Hallowe'en! We've Got Trouble...With Tribbles!

As you may or may not know about me, I LOVE dressing up, and I almost always dress up for Hallowe'en. 

This year, I came up with the costume idea back in December 2016 when L and I visited Seattle, and checked out the "Star Trek" exhibit at the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), here. 

"But these tribbles were so cute when I first picked them up....ah! He's biting me!"

 I bought my Star Trek Communicator badge there, and I've worn it frequently in my everyday outfits. When I originally bought it, I thought, "I must be a Star Trek Redshirt for Hallowe'en". What's a redshirt? Here (Wikipedia).

And then I realized - while chatting with a coworker about how we could both be redshirts - my company colour is red. It wouldn't take much to get my whole office (three of them in BC) to play along with me. All you had to do was wear a red shirt (or sweater, or jacket, or dress) and black pants (or skirt). Easy!

"Where are they all coming from? These Tribbles are breeding like rabbits! Ow!"

 I made "Wanted" posters ("I want YOU for the [my company] Redshirts") featuring a picture of my boss (in a red shirt, of course), and printed silly pictures of the Star Trek redshirt meme, and plastered them all over the offices. I also made paper communicator badges and cut them out (the most labour-intensive part, for me). Today, everyone who wore a red shirt got a badge, stuck on with a loop of scotch tape. It was so easy, and tons of people participated.

"Help! They're smothering me! Help!"

 There were a couple of people who wore actual uniforms, including a mustard captain's outfit, and a vintage blue dress version (worn with a purple wig, nice!), and a few coworkers had phasers and made sound effects with their phones. I pretended to be eaten by these fuzzy tribbles all day - the clients were highly amused when I greeted them in the elevator! "The office is overrun!"

What can I say? I'm a nerd and work with a lot of nerds (I work in IT). Here are the regular poses, so you can see that I actually do have clothes on.

 In a fortuitous turn of events (although boo, I liked this sweater), I discovered a moth hold right in the middle of the chest. Once I found that, I did not feel bad about cutting up my (formerly) good sweater.

• Sweater - Lord & Taylor, thrifted; last seen here (3rd outfit) in January with red and wine
• Skirt - Danier Leather, thrifted; last worn here with pink suede on my birthday weekend
• Boots - Lucky Brand, swap from Cat; last seen here (2nd outfit) with my picador skirt a few weeks ago
• Coat (not shown) - Danier Leather, thrifted; last worn here yesterday

I have my contacts in for these pictures, but they drove me crazy, so I took them out after a few hours. I couldn't read anything!

I did a flip curl at the bottom of my hair, and tried to bouff up the back of it - sort of a 60s look. Same with the make-up, doing top lid heavy winged eyeliner only. Classic Trek!

 I had considered doing only a little bit of fake blood, but having the shirt distressed sealed it - I dripped blood down my legs (I ripped my nylons there), and on the backs of my hands and wrists, and around my neck/cheek. By the end of the day, it had mostly peeled off, leaving a red stain (I'm sure it will fade).

 Aside from the fake blood and the tribbles, this is a pretty simple outfit. I have to be able to work in my costumes! I dealt with catering, deliveries and general running around the office in this. I dropped a few tribbles along the way, but they got brought back to me. "I think this is yours!"

The stuff:

 Pretty much Starfleet regulation boots.

I bought all of the "tribbles" while out shopping on the weekend.

The two brown ones are from a pair of earmuffs (vintage, thrifted for $8.00). The rest are those pom-pom purse charms that are popular right now. I picked up all of these at Ardene's for under $25.00. The 6 in the centre (black/white/blush) came as trios, on chains, so the chains allowed me to loop them through my hoop earrings, and attach safety pins to them.

On one of the black ones, I hotglued a hair clip so that I could attach it in my hair. On some of them, I hotglued a strip of ribbon over a safety pin, and the big fluffy white one got a hair clip that I didn't like glued on to it. All remove able from my clothes - I pinned the puffs on my arms once I got to work.

• Earrings - 10th anniversary gift from L
• Star Trek badge - MoPOP gift shop

I bundled up the sweater and all the tribbles into a bag and put them away in the Tickle Trunk - maybe I'll do this again another year? I have been known to repeat costumes. When you have a winner, you have a winner!

In case you're interested, here are my previous years' Hallowe'en costumes since I started the blog in 2008:

• A regular outfit (2008) - here - seriously, most boring Hallowe'en outfit ever, considering I was a shambling office zombie the year before.
• A vintage, slightly Gothic look (2009) - here - better! Yvonne wore that vintage dress to our party last weekend!
• The Mad Hatter (2010) - here - Awesome - I won my old company's costume contest in this.
• In a vintage dress (2011) - here - I was pretty new to my job and nervous about dressing up.
• Hitchcock's "The Birds" (2012) - here - One of my best costumes. I still have all the birds, and that suit, so I might do it again one year.
• The Mad Hatter again (2013) - here - different job, no one's seen it! I made it a bit different, added the teacup and saucer, got a little weirder, hee hee. 
• Lydia from "Beetlejuice" (2014) - here - L was Beetlejuice, and we threw a Hallowe'en party at home that year.
• A "Grim Fandangal" Dia de los Meurtos look (2015) - here - An easy look to work in all day. 
• Imperator Furiousa from "Max Max: Fury Road" (2016) - here - So fun clomping around in this all day! L's cultist outfit is great too.

Happy Hallowe'en, my friends!

Evil Orange and Cranky

I have been feeling unreasonably cranky all day. Dumb things happened, people were stoopid, you know, the usual. But I feel like a seething ball of rage! 

 It must have been all this orange!

• Sweater - Tatyana, thrifted; last seen here (3rd outfit) with the picador skirt
• Dress - Diane von Furstenberg, thrifted; first worn here in September over a white shirt
• Shoes - Miista; last seen here (5th outfit) early this month with culottes
• Coat (below) - Danier, thrifted; last worn here last week

 I am DONE with this dress. Not because it's orange - I love the orange! - but because I was hoiking it up constantly, as it kept trying to slip down. I complained about this last time I wore it, so tried a thicker top, but nope, it still is trying to fall down.

And I will not put up with a renegade piece of clothing like that. Gone.

 I don't even want to look at it anymore - this dress is woven from Pure Evil. I know why you got donated, dress!

It's still clear and crisp as a fresh apple out there - we've been so lucky!

 Spooky skull scarf to go with all the black leather.

• Scarf - Metrowear, San Francisco, 2006
• Gloves - Danier Leather

The stuff:

 That's a lot of gold. Those are very comfy shoes, although I wish they had retained their gold colour better - they scuff like mad.

Brass bling:

 Favourite things, including my heart locket.

• Locket - DEFY, gift from L
• Cuff - vintage 60s, Mom's
• Earrings - thrifted
• Spinner ring - Twang & Pearl
• Feather ring - Fossil

It's been a while since I showed you my heart locket. Here it is open.

 All veiny and aorta-y.

And inside, L placed two very special pictures.

My "boyfriends", Hugh Jackman and Vin Diesel. Ha!

Okay, I need to go cheer up and work on my Hallowe'en costume! Are you dressing up?

Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Friday Flounces, Spooky Neutrals, Shiny Party Dress

Well, it has been a weekend! I have three fun outfits to show you - and I spent my Fluevog gift cards finally, bought a crazy skirt, and had a fun time at my second birthday party! You ready? Let's go!

Friday's outfit would be my entry for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style, but she is taking the week off while she visits NYC. I was certainly visible! 

 Yes, a repeat of this top already!

• Top - Beechers Brook, thrifted; first worn here a week ago with casual denim
• Skirt - All Saints, gift from Dominique
• Boots - Baroque Velasquez, Fluevog; last seen here in March with one of my favourite outfits of the year
• Jacket (below) - Le Chateau, consignment; last worn here in April over a peasant look

After work on Friday - where I really pushed the envelope for Casual Friday, ha ha - I met up with my former boss and dear friend Tammy for dinner. We both owned this top back when we worked together, in 1999-2000, and Tammy even still has the matching long straight skirt (with a slit up the side)!

 But really, the schtar of this look is the skirt, am I right? My colleague Dominique gave this to me a couple of weeks ago - what a sweetheart! It was just too puffy for her, and she thought I might like it. Like it? More like LOVE IT!

I steamed it the night before, which helped me understand the ins and outs of the puffery. I discovered that two rather large pouffs, might be...pockets? I tried turning them inside out and yesssss, pockets!

 I'm wearing a vintage black half-slip under this thin, fine cotton skirt, both for coverage and to extend the visual length. The skirt is quite short in areas, and the skirt has a good 5" edging of lace. I liked the extra "oomph" that it adds.

I wore the jacket most of the day at work, buttoned up like so.

 A few times when I got warm, I took it off, but it was mostly on.

 I like how it exaggerates the pouf.

Check out the pockets!

 I am too cool for school.

All bundled up with my fall outerwear components.

 I love having sets of scarf/gloves/hats for fall and winter, to go with different looks. These extra pieces are actually dark brown.

• Fur scarf - Danier, thrifted (first wearing), purchased for $6.95
• Leather gloves - Club Monaco, consignment

The stuff:

 The boots are also good, if you like floral, embossed leather, ruffles and a lace-up. I do!

Brass bling:

 A bit of Edgar Allen Poe with my cuffs, perfect for this time of year.

• Cuffs - Jezebel Charms, gifts from L
• Earrings - Plu
• Feather ring - Fossil
• Pinky ring - P. Sarpaneva, vintage 70s, vintage expo

Tammy and I went to Il Terrazzo, one of Victoria's best restaurants. We had a fabulous dinner, and she surprised me with a birthday card and gift.

 Three mini Mac lipsticks, a sequined bag and a $50 Fluevog gift certificate! Thank you, Tammy!

Saturday morning - another bright sunny day. We've been having wonderful clear autumn weather, warm during the day and chilly at night. The leaves are all turning golden and red. It's so pretty! I love this time of year.

 So neutral, but I built the outfit around this first-time worn tee, and I wanted to show it off. My hair is freshly dark purple, but it'll lighten up soon.

• T-shirt - Guess, consignment; purchased here for $14.98
• Long-sleeved tee - Jacob, thrifted; not tracked
• Skirt - Mackage, thrifted; last worn here in January with spotty leopard
• Boots - Prepare Guide, Fluevog; last seen here (2nd outfit) for our trip to Vancouver back in March
• Coat (below) - Vassalli, consignment; last worn here in November 2016

 Because this t-shirt is very thin and totally sheer, I chose a dark top underneath it to show the pattern - see the skulls around the hem and across the shoulders? Spooky!

L and I walked to town and met up with Nick for breakfast at Floyd's. Ultimate Frisbee is officially over for the season - another year of good games. This does give us a bit more free time on Saturdays, though.

 Since I had that gift card for Fluevog, bringing my total to five (wow, I have generous friends and coworkers), I went for a wee shop after we ate.

Outerwear - it was so warm, by the end of the afternoon, I was just sweating in this, and it's not a really heavy coat!

 The plaid part is a sheer wool over cream satin (same as the lining of the coat), and the dark black parts are velvet.

 It goes down to a point at the bottom back hem. Very cool! Definitely no gloves or scarf needed - I didn't even do my coat up.

The stuff:

These boots are nearing their end, I feel. The moths have been at them again for the second year in a row (the outer grey is wool), and the heels/soles are wearing thin. I do wear them a lot! However, they are still good enough. 

Deco bling: 

Another set of jewelry that I have collected (all at separate times). 

• Leather stud cuff - Kipling, thrifted
• Necklace - POLY, thrifted
• Cuff - POLY, thrifted
• Ring - POLY, vintage fair

 I went to Flavour Upstairs, but only found one item that really rang my bell, and it is a weird, strange piece. But I love it!

 It's a down-filled skirt! I think it will be my Sleeping Bag Skirt. This is going to be amazing when it's really cold this winter. You can pull up the drawstrings at the bottom, but it bunches funny, so I'll probably never wear it like that.

It was only $14.99.

 The buttons have little "WP" initials on them. The outer fabric is nylon and it's really quilted with down feathers inside (I found puffs of them when I played with the drawstrings).

I'm guessing it's Chinese in origin.

 By...WEIP


...ENG, Padding Down. Let's see what we can find out about them.

And...not much, a couple of padded down jackets, but that's it. Still, I am filled with glee at the thought of wearing it!

And then I went to Fluevog. Here's what I got:

 I tried on a bunch of different shoes (including one shoe that I used to size another pair that I bought online today), and I just fell hard for these booties. I know they won't be everyone's cup of tea (L doesn't like them), but they work for me! the studs go around both sides of the heel.

Turns out I had $460 on all of my gift cards, so aside from the tax, these Maleika Conquer booties were free!

 These are so new, they're not even on the website yet! They also came with a red front, and a full-height boot (I was tempted) with red as well. I'll bide my time and wait for those to go on clearance in a year!

 I love the "Frankenstein" vibe of them with the stitches across the top of the foot.

They are supremely comfortable (there's a thick hidden platform).

 And nice grippy rubber soles! Gotta like that. No slipping in these.

Flush with my shopping fun, I came home and had a nap with L and Vizzini. Saturday night was our "Almost Sesquicentennial 149th Birthday Spectacular"! My dear friend Randall turned 50 a few days before me, and Saturday was our friend Chris' 49th birthday, and of course, me!

I didn't want to wear my Prusa dress again so soon. I wanted to wear this one!

 Glamour girl!

• Dress - no label, thrifted; first worn here (4th outfit) last November 2016 for my company Christmas party
• Shoes - Jessica Simpson; last seen here (4th outfit) that same night
• Fur coat (below) - Bebe, vintage store; last worn here (2nd outfit) in October 2016 with a full-on vintage 1930s look for Urbanite

 We had about 28 people show up at our party at Limbic Media's studio. We had tons of food, prosecco, a spectacular light show, and custom playlists for each of us birthday kids.

We danced till the wee hours! It was so wonderful to be able to properly celebrate with my wonderful friends, the family that I choose.

It was a cool but crisp evening, but my fur bolero was all I needed.

L and I walked to and from the party. I switched out my shoes for these silver booties (not shown, but last worn here, 3rd outfit), and used a bulldog clip to hike up the hem of my dress so that I didn't trip on it.

The stuff:

My 10-year-old party shoes! Oh, my dogs are howlin' today. I lasted in these from 8pm to midnight, when I had to take them off and dance in my boots! But so pretty! I will be wearing flats tomorrow!

Blue bling:

Just simple accessories.

• Earrings - Jacob
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

I got a few more cards and lovely things like chocolates from my friends. I'll leave you with this perfect card that Karen found. It's not Vizzini, but doesn't it look like him?

Darth Vizzini! He's gone to the Dark Side!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Autumn Camo, With Purple!

Nothing new in my outfit today - I was feeling uninspired, even though I have approximately a billion pieces of clothing (being the maximalist I am!).

 And what do you do when you're uninspired? Wear a dress!

• Dress - Dept, thrifted; last seen here (4th outfit) in January (same vintage slip under it)
• Shoes - Mini Qtees, Fluevog, consignment; last worn here for Valentine's Day in February
• Coat (below) - Danier Leather; last seen here last weekend

 I've put this dress in the donate pile, then (when you readers cried, "NO!") pulled it out again. A couple of times! I've resigned myself to it. This dress looks great on me, and that's that.

 I love the abstract camo pattern, and now that my hair is that colour (which I'm refreshing as I type), it's even better. For once, I didn't plan it, but it still worked out.

Outerwear - yeah, I wear this coat a lot. I love it, and since it was $400 new (several years ago), I do want to get my cost-per-wear down.

 I can't see it ever going out of style entirely. Red leather? Nah! Not going to happen!

• Scarf - Metrowear, San Francisco, 2006
• Gloves - Danier Leather

The stuff:

 I forget when I don't wear these lovely shoes how darned comfortable they are. Unlike many shoes that are comfortable...for heels...for being a bit pinchy...you know - these are REALLY comfortable. Like runners!

Minimal bling:

Who am I kidding? Nothing about that belt is minimal! It's Fendi, for goodness' sake!

• Belt - Fendi, thrifted
• Ring - c. 1997
• Earrings - 5th anniversary gift from L

My friends, I will be back on Sunday, with at least one glamourous party outfit! See you then!