Fancy Friday: Power Outfit and Leopard Flashback

Hello, my friends! I'm so ready for the weekend, and I'm feeling cautiously optimistic, as Canada is estimating that most of the population (after multiple set-backs) will be vaccinated by end of June. The thought of hugging my mom, and being able to party with my friends again, makes me a bit teary.

I'm submitting this outfit to Shelbee (link here, always 'cause I love) and Nancy (here) for their "Power Outfit" Good Buy/Good-Bye theme this month.

I feel like a Boss Lady Superhero in this outfit - it gives me the power of confidence. Plus, it features one of the older items in my closet, this leopard blouse - definitely a Good Buy!

• Leather jacket - Danier Couture, consignment; last seen here for Hallowe'en in October 2020
• Blouse - Planet, consignment; last worn here (3rd outfit) in October 2019 with my awesome safety-pin jacket
• Skirt - Ralph Lauren, consignment; first seen here in January with teal and brocade
• Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog, consignment; last worn here in December 2020 with baby blue and silver ruffles

I built the outfit around the blouse, and went with an all-neutral palette of gold/bronze, leopard, black and grey snakeskin. 

Isn't the skirt fantastic? I really wanted to wear it again, and I liked how it looked with the leopard. I swooshed it at multiple people today and even demanded that my coworker watch me twirl in it! 

I thought I might take the jacket off during the day, but except for about an hour in the morning, I kept it on. 

I love the proportions here; it looks right to my eye. I can honestly say I love every single thing I'm wearing (even my camisole, which is my best black one!). 

That's definitely a powerful feeling, and it affected my mood today, which was upbeat, positive and slightly giddy. 

Part of that is spring, and part is the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. I find myself getting emotional at the thought of actually being with people again. 

Masked up - it matches the shoes. 

This is how most people saw me today. 

Outerwear - it was 11 degrees! Practically summer, ha ha! 

All I needed was my silk scarf and my leather gloves. It felt so decadent. 

Outerwear stuff: 

My Lewis Vuitton silk scarf is one of my favourites. I have real designer scarves (Balmain, Lanvin, Oscar de la Renta, etc.) but this fake "Vuitton Does Stephen Sprouse" delights me. It's a GOOD fake. 

• Silk scarf - fake Louis (Lewis!) Vuitton, thrifted
• Studded leather gloves - Danier Leather
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

I know some of you were looking askance at the grey/white shoes and wondering why I wore them, instead of going full matchy. It's because of the white and grey in the belt, and because I just liked how it looked. I didn't want boring shoes - I wanted pattern! 

Snake and cat bling: 

I also wanted to wear my snake jewelry, so it matches that way as well. My belt has a lion on it, so I had to wear my porcelain kitty earrings (customized by me so that they look more like Vizzini) which are black and white. 

• Belt - Pringle of Scotland, vintage fair
• Snake bracelet - Whiting & Davis, vintage 70s, vintage fair
• Snake necklace - vintage expo
• Cat earrings - Winnie Tam
• Ear cuff - gift from Mom

I'd forgotten all about the ear-cuffs Mom got me for Christmas! 

Flashback: Planet Leopard Blouse

I bought this blouse in September 2010 for a whopping $30.00 at Velvet Crease's old location on Cook Street. 

I knew that Planet's clothing was not cheap and that this blouse would have retailed for well over $75.00 new, so even though my thrift-side brain thought, "That's expensive!" my retail-side brain knew, "It's a steal!" I first wrote about it here in September 2010 - this is before I posted pictures of my purchases promptly (sorry, couldn't resist the alliteration!).

Planet was a UK brand, a member of the Jacques Vert Group's stable. I know Jacques Vert from the same boutique area of the Hudson's Bay Company. They discontinued the workwear line of Planet in 2015, but this style is obviously older, probably early 00s. It's excellent quality, although it's polyester (washable!). 

Check out the sweet little ball buttons - it buttons right down to the hemline, as well as on the cuffs. It's slightly sheer which is nice - I like sheerness on the arms. 

I often go on about "Always Be Upgrading" - this is another one of those items in my closet that is already there at the apex. I see a LOT of leopard blouses in my shopping expeditions and while I've been tempted by a few of them, I haven't ever found one that it this nice. Hey, it's lasted for over 10 years - that says something! 

Let's have a look at some of the many ways I've worn it. Here's that first outfit, in September 2010.

Those were my first attempt ever at over-the-knee boots. 

A couple of months later in November 2010, for Style Underdog's (a long-defunct blogger) birthday - I'm emulating her posing. 

The only thing I still have from this outfit is my mom's gold chain belt. As you can see, the neckline on this dives quite low - I always wear a cleavage-covering camisole or tank under it. 

I did a mini-capsule challenge in February 2011 and wore it twice. 

Aw, our "little" kitty Inigo is bombing me! 

My first time layering under something other than a blazer, also in February 2011. 

I've always been a fan of sweater dresses! 

This is what I wore for my second interview for the job I'm still in, back in March 2011. I've been at my current job for 10 years!

Zoiks, those shoes make my feet hurt just from looking at them! 

I thought of this belt this morning when I was rummaging through my belt boxes. 

This was in May 2011. I look very...relaxed. 

You'll remember this October 2011 outfit from the leather dress Flashback (here). 

It's a superb blouse for layering - I love that nice collar. 

And now, a long run of vests. I was very into vests for a while! 

This outfit is also from October 2011. 

I wore it three times in the 30 For 30 For 12 Wardrobe Challenge, in March 2012. 

I loved those shoes. I wore them to death. 

Another March 2012 outfit. I'm sad here because we'd just found out that Inigo (who is in the background) was sick. We lost him the following month. 

Shoes Flashbacked here. 

Repeating my vest and shoes (it was a capsule challenge, after all), again in March 2012. 

I still have those knee highs/trouser socks. 

You might recognize this leather vest from March 2013 (Flashback here).

I wore the blouse a lot more in its early days with me - as I've mentioned before, I had a smaller wardrobe then, and didn't do a seasonal biannual swap-over, so I wore things more frequently. 

A new pair of olive green suede OTK boots here in February 2014. 

Leather "Buffy" dress Flashback here. 

Ugh, I hate these shoes, but I do love the purple velvet blazer.

This was in October 2014. 

Here we are in November 2015, around when I start to look like "me" again - it's the start of the Purple Hair Era!

There are my Clarks boots (Flashback here), and although I don't have that leather skirt anymore, I do have another brown one, which we'll see a couple times below. 

I've had that chain belt since high school, but I let this purple suede dress go around this time (it was very short), February 2016. 

I do like how nicely the collar lays under it, though. 

There's that leather dress again, along with today's belt (Flashback here) in November 2016. 

I love bright colours like red, purple and yellow with leopard. It's really a neutral. 

I am reminded again of my love for this black sequined dress, seen here in March 2017.

My matchy leopard footless tights go so well! Boots Flashback here. 

Some lovely yellow in February 2018.

I didn't keep those 10-cent shoes for very long. The laces bothered me. I still have that skirt, though. 

This was the one and only time I wore this bizarre striped mohair top, in January 2019. I'm recovering from a UTI there, which is why I'm wearing my "nope" face. 

That's my current brown leather/suede skirt. I need to wear those shoes again soon. 

A more casual look from February 2019, featuring my Helmut Lang blazer (Flashback here).

I'm going to move those yellow cords into my house-clothes. I have too many fun/pretty/better clothes to wear for work. Shoes Flashbacked here. 

And here's the last time I wore this blouse, to hang out with our massive group of friends over the October 2019 long weekend. 

Now, that's a casual outfit! My Gianfranco Ferre safety-pin leather jacket is a spectacular work of art. 

Mathy stuff: Today marks the 23rd time I've worn this blouse, so that's $30 well-spent, I'd say. That works out to $1.30 per outfit, and it's not going anywhere! 

And now, my friends, I'm off for the weekend! Wishing you all uplifted spirits, good vibes and sunshine (metaphorical and literal). Thanks so much for stopping by!