Weekend Wildlife and September Inspirations

Ah, the weekend! It's been nice and quiet over here, just recharging my batteries for the fall/winter season ahead. This is always the busiest time of the year for us, with lots of parties (I just sent out my birthday party invitations!), tons of socializing and events going on. It's good to have that downtime, at least for me.

We played Ultimate on Saturday morning. It started off foggy, but cleared off into a gorgeous sunny day. This is what I wore to the field.

"Oh, jeez, there's my neighbour."

The neighbour across the way hasn't spotted me yet, but it's only a matter of time. Although I wasn't visible to my neighbour (yet), I'm still participating in Patti's "Visible Monday" over at Not Dead Yet Style (now moving to an "every fortnight" format - good for you, Patti!). Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

I wore my lovely olive parachute skirt, for the final time of the summer. I didn't wear it a whole lot this past season, last time here in July when I went out painting with Mom and Elaine, but I'm all right with that. It's still a keeper, year after year.

I last wore this teal cardigan earlier this month, also in an pre-Ulty outfit (different overall vibe, though), here.

The shoes are my new-to-me super-flexxy flats, purchased and last worn here a week ago.

Cardigan (Kersh, consignment), cami (Smart Set), skirt (Cute Options), shoes (The Flexx, thrifted), belt (Club Monaco), scarf (Smoking Lily, 90s), earrings (Erica Weiner).

I love this time of year! The blustery, cooler weather, the changing leaves.

Do you see the spider web there? Those maple leaves are just starting to turn golden. Vizzini merps at the spiders.

When I was outside doing my stair shot, I spotted two squirrels frantically gathering acorns that had fallen off the Garry oak trees.

"Nom nom, acorns."

This guy took off so fast his tail is a blur

There are dozens of squirrels around in the surrounding trees.

This morning, Vizzini was on full patrol. A maple leaf had landed on the deck roof!

"Halt! Identify yourself!"

He gets very agitated when he can't reach the leaves. It was very windy and rainy this morning, but that leaf didn't budge.

"Can't...reach..."

His tail is thumping wildly against the window, as if to try to intimidate the leaf into falling.

"I'm protecting the home from this evil intruder!"

Officer Vizzini is on the case. You may all relax. 

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Okay, so although I don't put much stock in fashion magazines, I do love the pretty pictures. They give me ideas for different ways to play with my clothes. I don't want to feel my style is stagnant - it's always evolving (I hope) and I'm always looking for new (or old, revisited) ways to change things up. These are some pages ripped out of the September InStyle and Vogue that have given me ideas for autumn/winter dressing this year.

Here's what's inspiring me, with links to things I already own that I can work into new looks.

Colour! Or not.

I've already done monochrome blue (here), but I have been wanting to rest a little (only a little!) from all the bright colours over the last couple of years. Grey is attracting me, as is black. I particularly like the mix of tones of blue (hence, the monochromania) and all the textures of the greys.

Although I'm not a huge black wearer, I do have a substantial amount of it in my wardrobe. In the righthand picture, I really like the dress on the far right, how it's worn with the Edwardian boots and textured tights. I have boots like those and a dress similar to that.

Specific trends:

The moto jacket: I have my shiny Smoking Lily one and maybe a few in leather. Autumn is when I like to bust out my leather outerwear, so expect to see lots of those jackets. I'm also going to be wearing leather tops (like this one) and jackets (like this one and this one). Although those aren't the cross-zip styling of moto, they are close enough for me to play with this look.

Animal prints: You know I love animal prints! I have leopard shoes and snakeskin shoes, a leopard skirt, a snakeskin skirt, a zebra print skirt, a leopard sheer blouse, a leopard cardigan...This is a gimme for me.

New look: Grunge re-dux:

What's it is: leather skirts (I have too many of those to link up to!), mixed with casual tops, a dash of plaid and some luxe details.

What I'm seeing here (from left, clockwise):

• Black leather mini with grey sweater/sweatshirt. Not a flared short skirt on me, but I have a black leather short skirt/dress that I can do this with (like this outfit).
• Sparkly dress layered over a more casual top. I have this sequined dress that could work with this kind of look.
• Red leather skirt (check) with grey top (check), booties (check) and a wide 80s-style belt (check, not linking to my many bigass belts).
• Black leather pencil skirt: yup, got that.
• Socks with classic pumps, with plaid. I'm not sure what it is was about this Clarks ad, but I really like the socks with shoes. I have these teal pumps that are very similar to the ones in the picture, and this plaid dress. Can I do it? Will I do it? There's the question. Look out, L, I may be raiding your sock drawer!
• More plaid! I adore plaid. Along with the aforementioned dress, there's this skirt, this woolly skirt, this sweet dress, my plaid cape/skirt, this fabulous vintage skirt, this vintage pencil skirt...I'm sure there's more!

Circle skirts with belted blazers, with flat boots:

I am totally in love with this look. The cinched waist, the flowy skirt contrasted with the tailored menswear-style jacket. Can do! Will do! I have at least 2-3 circle skirts that hit that length, including this full-length version in suede. I also have a couple of neutral jackets that will work really well with this look, like my classic black wool blazer (noting cuffs can be rolled, and love the leather gloves too) and this wonderful vintage brown blazer. The belt is a little narrower than most of my bigass belts, so expect to see that slightly adjusted.

I have a few pairs of boots that will work for this look, like these black ones, these red ones (dig the harness detail), and these brown ones.

More casual tops, dressed up:

I've bought a couple of sweaters with the intent of doing this look: this brown one, and this blue one - haven't worn them yet, as it's still too warm out. I like how they are worn with tulip skirts (thinking about the bottom half of the Kim Cattrall suit), and straight sweater skirts (like this straight brown maxi sweater skirt).

I also picked up this awesome grey sweatshirt with the studded shoulders. I don't intent to overdo the sweatshirt look - I doubt I'll buy another one - but it's a fun thing to try out. Why not?

Dark elaborate florals:

These dark florals really appeal to me. I sort of did this look in the 90s, but don't really have much like this in my wardrobe now. The recent purchase of this dark floral blouse will work, and I may have to dig this vintage Laura Ashley dress (now I'm glad I kept it) out of the Closet Archives to wear layered so that I get the floral skirt part (the dress is too big as is).

I will be on the lookout for more on my thrifting journeys, but I can also work the dark florals through tights (like these ones in the middle that I haven't worn yet). I'll also be on the lookout for replacements for my purple combat boots (RIP) for that authentic 90s vibe.

Curvy suits and separates:

Another major look that I am all over! I have at least two beautiful tweed skirt suits (the Kim Cattrall suit and this green tweed one I wore for Hallowe'en last year), plus so many hourglass-cut dresses. I adore this ladylike look and will be rocking this big-time, with skinny/medium-width belts, statement necklaces, and classic heels. Love.

Shiny! Brocade!

Another look that strongly appeals to me. I've always been a bit of a crow when it comes to shiny, elaborate, or embroidered clothes, and I love the look of Indian and Oriental-inspired items. Items I'm excited to be working with this fall: my Desigual coat, this shiny Aldo coat, this newly thrifted Asian designer jacket, this new-to-me beaded top, this brocade waistcoat, this silk and beaded shawl, my cheongsam-style top, and this wonderful dress that I've been saving for party season.

Along with that last embroidered dress, for other shapely dresses, I have this fabulous red one, this vintage orange and black lace one (gotta wear that around Hallowe'en!), and my classic black shirtwaist dress that could be dressed up with some shiny accessories. This look could also be re-created by using a fitted top with a matching or similar pouffy skirt. I can do that!

Break all the rules! 

I ripped this page out because it's totally copying my strapless wool dress that I wear over t-shirts and other tops. "Don't dress safe" - ha! I've been doing that look for years! Check it out, 2010.

Accessories that inspire:

Big, candy-coloured stones. Those remind me of all the fabulous vintage rhinestone pieces I have.

Multi-ropes of pearls. Yup, I've done that before (in 2008), but it feels fresh again after 5 years.

Painted shoes and leather gloves:

I have yet to customize my Vizzini-fied Fluevogs, but wouldn't splashy painted flowers be cool? 

I love the look of long leather gloves worn with a sleek dress and ankle-strap shoes. Very chic! I have long brown leather gloves, as well as a few pairs of velvet ones. This could also work with a fitted top/pencil skirt combo and gloves.

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Well, after all that, I am champing at the bit to get to my closet changeover - I'll be cleaning out my spring/summer clothes next weekend, and giving y'all a good look at my mess. 

What's inspiring you this fall/winter season? Do any of the above looks or trends call to you?