Orange Boss Lady Pants, Best Grey Blazer and Disappointed Spider

Hello, my friends! Today, I wore one of my pre-done outfits that was waiting in the closet, featuring a new-to-me pair of Boss Lady Pants.

For those of you who aren't familiar with my Phrases, Boss Lady Pants are trousers that make me feel like a Boss (capital B). There is something about wide-legged trousers that trigger this for me.

• Blazer - Vivienne Westwood Red Label, thrifted; last worn here in November 2020 with a menswear look (bow-tie!)
• Blouse - Cabi, consignment; last seen here in December 2020 with a familiar blue leather jacket
• Trousers - Long Tall Sally, consignment; purchased here for $50.00
• Shoes - Amante, thrifted; last worn here in December 2021 with silver ruffles
• Leather trenchcoat (below) - vintage 70s, thrifted; last seen here a week ago

I want to just stride around like a boss, barking orders. "Pick that up! Don't touch that! Put that down!"

My colleague Carol-Anne greatly admired these trousers. I felt very profesh in them, and they were a dream to wear. 

It helps that I'm dressed in a classic "Boss" outfit: blazer, blouse, pants and heels. 

I also haven't worn this classic grey blazer in well over a year. Shocking! 

I see a lot of grey blazers in the thrift and consignment shops, but I've never seen one better than this. I remind myself that I've reached Peak Upgrade with it (Always Be Upgrading!).

It's Vivienne Westwood Red Label, and likely from the late 90s/early 00s. It is gorgeously made, and despite some miniscule moth-holes, it's in great shape. This is its 8th wearing, and I'm under $4.00 per wear. 

Without the jacket, although I never took it off. 

Many ruffles! I was surprised that I hadn't worn this blouse in over a year, but it's a little snug in the boobular region. Safety pins to the rescue (plus the ruffles hide the gaping). If you peeked at the last time I wore it above, it was with my undecorated Peacock Jacket. 

Masked up.

More grey patterns, matching my fleece-lined knee-highs (which were thrifted new-in-package years ago for $1.95), blouse and shoes. 

Outerwear - I am doing poorly at "Guess the Weather" these days. 

I didn't wear a hat, opting instead for warm ears and non-hat-headed hair. Of course, it rained on the way home. I just sucked it up ("I'm a Boss!" I muttered to myself) and tried to be Zen about the rain. It's just water. 

Oops, I forgot to take a picture of my Accoutrements. 

• Ear-muffs - Michael Kors, consignment
• Scarf - fake Louis (Lewis!) Vuitton, thrifted
• Gloves - Cejon, thrifted

The stuff: 

These shoes have to be one of my best thrift store purchases ever (RIP, St. Vincent de Paul shop!), at $10.00. I've worn them 14 times so I'm under a buck a wear. 

Bold bling:

I took the earrings off when walking to and from work, as they are clip-ons (they are hollow sterling silver) and don't work with ear-muffs, headphones and mask. 

• Earrings - Brenda Schoenfeld, 1992, vintage mall
• Hematite ring - thrifted
• Silver ring - Taxco, Mexico, Charmaine's
• Brooch - Mom's
• Belt - Pringle, vintage fair, last seen here in March 2020

I like being a little odd and wearing a lobster brooch with my Boss outfit. Heh. 

Thank you all so much for your very generous and kind comments on my Peacock Jacket! I have an update on my next project, the Spider Jacket for my hairdresser Kaitlyn, and it's not good news. 

This is a great jacket - cool colour and style. Bummer it's not leather! 

After finishing my Peacock Jacket post last night, I started researching images for Kaitlyn's Spider Jacket, by grabbing a lot of clip-art (never from real artists!) for inspiration, and figuring out which pens to use on her vinyl/PVC bomber jacket. 

I figured I could disguise this worn out/peeling patch on the shoulder with some webs. 

Ready to get started, I tested my black and silver inks on the inside of the jacket to mimic the amount of handling and wear that it might get when it's worn. As I expected, the black is good, one silver is too thin (the left one), one is too runny (the bottom one) and one is just right (the upper middle one).

I rub my fingers over the dried ink, then wet and wipe them to see how much rubs off; it allows me to see how durable/permanent each type of ink is. I test all of the garments that I do before I start. Unfortunately, as I manipulated it...

The PVC coating disintegrated! So disappointing...I was really excited to do this jacket for her, but I'm going to give it back undecorated. 

Much as that pains me (she's really excited about it), I just can't spend all that time making it beautiful for her only for it to fall apart when she wears it. I know it's been sitting in the back of her closet unworn for several years, so I don't think she will be too upset that it's no longer wearable. 

But it's not all bad news; I have another jacket in my giveaway pile that's leather, so I might make that the Spider Jacket instead.