Literary Stylings Link-up; What to Wear to a Hockey Game; Striped Dress

It's a two-fer Thursday! I was out late last night, so this is what I wore to our company quarterly meeting, which was to be followed by a Victoria Royals hockey game.

Eminently practical, but funky, that's me.

• Sweater - Bandolino, thrifted; last seen here (4th outfit) in March 2014
• Sweater tank - Dana Buchman, thrifted; last seen here in July 2014 with chartreuse
• Cape/skirt - Smoking Lily, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) with floral Docs in November 2014
• Boots - Indigo by Clarks; last seen here in December 2014 with turquoise fringe

This is my first link-up to Gracey's "Literary Stylings" over at Fashion for Giants. I read over 35 books in 2014, the most I've read since I started keeping track of my books in 2007. I'm pretty proud of that; it's easy to get sucked into TV and internet. Books and reading can fall down the priorities list quickly.

Although I didn't make a New Year's Resolution this year, I would like to top my number of books next year. That's a good goal, and one I can work on with no guilt. I also plan to participate in more "Literary Stylings" to inspire myself. Thanks, Gracey!

The book that inspired my outfit above happens to be the first book that I finished in 2015:

I won this from Shelley at Forest City Fashionista - she is one of the contributors! Read about it here.
The postcard doesn't come with it!

This is a book to treasure, to read again and again. You can dive in and dive out of it, without fear of losing the thread. It's based on a survey sent out to hundreds of women, men and other-gendered participants, and is anecdotal in format. One of the pieces that I found hugely fascinating were photocopied pictures of the hands of all of the women in an office, who then talked about all the rings they had on.

It was a fabulous read, full of all kinds of articles about women and their clothes. I kept it in the bathroom (yes, I always have a bathroom book), so it's taken me 2 months to read, here and there. I just want to start it over again.

My outfit isn't really directly inspired by the book, but it went with my thinking and feeling about clothes. I love that most of my clothes are second hand. I love that my jewelry has stories, and in some cases, I know who's owned it before. I dress as armour sometimes. I dress to tell the story of who I am, or who I want to be.

I loved this book. Do yourself a favour and buy a copy for yourself. I can't bear to lend mine, even though I want everyone I know to read it - I did buy a copy for Betty, my receptionist at WW, as I thought she would appreciate the thoughtfulness and thoroughness of it.

A slice of my life in the morning.

I dressed with the anticipation of being in a cold arena after our meeting; however, when I arrived at work, I heard that the visiting team had gotten snowed in, so the game was postponed. Instead, we got to meet Joe Hicketts (player) and Dave Lowry (coach) from Canada's gold medal-winning Junior Hockey team! Joe is a Royals player and Dave is a coach. They both wore their gold medals, and gave us a signed Victoria Royals jersey to raffle off for a prize.

Every time I wear this skirt, I have to explain that it's a cape. I'm wearing it wrong. See? (link to Smoking Lily's Cape of Good Hope - linking 'cause I love).

Bonus outerwear shot:

I had to wear my new leather and fur accessories! So soft and warm! The coat is a thrifted Danier leather, with a distressed finish. It has an up-down zip; good for walking and sitting, but still keeps my bum and hips warm.

The stuff:

Happy cushy boots.

Copper bling:

I was one of the presenters during the meeting (Corporate and Social Responsibility - I help raise lots of money for the local food bank - and the Social Committee), so I wore bling near my face so that people would look at me.

• Necklace/bracelet - 1970s, vintage fair
• Earrings - $10 grab bag find, consignment

I went out for a glass of wine after the event, and crashed when I got home. I totally forgot about planning an outfit for today.

What to do? Wear a dress!

Dresses do all the work for you!

• Dress - no label, vintage 1970s, thrifted; last seen here in November 2014
• Boots - Aldo, consignment; last worn here (3rd outfit) last weekend

This striped dress is such a pleasure to wear - it fits perfectly and is warm (thank you, vintage double-knit polyester!).

My tights are a pumpkin/caramel colour - they match one of the stripes in the dress.

I didn't want to carry more than my purse to the arena, so I left my walking shoes at work last night. I had to wear a pair of shoes/boots that I could walk to work in, so my default black boots were it.

The stuff:

Good ol' boots.

A statement necklace and mismatched simple earrings.

Did I mention I let the dress do the work?

• Earrings - gift from Mom and local
• Necklace - Nygard, consignment

The necklace pulled its weight too!