Houndstooth, Pink and Burgundy, and a Baroque Flashback

We are getting into that time of year when my Stair Pose starts getting wonky. I do my pictures in the morning before I leave for work at 8am, so I'm now dealing with lack of light.

It was still a bit dark out when I took this, but at least the stairwell lights had turned off. But, you've all been warned, so lower your expectations around these pics. Heh. 

• Mohair sweater - no label, thrifted; last seen here in February with blue and houndstooth
• Tux silk blouse - no label, thrifted; last worn here with gold and cream brocade in December 2019
• Skirt - Wilfred, consignment; purchased here for $30.40
• Boots - Baroque Velasquez, Fluevog; last seen here in February with floral and a leather vest
• Coat (below) - Auckie Sanft, vintage 60s, vintage fair; last seen here (3rd outfit) a few weeks ago

I always like to wear my new-to-me items right away, so this houndstooth skirt is on deck. I know it doesn't look like houndstooth - it looks grey. Don't get me started on Patterns That Don't Photograph Well. 

I knew I wanted to wear boots with it, and I've been eyeing this pair that's been showing up in Flashbacks. 

Burgundy boots meant I'd need a burgundy top - although you can barely see it here under my pink sweater (just collar and cuffs), I'm wearing a silk stretch blouse with ruffles down the centre front 

I love the thin pink mohair sweater - it's excellent for layering, and thin enough to go over blouses or under dresses (like a slip dress, for example). 

The skirt was fine - it's "cake" instead of my usual "icing". I left the tie belt on it for its inaugural wear, but I think a swanky belt would be more interesting. Next time! 

Masked up - this is one of the first masks I bought from Lazy Susan's. 

My black-and-white-mask-that-looks-grey goes with my black-and-white-skirt-that-looks-grey. 

Outerwear - we had a storm warning this morning and lots of parts of lower Vancouver Island were without power today. I'm happy to not have been affected. 

The Fuzzy Flamingo was the perfect weight (and pinkness!) for wind and rain. 

I actually wore the silk scarf tied around my head with the fur toque over that to keep my hair dry this morning. It totally worked! 

I wore it like this on the walk home - there were streaks of pink in the sky as the sun set, same colour as my coat. 

• Fur toque/leather gloves - Danier
• Silk scarf - vintage, thrifted

The stuff: 

These boots are amazing, aren't they? We'll have a Flashback on them shortly. 

Simple bling: 

I am glad I wore the necklace - the sweater needed something in the middle. 

• Necklace - Dots
• Onyx/silver ring - Toccara, vintage fair
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Earrings - Glee

Flashback - Baroque Velazquez Fluevog Boots

L and I have been buying each other Fluevogs for close to 20 years. We go to Vancouver for a few days every March for our anniversary and visit the Fluevog store, and pick out a pair (or two) for the other to buy us. 

I got these amazing boots at the same time as my Prepare Guides in turquoise (Flashback here), in March 2012 (post here). While L was not thrilled to buy me the Guides (he hates them), he was very happy to buy me these beauties. They are called the Velazquez and they are from the Baroque Family (characterized by that groovy flared heel). 

The toe/heel and the leather strip up the back of the calf are a dark burgundy with some of the finish deliberately rubbed off to reveal a lighter wine underneath. 

The main part of the boots and the ruffles on the vamp and at the top of the laces are made from a very soft suede, which is embossed on the shaft of the boot. They are adjustable up the front with the laces, but have full zips up the inside.

This was the last pair in the Gastown store, and they were on clearance (I am pretty sure they were $199.99 on final markdowns), and I was drooling over them, but they were not my size. I'm usually between a 9 and 9.5 (around a 40 in European sizing), and these were marked 8.5. However, I have bought Fluevogs in 9, 9.5, 10 and 11, so I thought, "If I don't at least try them on, I'll just kick myself after." 

Lucky me! They fit with lots of room! Here I am posing during our visit to Vancouver in March 2012. 

I may have worn them out to dinner that night, so I'm counting this as a wearing. There are those same pink tights that I wore this past weekend! 

I was just 2 months into my massive 30 For 30 for 12 Challenge at the time and was just dying to wear them, so I snuck them in as the "Wildcard" (free monthly outfit) a couple of times that year. 

This was one of three Steampunk outfits I wore to the Victoria Steampunk Expo in April 2014. I've hiked up my skirt here because it's a floor-length one. So Klassy! I wore this to the grocery store! 

This is the other Wildcard outfit, in November 2011. 

Such a fun outfit! That dress was Flashbacked here. 

The boots were included in my December 2012 Wardrobe Capsule, during which I wore them four times. 

The only thing left from this outfit is the black stomacher piece. I also discovered that the boots are more pink/burgundy than red. 

I was really into Steampunk in 2012. Lots of vests, ruffles, layers. 

I don't even remember which black skirt that is. I've had a lot of black skirts over the years! 

Still in December 2012 - I wore that strapless dress for ages, always with a blouse under it. I still have that brooch and that glass beaded belt. 

It's the same dress I'm wearing in the illustration framed behind my head (by Megan Mae!) in all these pictures. 

This is one of the few times I wore these boots with a colour palette that didn't have any red or burgundy in it. The shirt is teal (I also have teal tights on) and the obi has blue, turquoise and magenta.

We're still in December 2012, and that's the same grey strapless dress. I still have that Smoking Lily obi.

I bought this ship-patterned dress (aka Holy Ship!) from a Smoking Lily sample sale - I later gave it to coworker Fiona. 

I still have that leather obi and the red slip that's peeking out at the hem. This was in February 2013 and that is some...interesting layering. 

I quite like this all-pink/wine outfit from October 2013. 

The velvet blazer is now long-gone, as is the Smoking Lily cape (worn as a skirt). 

I still have this grey wool bustier top - I adore the crystal buttons down the front - and should wear it again one of these days. This outfit is from December 2013. 

That plaid skirt was lovely, but got eaten by moths (it was vintage and started out life with me already hole-y). 

There are more Stair Pictures for the boot Flashback than the "regular" indoor pictures, as I usually wear them in fall/winter and the lighting indoors was too dark for my old camera. Lighting is always an issue, sigh. 

This is a pretty outfit, although fairly simple. I still have the belt and buckle and the Myka jewelry set. This is from November 2014. 

I really love this wacky Victorian punk-ish outfit from October 2015. It stuck with me for a long time - I felt so totally ME in it. 

I remembered this look and did a variation on it 4 years later. I still have that leather skirt, and that corset-y type top.

I am a sucker for ruffle-fronted blouses and this was a lovely silk Ralph Lauren one. Look at all those ruffles!

I layered it under this dark brown bubble-hem velvet dress (I still have it!) in December 2016. 

I paired it with the boots again here in March 2017. 

Unfortunately, during the day (and evening at Book Club), I kept pulling the blouse's sleeves down as they rode up under the cardigan, and ended up ripping the cuffs off! Very sad-making! All I have left from this outfit is the cardigan and the necklace, but aren't these great colours? 

I love this outfit from October 2017 - I wore this out for dinner with my friend Tammy for my 50th birthday. 

We saw that skirt in Flashback here.

This is the same brown velvet dress as above, worn again in January 2019. 

That's today's silk tux blouse. I need to wear that dress again! 

And here's that corset top revisited in March 2019, with a different Victorian-style blouse and skirt. 

I still have all of those pieces. 

Here's the last outfit I wore with these boots, in February 2020. I'd just picked up this floral blouse in Powell River, thinking it would replace my ruined Ralph blouse (above). 

It wasn't anywhere near as nice, so I've since let it go. We saw that vest in Flashback here.

Mathy stuff: I have worn these boots 20 times in the past 8-9 years, which is not very much, but they are quite difficult to style (ruffles, colour, steampunk look). They are also somewhat fragile, so they are not an everyday boot. Still, that is a decent $10.00 per wear - nothing to sneeze at! 

Do you have a favourite from these outfits? What would you like to see again? 

Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Brunch, Shop and Buffy Dress Flasbhback; Cat Vs. Christmas - Decorations Appear

 Hello, my friends! This is a big, fat, juicy post full of pictures, so grab a blanket and a nice hot cup of something and settle in. 

We'll start with Saturday's brunch outfit, which features one of my Desert Island closet treasures: my leather "Buffy" dress. 

It's a long-time favourite, and we'll be having a Flashback on it in a bit. As you can see, we had a lovely sunny day. 

• Top - Topsy, vintage 90s, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in May for Book Club in the park
• Dress - Danier, vintage 90s, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) for shopping in December 2019
• Shoes - Miista; last seen here in July with extra-wide trousers
• Coat (below) - Pioneer Wear, vintage 80s, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in August

Something about the weather fuzzed out my hair - it got bigger over the day!

L and I strolled down to Pluto's, then he met up with Nick for a distanced walk while I popped into the Velvet Crease for a quick browse. 

I knew I wanted to wear this dress today - I usually wear it casually or for shopping, as it's an easy piece to get off and on. 

I have a stash of thin tops for wearing under all my 90s/00s slip and tank dresses - I've done this combo before, but the sunshine inspired me to wear some brights. 

Since there's pink in the floral pattern of the top, I went with my pink tights (which are 10 years old!). 

Outerwear - You know what this outfit needs? More colour! 

This heavy, thick suede jacket is not especially warm, but on a crisp autumn day it was just right. 

Bundled up with my furry Muppet scarf and wool-lined leather gloves. 

• Scarf - thrifted
• Gloves - consignment

Mental health check - how are we feeling? 

Answer: Fringe-tastic! 

Oops, nearly forgot my mask. This is one I got at Mangos. 

"I thought you said 'Look awesome'."

I told L to look impatient and grumpy, which is what he was! 

• Purse - Danier, thrifted

The stuff: 

The perfect combination of colour, style and function. No wonder I wear these a ton. 

Bold bling: 

Simple pieces. 

• Earrings - vintage fair
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall

I kept my outfit on for our Winesday/MANday Zoom Happy Hour that evening. 

I miss my friends so much. It was good to see their dear faces.

I found a few things at the Velvet Crease, including this excellent workout top on their $15.00 clearance rack. 

I have a small collection of workout clothes (worn ONLY for working out), and they are all grey, black, turquoise, white or pink. That way, everything goes together - I like to be coordinated! 

The back - it has a loose hood with a pony-tail vent, and a back zippered compartment (which I love). 

The arms also have thumb-holes - I like that too. I spy the Lululemon logo near the zipper! A top similar to this would retail new for around $108.00. 

Since I was hit with Giveaway Regret during a recent Flashback over my Monster Vest (last seen here in January 2019) which I gave to my niece Sidney (a good cause, I don't regret that), I've been on the lookout for a replacement Monster Vest. 

I'd seen this one on a previous visit, but this time around it was on half price for $24.00, so I went for it. 

It's by Kensie. I put it on for the Zoom call - it was nice and warm! 

I also went for this skirt, which was 20% off, ending up at $30.40. 

I like the high waist and tie belt (which I'll likely remove/use in another way), the front slit and the midi length. 

It is NOT grey, but actually a fine black and white houndstooth. 

It has two big hip pockets - note the nice double stitching at the bottom of the pocket, and that the belt has been seamed multiple times to lay flat. 

It's by Wilfred, an Aritzia brand.

It's fully-lined and has nice seams finishes too. It felt like very good quality, although the fabric is just synthetic. 

Some kitty shenanigans (I took a lot of cat pictures, you've been warned) from Friday night. L and I played board games - he wore his Miami Dolphins Mexican serape and one of my Santa hats to keep warm.

"Hee hee hee..."

Who is under the pillow, L? 

Is there a kitty in there? 

"The Man will never find me!"

Mr. Big Eyes is ready to attack! 

"Curses, I've been found!"

He scampered away to find a new way to pester us.

Flashback: Danier Leather "Buffy" Slip Dress

I found this dress in Flavour Upstairs way back in December 2012 (here) for $22.99. It immediately reminded me of the slip dresses that everyone wore in 1995-9, as typified on the TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." It's been the Buffy dress for me ever since. 

It's butter soft leather and was made in Canada. I'm sure it was well over $200 new. 

See if you can guess how many times I've worn this 8-year-old dress! 

I wore it three times in my final month of my 30 For 30 For 12 Challenge in January 2013. 

Here, I have matched the silk scarf with purple tights, a green long-sleeved tee and an olive green jacket. 

I nearly always wear a tee, a blouse or a thin sweater under it (as here in January 2013), just like we wore slip dresses the first time 'round in the 90s. 

When you see a relatively subdued outfit like this, I was probably wearing a fancier coat (like my red leather one, in this case). 

One of the few times I wore this dress to work, here also in January 2013. 

I need to do this shirt/tie/jacket combo with it again - I really like this look! These specific items are all long-gone. 

One of my few summer looks, in July 2013. I've only ever worn it in my fall/winter season since then. 

Showing off that stunning jacket that I had for many years - Vizzini eventually licked it to death, fuzzing out the hem. 

Another casual look, copying the one above, in November 2013. 

I let go of those boots (they were too stiff), but I still have that tee - I play Ulti in it. 

When L and I travel, we travel very light. I wore the leather dress to Vancouver for our annual Anniversary Jaunt in March 2014 and did three different outfits with it. 

This was my travel/shopping outfit. We'll do a Flashback on these boots at some point. 

The next day's shopping outfit. 

Photos in our hotel room, courtesy of L. 

And my dinner outfit (worn both nights). 

Three outfits in two days! That extra hem is a sheer blue netting underskirt.

Another casual outfit in November 2014. 

Those are my old suede over-the-knee boots - I gave them away to my coworker Holly as they never stayed up. I wore that striped cotton/cashmere top to death in my "house wardrobe". 

There are the same boots in December 2014 - same necklace too. 

I still have that blouse! It'll be a good Flashback. 

Casual/shopping in January 2015. 

I wear that tee to layer at home now; I still have the studded tights and the boots. 

This is one and only time I ever wore the dress without something under it - I wore this to our friend Zeb's housewarming party in March 2015. I was SO much dressier than anyone else there, but what the heck? 

When else am I going to wear my Tentacle coat, the Buffy dress and my 6-inch platform Fluevog boots? I look badass there! 

Back to my usual silliness - this outfit is from November 2015. 

I adore the lace around the neck, but that blouse split at the seams (very poorly made).

A simple shopping outfit again in December 2015.

Those boots are now for trips to take out the garbage and recycling. 

A funky work outfit, also from December 2015.

We saw those shoes in Flashback here.

Shirt + tights + funky shoe = outfit. This dress doesn't need much. 

This outfit is from March 2016. I still need to wear those grey wooly boots. 

Another shopping outfit, also from March 2016. We saw those shoes in Flashback here. 

"You sure went shopping a lot."

I miss that, but I also like the time at home now. 

An all-grey mix from November 2016. 

I wore that cardigan at home until it fell apart. 

I love this crazy outfit from January 2017. 

I remember that it shocked my coworkers! I still have those tights and the Jell-O shot necklace. The shoes ended up hurting my feet and that sweater is just a giant chicken (I went through a brief phase of these).

The first appearance of my OTK black leather boots (Flashback here) with this dress in October 2017.

The blouse is long gone.

Another funky jacket makes an appearance here in January 2018. 

We saw the pink shoes in Flashback here, and that amazing long jacket is due one soon. 

I wore this to my mom's for Thanksgiving in October 2018.

I do like to surprise my nieces! I still have that sweater, and will get to it at some point. 

Another travel inclusion, for our December 2018 trip to Powell River for Christmas. 

I wore the same outfit for our drive/ferry/first day and evening, then two days later to come home again. 

This is a shopping outfit from March 2019. 

I still have all these pieces. 

Here's the same top as the current one, worn with the dress in October 2019. 

My Ash boots are on, so I must be going shopping again! 

And here is the last time I wore my Buffy dress, dressed up an elf in December 2019. 

I love this seasonal look - so fun! 

Mathy stuff: If you guessed 27 times worn, you win my undying admiration! I'm down to 85 cents per wear, and the dress is going nowhere!

Did you have a favourite outfit? 

Christmas Decorating! 

You might want to refresh your beverage - I am! 

L and I worked together on the ornaments, unpacking all of the bags that had been living on the deck since the cleaners were in on Thursday. Usually, I do this alone, but I wanted L to feel cheery and involved so he unpacked with me. 

We only had 3 hours between both of us getting home in the afternoon and our Zoom call, so we had to get it all done and in a state where we could leave it while we were on the call. It was a massive job. 

All of my ornaments laid out on our coffee table...plus two more tables, and a stool - I also moved some things to other areas of the living room. We finished both of the trees, and the garland around the TV, but I could not possibly photograph every ornament and knick-knack (as I'd envisioned) as it would have taken even longer. 

So, today we're just going to look at the garland around the TV, which we decorated with all the ornaments that are specific to me and L - most of these relate to us individually and several of them were gifts or purchased as mementoes. 

I took these pictures while L was watching football, as you can see. 

I've added gold snowflake garland around the lit pine garland. 

The left side - two of the nutcrackers have been moved over here, including my "good" nutcracker:

He was $42.00; the little Nutcracker book was $6.95 and the top hat (which is a decoration with a hanger, and also a box that opens up) was $9.95. My brain still remembers this, 25+ years later. 

This nutcracker is also from GDR. 

I do have the original boxes for most of my decorations. 

The right side has Jacqueline's angel. 

And the mystery nutcracker on the bottom shelf.

Kitty interlude!

Vizzini likes to sit on the bottom shelf of our scotch bar and stare at me in the reflection of the cabinet. He was at it again last night.

"GIVE THE CAT HIS TREATS."

See me in the reflection? I have never known a cat who "gets" reflections like that! 

Of course, he's just cruising for food. 

"Oh, are you up? How about some treats?"

Prior to pulling out all the ornaments, Vizzini has been getting used to the trees with just lights on them. 

"It's cool if I sleep here, right?"

He chewed on a couple of the branches until he satisfied himself that they were indeed not edible. 

"Because I plan to keep sleeping here, if you get out of my face, Woman."

Ahem! Back to the personal ornaments. My hand is in some of these for scale, FYI. 

This one is from Nick and Karen - it's "The Duke", John Wayne. L and I have always admired the picture of The Duke in their bathroom, and this reminded us of Karen. 

We have to represent our cats - these two were bought for our all-black cat, Othello, who we lost in 2010. 

He is hanging from a fishbowl that has a dangly fish inside. 

This one is hanging from some mistletoe. 

Hee hee, that face! 

I love these sweater ornaments - the hangers are shaped like coat hangers. 

They are made of resin and are 360 degrees, so they look the same on both sides. 

I'm sure these were around $11.95 each. 

I love the detail and texture. 

This is a bigger sweater ornament - it actually goes with another set of ornaments that are on the big tree. 

The detail is so good. I would love a real sweater that looks like this! 

I bought this one for L when I met him - his drink is rum and Coke. 

It's a glass bottle and has real Coke inside. 

L and I bought this ornament on our trip to Scotland before we got engaged. 

We found it in a tourist shop on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. 

I used to personalize ornaments I sold at the store for people free of charge, so I also wrote on some of my own ornaments. 

Honest to gawd, I have no idea who gave L these ornaments. 

But he does love the band KISS, and those are a sweet pair of dragon KISS boots! Rock and roll! 

This nutcracker ornament is made of paper. 

It has a really nice heartfelt handwritten note on the back from L's old boss. Aw!

I have two porcelain ornaments of black cats (also bought for Othello).

I love the "bun position" of this tiny one. 

It's another Jacqueline piece. 

As is this one. 

A very cat-like pose. 

And also marked. 

We have two of these tartan/ribbon pinecones. 

I am not sure where they came from. 

Did I find this Boston Bruins jersey ornament for L? 

Did my mom? I have no clue. 

We also have a Joe Thornton figure (he used to have a stand). 

Just wrap a bit of garland around his leg and lean him up against the turntable and we're good. 

Another little kitty ornament - this one was for Inigo (who we lost in 2011). 

It's made of three pieces of wood and the wee bell jingles. I need to find a Vizzini ornament! 

This stuffed felt/braid ornament is William Shakespeare, bought at the Globe Theatre gift shop in London, before we went to see "Macbeth" (here).

I like picking up ornaments when we travel - well, I used to! If I'm going to make this decorating thing annual again, I should get back into that habit.

A little acrylic crystal dolphin. 

For the Miami Dolphins, of course! 

We actually have a Dan Marino ornament - it's a Hallmark one from way back. 

Go long, Dan! 

We also have a Santa riding a football, which is kind of silly. 

That looks like a CFL ball, not an NFL one. 

No idea where this ornament came from, but it has L's name on it. 

There isn't one with MY name on it! What trickery is this? 

I bought this for L and I for our first Christmas together, which would have been in 1995, 25 years ago! It's by Enesco and these are highly collectible (they are still in the $50+ range, second-hand). 

It's two little mice having a bubble bath in a silver ladle and toasting each other. 

So very us...although the whole bubble bath together thing...NO. Not us.

I have a ton of shopping/fashion ornaments that people have bought for me over the years. 

This little purse is only 1.5 inches big. I approve of the zebra print. 

It's a set with this black evening gown. 

And this festive red lipstick. 

This shopping cat lady has done well. 

I'm dying for that coat! 

I have a few random shoe ornaments. 

This is a very 70s or 70s-does-90s sandal.

It's from the Stepping Out line, is the "Riviera" shoe, and is from 2002 by Raine. 

This is a teeny little champagne bucket. 

I remember these sold for $1.99. 

I would love an actual purse like this. 

It's about 3" big and it's very SPARKLY. 

My dear friend Jen gave me this. 

Aw! She's pretty amazing herself. 

Another shoe, this one with a dazzling glitter heel.

That ankle strap is something! 

I bought this ornament in New York. 

It's a model of Grand Central Station. I picked this up in 2007 when Mom and I went to New York City together. 

It was actually made in NYC, by Richard and Harold of Hut Studios. From their FB page (here), they retired and closed in 2019. 

Another big glittery purse. 

Red with silver sparkly flowers and a beaded handle. 

I think my ex-sister-in-law Cindy made these for L and I...

L's has a Christmas tree; mine has a Santa face on the back. 

Someone gave me a blown glass single malt scotch ornament. 

It's like they know me. Heh.

Another shoe - I like the sparkly green. 

Why hasn't Fluevog made shoe ornaments? I'd buy them all! 

This metal hinged ornament speaks of my love of shopping. 

Also, how good my boobs look in sweaters! Ha! 

L and I bought this ornament in NYC in 2003. 

I bought it at the Guggenheim Museaum, in the gift shop. 

I wrote on this one too. 

This "tall tale" fisherman is L's. 

Not because he fishes, but it reminds us of someone we used to be acquainted with. 

Another shoe one, and this is probably the strangest. 

Your ordinary white and red polka dot shoe stuffed with a bundle of aggressive holly. 

But wait, what's that on the heel? 

AHHHH!! It's a face and the heel is feet! Run away! 

I think this fashionable lady is from Mom. 

I need to white out that sign and fix it - it irks me that I ran out of room for "therefore". I can't abide a spelling error. 

Let's admire this zippy outfit, however. 

The matching pants/beret are an interesting choice, but I love it! She's indulging in some colour therapy along with her retail therapy.

There's the other pinecone. 

And last, but not least, I have two Caroline Panthers glass balls. 

Again, not sure where they came from. 

Here is our main tree, all decorated. 

Oooh! Sparkly! I'll be doing photos and detailed reviews of the ornaments on this tree over the next several weeks, along with all the other areas that we haven't finished yet (like the village). It's going to probably take right up till Christmas! 

We mulled it over and decided to continue doing this tree as our Star Wars/Star Trek tree. 

I had some quilting batting (an unsuccessful attempt at snow for the village one year), so I wrapped it around the tree stand to hide it. 

I'm happy to report that Vizzini has been VERY good - so far! - with the trees and other decorations. 

"Are all these for me??"

Training a cat to leave something alone means not reacting when he does something we don't like; no yelling, no banging, no giving attention to the "bad" behaviour. Instead, we distract him with a brush or a short play session. 

"Uh-oh, the Woman's spotted me!"  

I found a couple of metal icicles on the floor, but didn't make a fuss, just anchored them back on the tree. 

We let him get used to all the smells - he needs to sniff everything. 

"And you're really going to leave me alone in the house with these?"

I'm a little nervous about tomorrow, with both of us back at work, but I think he will be fine. Fingers crossed! 

Phew! That was a lot! Thank you for reading - I hope you enjoyed all the pictures!