Off-Colourful Armour and a Major Turquoise Flashback

Hello, my friends! I've had a lovely mini-break in the middle of my work week for Canada Day, and it's time to get caught up. 

Here's what I wore on Monday to the office. 

I saw just my boss all day, but I armoured up anyway.

• Blazer - Tahari, thrifted; first seen here in May 2019 with my metal dress
• Sweater - Banana Republic, thrifted; last worn here in May for my first mid-pandemic shopping trip
• Skirt - Vanessa Virginia, thrifted; purchased here for $5.00 (after gift certificate)
• Shoes - Prepare Guide, Fluevog; last seen here in May with royal blue

I wore the outfit jacket-less for most of the day.

"I'm not in the mood for pictures."

I'm very annoyed that the colours in this skirt blend into a bit of a muddy mess in pictures. I swear, everything I'm wearing DOES match the skirt, nearly exactly! Pic of the fabric here.

However, I did love wearing this skirt all day - it has slits on the side seams for walking. It was very comfortable, and had a nice weight to it.

My sweater and shoes are also a better match in real life.

I hate when my colours are off.

"Really, I don't want to."

I felt great in this regardless, as it was nice and bright in person.

The lovely lady at the drugstore and I always check each other out - she approved.

This blazer is so lovely - I need to wear it more.

"Nevermind me, Woman. Look away."

This is only the second time I've worn it, but I'm at $2.49 per wear already.

The stuff:

The last time I wore these, I noted that I'd worn them "over 40 times" - well, we shall see about that, as I have a Major Flashback on them below. We are going back in time, to the distant past of...2012.

Silver and turquoise bling:

I wore two of Karen's pieces: the pendant and the ring with the red stones on the side. I held her close. 

• Steel cuff - thrifted
• Silver hinged cuff - thrifted, Powell River
• Pendant - Karen's
• Silver/turquoise ring - Taxco, Mexico, Karen's
• Turquoise ring - local
• Earrings - Mango's

Okay, grab a cup of tea, and settle in, we have a whole lot of outfits to check out. 

L bought these Prepare Guides for me from the Gastown Fluevog store in March 2012 during our anniversary trip to Vancouver (here). He's hated them from the beginning - he's a classic pointy-toed pump guy - but when I tried them on, I was absolutely in love with them. 

I am well aware that they are not everyone's cup of tea - you either love them or hate them - but I hope you enjoy this little jaunt through the past 8 years.

Modelling them in my awesome Desigual dress in the hotel - I wore this outfit out for dinner one night while we were in Vancouver. 

I still have those pink tights!

I held off wearing them again until May 2012, as I was in the middle of my 30 For 30 For 12 Challenge (I did 12 x 30-item clothing capsules over the course of a year - it was insane - you can read about it in the "About Me" tab here, midway down).

I do not have anything in this outfit other than the shoes now. I see I've got red hair with a blonde streak (it was turquoise for about 4 days), and those are two pairs of glasses ago.

These shoes were actually part of my May 2012 capsule, so I wore them multiple times.

With my "lettuce" dress (still have it!).

With an old Smoking Lily dress.

I had a turquoise leather wrist-wrap by Shi Studios that I wore a lot with these shoes for many years.

I also made them work with outfits by matching them to my turquoise cami (still have it).

And with my Smoking Lily silk obi which has bits of turquoise in the print. I still have that too.

I like this Desigual dress, but I didn't wear it much.

This black skirt was one of those cheap-ass Desigual pieces that are black on the back.

None of these items are still in my wardrobe.

I gave this green dress to my coworker, Fiona. It's another Smoking Lily - I went through quite a phase with their stuff for a while.

Thus ends my outfits in May 2012!

I wore this outfit to the Art Gallery in February 2013 - and I have blonde hair!

That dress is in the giveaway pile - it's a vintage 80s one. I'm tempted to dig it out...

I still have this leather dress and belt, worn in March 2013. I think I still have those tights too!

"Who's out there?"

And I still have that annoying cat, ha ha. I see I have my new purple glasses here.

I had blonde hair for about 2 months - I'm tickled that these shoes hit that window three times. I had one bad colour episode, and went back to red again.

Again at the end of April 2013. This outfit was one of my favourites for a long time.

I started to seek out turquoise accessories - that's what happens when you get a colourful pair of shoes! This is in April 2013.

That's my Smoking Lily Periodic Table of Awesome that I had for several years (it was downgraded to house-wear), until it wore out. The skirt is a vintage wool Jones New York that I gave away about 3 years ago. 

This is another Smoking Lily dress that my dear Caro now has. 

I wore these shoes twice with it - this is in May 2013.

This Smoking Lily jacket also went to Caro.

I still have the brooch, and the floofy underskirt. This was in June 2013.

Another wearing with this dress, in July 2013.

I have worn these shoes a lot on weekends - this is a brunch outfit - as I can walk/shop in them. They are one of the most comfy pairs of shoes that I own.

This is an easy outfit from September 2013.

"Are there cookies in here?"

I wore that turquoise belt so much, it broke.

I matched the shoes to this big ceramic ball necklace in January 2014.

I had that fruital blouse for ages!

I still have all these accessories from February 2014.

It's taken me 10+ years to figure out that tops like this don't suit me. And yet I keep buying them...

I like this look from May 2014.

I haven't worn that full-length leather skirt in a while - it's been worn to Winesday more than once. 

I switched to a new hairdresser around this time (which is July 2014) - check out my swoopy hair! My blonde streak is back too.

I still have that belt, but I don't wear it very often. It's very 80s. This silk dress was worn to death.

I discovered how nice yellow and turquoise go together, again in July 2014.

"I'm on the lookout."

I added 5 brooches to the neckline of the dress - I still think that looks really cool.

I gave this silk kimono to a reader! It wasn't quite me. I had that chartreuse cotton/gold Noa Noa skirt for years.

This was my third wearing of these shoes in July 2014.

This was the only wearing of this bizarre dress, in August 2014.

I'll try anything once! Including crazy hair!

I started packing away the shoes for the winter this year, because I didn't wear them again until April 2015.

I still have that dress (and tights!), which I bought in Florence, Italy.

You'll recognize this vintage dress in May 2015 - I still have it.

I could do this entire outfit now, five years later!

I really loved how this striped dress looks, but the quality was crap and it pilled like mad. This was in July 2015 and I've gone purple!

I do like the mix of turquoise and yellow accessories with black and white - I will have to do that again.

I love a nice jammy dress - this was a Tahari one, worn in August 2015.

It was a beautiful dress, but I got tired of it.

Here's a pretty outfit in May 2015.

I liked this dress, but it feels a little too girly for me now. I still have the obi, and I see I have some of my current jewelry (earrings/ring).

I did a little mini-challenge in May 2016 to inspire me to mix and match different pieces. These shoes were one of the few pairs I limited myself to.

I like this look, but the dress-pants thing isn't really me, although I've tried it a lot! I still have that Escada tie.

I went through a sheer lace top phase that spring. This is May 2016 again.

 That was one of my go-to maxi skirts for a while.

Must be Star Wars Day, May 4, 2016!

I'm wearing L's Darth Vader tie - I bought it for him in 1995!

Another jammy dress (I've gone through a lot of them over the years), this one with a "boob window".

This was in July 2016.

Ugh, what is this dress doing? No, no, no. I'm sure this was my one and only wearing of it.

But dang, those shoes look great, ha ha!

I have always liked a little bit of pattern-mixing.

This is in September 2016. I wore that jungle print bomber jacket to death. The skirt is a very delicate silk vintage Pierre Cardin, which I still have.

A six-month jump, and here we are in April 2017.

You've seen this outfit a couple of times, once with the Jelly-Deer Flashback (here) and once with the skirt Flashback (here).

Again, with the jelly-deer in May 2017, and now I have my turquoise glasses.

I only wore that skirt a few times, but I didn't pay much for it.

You'll remember this outfit from the Desigual dress Flashback (here), also from May 2017.

The turquoise leather obi replaces my thin turquoise belt from years past.

I keep this dress for wearing to the Ulti field, as I did here in June 2017.

This pandemic has kept me from wearing it so far this year, but I'll get to it - it's a good hot weather dress.

We recall this outfit from the skirt Flashback from April 2018.

I feel more kindly disposed towards it today.

The one and only wearing of this Dries Van Noten top/tunic thing, in July 2018.

It was hugely difficult to style. Gone!

I adore this outfit from July 2018, which I wore for Pride Week - I did a Flashback on this skirt here.

I like how the turquoise pops with those bright colours.

That non-flattering blouse shape returns in September 2018. I do like a turquoise/teal top, but I just haven't found the right one.

I still get a lot of wear out of this skirt in summer.

On a hot day in May 2019.

This Diane Von Furstenberg dress felt too skimpy, so I gave it away.

I wore these shoes all day in June 2019 for the Day of Indolence for L's birthday.

I like the black and white and the cobalt blue, with turquoise for all the accessories. These shoes have a hidden platform, giving me 1.5" of height - that comes in handy with long pants and maxi skirts.

I did give up on this shrug after a couple of years, worn here in July 2019.

"I'm having deja vu."

It never was quite the right shade of turquoise. Too much green in it.

Funkify-ing up a green lame (lah-MAY, darlings!) skirt in August 2019.

We're in my current wardrobe here. I still have all this stuff.

Same here - I'll haul this coat out in the fall for more wear. This is from September 2019.

I wore this out for brunch, walking all over town.

And here we are in 2020! I wore this for an "at home" outfit in April.

So many good colours.

And the last wearing in May 2020.

Predictable blue matchy accessories!

So, including the current outfit, this is the 50th time wearing these shoes! They were $339.00 new in 2012, so that is $6.78 per wear! Wow, I've impressed myself. It pays to spend a bit more on really good quality shoes that will stand the test of time (8 years and counting!) and are also comfortable.

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Vizzini finally acquiesced to being picked up and having a quick cuddle.

"I accept your lovin', Woman."

I see the weekend in sight!