Cord Co-ords and Menagerie Top; Plus Badass Bag Art Project Reveal

I have both an outfit and my latest finished art project to share with you on this soggy Monday. The outfit features two of my Vancouver purchases - although technically L bought me the shoes as an anniversary gift. 

I thought the pink tones in this new-to-me blouse went well with the shoes. And I wanted to wear this corduroy suit - or as the cool kids call suits these days, "co-ords" - one more time before it goes away for 6 months. It's cord co-ords! 

• Suit - LL Bennett for ASL, vintage 90s, thrifted; last worn here in October 2021
• Blouse - no label, vintage shop, Vancouver; purchased here for $25.00
• Shoes - Luisa Truths, Fluevog; purchased here for $399.00 (gift from L)
• Coat (below) - River Island, consignment; last seen here a couple of weeks ago

Compared to the muddy brown-green crushed velvet blazer that I purchased/wore last week (here), I think y'all will agree that this jacket is far better. The velvet blazer has been relegated to the giveaway pile.

It fits, it's well-shaped, good quality, and of course, it has a matching skirt! 

It does have bigass shoulders on it, but these are the mid-90s shoulders, as opposed to the massive shoulder-pad-upon-shoulder-pad madness that occurred in the late 80s/early 90s. 

I remember suiting like this evolving into the more minimal shoulder pads and teeny skirts of the late 90s/early 00s - the "Ally McBeal" look. 

Without the jacket. I was rather warm after my brisk walk to work.

I think this blouse is silk or a silk/viscose blend - it's neither sweat-inducing nor sticky-feeling like polyesters can be.

It's beautifully sewn - all of the seams are bound. 

Enjoy the menagerie on it! Front and back, I see: 

• Elephant
• Butterflies
• Squid
• Flamingo
• Monkey
• Hummingbird
• Lion
• Owls
• Otter
• Horse
• Turtle

That's a lot of animals.

Masked up - more pink. 

Buttoned up jacket, and functional pockets.

Outerwear.

I tucked my hair fully into my cashmere beret for the walk to work in the rain. 

Accoutrements: 

I thought the silk butterfly scarf looked really pretty with all of this pink. 

• Scarf - no label, vintage, consignment; purchased here for $12.00
• Beret - Club Monaco, thrifted
• Gloves - consignment
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

I was not surprised that these shoes were comfy - as I noted when I got them, I already have 3 other pairs of Fluevogs with this same last (general foot/toe shape and heel). 

Buggy bling: 

I did a cluster of pins and brooches on one lapel of my blazer. The snake and bug brooches went with the menagerie on the blouse, and the tentacles on the Cthulhu pin echoed the squid that's right in the centre of the pattern. 

• Snake pin - vintage 1986, gift from Mom & Dad
• Bug brooch - Le Chateau, c. 1998
• Cthulhu pin - gift from Cat/Ross
• Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall
• Gold/amethyst ring - Frances Jewelers, c. 1965, Dad's
• Earrings - consignment, Vancouver

And now...

Art Project: Badass Bag: The Big Reveal

When I last did an update (here), I'd finished all of the black-works on the front of the Badass Bag. Since then, I decided to proceed with decorating the back of the bag. 

And what did I choose to put where no one will see it? 

My heart! 

I found a bunch of clip-art pictures and very basic anatomical hearts for easy shapes, shading and colouring. I do not copy other people's art.

I liked the idea of a banner over the heart that I saw in some of the tattoo designs, although it took me a while to figure out what to say on it. Due to the size of the banner, it only holds a few words. I settled on "Carry Love in Your Heart."

Using a grey felt-tip pen that wipes off with water, I sketched out the basic shapes. 

Made sure it was all centred, and I could fit the lettering on the banners. 

Then, it's the moment of truth (I always hear RuPaul's voice in my head: "And don't...f**k it up!").

Very basic lines, and dots for the centres of the roses. 

Once those first black marks are on, I wiped off all the sketchy lines. 

I never worry too much about mistakes here - the finished design will be so visually complex that you won't notice any errors (I tell myself). 

The heart was hard! I added a few lines to give myself guides for contouring the heart.

Any biologists or cardiac specialist, look away! I am not an anatomist.

As always, the black felt pen thickening and detail work is where all of the hours are spent. 

Fast-forward a couple of weeks and the back is ready for colour. Doing all of this was about 8 hours. 

Some details. 

I like the wee "IN" - that pleases me immensely. The spacing on the letters, less so, but eh, I'm letting it go and reminding myself that this is the back of the purse. 

Both Mom and my dear friend Linda bought me gift cards to local art supply store Island Blue - I treated myself to a bunch more of the very expensive Tombow alcohol-based paint-pen markers (they are $7.00 each!), including some pastels, which can be used to lighten or blend the colours. 

Look how nice this looks! I like the smooth, blended texture. 

I used a pastel blue to blend the grey on the banners and add a faint touch of colour around the letters. 

I also did a test run of using a pastel pink on the roses - you can see the different from the left side and the right side. 

Another picture in natural light (on Vizzini's scratching post).

You can see that pastel blue better there. 

A detail shot of a rose with the extra blending. 

In addition to the blend on the rose petals, I also did an extra step on the leaves to do more detail. You can't get away with sloppy work on this bone grey shade.

But I really like how polished the bag looks with those extra steps. 

Both sides of the bag done. 

So pretty. 

A shot of the finished back before I did the sides. I did the back last weekend, and the front and sides were finished just yesterday.

There are things I would change, but again, this is the part that sits against the body - no one will see it unless I show them (but you know I will!). 

And here's the front all finished. 

I spent about 4.5 hours on Sunday afternoon, doing all of the roses and leaves, and the grey banners on the front and under the flap. 

The flap! Ah yes, remember this? 

I also signed it: "Badass Bag - Sheila [last name]. Finished Mar 20, 2022. 

As with all of the pieces I've worked on, I'm thoroughly sick of this now, ha ha! I'm eager to move onto the next piece, which will be the spider web jacket I'd conceived of for my hairdresser; however, I decided to offer it to someone I thought would enjoy and appreciate it more, who I'll reveal once I start it. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest Art Project! I plan to wear this as a shopping purse or when I'm in a social mood, so that I can show it off.