Leather Monday and a Sunday Walk

It's Monday, and you know what that means: Visible Monday! Patti over at Not Dead Yet Style has been doing Visible Mondays for ages, and I've always wanted to participate, but haven't had the energy. Well, Patti, this one's for you.

My leather dress: I've worn this not too long ago; I'm showing off the accessories this time around.

I'd show a good shot of the shoes, but Inigo insisted on being in the picture this morning.

Ah, there we go:

Doing my cuffs and showing the shoe profile. Are they not marvelous? And yes, they are Fluevogs.

Check 'em out:

These are from the old version of the "Listen Up" family (same as my Harlows, Ivannas, and Audreys) - the new version of Listen Ups have a different heel (like my O'Haras). This shoe is called the Mansfield.

I found them in a consignment shop for $60. I'm anywhere from a 9 to a 10 in Fluevog (their sizes are hugely erratic, depending on the style) - this one's a size 10 and looks barely worn, so my guess is that someone ordered it online for their size 10 foot, and it was super-tight on them. It's quite tight across the top of my foot, so I'm really glad it laces. I wore these all day at work, including walking 4 blocks to a stationary store and back, and my feet feel pretty good.

Right beside them in the consignment shop was this beauty:

Another awesome Smoking Lily find! It's a black leather belt with silk-screened gold bugs and blue lines, with a big gold buckle. It was only $18, which is no doubt a steal, since their stuff is really expensive (it's handmade here in my city, no sweatshop, no factory). I wasn't able to find any reference to them making leather belts, so it may be a one-off. Anyway, I love it, and it was soft and comfortable to wear.

I liked the gold accents on the belt, so I did all gold jewelry:

My Foxy necklace and clock hands earrings.

I also snagged another pair of L's cufflinks to wear with my shirt:

They are Egyptian cartouches, and are stamped "MMA 1976". I did a little Googling and it looks like these were part of a huge collection of King Tut-inspired items that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City issued to commemorate the King Tut exhibit in 1976. Check out some of the cool pieces here. Wouldn't you love to find one of these necklaces in a thrift shop??

I bought L these for Christmas a few years ago for $5 - they were in a big jar with a bunch of other cufflinks.

Dress (Danier Leather, consignment), blouse (Banana Republic, thrifted), shoes (Listen Up Mansfield, Fluevog, consignment), belt (Smoking Lily, consignment), earrings/necklace (Foxy), cufflinks (MMA 1976, antique shop).

On Sunday, I decided to go visit the aforementioned consignment shop, and I thought I'd take my camer with me.

But first, the shopping outfit!

Break out the boots! Autumn is nearly here!

A simple jacket for warmth, a nice jersey top, and a jean skirt:

Just a pair of hoop earrings and I was ready to get shopping!

Jacket (Nygard, thrifted), top (Merona, consignment), skirt (Bebe Sport, swap from Caro), boots (Aldo, consignment).

On my walk, I passed many lovely gardens:

I liked all the colours in this and the way the sunlight is dappled across the plants.

I am always on the lookout for cool grafitti:

That is an awesome sabretooth cat!

This is some of my region's natural vegetation:

Garry Oaks, scrub, cedars.

And Oregon Grape:

I like those kinds of fences.

Check out the amazing root system on this cedar tree:

It's almost like a mangrove tree.

I passed the graveyard:

I can't resist taking pictures of it.

And I love when flowers grow beyond their garden's boundaries:

Those Black-Eyed Susans are lovely.

Apples grow really well in our climate. This apple tree is in someone's front yard:

The apples are small and very red. I bet they'd be good in a pie!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend!