Thursday, April 9, 2020

Fancy Friday: Pink, Pleats and Blossoms, and Cat Pictures

Hello, my friends, here we are at Thursday, but because tomorrow is Good Friday and a stat holiday, today is effectively Friday. And this is what I wore to work.
As I'm not really a casual dress kind of person, I rarely do Casual Fridays. I hear that Fancy Friday is a thing - I'm in!


  • Blazer - Brooks Brothers, thrifted; last worn here in September 2019 with pink ruffles and surprise boots
  • Denim top - Cecil McBee, thrifted; first seen here in June 2019 with a silk skirt and slides
  • Skirt - BCBG Max Azria, consignment; last worn here (3rd outfit) in August 2019 for a dinner at the pub
  • Shoes - Sol Sana; first worn here in January with more pink and olive

I had an audience while I took my stair picture this morning.
"Who's that? What's she doing?"

It's nesting season for the gulls.

We're in for a lovely weekend weather-wise, full of sunshine and...NOT going out and hanging with our friends or having Easter at Mom's and seeing my family (sigh)...

Anyway, it was sunny today, and I planned for wearing this outfit both with the jacket off and with the jacket on.
I only wore this denim top once last year, which is a shame, because I really like the cut and shape on me. I also like the frayed hem - a nice detail.
I don't usually do well with cropped-style tops, but this one covers the waistband, and the denim is nice and thick without being too bulky. It pulls on over my head and can be worn with the scoop neck in the back, although I have yet to do that.

It was a wee bit challenging to get the wider and thicker sleeves into the narrower jacket sleeves, though. Much adjusting was needed.
I mostly wore it like this all day in the office. I'm so profesh!

The real star here is the tremendously swooshy skirt! Swoosh Factor 10! It's delightful to wear while walking around, but murder on stairs. It's also threatened by its deadly enemies: office chairs and toilets. One must gather it all up around one's knees to avoid these perils.
My coworker Stefanie briefly popped in to pick something up, and I wowed her with a full-on swooshing display. I also ran into my friend Tammy while I was out briefly stocking up on Easter chocolate, so I twirled for her too, as we stood 6 feet apart and said, "HUG!!"

Instead of wearing a coat, I just added gloves and a silk scarf over my jacket. This is the season where I utilize many of my lighter blazers and jackets as outerwear - they also keep me from freezing in the AC of the office.
I did not need the gloves on the walk home.

  • Scarf - Smoking Lily, thrifted
  • Gloves - consignment

The pattern on the scarf is golden paramecium!
It's silk-screened on chartreuse in gold ink and edged in pink grosgrain ribbon, all done by hand here in town. This scarf is about 15-17 years old.

The stuff:
After wearing these shoes once just after buying them on deep discount from one of our excellent local shoe stores (Footloose, I miss you!) in January, I stashed them away for warmer, less wet, weather. I am going to get a lot of wear out of them this season, as they are comfy as heck!

Green bling:
I like the almost-neon green accents in the "blossom" pattern of the skirt, so picked out all green accessories. I'm always happy to have my grandmother's "lemon-lime" brooch and earrings set back in rotation.


  • Brooch/earrings - vintage 60s, Grandma S
  • Jade/brass ring - vintage 70s, Mom's
  • Crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop, Florence, Italy
  • Bracelet - vintage 60s, Mom's


As today's skirt very much reminds me of blossoms, I went for a quick walk after I got home tonight and took some pictures of the second round of cherry/plum trees in bloom.
Looking towards town. The brown-looking trees are from the first round of blooms, which were fine and snow white, and will have deep burgundy leaves.

These ones are "snowing" blossoms right now. The sidewalks and grass boulevards have petals all over them.
They have bright green leaves, and the blossoms are very pink in the centers.

So pretty against the blue sky. When my mind is stuck on the hamster wheel, nature helps me get back on course.
There is one more round of blooming trees to go, and they're my favourites: big fat, pink blossoms with a heady scent. I'll be sure to take pictures of them in a few weeks once they're out.

Mustn't forget our daily dose of Vizzini.
"Oh, here she comes. The Cat Botherer."

Oh, come on, I can't be expected to ignore that cuteness, can I?
"Well, I am rather irresistible, it's true."

He came looking for me later on. We usually have a spot of cuddling before I leave every day.
"The Woman is my minion, carrying me around whenever I wish."

He often likes being carried around (sometimes not!), and he suffers me kissing him noisily - MWAH! MWAH! MWAH! Sometimes not...Ha ha.
"It's so undignified, Woman."


Wishing you all a very happy long weekend, whatever you celebrate (I celebrate with chocolate, personally). I'll be back with some weekend silliness soon. Take care, everyone!

33 comments:

  1. First thought that popped into my head was "Pretty In Pink"! What a very soft, feminine ensemble.

    The blossoms are magnificent. Lucky you that you have them nearby :)

    I hope you have a wonderful time being silly and that you enjoy as much chocolate as you want!

    Keep well.

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    1. Aw, thank you, Nana - I loved that movie back in the day. I know, we have so many flowers here (we're call The City of Gardens)! Thank you - a happy weekend right back at you. :)

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  2. Fancy Friday is vastly more appealing than casual Fridays to me as well. I've been known to run errands in evening and other formal dresses (there was always some form of context involved - even if it was simply a photo shoot that same day), so it's safe to say, I don't need any coaxing to dress to the nines. :)

    This is such a chic, wonderful outfit. The diaphanous skirt partnered with the sturdier top and jacket are a striking, awesome juxtaposition that works superbly.

    Many hugs & joyful holiday weekend wishes,
    Autumn Zenith 🎃 Witchcrafted Life

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    1. I so agree, Autumn! I have grocery shopped in steampunk, so I know where you're coming from, ha! I love getting dressed up.

      Thank you so much - I really enjoyed wearing this. Happy weekend to you, my dear.

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  3. That is such a stunning skit and I like how you accessorised it, it could be a wonderful statement piece on it's own but you still wore such pretty shoes and a jacket with it and created an overall lovely outfit, if that makes sense? everything goes so well together :) It's nice you got to spend some social distant time iwth colleagues and friends - I know it's hard but those little moments are good to have as they are all we can have right now.

    Thanks for your sweet comment. It's so incredibly tough right now for everyone and I know being a world away there's not much I can do to help, but I am here and I enjoy being able to come here and see how you are still expressing yourself and finding the good points! I'm struggling a bit with that myself at the moment, it's all a big blur of days and I'm not motivated to do a whole lot or put effort into outfits but I'm confident that when I start to adjust better to this new normal I'll be inspired again.

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    1. Thank you, Mica - yes, the skirt would look good with just a tee and sneakers (although that's not really my jam). I get what you mean, and thank you.

      I know - it's becoming really hard, as this go on...and on...

      You are welcome, and thank you again. Blogging for me really helps, to know that there are others out there - my friends across the globe! I hope you adjust - although, how can we?? - and get your dressing mojo back. Hugs to you, my dear.

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  4. That gorgeous skirt gives the cherry blossom a run for it's money, so Spring-like and pretty but i get you with the deadliness, there's a few of mine that have nearly killed me coming downstairs in the past!
    the denim top is fab as is the jacket and beautiful scarf.
    Weirdly we keep seeing flocks of seagulls flying overhead, we couldn't be further away from the sea.
    Our Easter is usually spent in the pub catching up with friends and a car boot sale or two. Ah well! This time next year....
    Give Vizzini a big kiss from me and some appreciative sniffs for my boys.
    Much love to all three of you. xxx

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    1. Aw, thank you, Vix - it's such a lovely piece. Yes, maxis and chairs and stairs are not friends! Murder!

      How odd! I wonder if they are flying to their nesting grounds?

      I know, same here - we gather with all our friends at a pub and chill in the sun and bask in just being together. Yes, this time next year - that's a good way to look at it.

      Big hugs to you, dear Vix, and all your boys.

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  5. First off Sheila, I have to thank you for keeping my mind active as I had to find out what paramecium was! Who knew? It's a gorgeous scarf. It's fab to have these beautiful hand crafted items as part of our wardrobes. They're a world away from the yuck factor of instant fast fashion and throwaway culture. On a different note, your colours are so beautiful and spring like today. You're inspiring me to pull out some of my maxi skirts as our Easter weather is warm this year. We can always waft around our gardens if we're lucky enough to have them. Best wishes to you and yours on this strange Easter weekend.

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    1. Ooh, I hope I got it right! Maybe I should have looked that up...oh, no, some of those are paramecium, phew! The others are spores, I think. It is a lovely scarf - Smoking Lily was known for their scarves in the 90s and early 00s, although they do tons of different things now.

      Thank you so much - I loved this outfit, but I love maxi skirts and dresses in general. Wafting around in a garden sounds delightful. Happy Easter to you, Juliana!

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  6. Yup, the skirt reminds us of blossoms which are beautiful right now.

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  7. So very Easterly! The skirt us lovely. Have a happy colorful holiday!

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    1. Hello, Ismay! Good to see you! Thank you so much, and lots of colour to you as well!

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  8. I'm totally in love with your Swoosh Factor Ten skirt, and the denim top and the pink jacket, they rock together! and your accessorizing is so clever and cool!!
    Lovely blossom trees, and lovely pics of you with Vizzini. Isn't he a star?
    besos

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    1. Isn't it lovely, Monica? It made me feel so happy.

      Glad you enjoyed the blossoms! All this attention is going straight to Vizzini's little fuzzy head! Such a star!

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  9. I'd definitely prefer Fancy Friday to Casual Friday, especially as I do not do casual, full stop. That outfit really is the personification of Spring, with the exuberantly floral Swoosh Factor 10 skirt, dusky pink jacket and fresh green jewellery. You were definitely giving those divine blossoms a run for their money! Phoebe's out in the garden all day and so am I, with the gorgeous sunny and warm weather we've been having. But she so hates being picked up and/or carried. You've got to admit - imagine you were a cat - it really is a bit undignified :-)) Have a great weekend full of chocolate and silliness! HUG! xxx

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    1. No, you really don't, Ann! I love that you are a 100% dresser-upper! This outfit made me feel so good - colour therapy.

      I've handled Vizzini a LOT, ever since he was a kitten, to get him used to being picked up and snuggled (I call it "forced lovin'", lol), and now he tolerates it. It's definitely undignified for him, though!

      Happy weekend to you and Jos! Here's to chocolate!

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  10. Fancy Friday sounds wonderful. You've certainly dressed up to perfection this Friday. That printed maxi skirt is such a statement piece. I love the denim top you paired it with, but I think I like the look even more with the pink blazer you wore as jacket. The pink blazer really matches the pink details in the print of the dress beautifully. I like the fact that the blazer is belted as well. The scarf and the gloves you wore with it look nice. The pink shoes are adorable. Very pretty accessories too.
    It was actually a free day for me today, I didn't have to work. So, I got to read blog, reply to comments and just enjoy being in the blogging world again. I plan to cut down on work and relax with doing more blogging this weekend as well. I need some time off.
    Vizzini is adorable. I fed two stray cats here, they are lovely. I'm not sure should I pet them anymore because cats can be virus carriers too and they are out and about, but I will definitely continue feeding them- it would be impossible to forget. One of them actually scratches our entrance door and they spend a lot of time meowing in front of it.

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    1. I'm looking forward to indulging in it this spring, for sure, Ivana. Thank you - I love this skirt, especially with the pink "bookends" of blazer and shoes, so matchy!

      How lovely to have a free day! That sounds like a wonderful time to do things you want to do, like getting caught up. I hope you get a bit of time off soon.

      He is, isn't he? From what I've read, pets are only a risk of person-to-person, so if you breathed on/petted a cat, and then someone else did right after you, that could be a transmission risk. But with stray cats, I think most people might just avoid them. I'm glad you are feeding the poor things. Good for you, Ivana.

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  11. What a gorgeous, Springy skirt! Love the shoes too! I have my bachelor's in microbiology so I'm super-impressed with the golden paramecium scarf. Too cool! Happy Easter weekend to you, L and Vizzini!! Enjoy your chocolate!

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    1. Thanks, Cheryene! Oh, how cool - glad to impress you (and glad I got the name right!). Happy Easter!

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  12. Of course every Friday is Fancy Friday! Linkup time! Haha. What a amazing skirt that is! And the blazer is so perfect with it! The outfit reminder me of Engeland, the country site, spring, mansion, flower garden! Do you get the picture! Love it!

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    1. You bet, Nancy! Thanks again for the link-up! It's such a pretty skirt - I love the pleats. Yes, I can see how it would remind you of English gardens! Thanks!

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  13. Oh Sheila, what a wonder of a skirt, I adore it. If BCBG Max Azria creates it, it can be nothing but perfect. You combined it so well with the top and the jacket (rotten that the sleeves don't fit properly as they are both perfect for the skirt). The shoes are gems and the accessories, as always, very well chosen. I rate this A+. 10 out of 10.
    Greetje

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    1. Isn't it lovely, Greetje? I just love the print and the pleats. Thank you so much! Wow, high praise!

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  14. Fabulous outfit! Love the pink and green accessories. Swooshy skirt and fab jacket. You matched the the cherry blossom which was so pretty. Vizzini is so cute. I hope he got an Easter treat, too?
    xxx

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    1. Thank you, Vronni! This outfit's going to be hard to top!

      Vizzini gets the same treats every day, nothing special for holidays. We don't spoil him, except with love.

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  15. Beautiful blossoms ! and it matches your skirt and jacket. Those are two amazing garments, the skirt I'd love to wear.

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    1. Thanks, Lorena! I wasn't sure about the skirt when I bought it, but I loved wearing it this time.

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  16. The colours in the skirt are so pretty - such a spring-y outfit!

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    1. Thanks so much, Shelley! I felt like the epitome of spring!

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