Monochromaniacs, United! Plus a Weekend of Sh(w)apping

Ya ready? This is a big post!

Hello, monochromaniacs! We had four brave souls who stepped up to the monochrome challenge this week:

Mica, of Away From Blue:

Mica, and the best accessory, Cooper

Mica wore challenged herself to not do an easy monochrome outfit, and instead worked this wonderful orange/rust/beige look. Even Cooper's leash goes!

Beth of The Fashionable Adventures of Bethie the Boo:

Mom-to-be Beth

Beth rocked the all-neutral look, ground it with this comfy taupe dress, matching shoes (love the brown trim) and patterned shirt.

Kasmira of What I Wore 2Day:

Kasmira is a great inspiration

I can always count on Kasmira to fully commit to a challenge! Here's, she's done what most of us can only dream of: all magenta! I love how the touches of red only serve to amp this up to 11. Awesome!

Tamera, at The Menopausal Supermodel:

Tamera's creativity wows me

Tamera did a grey monochrome look, mixing this cute top (note the customizing ruching on the side with a vintage brooch) with this dark grey maxi skirt. Love the bling!

And I though y'all might want a monochrome round-up of my outfits. You can click the days to go to the original posts.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

What was your favourite?
	Monday Olive
	Tuesday Purple
	Wednesday Blue
	Thursday Orange
	Friday White
pollcode.com free polls

L and his buddies went to Seattle this weekend to see tonight's football game vs. the San Francisco 49ers. Go, Seahawks! This left me with a lovely weekend all to myself. I invited a couple dozen fashionably-inclined women from my pool of friends and co-workers to bring their good clothes to a swap at my house on Saturday night. I provided food and some wine, and everyone brought a yummy dish to share and more wine.

I had to buy some last-minute food items and cleaning supplies, so I headed to town on Saturday morning. I also planned to swing by the WIN Boutique on my way and see if the Karma Fashion Gods were smiling. It was a lovely day, slightly chillier but still sunny and bright out.

I wore a pink cami under this navy wool cardigan (last seen, eeek, back in the April 2012 capsule, recap here).

I've see a few other bloggers doing the "Tulle and a Teacup" thing over the past year. I'm slow to catch up with these memes. But I decided to play along and sit with my tulle(ish) skirt in my new chair, with my coffee cup. I don't use teacups, but my mug is bone china.

It has bicycles on it. And yes, I drink my coffee with a straw. It keeps my teeth from getting coffee stains (two of my front teeth are fake, so stains are noticeable).

The lovely skirt billowed in the breeze as I walked around. It all felt very romantic.

That's a lot of skirt! I last wore it here in August for a floofy Friday with flies.

Part of what made my outfit feel romantic to me was all the stuff.

Especially the suede roses on my purple shoes (last seen here in August, with green and teal, 3rd outfit).

Floral bling:

I nearly forgot about this wonderful floral necklace. This may be the first time I've worn it as a necklace, since I think the only other time I've worn it was for New Year's Eve 2013 (here, 2nd outfit, as a band on my vintage top hat).

Cardigan (Mango Suit, thrifted), skirt (Lapis, consignment), shoes (Chie Mihara), necklace (She She Shoes, local), ring (local), earrings (don't remember).

I did a quick run-through of my closet before I headed out. Someone was very eager to help me.

So innocent, yet so deadly.

I keep a close eye on him when he's in there.

I had a good day at the thrift boutique.

I have seen the sleeveless blazer look (um, I think they call that a vest), and thought I would give it a shot. This has a nice structure in the shoulders, much as an actual jacket would, and it's very nicely tailored through the waist, giving the helm a strong flare. It's a solid black, and is by Sandra Angelozzi. It was $13.50.

My luck with tops continued with this sweet sheer floral:

It's an XL and is made in Canada - it doesn't fit like an XL. That's why I always ignore sizing and just look for quality.

Love the little black collar and the row of black buttons up the back.

I'm excited to wear this with a fitted pencil skirt. No brand label in it - it was $5.00.

I adore this wonderful salmon orange satin shirt:

It is another XL and does fit quite oversized. I'm hoping that it will work with a slim bottom as well, since pencil skirts are a dominant shape in my wardrobe. I couldn't resist - it was brand new (tags on!) and only $12.50. The brand is Mark.

I'm always on the lookout for replacements for my junky t-shirt material camisoles.

This is a glorious red satin, with a great neckline and a little bit of gathering. It fits perfectly, is by Spence, and was $4.00.

Lots of oranges and reds seemed to be hopping into my basket, capped off with this awesome striped cardigan sweater:

I love how perfectly the stripes are lined up, particularly the biggest black stripe across the middle. That's a nice mark of quality.

I couldn't find anything about the brand (it's not Adrienne Papell), but it felt nice enough for $6.00.

I lucked out on these wonderfully soft flats.

They are an off-white, with the rougher suede background giving them a tile-like appearance. I like the roses shapes.

Super comfy:

"Where were you? I missed you! Feed me!" 

The soles are very soft rubber:

Part of the fun of finding a good score for me is researching the brand after I buy something. I knew these were good quality, but to find out that The Flexx* is committed to ethical, local production in Italy? That's awesome! These were all of $14.50, and would have sold for at least $98.00 new.
*linking because: impressed!

After I got home, I spent 3+ hours cleaning my house, then prepping food for the swap. About 10 women made it and we had an awesome time going through all the clothes, drinking, eating and chatting. Everyone left with bags of new-to-them items. This morning, my girlfriend Caro came back and took all the leftovers down to Value Village for me. More good karma!

Today, I dressed for another shopping expedition: groceries! The day started out white then got somewhat sunny, then we had thunder and lightning and now it's getting quite windy. I can hear acorns falling on the roof!

I dressed for layers, as I strolled over to My Sister's Closet after groceries for a wee shop, trusting that the Smiling Karma Gods had appreciated my clothing recycling and would reward me with a good find or two.

Likely the last wear of the summer of this awesome chambray dress (last seen here in August as my wear-to-Ulty outfit).

I was glad of the addition of the blazer, as it was quite a lot cooler than it's been.

I last wore it here last week as the topper with my all-olive outfit. And I wore my new-to-me shoes on their inaugural shopping trip - they were quite comfy for about 3 hours, then my feet got tired. So not bad.

Someone is missing L and is being very needy. We need some cuddling time.

Blazer (RW & Co., consignment), dress (Blues by J. Arcaro, vintage 90s, thrifted), shoes (The Flexx, thrifted), obi (Smoking Lily), earrings (Plum), ring (local), spinner ring (Twang & Pearl), zipper rose (Victoria & Albert Museum Gift Shop).

I must be have a surplus of good karma. Check it out:

A lovely drapey layering top in a most glorious rich blue. Love all that nice gathering at the front and the ruching on the sides. It's by Anne Klein and was on half price for $8.50.

I can't resist leather.

This no-slit A-line leather skirt is by INC Petites. The snakeskin print is timeless. This was a bargain at $22.98.

But this is the real find of the weekend:

Black Italian leather jacket, with croc texture.

Inside pockets on either side of the zipper.

Made in Canada - hurray!

Wonderful shape and seaming.

I'll be wearing this as a blazer, not as outerwear. It's just killer on.

Of course, it's Danier, but not just regular ol' Danier, but Danier Couture:

As I have purchased a high-end Danier coat made in Canada from Italian leather from their retail store (this red coat, regular price $799.00), I know this would have been at least $500.00 new, and likely more. I paid $58.98. Score!

I hope you all had a great weekend! It's thundering more now and kitty is getting nervous, so I'm going to go snuggle up and see if I can spot L and his friends in the football crowd.