Stay-cation Wrap-Up: L's Closet Swap-Over; Wind-sday Gals; Fin Skirt Flashback

Hello, my friends! 

Just a quick note: the free hosting platform here (aka Blogger) seems to be glitching on the email feeds again, so I made some minor changes. You may receive a summary of my last 3 posts (enjoy) and short/incomplete versions of my posts going forward; just click on the title and it'll bring you straight here to the blog to read the posts in their entirety. Good times! 

I'm on Day 6 of my stay-cation and am trying not to think about work tomorrow! 

Instead, let's cast our minds back to, um...Friday?...when L and I did his closet swap-over. Over 80% of L's wardrobe stays out all year 'round, so it's not anywhere near as convoluted as my swap-overs are and takes less than an hour. 

Here's our "before" (L is messier than me, no judgement...but I'm totally judging, ha ha!).

He's good at keeping his clean shirts hung up, but not so good at folding his tees and putting them away. The mounds of shirts hanging off the top of the closet door (sigh) are shirts that have been worn and are airing out. We both often don't bother washing things every wearing if they aren't worn next to the skin - it's hard on fabrics and makes clothes wear out quicker. Sorry if that icks some of y'all! You do you!

We packed away all of L's short-sleeved and Hawaiian shirts, and a few of his tissue-thin summer sun-blocker shirts, and hung up his football jerseys instead. 

We also returned some of his dressier clothes to the closet, just in case we have an event to get dressed up for. But let's face it: those are going to be far and few between for the next six months. We might have to go fancy just for the heck of it! 

A few tees were culled from his vast collection, and a couple of shirts and blazers too. A job well done, we then chilled out and have been watching movies (I, Tonya) and TV shows (Ash Vs. Evil Dead) and playing boardgames for the past couple of days. 

We were scheduled to have a Winesday/MANday this past Saturday evening; however, due to exponentially-increasing COVID infection numbers, we've chosen to put our regular Winesdays on hold, as they are typically 8-11 people - that's way too many for folks that we don't see very often. We pledged to "not be those people" so instead we did a very small 5-person "core" gathering during the day at Carolyn's. Three of the men did their own distanced gathering in the evening, as everyone is feeling very nervous/cautious. 

And this is what I wore to sit outside for four hours. We'll have a Flashback on this funky finned skirt at the end. 

• Sweater - RW & Co., consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in March for Winesday on the first lockdown weekend
• Skirt - TKStyle, thrifted; last seen here in February with all neutrals
• Boots - Aldo, consignment; purchased here for $59.00
• Coat (below) - Donna Karan, consignment; last seen here in March on a casual sick day

My "outside" ensembles have unseen layers - I'm wearing a long-sleeved New Zealand-made 100% wool thermal top (purchased for $4.00 four years ago) under this bright red sweater. 

The sweater is a cheapie from RW & Co., another Canadian mall chain which has closed all its physical stores (it's still online). I haven't shopped there in well over a decade, as I didn't find the quality very good once I started primarily shopping second-hand. The wool of this sweater is polyester, and it'll undoubtedly fuzz out over time, but I do like that poly doesn't breathe in this case, as it'll keep me warmer!

This skirt is a very thick cotton ribbed knit - it has the unusual "fin" feature on the side. 

More pics of that in a bit. I'm wearing my thrifted Club Monaco leggings underneath it. So snuggly!

All bundled up! I wore my glitter pinecone mask (from Mom) - it kept my face warm. 

Getting my first wear of the season of this down-filled Donna Karan puffer coat that I found last year. It's a tie-wrap style with a wide shawl collar that flips up into a hood. It has two zippered front pockets and it's lovely and warm. 

I also broke out my favourite fur accoutrements (I have several, most purchased second-hand and worn a kazillion times), including my toque and a non-matchy scarf. 

It was my first wearing of my wool/cashmere-lined leather gloves - my feet and hands were the most cold, but that's par for the course. 

• Toque - Danier
• Scarf - thrifted
• Gloves - Roeckl, consignment; purchased here for $20.00

The stuff: 

I paid only $20.00 for new heels on these boots - I wore them to walk to and from the bus stop, outside at Caro's, and to walk home from town. No slipping, and they were awesomely comfortable. Note that the laces here are completely hidden from a little bitey kitty...

Simple bling: 

Karen was with us - her cuff was a warm presence on my wrist all afternoon. 

• Necklace - All Saints, gift from Dominique
• Cuff - Karen's
• Earrings - don't remember

Cat sent out some pictures that night - thank you, honey!

Caro in her down jacket, under her down blanket. 

Me! We were under their tent, with two of the four tarp walls loosely attached. 

I've got my blanket, and George the Hot Water Bottle on my lap. 

Vero wore her mom's vintage mink coat - and I spy Fudge on the right, surveying the back garden. It didn't rain, but it was REALLY windy! We often had to stand up and hold the tent from blowing over. 

Ronnie fired up the heat table for us, which was very welcome.

Yvonne has 6 layers on, not including her sleeping bag! 

She looks very Canadian in her plaid and her toque!

Fudge is still lurking around. 

Ha! He must be getting into Vero's stuff. 

Not my kitty - he's been enjoying having both L and I home, and has been snuggling with us/George for days. 

He's hiding under the covers with George here, while the cleaners did our house. 

Flashback: TKStyle Olive Fin Skirt

I miss our downtown St. Vincent de Paul thrift store - I really found some great items there over the years, including this interesting and unique skirt. 

I bought it here in October 2016, and if you take a quick gander at my shopping trip, I still have all three of the items I picked up at the St VdeP (including my vintage Etro dress, and my grey t-strap shoes), but NONE of the WIN purchases have lasted (I would have kept the velvet 70s trousers but I ruined them in a jam spill).

This skirt was new with tags (NWT, as the cool kids say), for $8.00. It's one continuous piece of knit fabric, finished with a thick elastic waistband. It's a bit of a wrestle to get it on. 

I wore it right away to work, in October 2016, and this is not a successful outfit. 

I did a heavy closet purge around this time, and only the skirt survived from this outfit. I have regrets on the jacket (slight) but not on those horrendous cream tights. 

I quickly discovered that the skirt was really warm, and due to it being pull-on I often wore it for shopping in the chilly months. 

This is one such shopping outfit from December 2016. I still have everything there - that scarf belonged to my dad. 

I like having an olive green skirt (I actually have two, full disclosure) as it's a good neutral for more "bossy" pieces, like this Dries Van Noten pixel/beaded top, seen in October 2017. 

I eventually found this top too difficult to style and gave it away, but it was also a St VdeP find (it was $4.00). I still have those shoes, and they are due for a wear. 

I am very fond of this cool jacket with the fin skirt. It will get a Flashback when I get around to wearing it.

This is a shopping outfit (you can tell by the shoes, Flashbacked here) from October 2018.

Another shopping outfit in February 2019. Giving Vizzini some love before I go. 

You can see a bit how the fabric creates a slit at the side there. 

Oh, there we go - this is a good shot from December 2019.

We saw those boots in Flashback here. 

And here's the second outfit with the groovy tweed jacket, worn to work in February 2020.

I think that might have been the first wearing of those booties. 

Mathy stuff: It's easy math this time. Eight outfits for $8.00 equals one dollar per wear so far! 

And...how's your week(end) been? I hope you're all staying safe out there. Thank you so much for stopping by!