Two-Fer: McQueen and Tangerine, and Sugar Plum Velvet Fairy (Plus Cat Pictures and a Purchase)

I'm back, and you get a two-fer - two for one - in this post: both Wednesday's and Thursday's outfits. 

Here's Wednesday - I planned my outfit around a couple of things. That evening was our Book Club holiday dinner at Zambri's, so I wanted to look all fashionable and show off my Alexander McQueen trousers to the gals, since my last book pick was fashion-related.

Also, since we were eating at Zambri's - only the best Italian restaurant I've ever eaten at that wasn't in Italy - I knew I needed to restrain myself from eating an entire bowl of pasta. Enter: Pants That Keep Me Honest.

• Blouse - Zoe &Sam, thrifted; purchased here for $16.95
• Trousers - Alexander McQueen, Fall 2003 collection, thrifted; last worn here in March with pops of red
• Boots - Maleika Conquer, Fluevog; last seen here in October for my Hallowe'en outfit
• Coat (below) - Topshop, consignment; first worn here a week ago

Surprise! It's a bright - almost neon - tangerine orange silk blouse! It looks white in my black and white life.

Isn't it a great colour? I felt very sunny in this.

The trousers are real Alexander McQueen, very high-end. You know what high-end, amazing quality clothes do not have?

Stretch! Wonderful pieces like these are a huge incentive to me to keep my weight down. Right now these are snug, but still comfortable enough to wear.

And now that we've all stared at my bum, check out L heading out for his walk to work in his blue shirt and pink patterned tie. What a stylin' man he is!

I did a "front tuck" on the blouse and let the back hang loose - these trousers do reflect their era's trend of very low-cut pants.

No one needs to see me crack-a-lackin'! My coworkers and the Book Club gals were appropriately boggled by these amazing pants, and many people felt the legs - real wool, and those checks are woven, not printed! The back of the black squares are white, and the back of the white squares are black. Wow.

Outerwear - let's try this snuggly coat with trousers, and hope for no riding up/clinging issues.

It actually caused the sleeves to ride up to my biceps. A little annoying, but I can live with it.

Done up with my scarf and gloves.

This coat is so warm that I barely wore the accoutrements, and I wore it open on my walk home despite the cold. And of course I changed to my Docs and did my bulldog clip trick (here) so that my hems wouldn't get wet or drag.

• Scarf - Roots, thrifted
• Gloves - Cejon, thrifted

The stuff:

I can't alter original McQueen garments, so the legs on my pants are really long (hence the clips) and require a heel. Platforms to the rescue! These booties are very comfy - I even went for a stroll around downtown prior to our dinner reservation in the rain in them. They have good rubber soles.

Sparkly bling:

My little bit of sparkly to go with the colour and pattern.

• Necklace - Allain, vintage 60s, gift from Allison
• Earrings - vintage 60s, Mom's
• Crystal/silver ring - Soul Flower
• Onyx/silver ring - Tocarra, vintage fair

Vizzini has been around a fair bit in the past couple of days - he gets needy when one of us is out at night.

"I'm not needy, you're needy. I'm just licking my toes."

Sure, buddy.

As I mentioned, I had a look around town while I killed time between work and dinner, and popped into one of my favourite stores, The Patch, to see if I could find anything for L's stocking for Christmas. I did, and I found something for me too!

I know, right? That is a crazy fabric!

Look at these luscious bell sleeves!

I always take my "treasure" pictures before I have steamed my purchases - this is quite badly wrinkled, like it's been sitting in the bottom of a bag or drawer for decades.

The bell sleeves are fully lined with either a polyester or acetate. It has a really nice wide, almost boat-neck neckline.

Dig those crazy colours! Yellow, ochre, brown, turquoise and pink. I'm not sure if the orange is created by the pink printed on top of the yellow; same with the green - it could be blue on the yellow. I'll take a better look at the pattern when I steam it to see if I can see it repeat - this could be hand-painted fabric.

The colours go all the way through the material, which I think is cotton. That's something that really bugs me about modern, cheap fabrics: when the backside is predominantly white. That's just poor quality.

There is a split on either side at the bottom hem - look how nicely it's finished, right down to some seam tape finishing. I always examine the top of splits for rips and tears, as well as the bottom of zippers and armpits. This top cleared all of those checks. 

I was totally tickled to discover it was another Pant-Man garment! I have this blouse here, by Lansea for Pant-Man. It even has the same little "kiss" on the label (here). Made in Canada - awesome! That label looks pristine.

While my other shirt is definitely from the 70s, I think this blouse is from the mid-60s to early 70s. It totally reminds me of a dress that my Grandma J wore (she of the awesome copper and rhinestone jewelry collections).

Check out the zipper in the picture above and here - there's almost no wear on it at all, very few chips in the painted finish. I'm sure this blouse has barely been worn.

I felt $26.95 was a little high, but I really liked it and it looked good on. Mine!

I managed to dig up a little information on Pant-Man from the Mister Leonard wiki page (here, link 'cause I love). I see quite a bit of Mister Leonard in my thrifting - they were a massive company in Canada for 3 decades. I have this yellow skirt here by them. 

Seems that Pantman (one word), prior to 1965, "manufactured men's styled fly-front pants for women. A concept so foreign at the time that one confused model employed by the company famously zipped them up with the zipper on the back." Isn't that amazing? Can you imagine that, not having front-fly pants?

In 1965, when Mister Leonard was formed, Pant-Man (hyphenated) was one of their branches. This blouse was probably sold at one of the great old Canadian department stores like Eaton's, Simpson's or Woodward's (I remember and shopped in all of these stores).


Well, that was fun. Back to the cat. Vizzini, what are you doing?

"Nothing..."

It looks like you are attacking L's jeans.

"I might be. They smell evil."

He had his head stuck right up one of the legs.

"If the Man wasn't so big, I would attack him like this!"

Vizzini often attacks L. I do not get this treatment. 

"Because you feed me."

Of course. 

We had a wonderful time at our dinner, but it was quite late when I got home, so I didn't feel like putting together anything fancy. I think you know where this is going...

Jammy dress! I like how witchy this outfit looks in black and white.

• Dress - Betsey Johnson, consignment; first worn here in July 
• Sparkly turtleneck - Jacob, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) under my embroidered coat last weekend
• Shoes - Truths Makena, Fluevog; last worn here in October in a businessy outfit
• Coat (below) - Sfizio, consignment; last seen here in November

I made this lovely velour dress warmer by layering my sparkly black turtleneck under it. You can see the vibrant purple of it better here

While this is not a terribly blingy look, for me it is the richness of the fabrics and textures that make it a seasonal outfit.

Lovely shimmery velvet.

The pebble texture of the leather belt.

The lace tights.

Of course, it has pockets. Every good jammy dress has pockets.

I twirled many times for my admiring colleagues today - so fun!

I'm the Sugar Plum Velvet Fairy!

Outerwear - it started raining on the way home, so I tucked all my hair into my beret. There was no curl left by the time I got to work, sigh.

This coat was perfect; just the right weight, and the shape went really well over the dress.

• Beret - consignment
• Leather/cashmere gloves - Danier

The stuff:

I needed comfy shoes today, after the high boots the day before.

Grey bling:

I piled on my hematite collection. I wore every single piece I own!

• Belt - Shi Studios
• Buckle - Shi Studios, thrifted
• Chain bracelet (metal but not hematite) - thrifted
• Necklaces/bracelets - vintage fairs and thrifted
• Graduated bead necklace - gift from Mom, Alaska, c. 1997
• Earrings - gift from Mom

This morning, Vizzini curled up on the skirt of my dress for a snuggle.

"Heh, I've trapped the Woman! She must stay home!"

Unfortunately, I did have to go work, but the weekend is nearly upon us!

I will be back on Sunday with tales of adventure. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for dropping by.