Fall-ified Summer Clothes, Plus Tod's Flashback

My closet swap-over usually happens at the end of September, but I'm going to delay it till the long weekend in early October - it's a bit of a large project, and takes a full day...then, of course, I have to blog about it. 

And while I impatiently wait to get at my fall clothes - I am pining for autumn colours! - I'm "fall-ifying" some of my summer things.

• Kimono - no label, consignment; last worn here (3rd outfit) in August when I played badminton in it
• Sweater - Zara, gift from Rae; acquired here in August for free!
• Linen skirt - Andrea Jovine, thrifted; last seen here in July with leopard for lunch with Betty
• Shoes - Tod's, thrifted; last worn here with my first "at home" outfit of lockdown in March
• Leather trenchcoat - vintage 70s, thrifted; last seen here in March

Colours, layers and dark tights all work to fall-ify these items. 

This is the first wearing of this new-to-me mustard sweater - it's a nice fine knit (I have a cami under it), and this is a colour I love having in my closet. 

I'm always happy when I have something to go with this kimono, as the matchy colours are a bit tricky. It's not like you can throw on blue or pink with it! 

I will be packing away this brown wrap-style linen skirt because...it's linen! Way too cold for our damp west coast fall/winter. 

I typically also pack away this beaded silk devore (de-vor-AY! link here 'cause I love and didn't know this term until one of you dear readers used it) kimono too, along with the Darth Sheila duster. 

Mostly because they don't work well under coats, and then today it occurred to me...

Uh, duh, Sheila, you can always carry it to work and put it on again there! Gee, I'm so smart. That's what I did! 

The outfit without the kimono, which was removed whenever I went to the bathroom. I didn't want to risk ripping the beads off it or plunging it into the toilet. That's no fun. 

Masked up in my new leopard mask. 

Fall colour masks needed (my mom is reading - hi, Mom! hint, hint). Heh. 

I built this whole outfit around my new-to-me vintage scarf. 

See? It goes so well with my vintage leather 1970s trenchcoat, doesn't it? 

Too bad you can't see it at all! 

Maybe I need to wrap it around my head? I'll have to experiment more. 

• Silk scarf - vintage 70s, Pierre Cardin, thrifted here for $6.95

The stuff: 

I haven't worn these clompin' sandals for a while - we'll have a wee Flashback on them shortly. They have a platform, and are still quite high but I didn't walk around too much today. 

Yellow bling: 

Saying farewell as I will pack my yellow stuff up for the fall (I do an accessory swap-over too!), and am showing some of my POLY collection. 

• Cuff - thrifted
• Bakelite earrings - vintage 60s, vintage fair
• Necklace - POLY, thrifted
• Ring - POLY, vintage fair
• Bracelet - POLY, thrifted
• Wood ring - Dots

I looped the necklace around my neck twice to make it shorter. 

Flashback! Tod's Platform Sandals

I spotted these lovely sandals here in July 2015 at the Women In Need Boutique, where they were marked at $29.50 with "Replica" noted on the sticker. After much digging around online, I discovered that they are, in fact, authentic Tod's. Unfortunately, the links that I had included back in 2015 to prove it aren't working anymore, but at the time I was able to glean that they are from the Spring/Summer 2012 collection. 

When I do my online research, especially on a much-imitated brand, I search "how to tell if [X items] are fake" and then I start really examining the item. Everything I found about Tod's shoes indicated that they were real, from the nubby rubber soles, to the shape and style of the leather-wrapped heel (very characteristic of the 2012 collections), to the high-quality leather (everything but the soles are leather), to the stamped logo with the "Made in Italy" mark, to the lack of a "Tod's" stamp on the buckles...all signs pointed to authentic designer! 

Tod's are sold in Canada at Holt Renfrew - similar heeled shoes run between $850 to over $1,000 CAD, making these one of my thriftiest designer finds. Even on designer resale sites, these would go for well over $400. 

I wore them right away, in July 2015 with my Isola Marras dress - showing the back here so that you can see the heels. 

Woo, those are high! The front has a hidden platform up into the tan part, making these about a 3.5" heel, which is my limit these days. They are good for when I don't need to do much walking. 

I wore them again in August 2015. 

I think all I have left from this outfit is my copper jewelry. 

I wore them on my birthday in October 2015, with a suit that once belonged to Kim Cattrall. 

Yes, THAT Kim Cattrall! Yvonne is the current owner of this suit, as she is a bit taller than me, and it looks better on her. 

I like this boxy top and gold mini in February 2016.

I love the wine-purple tights with this look. I still have that skirt. 

I wore them with my Christian Lacroix mini-dress, and my best black and white accessory, Vizzini, in March 2016.

"I'm glad to be included."

I started feeling more comfortable with wearing sandals and tights around this time. Remember when that was "forbidden"??

I'm here to break rules, baby. 

I wore this awesome dress to Urbanite at the Victoria Art Gallery, also in March 2016. 

I like this classy outfit featuring one of my least-favourite colours: mint green. I can usually be persuaded to try almost any colour, though. 

As I did here in August 2016. 

This was my last wearing of my vintage bright green culottes - some of you long-time readers will remember my fondness for these! 

This was in September 2016. No regrets - they were rather shapeless, although super-comfortable. 

The two-tone tan suede and chocolate brown leather are a natural match for leopard - here in March 2017.

Repeating my top seen above, with a faux leather skirt that I bought on holiday in Florence, Italy (I passed it along - I dislike fake leather). It fooled me! I thought it was leather when I bought it. 

Same necklace here in December 2017.

My dragonscale skirt! I'm excited to see that again. Today's sweater will go well with it, as that brown sweater got eaten by moths.

With my fluffy top (now gone) and my wallpaper pants in February 2018. 

Such a fun look. 

You know I'm fond of the equestrian vibe, and I'm rockin' it in March 2018. 

That's another one of those perfectly symmetrical silk shirts - I saw it, noted the even pattern, and yes, I bought it. 

I gave away this snake-beaded shirt this year to Vero - it was too hard to get over my head, and I was afraid to rip it. They put so much thought into the wonderful colour and beading, but no thought at all into how easy it would be to get on/off. A big zip up the side would have been aces. 

This is from November 2018. I love the green matchy legs with the shoes, and they remind me that I have a new-to-me green blouse in my fall/winter stuff. Exeellent.

A mix of olives and other neutrals in March 2019. 

Although I love bright colours, I also like to go all-neutral sometimes. That jacket is a favourite.

This was my last outfit of 2019's spring/summer wardrobe, worn in September 2019. 

That skirt is now gone. I am fond of that cabbage rose print, though. 

And here is the last time I wore these shoes, in March 2020, on my first day home after the lockdown orders. 

March seems so long ago! This was the first of my self-care "dress up at home" looks (still doing them!) that have been a balm to my mental health over the past few months. 

Mathy stuff: From the original cost of $29.50, I've now worn these shoes 17 times. I'm at $1.74 per wear, which is ridiculously good. They have lots of wear still in them, so I'm looking forward to getting that cost-per-wear down even further.