Plaid Sweater, Tulle and a Teal T-Strap Flashback

Yet another plaid item from me, but I'm all out of plaid dresses, so it's a sweater this time. How exciting.

I played around with it in my closet last night, holding it up to various skirts and trousers to see how it went, wondering what colour to put with it. 

• Sweater - Marc Jacobs, gift from Rae-Anne; received here
• Skirt - Trina Turk, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in July for shopping; Flashback here
• Shoes - Chanii B; last worn here in March with zig-zags

Once I landed on this lovely navy blue tulle skirt, I was set. 

Although there is no navy in the knit, the skirt picks up the darker black bands in the sweater. Then I spotted these shoes, which perfectly match the teal of one of the stripes, and boom! We have an outfit. 

I liked the sweater - it was nice and warm - but I don't know that it's a long-term keeper.

The colours are not easy ones for my closet. Which sounds ridiculous because yes, I have a huge closet of clothes in every shade of the rainbow!

Sure, there is cream, burgundy, blue...but the other colours in it are barely discernable unless you're close-up. Do you see the lime green, lavender, pink or yellow? Only the pink is really noticeable, and I don't think I would wear pink with it. I hate it when patterns don't come through properly in pictures.

However, I'm not going to complain about a free sweater! But I may just pass it along after a couple of wears. 

Masked up. 

This is a navy blue one with a sparkly silver pattern that Mom made. 

Outerwear - rain, rain, rain. 

I was ready in my fedora and leather coat. 

All done up. 

I got soaked on the way home, but only the ends of my hair got wet (I'd forgotten to clip them up under the brim of the hat). The hat is drying out, ready for another rainy day. 

• Hat - vintage, thrifted
• Fur scarf - Danier, thrifted
• Wool gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff: 

It was dark when I got home, so the colour is off on the "stuff" pictures - the shoes really are a deep dark teal suede. You can see a line where the inner platform is - with the blocky heel, it makes for a very comfortable shoe with not a lot of height. 

Blue bling: 

I kept things simple - I'd intended on wear a couple of bracelets, but the sweater cuffs did not like them.

• Earrings - thrifted
• Silver/sodalite ring - Scotland, 1996
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

Flashback: Teal Chanii B T-Straps

I do splurge and buy new things under certain circumstances: it has to be locally-made or designed, a local store (locally-owned, not a chain), and something I just absolutely love. In Victoria, Heart & Sole Shoes on Fort Street carries the Chanii B line (which I now realize I've been spelling "Channi" the entire time I've owned these shoes! For shame!). 

Chanii is a real person, who grew up in Canada, and moved to the UK to start her own shoe company (about her here, link 'cause I love). Like John Fluevog, she uses small family-owned factories in Portugal and her shoes are made to the highest standard. I fell in love with these beauties, and happily forked over $298.00 here in May 2016. 

As noted, there's a hidden platform to make this a net 1" heel, and the suede is so very soft - and yes, that is pink leather lining (a signature of all Chanii B shoes). 

So, let's see how I've worn these! 

I can never wait to wear something new, so I put together an outfit right away in May 2016.

That shirt was by Paul Smith and was narrow teal and purple stripes, but it was very tight and didn't last too long. The skirt is older Mackage - we'll take a gander at it when I eventually wear it again.

The first few months I had these shoes are the only times I've worn them in spring/summer, as they go better with my fall/winter wardrobe. 

They match my vintage dragon jewelry, so I just went with dots and a plain top here in June 2016.

August 2016 - neither the top or skirt survived in my closet. 

That blouse is the wrong shape for me, and the skirt was poorly lined and felt cheap. 

We'll see this deep teal-green sweater a few times in this Flashback - this iteration is from September 2016 - as it matched the shoes perfectly. 

Unfortunately, it finally wore out (I had it for years) this past year. 

This outfit was for a 1930s-themed Urbanite at the Art Gallery in October 2016 - I am wearing as much authentic 30s-inspired as I can, from my marcelled hair to my 30s make-up.  

The fur bolero is a fun piece I pull out every so often (we will see it again in this Flashback), and that amazing burnt orange dress is a Ralph Lauren blue label that I thrifted for only $8.00 (a steal!). 

I wore two outfits for my birthday party in October 2016 - this was the first one. 

That's the one and only wearing of this thrifted BCBG dress. Yes, I am wearing a wig! (I wore a blonde one for the second outfit, and the Ralph orange dress above).

I love how well these shoes go with my embroidered velvet blazer, seen here in January 2017.

I no longer have that suede skirt (I spilled salad dressing on it, boo), but I have everything else! 

Wearing my dragon jewelry again in November 2017, along with my Helmut Lang top which sadly got ripped on a door at work last year.

The skirt is a vintage Gianfranco Ferre that I've had for close to 10 years - it'll get the Flashback treatment. 

I was planning on wearing this to my Weight Watchers staff Christmas dinner in December 2017 - I got dressed and took all my pictures, then started blogging it while I waited for Betty to pick me up...

However, when I looked up the dress for my "last seen here", I realized I'd worn the same dress the year before! 

So, I quickly changed into this mint green vintage dress and raced through  my pictures. 

Despite the awesomeness of this dress, it did not work for me, so in the giveaway it went. 

I picked out the bits of teal in this graphic print - that's a swan on it, by the way. 

This was in February 2018, and I didn't keep the top as the back of it was plain black (arg!). My "bark" skirt, however, is going to be a fun Flashback. 

This is the one and only time I wore this navy wool skirt, in March 2018. I bought it for my coworker (it was under $10 in a thrift store), but it didn't fit her, so I gave it one wear before I passed it on to someone else. 

I truly loved this teal satin blouse, but that shape is not right for me. You'll recognize my copper accessories! 

Another dragon jewelry outfit in October 2018, with my previous perfect leopard pencil skirt (now replaced by my more perfect leopard skirt).

I still have the brown velvet blazer, but not the tee - I do not do tees as "real clothes" very often. I prefer more structure and specialness in my clothing. Tees are for sleeping in! 

I love this pretty teal and grey combo in January 2019. Did I keep this velvet blazer? I did not. I had some Velvet Rage issues with it clinging to my coats. 

I did a Flashback on the skirt here. 

There's my lovely teal sweater again, this time in January 2019 - vintage sweaters are such a good shape in the shoulders. 

That skirt was only worn this one time - it wasn't special enough and it didn't have pockets! 

I pulled out all the stops for Fancy Friday Diwali in the office in October 2019 - yes, I wore this to work! 

There's that fur bolero again. The dress is beautiful sari fabric - and the hat was custom-made for me. 

There's my velvet embroidered blazer again, also in October 2019. 

I'll be wearing the flamenco skirt soon, and swooshing it for you. 

And the final time with the teal sweater, but a different skirt, in December 2019.

I love interesting shapes in my clothes. 

Speaking of interesting shapes...check out my vintage 90s Real Designer dress and its crazy sleeves. They are supposed to be like that! It's a hallmark of Romeo Gigli's mid-90s designs. 

The shoes match my vintage beaded Birks belt so well, don't they? I wore the above outfit to work in February 2020.

And when I got home that day, I switched up my accessories for a dinner out with friends! 

My pink suede "tentacle" coat is a love-it or hate-it for most people. I happen to love it!

And here's the last time I wore these shoes, right at the start of lock-down in March 2020.

That's my new-to-me Monsanto sweater that I'd bought at the last vintage fair. I'll be wearing it (and that lovely cream pencil skirt) at some point in the next few months. Unlike today's sweater, this one has a nice bold design and easy to see colours.

Mathy stuff: When I pay retail or buy an expensive item, I expect that piece to last! I have years and years of wearing these shoes ahead of me, but at 22 outfits in only 4 years, I'm doing really well - we are at $13.55 per wear now, and that number will drop with every new outfit. 

Do you have a favourite outfit? What would you wear with teal shoes?