May the Fourth Be With You: Darth Sheila, Plus a Sparkly Tee Flashback

It's Star Wars Day - May the Fourth...Be With You! 

There's nothing like a theme to bump me out of the doldrums; it gives me focus and a goal. Enter...Darth Sheila! 

As a bonus, this was a lovely tactile outfit that I continually touched and patted during the day.

• Duster - Emporio Armani, vintage, thrifted; last worn here in June 2021 with silk palazzo pants
• Tee - Ted Baker, thrifted; last seen here in November 2021 with triple plaid
• Skirt - Linda Lundstrom, vintage, thrifted; last worn here in February with a denim vest
• Shoes - "I Know" Irregular Choice Star Wars collection; last seen here in July 2021 with this same skirt
• Leather jacket (below) - Danier Leather, thrifted; last worn here in February

Whenever I wear this long silk devoré duster, it billows out behind me when I walk, and I feel powerful, and I hum "The Imperial Death March."

I built the outfit around the shoes, so went with shades of blue. 

The skirt is silk velvet and soft as kittens. 

The sparkly tee amps this up a bit, plus it reminds me of outer space.

My hair's long enough to clip up again, yay! 

Whenever I sat in my office chair, I gathered up my skirts and the duster and tucked them between my knees to avoid the hungry chair wheels. 

I actually carried the duster to work and just wore this tee under my outerwear. We'll have a wee Flashback on it shortly. 

I also wore a vintage slip under all of this. 

Masked up and photo-bombed. 

"I see your bag has fallen over. I should dig in there."

This is how I like to swoosh the duster in office. 

Outerwear - it was raining on my way to work, so I wrapped this big leopard scarf around my head. 

And as I didn't want to drag this floor-length hem on the wet sidewalks, I hiked the elastic waist up over my boobs so that the skirt hit just below my knees. Klassy! 

Accoutrements: 

Another $1.95 thrifted scarf that's become a favourite - I bought it at least 3 years ago. 

• Scarf - thrifted
• Gloves - Aldo, consignment
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

These shoes are so special - I showed them off to my colleagues to much admiration. 

Blue bling: 

This is the first wearing of the long beaded necklace - it was also fun to play with! 

• Necklace - thrifted; purchased here for $7.95
• Crystal cuff - Swarovski, consignment, gift from L
• Filigree cuff - St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop, London
• Earrings - local
• Lapis lazuli/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

Flashback: Sparkly Ted Baker Tee

Most of my Flashbacks tend to be shoes, skirts, jackets and dresses - that's what I have the most of in my wardrobe! But many of my most useful pieces are the unsung heroes: the layering pieces with a little extra "oomph" to them, like this sparkly tee.

I found it during one of my frequent shopping expeditions in the Before Times, in October 2018 here. 

It's a navy blue tee with a heavy lurex thread running through it, and it's curved in at the waist so that it's not baggy. 

And it's a fancy brand: Ted Baker.

I have been in exactly one Ted Baker store in my life - here, in Vancouver in 2015, with my cohort of international bloggers, which is when I learned that they size using 0,1,2,3,4 to equal, XS,S,M,L,XL. I remember being shocked at the prices (I rarely shop retail). A tee on their site is $89 ($62 on sale) -  I paid only $16.95, and this is a size Medium.

I wore it right away in November 2018, with some of my favourite things, including this shiny leopard skirt and my Vivienne Westwood Red Label blazer. 

Those are the Camper sneakers I gave away to coworker Jessica not long after. 

I layered it in March 2019 under my long cobalt blue cardi for Book Club.

The extreme sparkliness of the tee lends itself well to "space" themed clothing. Here, I've added my shiny silver "space" pants and my other pair of Star Wars shoes. 

Space pants strike again! This outfit was for a weekend hangout in September 2019. 

My galaxy jacket and shiny shoes - you simply can't have too much sparkly and space-themed clothing! 

And then came the Pandemic. This was a late March 2020 attempt to cheer myself up by Putting On Clothes. 

I layered the tee under this net-knit sweater - and there are those Star Wars shoes again! 

It was an excellent base piece for this Goth-y ensemble from October 2020. Sparkly navy is so much more interesting than a plain black top.

Purple velvet, black chiffon netting and purple shoes. Swoon! 

I need to wear this gorgeous green silk satin dress again - this was back in February 2021. 

I did all blue accessories there (the boots are dark blue velvet) and the tee helped keep the top from feeling too gape-y.

I did not like this March 2021 look, but it didn't help that I accidentally deleted all my pics before downloading them and had to get dressed again and redo them all. Arg, so annoying. 

I gave up that jacket in my recent clothing giveaway, and that tulle skirt went to Ciara. 

I have very little navy blue in my wardrobe, but one sparkly tee can really tie an outfit together. 

I let go of my suede celadon suit (this is the jacket), but I still have everything else from this September 2021 outfit. 

I also let go of this red suede suit (just the jacket seen here), but I'm always on the lookout for good pieces in red. 

This is the last time I wore this tee, in November 2021.

Mathy stuff: I'm at 10 outfits and still going strong on this tee - that brings me to $1.70 per wear, which is excellent. 

This tee is a good example of "everything you wear should be special." I don't wear plain cotton tees as they aren't special enough for me. But add sparkle, a nice cut, and a garment that's easy to wash? You had me at sparkle!