Two-Fer: Dentist Leopard Suit and Tie Flashback; Fancy Friday Cheater Dress and Glitter-Shoes Flashback; Small Tree Feature Ornaments

Hello, my friends! I have a bigass "two-fer" in this post (a two-fer is two outfits "fer" the price of one) with What I Wore to the Periodontist, and my Fancy Friday outfit, plus two small Flashbacks from those outfits. I've also got more Christmas decorations to show you too: the rest of the "feature" ornaments on the small tree. If you're a Star Trek/Star Wars fan, you'll enjoy these. 

And, another "Thank you!" to Ivana at A little place to call my own (Modaodaradosti) has drawn another one of my outfits here, links 'cause I love, of course! 

AND, do you remember my birthday outfit here? Well, the awesome Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge sure did! She owns the same skirt and recently wrote a totally sweet "Inspired by" post (here) featuring her own interpretation of that outfit. Thanks so much, Shelbee! 

Now, let's get right to it! I had another one of my periodontist visits on Thursday afternoon, and while I like to be comfortable for my 2 hours of being zonked out in the chair for my root-scaling, I also wanted to give my wonderful tech Michelle some visual love. 

"I thought you might like a break from seeing clients in sweatpants." She was most appreciative, as was my dentist ("Don't you look seasonal!" he exclaimed as he issued me my happy pill). 

• Jacket/pants - Smashed Lemon; last worn together here (second outfit) in September for an evening of board games at Cat/Ross'
• Shirt - Yest; first seen here in November under plaid for lunch with Betty
• Sweater vest - Nygard, thrifted; purchased here for $4.00 in Sidney with Cat
• Shoes - Hispanitas; last worn here (4th outfit) for Thanksgiving with Mom

Interesting that I selected all items that I last wore when I saw other people! Is this a subconscious wish? I did see Mom briefly, but only because someone has to come into the office and pick me up after my session due to my extreme loopiness. 

I had this whole outfit put together, only without the shirt and tie under the sequined top. I wore it around the house while I was getting ready to go, and felt a little chilled. 

As I planned to walk the 2K to my appointment, it suddenly occurred to me that I should add a layer UNDER the sequinned top! 

The suit itself is stretchy denim - completely comfortable for being tipped upside down in the dentist chair.

Here's the outfit without the jacket, so you can see the layering. 

I didn't take the jacket off at all, though. 

When I bought this top I know some of you wondered why, since I'm famously so adamantly against dresses that don't carry their pattern/decoration all the way around. 

And this is why! Because I wanted to be able to layer it under jackets for that flash of seasonal sparkle. 

I've pulled out my silk tie here to show you how small it is. 

It's not a real menswear tie - it's a "fashion" tie, and is deliberately designed like that. It's a designer "name" so we'll have a little Flashback on it in a bit. 

Masked up - this is my grey-on-black cat mask from Mom. 

She picked me up post-appointment and drove me home (crashed out in the back seat, both of us masked up), and we did a Christmas present swap in our building's rear parking lot: me, with her gifts and presents for my nieces/nephew, and her, with presents for L and I. 

Outerwear - it was a lovely crisp fall day, and I walked briskly, so didn't need a coat. 

Just my hat, scarf and gloves! I felt totally badass in this. 

• Hat - Dex
• Fur scarf - thrifted
• Leather/cashmere gloves - Roeckl, consignment

The stuff: 

Comfy shoes for walking. 

Sparkly black bling: 

I've had that starburst brooch since about 2001-ish; I bought it at Eatons for under $10. I wore it on the lapel of my blazer. 

• Fang cuff - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Sidney
• Brooch - c. 2001, Eatons
• Earrings - thrifted
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Silver/onyx ring - Toccara, vintage fair
• Tie - Escada by Margaretha Ley (not shown)

Speaking of Mom, look what I got! More masks! Woo! 

Some burgundy-based patterns, a nice blue, some seasonal sparkle in there...

Oh, and are you jealous now? More! 

Mom knows my love for PANK! These are so gorgeous! Thank you, Mom! She also brought me a bag of wool, so I'm champing at the bit to get my crochet hooks out and see what kind of monstrosity I can create. 

Flashback #1: Escada by Margaretha Ley Tie

I bought this tie here in January 2016 at Flavour Upstairs for $7.00 (I forgot to note the price at the time, but all their ties are $7.00 - they haven't changed the sign since then!).

I originally bought it for L, as he wears a suit and tie to work every day, but we both agreed that the length and slightly flared shape indicate that this is actually meant for a woman to wear. 

By the way, it says, "Has a love letter ever won your heart" (no question mark, argle-bargle, says my inner grammar nerd!) in different fonts. 

It's by Escada by Margaretha Ley, is 100% silk and was made in Italy. Escada is still a pretty chi-chi brand, even today. Margaretha founded the company in 1978 with her husband, and it's still in business, after many acquisitions and mergers (Margaretha died in 1992, causing a huge company upheaval). I believe, based on the style of this tie, that it's from the late 80s. 

I've only worn it a handful of times - you really have to plan an outfit around a tie! - but my first time was in May 2016.

I layered it with this patterned dress, worn over pink skinnies. Shoes Flashbacked here. 

Like most accessories, ties don't take up a lot of room and I don't feel obligated to wear them all that frequently. 

I like this outfit from May 2017 - note the necklace layered over the tie. The only thing left in my closet from this outfit are the stockings! 

Another menswear-inspired look, this features the same earrings as today and another one of my former white shirts (I go through about one a year). 

This was in July 2017 - I no longer have my wonderful black culottes (regret) but I still have this vintage vest that I bought in 1986-ish in Vancouver. Shoes Flashbacked here. 

I really like this outfit from April 2019 - all that black and white looks so classy to me. 

I also like the mix of masculine and feminine, plus the unexpected pop of gold accessories. Note that I've layered my Givenchy necklace over the tie here too. 

And here's the last time I wore it, for the spectacular "Men In Black" silliness that L and I did back in April 2020 (here).

Lots of pattern mixing going on with the tie, my other suit, and a spotted shirt. Shoes Flashbacked here. 

Mathy stuff: Well, I expected this to be good cost-per-wear since I didn't pay much to begin with, but with today's outfit that is 6 outfits, so $1.17 per outfit. 

And now, my Fancy Friday outfit, worn to the office. The stairwell light was still on this morning, so you can just get a glimpse of colour as my little camera struggled to handle the dim light. 

But you can at least see that I'm wearing purple and chartreuse, I hope! 

• Jacket - Tahari, consignment; first worn here with a big pouffy skirt in October
• Dress - Phoebe Couture, thrifted; last seen here in October 2019 with purple shoes
• Shoes - Seychelles; last seen here in March with a flowy wrap skirt
• Sleeveless coat (below) - Only, thrifted; last worn here in November

This dress is one I refer to as a "cheater" since it's not actually a skirt and top. I know, totally looks like a top and skirt, right? 

I layered this purple velvet/knit moto-style jacket over it, to go with the purple bits of embroidery around the pockets. 

I do love that gloriously bright chartreuse colour. 

Done up, hands in pockets. 

I also wore purple tights to pull it all together. 

Here's the dress on its own. 

I don't wear it like this too often as the black part is really sheer under the fluorescent lights at work. 

The skirt is the best part of it (it's silk!), but I can't cut the top off as the side zipper goes up under my arm (you know I would totally do that - I'd rather add my own top, thank you).

The detailing you see on the waistband and round the pockets is embroidery, beading and paillettes. 

Masked up - wearing one of my new ones from Mom. 

It's a black and white swirled pattern with tan curlicues (it's the second one from the bottom in the first pic above). The tan reads as gold, and it matched my outfit really well. 

Outerwear - we lucked out with a beautiful sunny day on Friday, but it gets really chilly once the sun goes down. 

This sleeveless coat does the job. 

• Leather gloves - Danier

The stuff: 

Sparkly shoes! We'll do a little Flashback on these in a second. 

Gold bling: 

The necklace is on a really long chain but the links are big enough, I can adjust the length - I clipped it about 4" down for this outfit.

• Necklace - Trifari, vintage 60s, thrifted
• Bracelet - thrifted, Sidney
• Earrings - vintage, bought c. 1996
• Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall
• Silver/smoky topaz ring - AMC Anneli Neuman, Sweden, vintage mall

Flashback #2: Gold Glitter Seychelles Loafers

I bought these shoes at the closing out sale of She She Shoes in downtown here in March 2018, following a stressful week of our ginormous office move. They are by Seychelles. 

They were marked down to $45.00 from $199.00 (around that), and were indeed Retail Therapy. Doesn't it just make you happy to look at all that glitter?

I wore them right away that month, with this Desigual dress (Flashback here).

I love metallic shoes - they are the best neutrals. If you're ready to branch out from black shoes, I highly recommend a metallic pair. 

Although I realize gold glitter is not for the faint of heart! I wore them again in March 2018 with my sparkly culottes. 

Those did not get a wearing over the spring/summer season (due to pandemic chocolate-eating), but I still have them. *shrug* Next year! 

When I don't feel like thinking too hard about what goes with navy, white and rose gold...

...I wear gold glitter loafers! This is from June 2018. Leather pants Flashback here. 

Gold glitter is dressy, but not TOO dressy, you know? 

Showing them off in July 2018. Skirt Flashback here. 

I wore this "Space Leopard" outfit to the big Vintage Expo in September 2018. 

My coworkers enjoyed this outfit immensely. Flashback on the jacket here. 

I have this wonderful blue asymmetrical blazer, seen here in October 2018, still waiting in the wings to be worn. 

My "wallpaper" pants suffered the same fate as the culottes (darn that chocolate!), so have been set aside until I feel better about my thighs. 

You'll recognize this December 2018 outfit from the skirt Flashback (here). 

For days when I need flats, but still need a dressy shoe, these are aces. 

I am a fan of fancy jackets (as you know) - I'll be wearing this lovely green velvet one at some point. 

This January 2019 look was seen in the plaid trouser Flashback (here). 

This fabulous Desigual coat (another Lacroix one) is covering up my otherwise bland shopping outfit in March 2019.

That's a red cashmere skirt there - it's fabulously snuggly and will be worn when it's really cold out. 

I struggle with this Dries Van Noten "genie" skirt, seen in November 2019. 

It's a challenging shape and cut - I'm not sure that it will last in my wardrobe this season. When I pass over something again and again, I know it's time to say goodbye. 

My green velvet blazer got another outing here in December 2019. 

As you can see, wearing all my shiny and sparkly stuff is not just for 2020! I do it every year.

This is another shopping outfit, also in December 2019. 

I love a good slipper-style shoe for shopping; I hate dealing with laces and buckles. Skirt Flashback here. 

I love this layered black and white and gold outfit, from February 2020. 

I'm a fan of black and white patterns - the touches of gold in this woven dress immediately made me want to wear my glitter shoes. 

And here's the last time I wore them, in March 2020. 

That's an easy office outfit, prior to lock-down. I need to wear that skirt again!

Mathy stuff: I've now worn my sparkly shoes 15 times, bringing me to $3.00 per wear. While they are still really comfortable, the glitter has been shedding from them since I first got them, and they now have bare sections where the synthetic upper has creased across the toes from walking. I could probably use some glitter and glue to fix that! 

Christmas Decorations: The Small Tree - Star Trek, Star Wars and Other Sci Fi-Related Decorations

Okay, now we are getting to the "theme" part of my little theme tree! I have always loved sci fi (reading it, watching TV shows and movies), and it won't be a huge shock that when Hallmark started to release limited edition annual ornaments in the early 90s featuring some of my favourites from Star Trek and Star Wars, I was excited to add them to my collection. 

For a more thorough (and somewhat goofier) look at some of these decorations, you can also check out my Tree post here from 2010. There, I mention the dates on all these ornaments, what they all do, the sounds they make, etc., so I'm not going to do a deep dive on all of them again. 

This shuttlecraft is the oldest (1992) ornament, and is from Star Trek: TOS (the original series). Most of these decorations plug into one of the mini-light sockets and have sound and lights, but they don't work as well with LED lights, so I just tucked the cords away. 

My Star Trek: Next Generation Enterprise ship. 

You can tell by the D suffix on it. 

I have a set of 3 mini ornaments. 

That's the Enterprise C (original series) and a Klingon Bird of Prey. 

There's also a mini Enterprise D. 

I have the big version of the Klingon Bird of Prey. 

You can see that Princess Leia is super-impressed! 

This is the USS Defiant from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. 

I stopped collecting around this time, and I stopped watching DS9. I do enjoy Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Discovery, in the modern era. I'm still a Trekkie! 

This is a Romulan Warbird. 

And this one is actually pretty special to me, as I remember gushing about the Hallmark ornaments to one of my customers when I was working one night at Christmas House, and bemoaning that I'd missed getting this one the previous year. I always picked up my Hallmark ornaments at 50% off at the local store after the holidays (they are not cheap! Most were around $30 or more!), but had missed out on this particular ornament. 

A few weeks later...

This arrived in the mail. 

Kathy from Petaluma, California, this is still one of the nicest things a customer ever did for me. Thank you! 

Moving onto my Star Wars decorations, Darth Vader was one of the first to join my collection, in 1997. 

He rasps, "The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet." That was the message on our answering machine (remember those?) for a while. 

I also have Vader's tie fighter.

You can see him there in the cockpit. 

I have the Death Star in two sizes. 

This one has dialogue from the movie: "As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed. Now, witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battlestation! Fire at will, commander! [sounds of charging energy that then shoots and explodes]." I like to dramatically intone that whenever I fix a printer at work. 

When I was a kid, I had a subscription to National Geographic's "World" magazine - it often had posters in it. I was completely enamoured of this one (here) from 1980 and had it on the wall beside my bed. 

So of course, I had to have the Star Destroyer ornament - look, there's a ship dangling at the front. Run away!

I also have this tie fighter. 

It makes zooming noises. 

My other Death Star ornament started life as a keychain. 

Key chains make excellent Christmas decorations. If you ever want an ornament of a place you've visited (lots of people do this), a keychain is often a cheaper alternative. 

Luke is ready for action with his blue light saber. 

Much as I love Mark Hamill, Luke is my least favourite character in Star Wars (the original trilogy). 

I have a miniature C-3P0. 

He was stolen off my tree by Inigo once - we found him the cat's water dish, looking very alarmed. "Help!"

I also have a mini R2D2. They came as a set. 

He's also been snagged off the tree by a previous cat. 

The Tusken Raider is my most recent decoration, from 2007.

Of course I have Boba Fett. 

I haven't seen The Mandalorian. Hoping it comes to a Canadian channel/service at some point. 

I love the Millennium Falcon. I had a giant puzzle of it once, one of those 3D ones foamcore ones.

That's the closest I have to Han Solo and Chewbacca ornaments - I never managed to get one of them in a figural ornament. Tsk. 

I love this AT-AT (All-Terrain Armoured Transport) as seen in The Empire Strikes back (the best movie!)

See the little snowspeeder whipping around its legs? That AT-AT is going down!

Of course I have Yoda. 

"Do or do not. There is no try." is one of my life mottos.

This is a bigger R2. 

He runs on a watch battery and makes beep-boop noises. 

Princess Leia forever! 

Truly the most awesome General! RIP Carrie Fisher.

Here's Luke's X-wing. 

And let's not forget Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

Alec Guinness would be mortified. 

And last but not least, C3P0 in a large size. 

I'm sure he's fretting over something. 

That's it for my on-theme decorations, but I also have a few sci fi-related decorations that are NOT Star Trek/Star Wars.

"Superman!" If you've never seen The Iron Giant, do yourself a favour and find it and watch it. My Iron Giant is posed near the top of the giant spiky star on the top of the tree. 

I also have the Space Shuttle.

This was a gift from our friend Andrew from when he visited NASA in Houston years ago. 

And the last one is my Minbari Cruiser - it also used to be a keychain. 

It's from the old TV show Babylon 5, which L and I watched together. 

And here are my small tree pictures again.

Left side. 

Front. 

And the right side. 

We'll be moving on to my big tree starting next week, and it's going to take to nearly Christmas Day to get through all of those decorations! L and I are also going to populate our village this weekend, and I'll be taking lots of pictures of our "townsfolk." (check out my previous post on our village here). I hope to be done all of these posts by the time I take my stuff down, after New Year's! 

Well, my friends, there you have it! Wishing you all a lovely relaxing weekend, peace, joy and eggnog (with or without rum, you do you). I'll be back on Sunday with tales of adventure! Thank you so much for stopping by.