Two-Fer: Fancy Skirt Flashbacks

While I'm digging through all of my copious archives of photos, I am still getting dressed. This is what I wore to work on Wednesday. 

I've been wanting to wear this skirt again! Colour therapy! Clothing as armour!

• Cardigan - J. Crew, thrifted; last worn here many times in September 2019 for our trip to Portland
• Shirt - Ann Taylor, consignment; first seen here in May with my Big Lady Boss Pants
• Skirt - Maeve, thrifted; last worn here in January for some rainbow colour therapy
• Shoes - Zoomies Ishshoes, Fluevog; last seen here in August 2019 in a Darth Sheila ensemble

I went through a phase a few years ago when I desired big pouffy skirts, and this was one of my finds. We'll have a wee Flashback below on all the ways I've worn this skirt.

Today, a simple white shirt, bookended by white shoes.

I wore it with the cardigan for 99% of my day - it's chilly in the office.

My coworker Preeti (hi!) noted that my fine linen cardigan billowed behind me when I walked, like a cape. Bonus! Thanks for telling me!

This skirt gets an A - if it had pockets, it would be an A+.

The stuff:

I adore these shoes - I never thought a chunky white T-strap wedge shoe (with pointy toes!) would be useful in my wardrobe, but they've been surprisingly versatile. I'll do a Flashback on them at a future date, when I've worn them a bit more - I have only had them for a year or so.

Orange bling:

 Gobs of accessories! I started with the "Jello-shot" necklace and rolled with the gold.

• Belt - vintage, thrifted
• Necklace - Banana Republic, consignment
• Orange cuff/ring - 1960s, Italian, vintage mall
• Earrings - consignment
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• Gold/pearl bracelet - Trifari, vintage 60s, Grandma J
• Gold bracelet - Trifari, vintage 60s, thrifted

Flashback! 


This lovely skirt is one of the more distinctive pieces I own. I bought it here in November 2015, nearly 5 years ago, from the Patch for $16.95. It's by Maeve (an Anthropologie brand) and is called the "Pome Blossom Skirt" - it originally retailed for close to $200.00.

I'd seen it on a previous visit to the Patch and not purchased it, because it was a size 12 - I just assumed it would be too big. Finally, I tried it on, and it was a bit big, but not that much, so I bought it. I "took in" the waistband with two safety pins on either side - stay KLASSY, Sheila.

I wore it right away in November 2015, with an orange blouse, a cream brocade blazer and all copper accessories.

I still have that blazer! It's lasted for well over 5 and maybe even 10 years now - I'll have to do a Flashback on it in the fall.

Here it is a couple of months later, in January 2016, matchy with an orange turtleneck sweater, a denim jacket and orangey-red boots with blue tights.

The skirt itself is navy blue organza embroidered with bright orange flowers, which are embroidered! Seriously thick embroidery - it's really lovely. Under that outer layer is an attached crinoline with a stiff netting flounce, and then lining so that it doesn't snag or itch. There is a rear zip and a grosgrain ribbon waistband. No pockets, grrr.

Navy and orange can be a challenging pattern mix - I have often gone with a solid white or cream top, and then piled on the orange accessories. This is in July 2016 - the current outfit marks the first time with a sleeveless white shirt, but I've also done short sleeves (here) and full sleeves (below). I go through a white shirt about once a year.

I'm rather surprised that I've only worn my "Jello shot" necklace and orange belt with it twice before the current outfit.

My jelly-deer matches so well here in April 2017, and it inspired me to start mixing other colours with the skirt. Jelly-deer Flashback here.

Vibrant turquoise goes really well! Turquoise is a very useful go-to for me for mixing with other colours.

This is a sparkly navy blue sweater festooned with brooches, in July 2017.

Only the skirt and the brooches are left from this outfit.

My whale sweater made a fun pairing - this is in September 2019.

The Miista "trout" shoes have only been worn with the skirt once, which surprises me, as they go so well.

I experimented with other colours in November 2017.

Royal blue, emerald green lace, a bit of red - I really like how these work with the skirt and should experiment a bit more with other combos.

This February 2018 outfit features another white shirt, and my Earhart Big Presence Desmonds (Flashback here)

 A classic fit-and-flare look that everyone thought was a dress. It's not!

This is probably my least successful look with it, in April 2018 - hey, they can't all be winners.

That striped top did not work with the skirt (should have tucked it in), and the two turquoise items did not match (I got rid of the shrug, kept the shoes, of course).

Back to basics here with a simple cream sweater and red boots, in September 2018.

I gave the boots to Cat - they felt too high for me and gave me some foot pain.

I love this bright yellow with the skirt, worn in July 2019.

I only wore this skirt once in 2019, which is shocking! I must have packed it away for winter that year. Third time worn with these Fluevog aqua shoes, nicely balanced with the aqua leather obi belt.

And here's the last time I wore it, in January 2020.

It's paired with this darker turquoise, and then red accents with the shoes and belt.

Including today's outfit, that's 13 times I've worn it, which brings it to $1.30 per wear. I still have lots of things I can wear with it, so I expect that to get even better!

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After work, I dashed home to feed Vizzini, did a quick outfit change and then walked down to Moxie's to meet L and Mom for dinner. Mom always treats L to a birthday meal, and we'd missed it the week of his actual birthday. It was so good to see her and to have a nice meal out.

I hadn't planned on changing, but it had gotten so hot and sunny by the end of the day that I needed a looser outfit...hey, let's change up the bottom!

I ADORE this gorgeous skirt. Isn't it magnificent?

• Linen cardigan - J. Crew, worn above
• Shirt - Ann Taylor, consignment; worn above
• Skirt - A Tribute to Marimekko by H&M, thrifted; last seen here in August 2019 with turquoise and black
• Shoes - Mellow Bossa Nova, Fluevog; last worn here with a neon bookend in April

I haven't owned the skirt for very long (a couple of years), but it totally deserves a Flashback, right?

I opened up the neckline of the shirt, and put the same necklace under it. I wore it like this at the restaurant.

The skirt is very billowy and swooshy. It wafts like a parachute when the wind catches it.

 And it has pockets!

I broke out of my "wear it with black" rut with this outfit - this is definitely some major colour therapy!

 The linen cardigan again for sun coverage, worn for walking to and from.

The stuff:

These shoes are a true neon orange - the colour doesn't photograph well. They are super comfy, easy for the short walk to town and back.

Deja vu bling:

I did change a few things up - added a bracelet, subtracted a ring and a couple of bracelets. Bling math!

• Shiny orange cuff - thrifted
• Everything else - as above

Flashback! 

I bought this amazing skirt at the Patch (again!), which has been a source of some of my favourite thrift finds over the years. I hope they will be re-opening soon - there's nothing posted on their site or FB page.

The pattern is by Marimekko, licenced by H&M for their "Tribute to Marimekko" collection from Spring 2008. I guess it's practically vintage now! I spy all sorts of "rare" tags on eBay listings for pieces, so I guess the line was really popular. It wasn't initially that expensive - this skirt would have been around $50-60. I paid $19.99 for it here in June 2018, so I've had it for 2 years.

I first wore it for our Canada Day long weekend meet-up in July 2018, with a plain black sweater and sandals - so creative!

"Black is beautiful, Woman."

The fabric is cotton/silk, and it's washable. It is unlined - sometimes I wear slips under it (for work) and sometimes not (on hot days/weekends). The colours are pink outlined with a caramel brown, on an orange background with circles of an orangey-yellow.

My styling has not been overly creative with it - it's a very bold statement piece! - I've done black nearly every time, except for the current look and this turquoise ensemble for Pride in July 2018.

I wore this to work and my colleagues loved it. What other colour(s) might you try with it? Yellow?

Black and black again in September 2018.

I'm not opposed to black - I have quite a lot of it in my colourful wardrobe - as it allows me to change up my accessories and show them off. Here, I've done a bold gold necklace.

In July 2019, I wore it with more black, showing off a funky All Saints necklace.

So swooshy!

It's a size 4, so way too small for me to actually button it up (zip in the rear, with two self-covered buttons on a wide waistband). I usually solve this by not buttoning it up, zipping it to a comfortable waist, folding the waistband inside the skirt, and covering it with a belt or longer top.

It's not like I could NOT buy this - I mean, look at that pattern! I had to make it fit and you would never know that this isn't my size. This look is from August 2019 - I like the turquoise pops of colour, and the caramel/turquoise belt.

In addition to the current outfit, this is my 6th wearing of it, so my cost-per-wear is sitting at $3.33. Of course, this is not going anywhere, and I'll be wearing it a ton more over the coming years, I'm sure, so I expect that cost to go down.

How's your week going? BC just went to Phase 3 on our Covid re-opening plan, which allows for non-essential travel (the US-Canada border is still closed), and the re-opening of the film industry (we are "Hollywood North"), hotels/resorts and movie theatres (link here). We still have to maintain physical distancing of 2 meters/6 feet, and follow all safety protocols. "Bigger spaces, few faces."