Sheila's Shoe Shine #9

Shoe Shine is on!

Get your kicks by showing your kicks!

Yee haw! Shoe Shine is on! 

I'm sharing my awesome floral Doc Martens. 

D'aw! I heart them so much. They deeply appeal to the 9-year-old in me who loved drawing and wanted to be a paleontologist. They are girly, but full of daring adventure. When I wear them, I feel supremely comfortable, both in feet and mind. That's a rare thing in a shoe.

I bought these on consignment, for $60.98, last December.

I know they'll be in my closet for years to come. 

What shoes have stood the test of time in your closet?

It's your turn! Show us your shoes! 

Want to play? It's super-easy. Anyone can join.

1. Link to a post featuring a fabulous pair of footwear!
2. Include a link to Ephemera somewhere in your post (it's only polite). Leave a comment here if you like (note that comments continue to be moderated).
3. Go to the bottom of this post and click on the InLinks "Add Your Link" button to open a new page.
4. In the "Next Step," you crop the picture you want to display, and voila!
5. Show your Shoe Shine spirit by grabbing and displaying the button in the sidebar. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Casual Friday: Rocker in Striped Pants

Finally, the end of a rough week is over. I really knuckled down today and got a huge amount of work done, all while making exasperated noises in front of my co-workers. I'm a drama queen, but I'm fun to work with.

I always feel my best in my "rocker" guise. And yes, believe it, those are striped pants: navy and red denim (check out this picture, from here). They are very impressive in person.

It was cloudy today, so I wore my leather jacket. It's a Canadian-made leather Danier Couture that I last wore here in April with plaid.

I've had this outfit planned for a few weeks, and have just been waiting for it to be cooler so I could wear it.

The navy blue blouse has nice mini-accordion pleats in a ruffle around the neck - very dramatic.I last wore it here in April with shoes my husband hates. Hee.

And *sigh* the pants. I love these jeans; they are so comfy and fit me so perfectly. I last wore them here in a majorly funky outfit in June, for L's birthday.

The stuff:

The usual rocker suspects. The shoes are getting beat up pretty quickly, but I like that they are getting softer and softer. I last wore them here in April with rainy florals.

Badass bling:

The latest additions to my studly group are these triangle earrings - made locally! - I loved how they looked on.

Jacket (Danier Couture, consignment), blouse (Mexx, consignment), jeans (Ralph Lauren, consignment), shoes (Presence Impulse, Fluevog), belt (gift from Ruth), studded cuff (homegrown vintage, late 80s), cuff (Guess, thrifted), earrings (local).

It's a long Labour Day weekend here, so I'll be back on Monday-ish. Don't forget about Shoe Shine starting tomorrow and going all week!

Rock on and have an awesome weekend!

Purple Haze and a Flop-Cat

Phew, what a day. I deal with all the Facilities at my office, and our HVAC system sprung a leak. Hijinks ensued. Kidding, of course, but it ate up a big chunk of my day while I dealt with it, leaving me dreading all of the work I didn't get done. 

Ah well. At least I liked my outfit today.

Another blouse that I've only worn once (last time here in July with bark), but prefer a lot more. The colours are pretty and the soft silk feels lovely. Although I did drag the ties through some cake and icing.

Office Vizzini inspects my outfit

Vizzini was full of beans this morning, racing around and yowling at us. It's like his 1/2 can of food gives him super-powers!

Speaking of super-powers, this purple skirt has the power to make me happier (at least a little). I last wore it here in June with insane ruffles. This is about the 5th time I've worn it, and I'm down to less than $3.00 per wear (I only paid $13.50 for it at the thrift store).

The stuff:

Comfy pumps in a good neutral snakeskin embossed pattern. I last wore them here in July with my dotty dress. The earrings are made of wood and are light as a feather - it was windy today and one of them actually blew off!

Blouse (Sandra Angelozzi, thrifted), skirt (Chia, vintage 80s, thrifted), shoes (Ralph Lauren, thrifted), earrings (Le Chateau).

As I was getting my coffee ready this morning, I couldn't help but notice this.

"I'm a flop-cat."

I guess his beans wore off.

"What? I'm napping here. The tiles are cool."

He was still there when I left.

Well, Blah-Di-Dah

Today was not a good day. I'm having one of my periodic bouts of the blues, the greys and the mean reds. And this was a bad choice of outfit for that.

I felt invisible all day, and I've decided that I don't like this blouse on me.

I like all the things about the blouse, just not how it looks when I wear it. I know it's not me, it's the blouse, but today it felt like it was me. So buh-bye it goes. Fortuitously, one of my coworkers was raving about how much she liked it, so after it's washed, she's getting a new blouse.

I first wore it here in July with a brown full skirt. Now that I've worn it with this concrete leather pencil skirt, I feel I've done all I can. It doesn't inspire me to try anything else. Good thing I only paid $10 for it.

And yes, another leather skirt. I was having misgivings about this one too, but I think the blandness of the overall outfit was colouring my judgement. I like it, it's a good skirt and it fits well (plus, pockets). I last wore it here in April with bright red and felt much better about it. Sorry, skirt, I will do better next time.

The stuff:

I've been nice to my feet all week with fairly low shoes. These are fabulous to wear, but I'll be packing them up for the fall/winter at the end of September. I last wore them in April as well, here (3rd outfit) with a lace dress and a fur hat (really).

Plain bling:

Snaky belt, sparkly earrings.

Blouse (Yeou-Tung Hungniang Best Ladies, vintage 80s), skirt (no label, thrifted), shoes (Fugitive, thrifted), belt (thrifted), earrings (don't remember).  

Sequins and Pink Leather

Of course, I wore sequins to work! Of course, I wore pink leather to work.

I got a lot of comments about "going Holllywood" and being disco, but *shrug* I'm covered, I'm appropriate for my job, and my coworkers (and clients!) loved my sparkliness today. I certainly needed it in the morning - must go to bed earlier.

I haven't worn this top much as I remembered how prickly it is around the neckline and arms - the sequins are pokey and leave little red welts on my skin. I wish Michael Kors had designed this with a nice velvet trim around the edges.

However, it wasn't too bad today, although it is a bit scratchy on the arms.I last wore it here in March with denim and studded tights.

I love my hot pink leather skirt - it's such a rich colour. I last wore it here earlier this month with a bustier and a sheer shirt. Heh, I love pushing the limits with work clothes!

The stuff:

I have been debating getting rid of these shoes, as the colour is scuffing off at the toes, but following the success of my Fluevog Vizzinis, I might just re-colour them or go a slightly darker grey. It's a handy colour in the wardrobe, and these are divinely comfy to wear. I last wore them here - what? in May? That's outrageous! Well, I wore them with a pretty floral dress. So there.

Basic bling:

Non-matching but go-ing leather earrings. My WW group is going to like this outfit tonight!

Top (Michael Kors, consignment), skirt (Evan Davies, vintage 80s, thrifted), shoes (Jump for the People, consignment), earrings (thrifted).

White Eyelet and Dots

Oh, I am creaky today from my day of running on Saturday! I had to wear comfy shoes.

And now, L and I are back from the gym (arm day), and I'm all sweaty, so bam, here we go. Yellow! White! Blue! Dots!

It got very hot by this afternoon, and I melted on the way home, but this was quite nice in my AC office. This lovely yellow jacket was last seen here in April with green lace.

I've layered my blue polka dot vintage blouse under it (last seen here in July with a side of Kermit).

I think this is the first wearing of this white skirt this spring summer. It's firmly a summer item, but it fits great and I do like wearing it. Yup, I last wore it over a year ago, here in July 2013, under my old denim dress. Not sure if I can justify keeping it in my closet when I only wear it once a year...

The stuff:

My feet were good, but my knees, thighs and hamstrings needed flats today. I last wore these just a week ago here, when I was mowed down by a cyclist.

Round bling:

That's a bigass flower.

Jacket (Holt Renfrew, thrifted), blouse (vintage, thrifted), skirt (no label, thrifted), shoes (Aerosoles, thrifted), flower (Le Chateau), bracelet (local), earrings (Plum), swirly ring (Scotland-made, 1996), lapis lazuli ring (Wendy Brandes).

 Reminder: this Friday is Shoe Shine! 

Bust out your cool kicks! See you there!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Shopping Score, Visible and a Naughty Kitty

Hello, my friends! It's been an exhausting weekend, but I'm going into this week with the lovely anticipation of a long weekend next week, followed by a short week after that. 

Let's get going, 'cause I'm anxious to go watch "Outlander"! I loved the book.

On Friday night, L and I hung out and drank wine and played games, and crashed nice and early. I was only mildly hungover for Ultimate Frisbee on Saturday (go, me!).

It was hot and sunny for the game, so I wore this dress unbelted over one of my vintage slips (the dress is fully see-through. Both pieces are wonderful for movement, so this outfit overall looked better in person than in my somewhat rushed pictures.

One of my sentimental dresses, purchased in New York City in 2007 with Mom. I've given it away and taken it back once! I last wore it here in June 2013, more than a year ago. I plan on keeping it, as I love it.

The entire thing is covered in beading on the burned-out velvet flowers too.

The stuff:

Comfy flats for walking, which were last seen here a couple of weeks ago with trousers.

Dress (Hale Bob), shoes (Modern Vintage, thrifted), earrings (consignment).

We had a great game, and I ran my butt off! After brunch, Karen and I wandered through a couple of thrift stores. At the St. Vincent de Paul, she found a couple of scarves and a Betsey Johnson belt for $2! Great find.

I found another half-slip to add to my collection, this nice blue one. It was $2.00.

We also went to The Velvet Crease where we both tried on loads of stuff. I found these fabulous Nine West shoes:

They are just the right mix of modern and vintage, and will be great with my fall clothes.

They were $28.00.

They need a bit of a polish, but other than that, they're in great condition.

At the Hospice Thrift Store, I found one of my best scores EVER. I've blown out the contrast and brightness to show the details on this black blazer.

I was drawn in the fabric first, a very soft crepe weave with an embossed floral design (very late 90s-looking).

The rounded shoulders end in gathers:

And the sleeves are quite narrow. There are slash pockets on the front.

A slightly blurred shot of the fabric in bright sunlight.

It's very luxurious. I checked the tags and nearly choked.

I am not sure what Crespo is...apparently, it means "crepe" (as in the fabric, not the pancakes, hee) in Italian. As you can see, it's made in Belgium.

The gorgeous burgundy satin lining.

And yes, it is authentic Dries van Noten (wiki)! Holy smokes! His blouses start around $700, with coats going upwards of $2,000 (Barney's New York shopping here, for info only). I looked through all of the galleries of his women's ready-to-wear clothes galleries from 2000 to present here at style.com, but couldn't find this jacket, so it is probably from the late 90s, as I guessed from the fabric.

And how much did I pay for this jacket, that certainly would have cost several hundred dollars?

Yup, $18.00. SCORE. And it is amazing on. I can't wait to wear it!

Full of excitement from my awesome score, but tired from 2.5 hours of shopping, I napped for an hour before getting ready to go to Zeb's divorce party.

Weekend hair! I'm linking up to "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style. Get over there, yourself!

Another dress with wonderful movement. I just purchased this one a week ago here for $22.98.

 I wore a short half-slip under it as it was rather breezy out. The tie belt is from my origami dress.

 L and I both wore the same colours, top to bottom - totally not planned! He had blue shoes, orange pants and a yellow shirt. We must have looked funny walking side by side to town.

The stuff:

After running around in cleats for 2 hours, followed by all that exhausting shopping, I needed to wear practical shoes. These lovely aqua beauties were excellent for walking to town to meet up with Nick/Karen and Yvonne/Randall for dinner before the party. I last wore them here (way down at the bottom) with pink plaid.

We walked from town to the party, then after the party, L and I walked home. I am really feeling it today, and am in dire need of some couch time!

Silver and aqua bling:

I did the one-earring thing. I hear the cool kids are into that again.

Dress (Nine West, consignment), shoes (Prepare Guide, Fluevog), metal cuff (St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop, London), bangle (local), leather cuff (Shi Studios), spinner ring (consignment), floral ring (Nine West), feather earring/aqua stud (both local).

But wait, something's wrong with this earring!

It's gnawed on and the back is missing. L found it on the bedroom floor this morning like this.

Vizzini, do you know anything about this?

"What are you going on about, woman?"

Such a guilty face! I hope he didn't eat the back, but he isn't showing any signs of discomfort.

"I'll start looking for the perpetrator...after my nap."

Naughty boy!