Flowers, Sequins and Sunshine, and Second Chance Red Retrospective

Happy Wednesday, my friends! Great news for BC: we are heading for our first stage of loosening restrictions! If you're interested in our plan, it's here - I'm really proud that my province has succeeded in flattening the curve of infection, and as of mid-May, we'll be seeing reopening of service businesses and retail, albeit with safety measures in place. 

I feel like we will be observing many of those going forward, or for at least a long time in our future. I don't think things will ever be quite the same, but even so, it feels like the sunshine is breaking through the clouds. 

To celebrate, I wore two of my new-to-me items from yesterday's shop, as well as my shoes that I shopped from my giveaway pile.

• Jacket - Sarah Pacini, consignment; purchased here for $129.99
• Blouse - Hoss Intropia, consignment; purchased here for $59.99
• Skirt - Banana Republic, consignment; first worn here in February with Etro
• Shoes - Marc; last seen here in November 2019 when I had fits of rage

I love this top - it's so pretty! The flowers are enchanting.

It was very comfy to wear.

The back is so dramatic!

I wore it without the jacket for a few hours, but got chilly in the office later.

I amused myself by "writing" on my skirt.

 Hello, sunshine!

I ended up wearing my new-to-me jacket over it for most of the day.

 I rolled the sleeve cuffs and scrunched the arms up.

I like a jacket that looks just as good open as done up.

 I like how the sparkly, sequined flower centre peeks out of the top.

I only wore it done up when walking to and from the office.

 It's linen, it rumples. Eh, I'm fine with it.

The stuff:

Wow, I've worn these shoes A LOT since I bought them here in October 2013 for $110.00, at Heart & Sole Shoes, one of my favourite local shoe stores. I've worn them so much, I think they deserve a little something special...perhaps...a retrospective?


Chunky bling:

I've had most of these pieces for many years.

• Leather/steel cuff - Rimanchik
• Leather/chain wrap - local
• Wood ring - Dots
• Klimt wood ring - consignment
• Earrings - Tania Gleave, Vancouver

In fact, you might see some of them below...in all the times that I've worn these shoes! Get ready for a bunch of outfits - I've grouped them by how I've worn them.

As Accents x 9

Love this outfit.

Redder lipstick! What did I have against red lippy?

A red cami, and my red leather cuff.

 Did not like that top, and miss that skirt (the moths got it!).

I only wore this Oscar de la Renta blouse once.

It was way too Christmassy.

I wore it with this blouse a few times - it has red in the pattern.

I was sad to find that this belt broke when I unpacked it this year - the metal snapped.

I got this dress from Patti of Not Dead Yet Style here in Vancouver in 2015.

There's my red earrings - I got them on the same trip.

I miss this pleather skirt, but it was so cheaply made.

 I love purple and red together.

I actually wore a big red swing coat over this, but this is the outfit (minus the hat) that I wore to the office.

I went to a big Vintage Expo with the hat on.

I loved these vintage high-waisted velvet pants but they got a jam stain that not even the dry cleaner could get out.

The top snagged a lot.

The most recent look - hair changes! - with my Alexander McQueen trousers.

 I'm wearing the red earrings again, and I approve of this red lipstick.


With Plaid x 8

Red and tartan/plaid are such a natural combo.

These shoes and this skirt were worn together four times - the skirt ended up with holes in it, but I wore it a lot.

 The shoes definitely got worn a lot during the holiday season.

 Classic combo.

 My brief foray back into chokers. Nope.

I wore the shoes with this skirt twice.

I liked that skirt - the lining eventually ripped before I passed it along.

 One of my coworkers got this blouse.

I love this jacket - I should have kept it!

This is one of my favourite looks.

 So sassy!


With Another Solid Red Piece x 7 

Remember this skirt?

I think it's still in the giveaway pile...

I'm sure this was for Valentine's Day.

 I destroyed this red dress by catching a buttered potato in the skirt.

Not on purpose!

With red leather pants.

 And a cat.

This polka dot silk skirt reads as a solid red.

 This cardigan was orange, red and black, but the dominant colour is red.

 I mostly wore this jacket open or off entirely.

Gawd, those are boring trousers.


With Florals x 7

I seek out patterns that go with red - I have a lot of red shoes, not just these ones.

 Twice with the same coat, about 2 years apart.

I like the one with the bowtie better.

Pulling out colours from the pattern is an easy trick.

I bought that skirt in Rome.

A rare polo-neck on me (it's ultra-fuzzy angora).

There's that red cuff again.

This is a nearly identical outfit to the blue skirt at the top.

 With a floral dress.

 And with floral tights.

Adding all those up, that's 31 times I've worn these shoes, not including today's outfit. That's $3.46 per wear, and as good an argument as any to splurge on good quality shoes.

I had taken these shoes out of my closet after the last wearing, as they felt too high and gave me some foot pain. I didn't have any pain today, so they are staying! Hooray!