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?