Fancy Friday in Gold, an S Dress, and Lace Collar Done

 Surprise! I decided to do a Friday post, just so that I wouldn't have SO much to blog about later. Welcome to my Fancy Friday outfit. 

Just wearing things I love - oh, and I rescued these leopard shoes from the giveaway pile, so this was a second chance for them. 

• Leather jacket - Danier Couture, consignment; last seen here in March in a fabulous outfit
• Blouse - Renuar, thrifted; last worn here in September 2020 with sequins and orbs
• Skirt - A New Day (by Target), thrifted; last seen here in December 2020 with boots and a chunky sweater
• Shoes - Banana Republic, consignment; first worn here in May with plaid

I'm not sure what the starting point of this outfit was - sometimes things just come together. 

I love this radiantly gold velvet pleated skirt - it even has an elastic waist. 

If it had pockets, it would be an A+. 

"You're an easy marker."

The black leather jacket is the only plain one I have in my closet. All other black jackets have some kind of extra colour detail. 

I love the cropped style.

I like the sleeves hanging out too. 

Masked up - my coworker Milind exclaimed over this leopard one.

We had a good discussion about leopard as a pattern - a lot of people associate leopard print with a "trashy" look. I think it's one of the most classic and chic prints around. 

I finished my gold crochet collar! 

So why not wear it? I'll show you some detail pictures in a bit.

It's buttoned at the back. 

I popped into a couple of stores on the way home (more on that shortly), and the ladies in one shop were in raptures over it. 

Accoutrements: 

Mark my words, that collar is SPARKLY. 

• Collar - made from thrifted vintage wool by me! 
• Mask - Lazy Susan's
• Gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff: 

The verdict on the shoes is KEEPERS! I was in a funk the first time I wore them, but they've been on my mind since I put them in the giveaway pile - that's generally a good sign that it's a regret-me-not! 

Classy bling: 

Mom's metal/glass brooch got a lot of love too.

• Belt - Talbots, thrifted
• Brooch - vintage 60s, Mom's
• Amber ring - c. 1996
• Feather ring - Fossil, thrifted
• Earrings - thrifted

I popped into the Fluevog store on the way home to pick up my gift card from Mom, and to ogle the new styles. I have a few pairs I can't wait to try on! 

I also took a quick tour around Flavour Upstairs, and bought this dress without even trying it on. 

I mean, it has an S on it! S for Sheila! And it's deep purple and a mossy green 

It's by Uniqlo, and it's 50/50 wool/acrylic. The design on it is knit (not printed). 

The pattern itself is by Marimekko! I love their designs. 

This dress is from the second Uniqlo x Marimekko collaboration from Fall 2019 - I found an article by InStyle here (all links 'cause I love) that has a picture of it. Apparently it's merino wool. 

I don't know how much it retailed for, but I saw one on a reseller site for $75.00. I paid $39.99 and that felt like a good price. 

It's a fairly thin knit, but it looked roomy so I didn't try it on. It's marked an XS (extra small), but clearly it's more like a medium. 

"You should feed me."

They styled it with plain black flat boots. I think I can find something more interesting.

Art Project: Crafternoon Crochet Collar

So, I finished my gold collar, as you saw above.

Remember when I started it, with just the neck portion? 

And then it grew! 

That was the last update. 

I did a fancy trim on it the other day. 

Mom calls Italian stitch, but it's basically doing a single crochet backwards, which twists the edge into a nice finish. Ah, the Google tells me it's called "reverse single crochet" - well, that's boring. 

A closer look at it. You can see the edging on the neck part that I added. 

I had these leftover buttons from another project.

I didn't want the design to look too frilly. 

No scalloped shapes! 

It still turned out frilly.

I did a couple of rows of single crochet down the split at the back and built in buttonholes that way. 

With the buttons, which I sewed on last night while I watched football. 

Voila! 

Okay, now I'm really gone for my long Thanksgiving birthday weekend!