Sept 29th - Outfit #28 - Last Outfit, Finally the Wild Card, and Some Shopping (and October's Sneak Preview)

Sunday already? Dang! Where does the weekend go?

On Saturday, I went to my WW meeting and out for lunch with L and some friends. I wanted to wear this lovely dress one more time (last time here, in a nearly identical outfit for Dress Week of Horrors!), plus it's nice and light for weighing in.

We're still getting awesome sunny weather here, so I just wore my jean jacket over top of this.

I last wore these Fluevogs here, with my skull cardigan.

Dress (Banana Republic, thrifted), cami (Jackpot), shoes (Presence Impulse, Fluevogs), choker (vintage 60s, Mom's), copper earrings (vintage 50s, Renoir).

I did some thrift shopping after lunch, and got an eyebrow wax (one of my treats), then spent over 3 hours in my closet getting October's capsule wardrobe put together.

Elaine and I went out for dinner and drinks in the evening, and since it was my last day for an outfit, I used my Wild Card to wear Kim Cattrall's suit:

Good golly, I love this suit. I purchased it back here at the end of August (scroll down) from a high-end consignment store in Oak Bay for $160.00. It's by Pink Tartan, and is made in Canada.

I'm wearing my Ralph Lauren pumps that I did in my February capsule.

That's my fake Tod's bag that I thrifted for $4.00.

I know the sleeves look long, but they have a wide bell shape to them.

Very elegant! The brown buttons are velvet, as is all the brown trim on it.

At dinner, I took my jacket off.

That's my orange Michael Kors top that I wore as part of the May capsule. The skirt has a brown velvet waistband and a little faux pocket flap (my hand is covering it).

Suit (Pink Tartan, Kim Cattrall's, consignment), top (Michael Kors, consignment), shoes (Ralph Lauren), earrings (Plum), bracelet (Club Monaco).

I had a lovely surprise Friday afternoon: a notice from the post office! A package had arrived!

I purchased this Audra Jean* harness from Megan of MMD. It's pretty freakin' awesome, but I don't feel it's appropriate as part of a work outfit for me, so I'll be wearing it with things like costumes or steampunk outfits for special occasions. Megan also included this fabulous purple/brown/lime silk scarf and on of her lovely buttonflowers.*

*I link 'cause I love; no compensation was received for posting these links. 

Thank you so much, Megan!

After lunch on Friday, I meandered around before and after my aesthetician appointment. At the St. Vincent de Paul, I saw these shoes - again, for the 3rd time - and hemmed and hawed over them. I finally realized: uber-comfy + cool style + great price = Buy It!

They're by Two Lips and I think they were originally purchased at Winners, because they still had the Winners sizing stickers inside them. They appear to have been worn a few times. And yes, that receipt does say $2.00. All pink ticket items were 1/2 price! Woo! I think these are officially my cheapest shoes ever.

They're Italian leather and so soft to wear.

I also went to the Women in Need (WIN) Boutique. I don't usually go there very often because it's so much more expensive than the regular WIN store (especially their leather), but once in a while is okay. I found all kinds of great stuff this time.

This classic sweater is actually a rich navy blue.

It's by Smart Set and was $6.00. I don't usually buy mall store clothing (even thrifted), but this is in new condition and the V-neck is really nice on.

I hesitated over this dark red t-shirt fabric skirt:

I mean, obviously I bought it, but I wasn't sure about the style - it has an elastic waistband. It's by Weekenders, which was one of those "clothing party" lines, and it feels like good quality (it's made in Canada, yay!). It was only $6.00, and I plan to wear it like a long slip/layering piece under some of my long skirts this fall/winter.

I also don't usually buy Gap clothing second-hand (or first-hand, ha) due to quality issues, but I fell in love with this asymmetrically-ruffled mustard blouse.

It's really nice on, and will be a good layering blouse. It was $10.50 and is from their Holiday 2010 line.

I mentioned that the WIN Boutique's leathers are overpriced...and yet I still found a piece:

This is a dark forest green high-necked vest in suede. It fits like a glove.

It was $20.50 and is by Danier Leather. I got a laugh out of the store's price tag:

Um, don't put "Leather" in quotes if it's real leather.

I also went to the Victoria Hospice Boutique and found 3 awesome pieces, including this gorgeous wool skirt:

It's hard to see here, but the plaid is navy blue, tan and brown.

A better look at the plaid (and the nice navy blue lining). The brand is Julius, and it's made in England. The W&J Wilson label is a store in Victoria that's been around for over 150 years.

Based on the sizing label and the quality of the skirt, I'd say this is from the early 60s.

It's a size 14, or close to a 10 in modern sizing.

I usually wear a 6-8, but with vintage clothes, especially body-conscious styles (like a pencil skirt), I have to remember that women back then wore a lot of foundation garments - I don't wear any Spanx or stuff like that normally. This skirt fits like it was made for me. And the cost? All of $7.50.

I found this amazing two-tone grey, black and burgundy wool skirt:

The front is fuller than the back (kind of odd, but it gives it great swoosh when you walk!), and it's mid-calf.

Mister Leonard by Len Wasser (Wiki article)

Another size 14, and made in Canada! I'd put this skirt as from the 70s, based on the style (I remember seeing a lot of this style in the 70s in Eaton's, Woodward's and the Bay department stores). It was also $7.50.

I don't usually even bother looking at pants when I thrift/shop consignment because they're so hard to fit and there's a lot of mom-jean styling out there. However, these shiny tux pants caught my eye.

They have no label, but they're good quality sewing and construction. They are a more modern cut - the leg is a perfect stovepipe on me. Again, only $7.50. I thought I did very well on my outing!

As mentioned earlier, I spent a long time in my closet, trying things on in the October capsule (a new thing for me, and something I should have been doing every month!) and making sure that everything worked cohesively.

Here we go!

Jackets and skirts. Lots of nice autumn colours!

And sweaters, blouses and the lone dress:

In colder weather, I tend to wear dresses less and rely on separates and layering more.

The shoes:

Booties, two pairs of boots and four pairs of shoes for 7 pairs total. There are 3 pairs of Fluevogs this month!

I'm really excited about the October capsule - stay tuned for the September re-cap in the next few days. I'll be making an announcement tomorrow (Oct 1st) about a special invitation for all readers and fellow bloggers!

Sept 28th - Outfit #27 - Friday Dress for Bowling and Cat on Deck

Oh, I am so happy it's Friday! What a busy week. 

I didn't want to wear my one piece of denim AGAIN on a Friday, so I threw on a dress.

I've only worn this nice stretchy dress once so far this month (here, during Dress Week of Horrors!), so I'm happy to get in another wear of it.

I've never pulled out the green shade in the pattern before, and I liked how the cami (not part of the capsule) emphasized the little sections of green.

The shoes were last worn here. It was really too chilly to do open-toe sandals, but whatever.

I wore my denim as my outerwear:

L and I are off to go bowling tonight - it's a event that my work's Social Club is putting on. Should be fun - I've bowled in a dress before!

Jacket (Ann Taylor Loft), dress (O'Lala, thrifted), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, consignment).

I took some pictures of Vizzini this morning.

"She better not come near me. I'm nappin' here!"

 But of course I came closer.

"Clear off, woman!"

 I can't resist giving him some pats and rubbing his fuzzy head, though.

"Is that a squirrel?"

He jumped off the post, and headed off on patrol around the deck perimeter.

He chats and mrows constantly.

There a lot of grey squirrels and birds in the oak and maple trees around our condo.

Officer Vizzini is on the lookout!

 We're having some external deck repairs done, so he doesn't have his usual table to jump onto.

"I can jump from here!"

I'll be doing one more September outfit post (have you been wondering what happened to the Wild Card outfit this month?) and giving a sneak peek at October's wardrobe (probably on Saturday - ooh, I'm so excited!), then will be working on the monthly summary on Sunday.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Sept 27th - Outfit #26 - Spanish Ladies, One More Time

Hola! I wanted to get one last wear of this fabulous dress in before the month ends:

And yes, I did dye my hair last night, and yes, the blonde streak is missing, but fret not, as I am just returned from the hairdresser tonight, and lo, it has been restored!

I last wore this dress here (3rd outfit) for Dress Week of Horrors! I enjoyed all of you playing along with Dress Week, so I'm plotting something else that everyone can participate in. Details will be coming soon!

This is my brown suit jacket over the dress (I also have a blue cami on underneath for boob-de-enhancement), which I wore here (midway through that monster closet post, sorry) last weekend.

I cinched in the waist (I made a peplum!) with this red vintage 80s leather belt, added my bigass white flower (it made quite a splash at work), and just plain gold hoop earrings. Also, my rust and teal t-strap pumps, which I last wore here with a bunch of teal and turquoise.

And it's chilly in the mornings, but not so cold I needed a coat over all these layers (I also have fishnet tights on and a half-slip), so I busted out my navy blue leather gloves to keep my hands warm.

It worked great! My gloves are lined in knit cashmere, so lovely and soft too.

Dress (Lirub), jacket (Tahari Arthur S. Levine, thrifted), belt (Le Chateau, vintage 80s, consignment), flower (Le Chateau), gloves (InWear).

Sept 26th - Outfit #25 - Shades of Red

As September winds down, I'm starting to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall. Autumn is my favourite time of year (my birthday!!) and I've always naturally gravitated towards fall colours. 

Imagine my disappointment when I was around 13 and had my "colours done" at my Aunt Cathy's (it was a mother/daughter party with about 8-10 of us) only to discover that I was a Spring! I wanted to be an Autumn!

The book that "colours" thing was based on was "Colour Me Beautiful" - my mom had a copy (for all I know, she may still have it!), and I used to pore over it, studying the shades. Okay, you have to go here and scroll down and check out the pictures! It's too funny - that's the version of the book I remember.

I did art in school and art classes in the summer, so I was familiar with all the shades of colours, but it was how they were grouped by season that fascinated me, and learning about warm and cool shades. And as I said, I was drawn to the autumnal palette. I've believed for a long time that if you love a colour, you should wear that colour - I've always loved yellows, oranges and reds. I recall being annoyed by all the pink I was "supposed" to be wearing as a Spring.

But onto the outfit - I digress!

This is my stretchy kimono top again (last seen here on the weekend), along with a rust-coloured cami (not part of the capsule), and my coral linen-blend skirt (last worn here).

And because it's now technically fall, I added the lacy fishnet brown tights - and yes! with open-toes! It felt a little weird and I had to adjust the toes frequently, but otherwise, I thought these wedges (last seen here) worked fine with tights.

The stuff:

My new red coral and silver earrings and my older matching bracelet.

Top (Mexx, thrifted), cami (InWear), skirt (Rocket, thrifted), shoes (Locale), bracelet (Plum), earrings (locally made).

Sept 25th - Outfit #24 - White After Labour Day

And...finally, the last "fresh" item in the capsule gets worn!

This brown and white gingham check blouse! I thrifted it for $13.50 back in April (here, scroll down for a picture of it). It's by Guess, and as for my reason for not wearing it until now...it's a little snug in the boobular region (I hate when blouses stretch there). And I had all sorts of plans for it that kind of fell through when I actually tried it on and it was SNUG.

Hence, layering! This is my cobalt blue cropped cardi (last worn here when I went painting with Mom, last outfit), with my taupe suede belt holding the bottom of the cardi in place. I kind of like how the blouse makes a peplum from there.

And my white eyelet skirt makes its second appearance in a few days (last worn here this past weekend). I wish I'd worn this more this month. Ah well, I still have nearly a week left in September! I don't truck with the "no white after Labour Day" rule, but the fabric of the skirt is distinctly summery. It will go into storage after this month.

I added my blue lacy tights to help make this (admittedly somewhat haphazard) outfit more cohesive. Added the taupe boots (must...match...belt!), which I have worn for 3 straight Tuesdays (last time here). My WW group is going to think I only have one pair of shoes!

Outerwear shot:

It's a denim pea coat (unlined) by Armor Jeans that I picked up last year off the clearance rack at My Sister's Closet.

Off to my meeting!

Coat (Armor Jeans, consignment), cardigan (Jessica, consignment), blouse (Guess, thrifted), skirt (no label, thrifted), boots (Libby Edelman), belt (Gap), earrings (gift from Mom), ring (Wendy Brandes).

Sept 24th - Outfit #23 - Tones of Teal and Turquoise (and Tights!)

Before I forget, thank you so much to the very sweet Megan of MMD for the card and buttonflower! 

Oxblood, dots and a kitty on the card - so me. Thank you, sweetie.

Onward! When I got around to September's capsule, I was a little afraid of what the heck I was going to do with this turquoise skirt.

I'm quite happy with how nicely it goes with the teal cardigan and shoes!

I last wore the skirt here, the cardi here and the shoes here.

As it seems to have suddenly become autumnal outside, time for tights! These are a pair I picked up on clearance at the Gap way back in June for $4.95 (regular $14.95). I liked the grey texture, so matched up my Shi Studio leather belt.

I have a black cami on as well as my black leather cuff and black stone earrings.

Outerwear! The lovely aforementioned Megan found this and sent it to me back in July - it's finally cool enough to wear it.

Got my walkin' shoes on!

My leather belt, and the leather/crystal choker. I forgot to mention yesterday that the choker is by BauXo, a Canadian brand. The belt was made here in Victoria.

I just got home from boot camp, and I'm starving and exhausted. Dinner time!

Jacket (Wilson's Leather, gift from Megan), cardigan (Kersh), cami (Esprit), skirt (Cabri, thrifted), shoes (Me Too), belt (Shi Studio), necklace (BauXo), earrings (The Cobbler), rings (Oscar & Libby's, and Wendy Brandes), cuff (Guess, thrifted).

Sept 22nd & 23rd - Outfits #21 & 22 - A Closet Clean-Out and Some Shopping

Such a great weekend, and it's not even over yet! 

Warning: this is a big post. Lots of pictures! 

Saturday morning, I got up early and went to boot camp. I have pathetic upper-body strength and abs, but I can run pretty good. I have endurance!

L and I went out for lunch after, so I put on something pretty for him:

My stretchy floral kimono top makes it into a second outfit this month (first time here, with my denim skirt and that same vintage choker and my steampunk cuff). And what's that? A "fresh" skirt? Yes! I'm not sure why I resisted wearing this white eyelet skirt in this month's capsule - this is an awesome skirt!

It has no labels and I've no idea what brand it is or what it's made of, but it's really nice quality. I thrifted it in May 2011 for $12. I first wore it here, in an accessory-free outfit. I've also worn it here in July 2011 (scroll way down), and that's it, I think.

I haven't worn these beige suede sandals as much as I thought I would have. Last time was here with a simple dress.

As promised, here's my outerwear.

I thrifted that suede blazer for $7 in January 2009.

The stuff:

Doing a bit of a hippie vibe...well, I was born in the 60s!

Jacket (B.U.M. Equipment, thrifted), blouse (Mexx, thrifted), cami (InWear), skirt (unknown, thrifted), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, consignment), choker (vintage 60s, Mom's), earrings (vintage 90s, LA Express), cuff (SkinzNHydez).

After lunch, L and I split up to do some shopping. I found these silver and coral earrings for $24. They're locally-made.

Unfortunately, those cool silver ovals are WAY too thick to go through my ear, so I had to remove them and do a switcheroo.

My silver bird earrings are starting get bubbly on the surface, so time for them to go.

Pliers! And we're ready to wear my new earrings.

Found these astounding chocolate brown suede over-the-knee boots at She She Shoes on sale for $175.00:

They're a very snug fit, but they feel amazing on. That's a very walkable heel.

Now why would a company make their label basically illegible? Don't you want people to know your brand?

They are Ilenia P. - I kept plugging different combinations of letters until the computer gods told me what it said. It's like magic!

When we got home, I rolled up my sleeves and hauled out all my winter clothes from storage under the bed. It took me about 3.5 hours to fully gut my closet and pull out everything that I've worn in the last 6 months.

These are all my shoes from April to end of August! My September shoes are still in use, of course.

Recognize any favourites from previous capsules?

I pulled out shoes I might want to keep out all year round (I'm lookin' at you, aqua Fluevogs!), and then packed away all my spring/summer shoes for the next 6 months. Come March, it'll be so exciting to pull them all out again!

I did that for each category of item in the closet - packed away summer and left in more all-seasonal items - and then evaluated what I hadn't worn in the last 6 months. I got rid of a few things (none of the shoes above were cut).

Some things, like these party dresses, don't get worn much. I tend to rotate a few years with Major Dresses, so that they feel like new dresses when they hit their next round of parties.

Eee, I haven't worn that Betsey Johnson dress on the far left (the blue thing) in a couple of years. I tend to hang onto my party dresses for a long time.

Here are my "regular" dresses that haven't made it into a capsule yet (or maybe got worn as a Wild Card outfit).

Wait a minute, that grey one in the middle was in July's capsule. How did that get in there?

The yellow halter on the far left, the renegade grey on in the middle and the swirly one beside it did not go into storage - they're in the giveaway/consignment pile.

Skirts: same deal.

The black on the far left got the axe. I'm going to wait and see with the rest and see if they have a place in a capsule for fall/winter.

Only two jackets didn't make it into a capsule:

The one on the left is too awesome not to keep, but the turquoise corduroy jacket is gone.

Here's the shoes that are left that have not yet made it into a capsule since I started this challenge.

Some of these are more party-type shoes

Where there's only one shoe, those are ones that I'm considering for Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan capsules. Yes, I'm really planning that far ahead!

Another couple of levels in the "Tower of Power":

The upper right section has a few of September's shoes in it.

More shoe funkosity:

I love those dragon heels!

These shoes live up very high in my closet.

I mostly wear them for special occasions.

Party shoes, and ooh...

Such cool shoes.

Hmmm...I wonder which month these shoes will be in?

I love my shoes.

Oh, and here are my sweaters that I didn't wear.

I got rid of that brown sequined thing. It's scratchy.

If you've never seen my closet before, here's a peek:

The Shoe Tower of Power! I'm usually much more organized with the hanging stuff, but I've made little pockets for upcoming months' capsules. I'm looking forward to having it all back where it's supposed to be when this challenge is over.

The other side:

Carefully cropping me in my robe out of the mirror!

I like my closet. I can spend hours in there - and I did!

Here's what I'm looking forward to:

Four new pairs of boots (3 of them Fluevogs) that I haven't be able to wear! Oh, they will be worn!

Naturally, all this disruption in the den caused serious excitement for Vizzini:

Checking out his favourite aqua suede fringed skirt (he chewed a bunch of the fringes off last year, little bugger).

Looking for shoelaces to chew on my fall/winter boots now that they're unpacked.

He's taken a shine to my purple combat boots.

He also got into this fabric bag.

I had so much winter stuff put away...I culled some of it when I unpacked it. Things I had been iffy on in the Feb/March capsules, items that have been replaced by better quality items...into the swap pile!

Today, I woke up stiff and sore, but not as bad as my last Saturday boot camp!

My brown blazer (last worn here, right at the beginning of the month), my peacock blouse (worn poorly here during Dress Week of Horrors!), and my denim skirt again (last worn on Friday).

I wore the blouse tucked in so that the frayed waistband of the skirt showed.

I walked down to get groceries, then hoofed it over to My Sister's Closet to do some shopping. Gotta keep moving to warm up those sore muscles!

These shoes (last worn here, last two outfits) are so good for walking around, and today it was lovely and warm, but you can feel that chill in the air.

I think I got the shoe mix right for a changeable month like September.

Jacket (Tahari/Arthur S. Levine, thrifted), top (Anne Klein, consignment), skirt (Mavi, consignment), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, consignment).

I had very good shopping karma at My Sister's Closet. I found this gorgeous fitted and fully-lined velvet top for $22.98 (with tags still on!).

It's by Bianca Nygard.

I don't usually buy mall stores clothing, but this jacket was so unusual (and looked so smokin' on!), I couldn't resist.

It's from Ricki's (I know!) and was $26.98.

This jacket will be right on trend for winter whites:

The hanger doesn't do justice to it - it's great on. It's by Le Chateau and was $20.98.

This Banana Republic shirt was $18.98:

Navy's a neutral, right? I thought it would be a good basic.

I was so excited about this blouse:

Seriously, it's rufflicious! So slinky and drapey and look at those cuffs! The colour is a blush: pinky-cream. It's by Cabi and was $16.98.

This wool knit maxi skirt was $18.98:

It's by Animale - and it's an XL, which made me laugh.

I finally found a perfect red pencil skirt:

It's by Le Chateau (made in Canada!) and was $10.98.

I also had sweet accessory luck at a store called Leka. I found this awesome brass ring with floating copper rings for $36.00.

The brass has little hearts on it.

See how the rings move?

You can spin them, like a meditation ring. The ring is locally made on Saltspring Island by Twang & Pearl.

I also found this leather, silver and crystal choker for 1/2 price ($22.50):

The crystals are irregularly cut.

Look at the button and the clasp work:

The button looks like hand-cast silver, and the leather is stitched and trimmed and glued so that it lays perfectly flat. Love!

I may have squealed when I saw this mink rose pin at MSC:

It was $10.98. Vizzini tried to eat it right away, so it's getting stored away from him!

I also found this little winter fascinator at a store called Lazy Susan:

It was $16.00 and was hand-done.

I can totally see wearing this for a fancy winter outfit.

Now we're off to see The Shins!

Don't forget to check out Patti's "Visible Monday" at Not Dead Yet Style!