Jan 18 & 19th - Outfits #16-18 - A Very Bad Kitty and a Broken Ban

Hey! It's the weekend - and what a weekend it's been so far. L and I are watching the NFL playoffs, so I'm trying to squeeze in writing this post while watching those. 

But let's back it up a big. Here's Friday's outfit.

 

I liked the casual vibe of this outfit. My purple suede vest makes an appearance for work (last seen here on our road trip last weekend), layered over my blue button-down shirt (last worn here on day 1 of this month's capsule).

My stretchy long bubble skirt helped balance out the length of the vest:

It was super comfy all day for running around (I do a lot of running around at my job!), as were the purple combat boots (also last worn for travel the previous weekend).

I layered my bright floral tights for some colour on the bottom.

I met up with Elaine after work for a bit of a look-around at a thrift shop, and while I was showing her the tights, a passing lady said, "I love your tights!"

I wore my Grandma J's full set of copper jewelry (picture here) with this outfit.

I went a little overboard with the colour in my outerwear:

My vivid red leather coat, complete with purple gloves and dead Elmo toque (hee).

Vest (no label, vintage 70s, consignment), shirt (Banana Republic, consignment), skirt (ISDA & Co.), boots (Penny Loves Kenny), tights (Look of London), coat/hat/gloves (Danier Leather).

Yeah, you read that right, I went shopping after work. So much for my "no buy January" - however, I only spent a little and I agonized over the purchase for a good 20 minutes. But check it out!

Squee! Cutest strapless dress ever! Don't you love the Aztec-ish fabric? It's a gorgeous thick cotton, and the black banding on the hem and bust help keep all that colour reined in. It's a beautiful fit.

It also has a black polka-dotted net crinoline underneath:

Love!

I know it's from the 80s because of the size:

Not a size 14 nowadays, that's for sure!

It was sold at Neiman Marcus in the US, obviously.

The actual brand is A.J. Bari (about it here and the designer Kay Unger here).

The reason for my hesitation: the zipper is broken...and the dress is about an inch too big in the top on me. However, it was only $10.00! So for that, I'm going to do the unthinkable (for me) and actually take it to a tailor for a new zipper and have it taken in an inch or so. Totally worth it, don't you think?

Anyway, I was out late with Elaine, shopping and having dinner. L was out with some coworkers right after work, and so Vizzini got his dinner late. Uh oh.

"You deserve what you get when you keep me waiting."

You know, if you leave a cranky cat alone for a few hours before he gets fed, AND you leave your closet door open...whose fault is it when something bad happens?

Something VERY bad.

These are my new Wonders Ayers Fluevogs. The ones my girlfriends bought me for my birthday. And there is a strap missing, 6 inches chewed off. NOOOOOOOOOO!

I didn't discover this until Saturday morning when I went to get dressed. I was furious. I threw my shoes at the cat. I steamed for about 2 hours, then figured out what to do. I've ordered another pair (and I included my pitiful story in the comment box when I ordered) from Fluevog. I'm going to take my deformed shoe to a cobbler and have them remove the extra buckle and trim up the edges on the above shoe, and do a match removal on the intact shoe.

Because there are two sets of straps on the Wonders, you can actually connect the lower strap to the upper buckle and they are still wearable. I'm going to get some shoe dye and customize my Fluevogs! I'm actually kind of excited about it! I'm makin' lemonade out of these lemons.

And I'm never, ever, leaving my closet door open again. That was my own fault.

So I wore my shoes on Saturday...because I need this pair in my capsule! I have a lot of olive green and don't have another pair of shoes that I want to sub in for these.

It was a lovely sunny day and I was determined to put my best foot (the one with the uneaten shoe!) forward.

This is my Smoking Lily moose shirt (last barely seen here layered under my metallic moto jacket). I'm also wearing my funky brown skirt with the asymmetrical hem.

I really love how this flaps around when I walk. Such a cool shape. I last wore it here with embroidery and suede.

And the one strap is barely noticeable, especially over my green knee-high tights (vintage half-slip on under the skirt for warmth.

Looking majorly unimpressed there. I wore my black leather jacket for most of the day. Since I'd already broken my shopping ban, and I was still traumatized by The Shoe Incident I indulged in a little retail therapy after lunch (pictures below).

After shopping, I made ambrosia dessert, inspired by these awesome 70s vintage Weight Watchers recipe cards that L reminded me about this week. My Winesday women and I were killing ourselves over them - so funny! And ambrosia's such a classic 70s dessert. It was delicious!

Winesday was much-needed and I entertained my gals with my sad tale of shoe woe. I rejigged my outfit slightly since I walked to Winesday, adding one of my layering tees (not part of the capsule) and changing into my black boots for walking.

I last wore the boots here with a whole lot of ruffles.

Top (Majestic, swap from Caro), boots (Gabor).

Here's my shopping haul. It was nice to have the shopping gods balance out the loss of my shoes with some really good deals.

First up, I've been looking for the perfect vintage cape for a couple of years. I found it at the Hospice Thrift Boutique (linking because I love and it's a great cause. The volunteer ladies there are awesome). Oooh, vintage leather coming up for sale, and 50% off pink tags!

Wow. It's a thick emerald green (this year's colour!), nearly full length. It's got my required arm slits, and I can still wear a bag over my shoulder. With many capes that I've tried on and looked at, you have to carry a bag, old-style, in your hands. I need my hands free when I'm walking, so it's been tricky finding one that will work with my purses.

In addition to the lovely big collar, it has a hood!

Bonus! Since it often rains here, that will be very handy.

It's made in England by Raymond of London:

It's not lined, but it's beautifully sewn inside and out.

Best of all?

Score! Only $24.00 - such a steal!

The Hospice Boutique is having a blowout sale, clearing room for all the new donations. I found this gorgeous 100% wool vintage skirt on the sale rack:

 ...for $4.00! It's nearly a circle skirt - very much that Dior shape of the 40s-50s that the 80s looked to for inspiration. It has deep slash pockets too. Hurray for pockets!

It's snug in the waist, but it's definitely 80s with the sizing.

Made in Canada! Yay!

I also found another black skirt; in fact, another black leather skirt. This brings me to 3 - I may have a problem with black skirts, but I'm giving one to a girlfriend. Two isn't that bad, right? Heh.

This is a calf-length and it's a gorgeous pencil shape on. I like the uneven block pattern of it.

The brand is Halogen, which is apparently sold at Nordstrom in the US.

Modern sizing, but this is probably 6-7 years old - it's been broken in nicely by its previous owner. Nordstrom has a shorter leather/ponte skirt on sale on its website for $151 Canadian (regular $236), so I'd guess this skirt was over $200 new. I got it for half off the original thrift price for $20! Score!

At the same store, I also snagged this beautiful dove-grey pencil skirt off the clearance rack:

It will be awesome for spring/summer! 

It's by Bianca, and it's vintage - I'd guess 80s again. I wore a lot of pencil skirts in the 80s - they balanced out the massive shoulder pads!

It's pure wool, which I love in a lightweight weave like this. Wool breathes so nicely.

Did I score?

Of course! $2.00!

At another consignment store, Rich Rags, I found this lovely top.

I adore the corset-y styling - it has a hidden zipper up the side so you don't have to deal with all the little buttons. The lace is backed so that it's not see-through. It was $15.

This will be nice in spring/summer as well as in steampunk outfits as a layering piece. I am gradually working towards buying dressier camisole-type pieces, either in cottons/stiffer shirt fabrics or thin sweater-y fabrics, to replace some of my cheap camis. They just look classier to me than crappy t-shirt fabric camis (although those are still handy!).

At The Velvet Crease, I fell in love with this dusty pink velvet blazer:

The ruching is so insanely flattering on this! It's a gorgeous fit. It was sized 2, but it's that crazy odd sizing where that's actually equivalent to a Medium (1 = Small, etc.). It's by Nougat of London and it was $28.00.

The silver buttons are not original to the jacket:

I replaced the original buttons (which I thought were tacky) with these three - they are odds and ends of buttons from the extras that I've saved over the years from jackets and things.

See?

Iridescent sequins. Yuck - too mermaid for my taste. I first tried to remove the sequins from the velvet buttons, but it looked a little ragged and the velvet was torn on one of the buttons so I just gave up and put new buttons on.

And that was my weekend! How was yours? Did your cat (or dog) eat anything you value?