Monday, August 23, 2021

Mixed Mustards and Circus Skirt Flashback

Hello, my friends! It's...Monday. Oh, joy. 

I prepared myself mentally and sartorially for my Big Meeting early this morning, only to discover that it had been pushed out to later in the morning! Oh jeez, I rushed around for nothing? 
Well, at least I have my mixed mustards: we have both yellow mustard and a Dijon mustard here! It's Colour Therapy! 

  • Jacket - Sarah Pacini, consignment; last seen here in December 2020 with McQ
  • Top - Desoto; purchased here for $15.99
  • Skirt - Dries Van Noten, consignment, San Francisco; last worn here in September 2019 
  • Shoes - Summertime Moonbeams, Fluevog 2007, consignment; first worn here in July with Space Pants

I should have unzipped the jacket for the stair picture, as I wore it undone like this all day.
I've had this skirt for nearly four years, and I have always struggled with what to wear with it - we'll have a small Flashback below so that you can see how I've styled it before. 

I was quite proud of my double mustards today - I don't think I've ever tried bright yellow with mustard yellow before and it totally works! By the way, my personal favourite is Dijon, although I grew up with the Canadian classic, French's mustard. 
My arms are akimbo as I'm showing the weird pockets in this jacket. They are set on the sides instead of the front. Very odd. 

I loved how well this darker mustard went with the circus stripes of the skirt. I need to be more creative with my colours!
I'd actually removed this jacket from the closet at the start of the spring summer season, and it's been languishing in the giveaway pile for months...but I've been thinking about it. I pulled it out last week once I realized I was missing it.

Here's the top on its own. I am thrilled that it is not transparent, translucent or otherwise see-through. This doesn't seem to be a huge "ask" for a yellow top, and yet 99% of them are so sheer you can see your bra through them. How is this practical? 
This is the Best Yellow Top (Always Be Upgrading!) I've ever found, and I've been looking for years, because it's a very useful colour to have, especially when you own patterns with yellow in them. 

It was cloudy out in the morning, but my desire to be incognito overrode the world seeming a little bit darker.
It was sunny by the end of the day.

Masked up - more yellow! 
The mask has white polka dots on it, so matches the circles of the necklace. 

  • Mask - Lazy Susan's

The stuff: 
My first time wearing these shoes for work, and they were excellent. These are as comfortable as wearing flats, I kid you not. 

Circular bling: 
The skirt has fine white/cream stripes down the centre of the yellow, so I mixed black and cream for some more visual interest.

  • Necklace - Monet, vintage fair
  • Earrings - vintage, vintage fair
  • Amber ring - c. 1996
  • Turquoise/silver ring - Glee



Dries Van Noten "Circus" Skirt


This skirt belongs with my collection of Clothes I Bought On Vacation, as it was purchased here in September 2017 in Wasteland, a consignment store in San Francisco, for $75 US/$90 CAD. We'll use the Canadian amount for our "mathy" calculations. 
I'm a big fan of Dries Van Noten, and have owned several pieces by him that I've picked up here and there over the years. This gorgeous wool skirt has pockets and I love the bi-level hems, but it's the "circus tent" stripes that have always called to me. 

Despite trawling through Vogue.com's archives of Dries Van Noten's runway collections (going back to Spring 2007!), I was unable to find the collection that this skirt belongs to - I can only conclude that it's pre-Internet, so sometime in the 90s (Dries has been around since the 80s). 

I wore my souvenir skirt to work right away, in September 2017, and went with matchy colours. 
Yellow shoes (I no longer have those), a grey sweater (moths got it) and a Helmut Lang jacket (not my style, passed it along). 

A few months later in November 2017. 
A simple outfit with my silvery-grey shoes. I had this top for several years, but it got quite worn and raggedy and yellowed over time. I do love a funky cream top.

This was in February 2018, and I'm trying a new colour with the skirt: olive green! 
I layered a mustard cardigan over it (now gone), and did the same grey/silver shoes. 

I think this is probably my favourite outfit so far - the stark black makes the yellow pop and look slightly cartoon-y. 
This was in May 2018. I let go of those shoes (too high). 

I had a cashmere sleeveless sweater in a pretty lemon yellow, but as with many yellow tops, it was very sheer so I had to layer a cami under it. Sadly, this one was ravaged by moths. 
My shiny Smoking Lily moto-jacket has a silvery sheen to it, matching with the silver platform sandals and necklace. This was in September 2018.

You might remember this May 2019 outfit from the recent Flashback on my pre-customized cream Fluevogs. 
That cream top is not right - this whole outfit is just not quite there. 

And here's the last time I wore this skirt, in September 2019. 
I discovered that the stripes matched this blouse really well, and played up the brown/caramels with the sandals. 

Mathy stuff: I've now worn this skirt 8 times, which is...okay. I'm at $11.25 per wear, so on the higher side still. 

I didn't wear the skirt at all in 2020 - it's always been slightly snug, and well, 2020 was that kind of year - but I do plan on keeping this lovely piece. I am really pleased with how well this Dijon mustard jacket goes with it (even the black zippers match), so I'll likely try the skirt with my mustard sweater this fall. 


What would you wear with it? Do you have a favourite look? 

28 comments:

  1. That skirt is a cool find and these styles are creative! Love the jacket!
    xoxo
    Lovely
    www.mynameislovely.com

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  2. Oh, I absolutely love that skirt!!! You have such a good eye for quirky pieces, I really look forward to seeing your posts. I think my favourite look is the olive top/mustard cardie/silver shoes combo (which is probably similar to how I'd wear it, statement necklace + plain top + cardie + funky skirt being one of my fallback outfit combos when I manage to persuade myself out of jeans...).

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    1. I do too, Katrina - I love "special" pieces that are quirky (as you note) and different. Boring is not for me. I like that look too - it's a pretty simple one for a bold skirt.

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  3. Hi Sheila!
    I have three favorite outfits - today’s, the one with the black top, and the last one though minus the jacket. The skirt seems to get more interesting each time I see it!
    In any case, a fabulous look for a day with the thrice moved meeting! Hope it was a useful meeting!
    Cheers, Laurie

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    1. I like those too, Laurie! Good choices. :) It's an interesting skirt, for sure - Mr. Van Noten is such a creative designer.

      Thanks, it was a good meeting, but really not worth calling me at home!

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  4. I love the mustard colo!r and the skirt is fun! We are currently in a heat wave and it feels like 40 degrees with the humidity, so seeing a jacket is making me sweat a bit, lol. Having said that, your outfit today is still my favourite.

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    1. I love any shade of yellow, Nana, and I'm glad you enjoy the skirt. Oh my, that's very hot! Sorry to make you sweat more! Thanks so much, my dear!

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  5. The skirt looks lovely and I think you will be able to wear a few more times next year, making it more sustainable and cheaper/wear. It's just the sort of skirt I would buy too.

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    1. I usually keep it out for fall/winter, Anca, so I'm sure I'll wear it at least once in the next 6 months. I'm all about Slow Fashion that way. Thanks!

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  6. Ah Dries van Noten. A wonderful designer. Very quirky that skirt. Love it with those tones of yellow.

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    1. I love his clothes, Nancy. I'm always tempted when I see a piece!

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  7. I don't think I ever wore bright yellow with mustard either, but you're right, it definitely works brilliantly! And how lovely to see that fun circus tent striped Dries Van Noten skirt again. I still can't get over the fact that you found it in a consignment store for such a bargainous price. Most of the stuff in the windows of his posh shop in Antwerp isn't even priced. Probably to avoid unsuspecting people like me having a heart attack :-)
    Aaargh, they really know how to build up suspense at your office! Hope the meeting went well and there weren't too many surprises! xxx

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    1. I know, Ann, how did I miss this colour combo before? I adore this skirt, so I'm glad this outfit does it justice. That's not really cheap - I have bought Dries for as low as $5.00! Most of my clothes by him have cost less than this skirt.

      Oh my gosh, there was no need to call - it was just to introduce us to some new booking software for desks. Sigh.

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  8. I have never tried mustard with other shades of yellow before but I really want to now! :) I hope the meeting went well in the end with it being moved around so often!

    And I do love this skirt - you have worn it so well every time!

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    1. I know you have some mustard in your wardrobe, Mica, so I'm excited to see what you do. The meeting was fine, just introducing some desk-booking software. Not worth calling me over!

      Thank you!

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  9. I'd never considered yellow with mustard but goodness me, it looks brilliant! Of all your outfits with the circus skirt I love Monday's and the one with the balack top and belt the most. xxx

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    1. I know, it seems so natural, and yet, why have I never done this before, Vix? Thank you so much - I like those too.

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  10. Unusual skirt; I like it.
    Looks great with yellow and mustard.
    Yes, it would definitely be a keeper for me x

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    1. Thanks, Phyl! It's a keeper - I find it hard to let go of unusual skirts, as there just aren't that many out there!

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  11. Lovely skirt and lovely color combo!, these yellow and mustard shades rock together and enhance the yellow stripes of your skirt. Glad that you rescued this jacket from the giveaway pile, it's a very interesting piece (despite the strange pockets!).
    Lovely flashback too!
    besos

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    1. I know, why have I not worn these colours before? So funny that it's taken this long to put them together. Thank you, me too - why did I ever pull it out? Thanks, my dear!

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  12. Beautiful as always!! Almost Fall/Winter? Cannot wait to see you in Boots!!

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  13. Sweet Sheila, please know that you excel at being bold and creative with your colour partnerships. Rare, I'm sure is the reader to your wonderful blog that hasn't been thoroughly inspired on that (and many other) fronts over the years. I've lost count of how many time I've been. <3

    Autumn Zenith 🎃 Witchcrafted Life

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    1. Oh, I so appreciate your kind words, Autumn, thank you. That really means a lot, as sometimes in real life it feels like I'm dressing in a void.

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  14. This day's outfit was great, but I LOVE the "cartoon-y" one!!

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