Dec 1st - Outfit #1 and Wild Card #1 - The Craziness Continues!

Hello, Blogland friends! As I mentioned, my holiday season is seriously insane this year! It's now Sunday afternoon, and I have a lot to get caught up on. I'll have 3 posts today: the last outfit of the month for November and another Wild Card; Saturday's premiere of the December capsule and the first Wild Card, and my November capsule recap. 

And without further ado, here's the first outfit of December:

This outfit features all new or new-to-me items. The jacket was purchased on consignment back here (scroll way down) in September for $26.98. It's actually a dark navy blue (the trim on the lapels and cuffs is blue velvet!), and I love the fit of it. As I mentioned when I bought it, I don't usually buy mall store brands, even second-hand, but the quality of this one is so nice - it's by Ricki's, which is a Canadian chain.

I'm linking this outfit up to "Visible Monday" at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style - go visit and check out the other fabulous bloggers!

The sweater is sleeveless and is a silk and bamboo blend; it's by August Silk. It was thrifted in July for $6.00.

This is my new Smoking Lily skirt - isn't the pink fabulous? I love the red skull on the side of it too! It's called the HB Skirt* and it was $92.00 new (thank you, mother-in-law for the birthday money - I bought it here in October. I know that's a lot of money for an unlined cotton skirt, but it's handmade here in Victoria. As I will be taking Bella Q's Second-Hand Pledge in January, I have no issues with paying more for beautiful handmade items made in an ethical environment.
*I link because I love - and I adore Smoking Lily!

I added patterned blue lacy tights. I actually have my sheer blue underskirt on, but it didn't show due to the length of the skirt (and it rode up, arg! Mental note: wear a proper slip next time).

These are my new Fluevog Prepare Volunteer grey wool boots*. They are leather inside and I like how they lit a little lower on the calf - it shows off the tights nicely. I walked all over town in these after brunch with L and they were as awesomely comfy as my aqua Prepare Guides (seen in the May capsule). I paid $199 for the boots back here in July, which I think is a great deal. They are made in Portugal, and I know that Fluevog utilizes small family-run factories in non-third-world countries, and that their products are ethically-made. I'm happy that I'll still be able to buy my Fluevogs!
*Did I mention I link because I love? I do! I love Fluevogs!

A shot of the back. Doesn't the jacket fit well?

You can see the great cut of the skirt, and the groovy heels on the boots.

I wore a pinky-purple brooch on the jacket.

I love the lacy look of the brocade pattern, and how the back of the jacket's collar stands up, which the lapels lay flat. Such a nice detail.

Jacket (Ricki's, consignment), sweater (August Silk, thrifted), skirt (Smoking Lily), boots (Prepare Volunteers, Fluevog), brooch (gift from L).

Last night was my company's Christmas party, so Day 1 of December, here's the first Wild Card. As I've done in the past couple of months, I'm allowing myself to have more than one Wild Card due to the amount of social engagements and parties. It's going to be a whirlwind.

This is a chocolate brown stretchy gown. I bought it at The Bay (a big department store in Canada) on clearance for about $49.00 in late 2007. I've only worn it once on the blog, here in December 2008 for a fancy dinner we went to, put on by the whisky club I used to belong to.

I also wore it to a staff Christmas formal party at my old company, but that was pre-blog.

I have a complicated bra arrangement going on - it's a convertible brown bra that wraps around my waist to make the back go down low, and I have clear silicone straps on so that they don't show.

Oh, and um...I brought the girls out for this outfit too. Hello!

I did teal tights and these fabulous steel-grey heels. Mostly not visible, since the dress skims the ground, even with 6-inch heels.

The back:

I like showing off my ink. Some people at the party were surprised, as they didn't know I had tattoos!

I wore my vintage fur wrap:

But it ended up being SO warm at the venue that I ended up just leaving it on my hair. I bought the wrap for $25.00 at the Vintage Fair here a few weeks ago. It's by Foster's Furs and is about 60 years old. I don't support new fur, but I find it hypocritical to be against wearing it when I wear so much leather. I also know that faux furs are made of petroleum products and their production is very harmful to the environment - and I wonder if they will be in as good condition 60 years from now!

The shoes:

These are by Aldo and I bought them for New Year's Eve in January 2011 for $50.00.

I don't think I've worn them very much - I can only find once here (for work!) in November 2011, so I haven't gotten very good cost-per-wear out of them. This is the kind of purchase that I will not be making any more; they were an impulse, emotional purchase because I wanted something new. They are leather, but they're made in China. However, I'm going to hang onto them in my wardrobe, because they are good special occasion shoes.

We were at the party from 5pm until just after midnight and I wore these all night, including for a couple of hours of dancing. My feet were so sore this morning! They are definitely not every day shoes!

I wore my teal Tierre Joline hat:

I bought this directly from Tierre in November 2011 - it was hand-made and designed specifically for me! I paid $150.00 for this and my red hat with the orange feather (worn here to last year's company Christmas party). I've worn the hat before, to our friends' wedding here (I love that outfit).

My sparkly bits are very special. They live in this dark blue velvet box.

It is kept hidden away.

This is a "parure," a suite of matching jewelry. I learned that term from reading Jody's blog, Couture Allure Vintage Fashion. My set is from the Hudson's Bay Company (aka The Bay):

It belonged to my Grandma J, and is probably from the late 1950s or early 1960s. The bracelet is stamped "Sherman". Sherman was a Canadian designer who worked with Swarovski crystals in his creations. Not every piece is stamped (some came with just hang-tags which have been long-lost). This colouring is called "aurora borealis" - every stone in it is prong-set for security and the setting is gold-plate. It is gorgeous and I love how it sparkles.

I've worn this set or pieces of it several times for parties, including December 2008, and April 2010 (with my Betsey Johnson dress),

Dress (Enchante), shoes (Aldo), hat (Tierre Joline), jewelry (Sherman, vintage 50s/60s, Grandma J).

...and now on to the November recap!