherry blossoms are out, the daffodils are starting to bloom, and it's warm (and sometimes rainy). Ah...I love this time of year!
I've done the top half of this outfit before here, and I've worn this skirt a kazillion times.

It's getting a little big on me in the hips, however, as I've been working out hard lately, and really trying to focus on eating healthy and not mindlessly putting food in my mouth to deal with stress. I missed my Weight Watchers meeting last week (um, I may have been hungover from Ronnie's birthday party), so I'm hoping to see a good result this week. I've been really struggling the last year to maintain my weight at 50-55 pounds down from my start weight 3.5 years ago...10 pounds crept back on and I actually briefly popped above my goal weight about a month ago. Bad stuff.

But I've recently added stairs to my "lazy girl" workouts (in addition to my "pee push-ups" and my walking as transportation 4 days a week to and from work), and I've really felt results. I will have thighs of iron! Butt of steel! Hamstrings of...um...I don't know! But I did 7 sets of stairs (63 up and down = 1 set) today, and my legs are tired.

Anyway, get it? A "spring" in my "stair"? Ha!

The stuff:

My lovely flowery blouse, plaid vest and pearls. The shoes are fab and I always feel very powerful when I wear them, not sure why.

A close-up of the jewelry:

My little vintage mink brooch, cheapo earrings, and the pendant, which is REAL pearl. Mom brought me that back from Australia - that's what happens when pearls grow into the side of the oyster instead of forming round globules. It's set in 18K white gold. So pretty.

Vest (Vero Moda), blouse (Kaliko, consignment), skirt (Talbot's, consignment), shoes (Seychelles, consignment), brooch (50s? vintage, thrifted), earrings (Aldo Accessories), pendant (gift from Mom).

Cowgirl With Cat

Since I had to get up at the crack of dawn to go back to the dentist (ugh), I went simple with today's outfit: another dress! I actually planned all of this week's outfits out last Saturday (I was bored), so picked this one as being less complicated than the outfit left for tomorrow.
I didn't know Inigo was there until after the shutter clicked. Heh.

I've worn this dress many times: Nov 18/09 (hmmm, I had bad hair that time too), Mar 19/09 (with the same boots), and...huh, I thought I'd worn it more than that. Oh, wait: June 14/09 and Dec 29/08. Wow, I've had this longer than I thought!

I love these boots!
The purr-meister agrees: great boots!

The stuff:

The belt is new - $10 on consignment. It's stamped "Anne Klein pour Caleche" on the inside - I know who Anne Klein is, but I don't know what Caleche is. Anyway, I like it.

A close-up:

I like how the belt hooks together.

Dress (Vero Moda), red cami (Mexx), belt (Anne Klein pour Caleche, consignment), boots (Fluevog), earrings (Plum).

Flashback, and a Book Blurb

Tonight, I am in pain from the dentist (and I'm right back there tomorrow morning...*sigh*), and not much in the mood for anything at all. Maybe painkillers.

I got this skirt on the weekend at one of my regular consignment shops. It's 100% wool, high-waisted and made in Canada. The brand is Origins, which is nearly impossible to research, since all I get is things like "where clothing is made". Lordy.

I was trying to avoid looking too school-girl-ish in this (at my age, that's really a case of mutton dressed as lamb).
I wore my boyfriend blazer, a fitted white shirt and funky gladiators. Knowing I'd have to hike to the bus stop to go to the dentist, I packed another pair of shoes:

Um...I swear there were there a minute ago!

Oh, there they are:

Hopefully, the accessories kept this looking fresh. I did my usual rocker cuff, and a mix of pins:

The skinny pin is from 1985-86 and the snake pin is from 1985. The other button I got at an agricultural fair last September.

By the way, thanks, everyone, for your comments on yesterday's contentious post. I would never tell you all how to comment or what to say, or even to refrain from criticism (the only comments I've ever deleted have been those advertising ones) - I'm a tough ol' broad, I can take it! My attitude when I wrote that was, "Well, I've had several months to let this sink in, and I still don't agree with the anonymous poster who said my dress looked grannyish, and I'm keeping the dress, so screw you, ha ha! Take that! Let's see if I'm in the majority and post a poll, just for curiousity's sake."

Anyway, bygones! Let's move on!

In case you were wondering (and I'm sure you were), I have still been trying to read an hour a day, but I have been slogging through a massive 1,000+ page large format paperback science fiction novel. Frankly, it's been tough going (300 pages to go!) and it's hard sci-fi so not exactly the kind of book you get caught up in and read for long stretches. But, I'll review that when I finish the dratted thing.

Book: I took a break and read one of my recently acquired graphic novels, 100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso.

Stats: Started and finished on Feb 21st. Total reading time: about 1 hour.

Blurb: I love graphic novels. I love the spareness of the frames (the pictures) and I love the sparse conciseness of the dialogue. So much is conveyed. They're like still movies, or poems with pictures. They evoke and when they are done well, they are wonderful.

100 Bullets is also in the crime genre, which I love, being a fan of Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, Lawrence Block (huge fan), Raymond Chandler, Ellery Queen. I grew up reading Agatha Christie.

Unfortunately, this lacked the same sort of wind-up and plot. The characters were interesting, but I was expecting this volume (Vol. 1 of presumably several) to have continued characters (there is one, but not the one I was interested in) that would evolve. Instead, I am guessing, it just has one story for each bullet - this volume had 3 short stories. I don't think I'll get any more of this series. Bummer. I'd give it a 2/5.

Jacket (Banana Republic, thrifted), shirt (Vero Moda), skirt (Origins, consignment) shoes (Fluevogs and Wild Divas), cuff, snake pin and skinny pin (all vintage 80s), button (fall fair).

Lazy Monday - Screw You, Anonymous

Lazy Monday means a dress! I haven't worn this one for a long time - the last time I did, I got the following comment:

Flattering maybe, but not for a young woman. It's mostly dull looking. No color, no pattern, no interesting design. The dress could go on mom, grandma or great grandma and get the same response.You're too young to dress like great grandma! Liven up your look girl!

Of course, it was an anonymous comment (and may have been influenced by my poor photography skills). And I don't see Anonymous posting pictures of his/her clothes. Still, the comment rankled.

Heh, you Brits will know what my hand gesture means (hint: it's not "two" or "peace").

I know I shouldn't take it personally, but would you say that to someone's face?

Edit: Let me clarify, my own "screw you" in the title is in the spirit of sauciness (I swear a lot in real life). It's been nearly a year since I had that comment and I'm not trying to dictate how people should comment or that they should only say positive things (I love getting comments, good and bad and crazy!). I've reconciled my own reactionary feelings about being "slammed" (which is what it felt like to me), although that may not have been the original intent behind it, and I feel confident that I like this dress and screw what anyone else thinks.

I wore it with a belt today, covering up the waist detail, which I also like:

This is one of the few all-grey items I own - the pinstripe in it is a faint pale blue. I love the 50s look of the collar, the perfect length and the classic cut. I actually debated getting rid of this after that comment.

But my whole outfit was focused on the new Tsubos I got on the weekend.
Aren't they fab?

Here's a close-up of these suede and patent leather beauties:

There's nearly a 1" hidden platform in the front, and the heel - although it measures 4" from the back - is NOT 4 inches. The heel of your foot sinks down nearly 1/2" with all the cushioning, making these barely 3 inches. And comfy?? Wow, amazing.

I love the wide sling-back of them - just a peep of my tights shows below it. They were $100 on sale ($50 off!) and worth every penny. Shout out to Susie at the Cobbler! Your store rules (and I've been shopping there for over 25 years)!

Heh, L hates these shoes - he prefers a classic 80s pointy-toed stiletto shoe.

Anyway, let's settle this:

The dress:
	You're so right - it's fab!
	Eh, it's okay. Doesn't ring my bell.
	Sorry, I've got to agree: granny dress!
	I'd rather look at the shoes.
pollcode.com free polls

Dress (Le Chateau), tights (can't remember), shoes (Tsubo), leather belt (some shop in Times Square, NYC), earrings (don't recall), bracelet (The Cobbler).

Casual Friday - Uniform, and Special Occasion - Ronnie's 40th!

Friday was a busy day! First of all, I had some GREAT news: the project that I have been doing at work that was hugely stressing me out for the past 3 months? Tanked! Gone! I am back to doing what I am good at, what I get results at. I am so relieved.

I also really liked my outfit, my usual casual uniform:
Long sleeved tee: check! Graphic tee: check! Denim pencil skirt: check! Funky leg look: check! Great footwear: check! Polished but cool accessories: check!

I added a tweed blazer and fun bag (it was very warm all day - this is the only outerwear I wore):

I think I could put this look together in my sleep now. Heh. I used to really struggle with finding a casual look that suited my personality (a little bit of rocker chick, slightly sophisticated, yet polished), but this uniform is very comfortable and fits the bill.

These low boots worked great for showing off my knee high socks - and yes, I am bare-legged!

Friday night was our friend Ronnie's 40th birthday party. Happy Birthday, Ron! Ron's a good ol' boy, a real down-home Canadian, and he's married to my dear friend Caro. If you wanted to meet someone really Canadian, Ron is it. Hockey jerseys, jeans, and lots of beer and distilled liquor - that's a typical Ronnie party.

But of course, I prefer to stick out in a crowd:

That's my new green satin off-the-shoulder Club Monaco dress - it was $40 in one of my favourite consignment stores. Isn't it gorgeous? It looked like nothing on the hanger - that's why you need to try stuff on!

The back:

You know, I love this new lighting technique from Kasmira, but now you can see how pasty-pale I really am!

I did do a little dancing in the kitchen once I had some wine in me:

Rebecca, I don't recommend you wear shoes like these! Those heels are 6" less a 3/4" platform.

Shout out to Anita, a lovely woman I met at the party...one of those kindred spirits.

L also dressed up, although not as much as me. He did his rocker look (as demonstrated in "How to Dress Up Your Man"):

Rock on, love!

He's doing a dark blue velvet blazer, a patterned shirt, his naughty lady belt buckle, distressed jeans and red Fluevogs. Doesn't he look great?

Tweed jacket (Jacob Connexion, consignment), graphic tee (Truly, Madly, Deeply..., consignment), skirt (InWear, consignment), socks (don't remember), boots (Hispanitas, consignment), necklace (Plum), belt (gift from Mom), earrings (Plum, gift from L).

Dress (Club Monaco, consignment), fishnets (Hue), shoes (JLo), earrings (Plum, gift from L), bracelet (The Bay), ring (Sarah Coventry, vintage 70s).

Terrapin Legs - My Stab at a Conservative Outfit

The president of my company was coming to my department today, so I thought I ought to dress not quite so whackadoo as I usually do:
It's the tights. They are still a little cuckoo for most people (but I like them). They reminded me of terrapins, the stripey-ness. I kept asking people all day, "Do my legs remind you of terrapin heads?"

Sadly, I think most people don't know what a terrapin is. But oh well. I knew.

Oh, and I barely saw the president. Effort wasted.

The stuff:

These shoes have just about hit the end of their life with me...the heels are scuffed (they're not leather), and some of the colour is flaking off. But I love them! This is at least the 18th time I've worn these on the blog, and I've worn them tons more for weekends. It will be sad to see them go...but of course, that means I can look for some better quality ones to replace them with. I think I've definitely gotten my wear out of them, considering they cost only $15!

Jacket (Smart Set), cami (Reitman's, consignment), skirt (Tobias), shoes (Wild Diva), wrist wrap (Shi Studio), earrings (The Cobbler).

Geometric Colours and Inspiration from Bloggers

I got another pair of $30 shoes at the Very Expensive Shoe Store a couple of weekends ago - I figured since the weather's been so good, today would be the day I wore them:
Although I was chilly in the morning, once the sun hit my windows, I was roasting hot. Sweating! I had to keep doing the "fan under the armpits" hand motion to keep from erm...glowing all over this silk blouse. I love this high-waisted pencil skirt too - it has a square of shiny black pyramid beads at the waistband. This was one of the items I wore in Jane's last Wardrobe Challenge - there's another one coming up the week of March 1st and I am in!

I call this my Londyn Blouse because she has the same one. I love when fellow bloggers have matching clothing. Besides this blouse, Kasmira and I have the same Talbot's skirt in different colours (hers is green, mine is orange), Julia and I have the same skirt (although mine is just not right, so it's going back to the consignment shop), and Lorena noted in yesterday's comments that she has the same earrings as mine only in brown.

But that's not the only inspiration I'm talking about in the title. Two bloggers get special thanks from me today.

1. Have you noticed how nice and bright my pictures are today? Thanks to Kasmira for this awesome post - number 4 was just what I needed!

2. I love Sheryl's blog for her fitness and weight loss journey. She climbs stairs all the time as part of her workout routine. I work on the main floor of an office building, and I usually take the elevator to get to our condo (the inside stairs are stinky and the outside stairs are noisy), so I don't do stairs very often. Wednesday is when Sherylyn (of Yummyland) and I meet up after work and go for a walk - she was running late today, and the spot we meet has a huge big outdoor staircase. I figured, "If Sheryl can do it, so can I!"

The first time up and down, no problem. The second time, I'm starting to breathe heavier. Better pace myself. The third time, jeez, how many stairs are there? The fourth time, there are 63 stairs. My legs are starting to burn. The fifth time, oh, my legs are feeling like jelly! The sixth time, where the heck is Sherylyn? Phew! Thank goodness, there she was. Man, my legs are sore! I think I am going to add those stairs to my noon walks from now on - I want a gold medal in the 10K race this year to add to my bronze and silver!

Okay, back to fashion:
Look! The back of the heel is yellow patent! Isn't that awesome?

The stuff:

Those are leather shoes - aren't they gorgeous? I've never seen the brand before, but they will be great for summer.

Silk blouse (Nine West), skirt (Kensie), shoes (Portia), bracelet and earrings (Le Chateau).

A Day at the Beach?

I picked up this dress a couple of weeks ago in a thrift store for #19.99. I got the sweater the same day for $15.00 (new). Unfortunately, the sweater popped a button almost immediately.
Right there!

Fortunately, it was a lovely sunny, hot (up to 12 degrees/mid-50s!) day and our office heated up really fast. If you've been watching the Olympics, that's my neck of the woods - it's been very non-Canada-like. To tell you the truth, though, that's what the West coast is like. We're the Mediterranean of Canada (shhhh...don't tell or we'll be overrun with riff-raff).

Anyway, there I was, sweaty and hot, in my sundress:
I felt very summery in this - I'm looking forward to wearing it without tights, as it had serious tight-creep (I have micro-fishnets on). Seriously, designers, line cotton-blend dresses with a non-stick lining!

The stuff:

Those shoes are 4 3/4 inches with a 3/4" platform. I feel very tall in them.

Dress (Talbots, thrifted), cardigan (Kersh), shoes (Le Chateau), bracelet (Plum), earrings (vacation purchase).

Special Occasion (V-Day!) and Lazy Monday (Recycled Legs)

I hope everyone had a very happy Valentine's Day! L and I went out for dinner, so after lying on the couch all day in my robe and thick socks (so decadent), I put on the glitz:
My gorgeous new LBD. Not like I really needed another LBD, since I have NINE of them, but this one has one shoulder! It's satin! It's totally different! Heh heh.

Isn't it pretty? I love the cumberbund detailing at the waist, and the nice full bust coverage in the top. I even wore lipstick for the occasion:

I am swathed in a big velvety scarf for warmth.

Okay, the reason I wanted this dress was that it shows off my tattoo:

I feel so badass when I show it. Inigo approved.

L and I have been through about 15 V-Days since we met. For the last several years, we agree not to get each other anything...and he always cheats (but you know I love it). This year, he made me a mixed CD of love songs that reminded me of him. He even put pictures of us on the cover.

All together: AWWWWW!

The songs are (because I love that he put so much thought into this):

Dance Me To The End of Love - Leonard Cohen (our song)

Lost Together - Blue Rodeo

Love You Madly - Cake

Into My Arms - Nick Cave

Here Comes My Girl - Tom Petty

You And Me - Alice Cooper

Settin' The Woods on Fire - Hank Williams

I've Got a Great Idea - Harry Connick Jr.

A Night in Summer Long Ago - Mark Knopfler

Freaky Girl - Shaggy

Help Me Make It Through The Night - Kris Kristofferson

If I Needed You - Townes Van Zandt

Side of the Road - Lucinda Williams

Sheila Take a Bow - The Smiths

Dark Night of the Soul - Loreena McKennitt

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton

Take This Longing - Leonard Cohen

It's Worth Believin' - Gordon Lightfoot

Valentine's Day - Steve Earle

Aw....

I got the dress about a month ago - on sale for $49.99 from $129! Woo!

I put my pin on the waistband to give it more definition.

I used the purse Mom brought me back from Australia:

I love the fabric roses.

Today, being Monday, I pretty much recycled all the accessories:

I love these shoes, but when I see them in a photo, they just look so ugly and chunky. Maybe they are one of those things that's better in person?

I ended up not being all that happy with this outfit. The length of the skirt? Too dark overall? I don't know. This is the risk I run when I just stuff things into a bag and hope they work out!

I layered my hot pink tights in both looks:

See? Doesn't the shoe look cool there? Those are my $30 deal that I got just after Christmas.

The stuff:

The shoes, tights and jewelry is the same in both outfits.

Dress (Esprit), pink tights (Hue), patterned tights (don't remember), shoes (Poetice Licence), blouse (Esprit), cardigan (Express, consignment), skirt (Jones Wear, thrifted), belt (Bianca Nygard), jewelry (Myka, gifts from L), pin (Plum, gift from L).