A Fluevog A Day - Listen Ups Ivanna

I have embraced Casual Friday as a way to play a little bit with the business casual dress code. Maybe I'll wear something made of denim (a dress, a skirt, a vest, a jacket, jeans) or maybe I'll just wear something a bit...different. Today's Fluevog is an old favourite: my Listen Up Ivannas.

However, the real star of the outfit is the pants. But onto those in a minute. Here's the outfit: Pretty sedate for me, yeah? Nice brown pants, black cardi, pretty top with some sparkle, and oh, check out the shoes:

It poured all day today and my feet got wet every time I went outside. I have thick socks on now.

I got this top at Plum in their closing out sale. It was $18.00. I love the pattern and the loose tunic style. I don't have a lot in this cut, so it's been a bit of a challenge to find something to wear it with.

Yes, these are real leather pants! I found them in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago at a retro/vintage/thrift clothing store (the same store where I got my python jacket and my vintage Gianfranco Ferre pencil skirt).

They felt wonderful on the rack and when I tried them on...well, they fit like they were made for me. The length is perfect, they don't sag anywhere and they're not too tight (they're lined from the waist to just below the knee). They were $59.99, and worth every penny. It's hard to see here, but the colour is a rich cognac brown.

And they do amazing things for my butt:

I felt powerful in these all day. No one said a thing to me, although when I was standing at a stop-light a lady asked me if I worked in Melanie Lyne (a clothing store that caters to middle-aged rich women - they have nice things, but I have only bought jewelry there) because I perfectly had their "look." I think it was a compliment.

They are way better than my last attempt at a (p)leather pant.

When I got them home, I went through the pockets and found this piece of paper:

At first I thought it was blank, but then I saw very faded printing:It's a receipt from Finale Bar in Cambridge, Massachussets (which apparently, still exists). Not a huge deal (although cool that my pants travelled all the way to Vancouver), until I spent some time figuring out what else was printed on the receipt.

The total on the bill is $19.85 for a drink and white chocolate cheesecake, but the interesting thing is the date of the receipt: Dec 31 '02, at 10:37 PM. Someone was wearing these pants on New Year's Eve 2002, and paid for her food and drink before midnight! And then she obviously never wore them again, because this receipt remained in the pants' rear pocket for over 8 years.

Isn't that neat? The stories these pants could tell! I wonder if she had a bad date, or left to go to a(nother) party? Maybe these pants had such a bad association with her NYE that she never wanted to wear them again and they sat in her closet accusingly until she threw them in a garbage bag and left them at Goodwill, where they sat on a $5 rack until a buyer for this retro store spotted them and shipped them back to Vancouver and marked them up horrendously.

The stuff: A much better representation of the colour of the pants there. That's a pretty high waistband, but it felt comfortable all day. At least I didn't have any plumber's crack or muffin-top going on!

These shoes were last worn here. I got them in October 2008 (on sale) at the Granville Street store in Vancouver. They are the last of the old Listen Up line, with that exact heel. This was a shoe that didn't grab me at all until I put it on, and then I had to have them!

Oh, one more thing about the leather pants. Since they're from the Gap, it's easy to figure out exactly how old they are: All Gap (and Banana Republic) labels have the season on them (it's true, go look). These pants are from Fall 2000. Hmmm...and these are vintage how, exactly?

The sparkly stuff:I love the coppery sequins on the tunic, so themed my accessories to go with that, rather than contrast. Please ignore the Band-Aid sizing on the ring.

Cardigan (Kensie Girl), tunic (Dex), leather pants (Gap, thrifted), shoes (Listen Up Ivanna, Fluevog), leather cuff (Oscar & Libby's), ring (Fossil), earrings (Plum).

Inigo was just being so cute last night:We restocked his cat fud (spelled like in The Far Side) and gave him the tray to sit in. All cats love sitting on any kind of paper product. It's a fact.

Inigo sort of...overflowed his tray: Still - utter cuteness! Have a great weekend and may all your trays be full.

Leopard Week! Leopard for Luck - 2nd Interview

Welcome to Leopard Week! Go here for links to participants.

Yes, I wore leopard to a job interview! Following last week's successful interview, I carefully prepared my outfit for this one:
I'm wearing my leopard blouse that I wore for the Wardrobe Challenge in February, with a black cami underneath and a denim blazer (yes!) over that. I kept the jacket done up the entire time.

I thought long and hard about wearing denim for an interview. But frankly, I didn't want the interviewers to be put off due to my age (it's easy for employers to figure out about how old you are when you start listing your education), or feel like I am too old for this position (I kind of got that vibe at the last place I interviewed), so I chose to wear the denim jacket to project more of a youthful image. It's also quite a casual office, so it wasn't inappropriate.

I thought it also toned down the leopard, and I love that it is cut so nicely - it holds everything in! I last wore it here.
On the bottom is a new dark chocolate brown pencil skirt that I got at Plum (it was a sample, $18). But check out my shoes!

The stuff:

They're a thick suede penny-loafer with a lug sole and a pointy heel. What I love is that the heel is not actually as high as it looks - it's barely 2.5". I ran half a block to the bus stop in these and they were comfy as heck.

And even better? They were cheap!

$115 on for $34.50, not bad! I do love Town Shoes' clearances.

Overall, I think I did really well in the interview, and I hope to get some good news next week!

Jacket (Bisou Bisou, consignment), blouse (Planet, consignment), cami (InWear), skirt (Tobias), shoes (kate & mel).

Leopard Week! Some Casual Leopard

Welcome to Leopard Week! Go here for links to participants.

Now, leopard is not to everyone's taste, but it sure is to mine! I love the luxurious look of it, and it makes me feel like a 40s movie star. I also like that it's a pattern found in nature. Many people have associations of leopard as being "too old" or connoting some crazy old lady who draws on her eyebrows (wait a minute, I draw on my eyebrows!). But give leopard a chance and it can add some zip and zing to an otherwise blah outfit!

Today, I'm busting out my furry leopard skirt:
Last time I wore this (and the time before that), I did a more dressy look, so this time I thought I'd try to do more casual. This outfit would be a kind of dull with a denim skirt, which is what I would normally wear, don't you think?

Oh, and this is a fist-pump:

Second round of interviews is on Thursday! Woot!

As seen above, this leopard pattern has light and dark banding, like on an actual leopard. I felt like I had a full food chain on me: Leopard eats the birds (on the tee), birds eat the bug (in the necklace). Ha!

I also dug out my black velvet gloves with the leopard trim to add a little dash to my outerwear:

I felt very posh as I strolled to town to get groceries.

And of course, one must have some luxury in one's house clothes too:

Leopard slippers!

The stuff:

Comfy boots, leather cuff and necklace.

A close-up:

That's a real beetle encased in the drop (and it glows in the dark!).

Long-sleeved tee (Plum), graphic tee (Truly, Madly, Deeply, consignment), skirt (S&D, thrifted), boots (Indigo by Clark's, consignment), cuff (Catalyst Leather), necklace pendant (some gift shop), leather jacket (work swag), gloves (gift from Elaine).

Shades of Green - Interview Outfit

Did I mention I'm also sick? Some sort of sinus/coughing cold thing - gah! Enough already with the sicky-ness! I doped myself up with coffee and cold medication and pretended I was not sick.

So I had my interview - I think it went well. It was for a Project Admin for an IT company. The admin side I'm a pro at, IT not so much, but hey, it's a new challenge, and I do like challenges. We'll see what happens.

At least I know I looked properly professional:
I liked how the two shades of olive/khaki looked together. Jacket last worn here (ha, for an interview!), skirt last worn here (scroll down).

I'm totally layered up for warmth with a cami, the shirt and the sweater vest underneath the jacket.

Blouse and vest last worn together here.

The stuff:

Of course, I did not brave the snow and icy sidewalks in these shoes! I wore little runners and socks and changed just before I got off the bus. I'm so sneaky!

I only wore crystal stud earrings with this - no jangly bits of jewelry.

Jacket (RW & Co, consignment), shirt (Nicole Beniste for Point Zero), vest (Le Chateau, gift from Ruth), skirt (Club Monaco, consignment), shoes (Jessica Simpson).

Work Outfits - Mustard and Brown

Well, the last couple of days have been crazy. First of all, it snowed! Not a little piddly amount, but a foot of snow! You folks who don't live on the West coast don't know how fragile we delicate flowers are out here - we don't get snow very often and it shuts down everything!

Secondly, I don't have my Wed WW group anymore, so one less day of outfits (booooo). However, I did work a meeting today downtown and finished up my Receptionist training tonight. So here's an outfit:
Last wore this sweater here, and this skirt here. It's freakin' cold out, so I'm also wearing a cami under the sweater, a half-slip under the skirt, tights and then socks over the tights.

Classic leg on table pose:

I've had these shoes for ages (last seen here) and I just can't bear to get rid of them, even when I'm in a major clean-out-closet mode.

The stuff:

Kristen and I are the queens of yellow! We do love our mustard.

A close-up:

Pretty scrolly bits.

And...in other news, I have a job interview tomorrow morning (please send good vibes!). I applied online on Monday, and got the call on Wednesday. I was put through a half hour interview right then and there (!) and then they set up the interview for Friday. I have my fingers crossed but I am trying not to get my hopes up. I'll post the interview outfit when I get home and let you all know how it went.

Sweater (Pria), skirt (Liz Claiborne, thrifted), shoes (Unlisted), belt (Anne Klein pour Caleche, consignment), earrings (Plum).

Wednesday WW Group - Beech Butt

Today was my first meeting with my Wednesday group, after meeting some of them last week. I was a little sedate (for me) last week. Today, I went "Full Sheila":

Crazy Aunt whackitude! Woo! I felt like some sort of Robin Hood-esque hippie in this, which was fun. It's all about the skirt.

The drama!

Check. Out. That. Skirt. Seriously, isn't that cool? It's Smoking Lily from a season or two ago. I found that in a consignment store for $38.50 (it was on an extra 20% off). Then I walked up the street and found nearly the same skirt in the store for $96. Sweet!

I am planning to include this skirt in the Fourth Annual Capsule Wardrobe Challenge that Jane over at The Small Fabric of My Life is hosting this year. Although there are tons of wardrobe challenges, "diets" and capsules out there (I did my own year of not buying any new clothes or shoes), this has always been my favourite one because it's so few items (10 clothing/shoes, 5 accessories). I've done them all (2008, 2009, 2010)! Are you going to try it?

Oh, and FYI, I'm not getting any kind of kick-backs from Smoking Lily - I just love the quality of their items and own a lot. I have the Chair Skirt, the Dotty Dress, a maroon/grey silk obi, a pink/olive silk obi, and a silk bug scarf by them. Every piece except for the bug scarf was bought on consignment - I even found a black velvet cotton skirt by them with a silk-screened white flower in a thrift shop for $10.50 that I bought for my friend Cat, who shares my love for the Lily.

If you clicked the link for a similar skirt, you'll see that this skirt is actually a cape! Ooh, I can't wait to try that out! Mine is a thick but drapey tweed, and is fully lined in a beautiful, thick pewter satin. I love the uneven hem, the major (may-jah!) zipper, and the silk-screened pattern on my butt:It's a beech tree trunk! While I may never again have a "beach bottom," at least I can have a beech butt, hee hee.

Because of the uneven waist and the fullness of the skirt, I wanted to wear a slim-fitting top with some colour. I started out with the mustard top and trying on jackets over it, but they didn't look quite right. So I layered this long green sweater (last seen here) and loved how it worked. The mustard cuffs peeked out. This was snuggly and warm all day!

It was a bright, crisp day today, weatherwise, so I just wore my suede jacket (last worn in September) over it all:

As you can see my right boot has a habit of slouching, while the left does not (compare in the top picture, which I took first). I wore my brown stripey socks to help it stay up and ensure that even if it didn't (it didn't), I would still have a consistent boot shape there and I wouldn't look uneven. Boots last seen here (4 months ago? that's atrocious!).

Here's a detail of the skirt's pattern:

The name and the flower are silkscreened on the lining at the bottom of the point. For you sewers out there, dig the lovely finish on the lining edges - it's all sewn down all the way around.

The stuff:

These boots are devilish on the bottoms of my feet, and I walked in them more than I thought would have to today, so my poor dogs are howlin'. I put insoles in them when I got home. Low heels tomorrow, I promise, feets.

A close-up:

I've had that necklace for about 7 years - I bought it at Plum. It used to have matching earrings, but they killed my ears so I got rid of them. I also removed the little crochet-covered balls that were in the necklace - they didn't look right.

Coat (B.U.M. Equipment, thrifted), sweater (Max Studio), mustard tee (Mexx), skirt (Smoking Lily, consignment), socks (can't remember, got them at The Bay over a year ago), boots (Le Chateau, consignment), belt, necklace and earrings (Plum).

The Wednesday Group, a Crazy Aunt, and Sad Shopping News

As well as my Tuesday At Work group for Weight Watchers, I'm taking on a Wednesday group until I have a full-time job again. Since both meetings are at lunch and only take an hour, I'm sure I can negotiate maintaing at least one of them while also working, and just make up any extra time I need to.

Anyway, I accompanied the Wednesday group's leader to the meeting and introduced myself as their new leader. "But Kim's like our big sister!" they protested.

"Just think of me as your crazy aunt, then, " I said. We'll see how it goes, ha!

This is what I wore: I knew I'd have to wear low heels, as I had to run a few errands. I thought I'd go with a safe pencil skirt like I did on Tuesday, but went with a bold plaid this time (last seen here).

I wore the jacket unbuttoned whenever I had my outerwear off:

I love my shiny ruched brown blouse - it's machine washable!.

The stuff:

Plaid-y goodness!

Accessories:

I do love a thick leather belt.

The earrings are from Plum - and on Tuesday night, I got the bad news: my local Plum store is closing!

I've gotten so many lovely items from them over the last fifteen years (I shopped there when I was 50 lbs heavier too), and I am going to be so sad to lose their presence in my city. I have always supported them as a Canadian-owned company that sold Canadian desiged and made clothing. A fond farewell to all the staff, too - they always knew my name and recognized L when he came in shopping for gifts. That's quality service. Goodbye, Plum!

However, theyare going out with a bang (like I did) and have a clear-out sale on - and of COURSE I stopped by yesterday and spent my Christmas money from my dear inlaws. I'll have to be making special trips to Vancouver now to feed my addiction!

Jacket (Jacob, consignment), blouse (Esprit), cami (InWear), skirt (Casual Corner & Co., thrifted, vintage 80s), shoes (Outline, consignment), belt (Gap), earrings (Plum).

Come Walk With Me

I refuse to be sick, so even though I was exhausted when I dragged myself out of bed this morning, I put on my many layers of walking gear and left the house.

And it was raining. I deserve a medal or something!

It's grey and rainy on the West coast - that's just how it is this time of year. Could be worse: could be snow! I was really happy to see this forsythia trying valiantly to bloom:
And just to completely refute the myth that Canada is covered in snow, here's a palm tree:

I like the twisty gnarled tree in the foreground.

I have a thing for twisty trees and other foliage:

Isn't that awesome?

After I did a couple of kilometres through residential neighbourhoods, I finally hit the water:

That is the Pacific Ocean, baby! On clear days, that grey horizon line is the Olympic Mountains, and sometimes you can even see the US city at the base of them. Today, just a harbour plane coming in, and a big barge on the right.

I approach the coast with this on my right/back as I follow the shore turning left:

I love the weathered cliffs and inlets. The tide was really high today, but there's still lots of beach to walk on. I see at least one brave soul getting some exercise down there.

I took this shot looking down from the edge of one of the cliffs:

Oooh, that's a long way down. Back away, Danger-Prone Sheila!

This little point is popular for tourists:

It's also awesome for kite-flying and, when you're a teenager, "watching the submarine races". Heh, heh, which I know my mom and dad used to do. Sorry to break it to you, Mom, but I also parked down here a few times back in the day. Ah, memories.

Looking backwards:

Some days I head that way instead, but there's usually a lot of people out walking their dogs.

Way out in the straights, there's a small island with an unmanned lighthouse.

I would like to live in a lighthouse, maybe for a little while, like a year. Would you? I'd get caught up on all my reading.

This bay was really calm today. The last time I was out here, the waves were almost crashing over the road.

You can see how the driftwood gets pushed up.

The waves push it right up to the left side - there were lots of little bits of wood and kelp there.

Looking back to the point:

Waterlogged cedar and deep orange arbutus tree trunks. That large pebble texture is typical of a lot of beaches on the coast. Not exactly sand, but it's still nice on the feet in the summer.

I liked this long string of kelp:

Kelp's a type of seaweed, in case you didn't know.

Coming up on the deepest curve of the bay:

This is a hugely popular area for tour buses, people showing off our coastline, and exercisers. Not so many today - it was really pouring by now (about 1/2 an hour into my walk - this is the halfway point).

Check out this ginormous tree trunk:

That's a yellow double-decker tour bus coming around the bend. Even in January we have tourists.

Remember the graveyard I strolled through back in June? This is the view from the water:

One day, I'm sure the graveyard will start slipping into the sea - a few good storms should do it.

I watched these little black and white ducks going underwater for up to 20 seconds, looking for food:

Floating log for scale. When I was a kid, those logs were gold - so fun to ride on! But lots of splinters (cedar's terrible for that), and brrrr...this water is COLD.

I couldn't resist this cool driftwood "composition":

On the left is one of several rock berms that were constructed years ago to help keep the bay from eroding and causing coffin catastrope (as noted above).

Looking back at where I've come from:

Because that's always useful to do, literally and metaphorically.

I headed back home through more residential neighbourhoods (nothing exciting), cold and wet but at least I got in an hour's good exercise. Go, me!

We have a brief strata meeting tonight and I'm sure my patient husband is getting tired of seeing me in my robe or ratty jeans, so I dressed properly:

My corduroy skirt (last seen here), a simple top, a tweed jacket (last worn last February!) and tights - it looks deceptively dressy, but the soft shapes are actually very comfy. I did laundry in this (sans shoes).

Added a couple of accessories to amp up the excitement factor ("she's wearing real clothes!"):

It felt weird to be dressed. L was rather startled.

The stuff:

I distributed some of the shoes from my closet clean-out last week - not many of my friends have my size feet (size 9 to 9.5 to 10 or a Euro size 40), so whenever gals that size come over, I give away shoes that I've grown tired of. My friend Alison passed these ones along to thank me. They're Farylrobin (swoon, why can't I have unlimited shoes?). I like the little robin cutouts and the pale pink backing.

L bought me this cool necklace the other day while we were out:

"We'll always have Paris." The other side is a chandelier.

I added one of my new Plum belts to the outfit:

I think this was about $7 on clearance. I love the studs (they go all the way around). The belt's a bit long, so I knotted the long end.

Jacket and skirt (both Jacob Connexion, both consignment), top (RW & Co., swap from Ruth), shoes (Farylrobin, swap from Alison), belt (Plum), rose pin (Roberta's Hats), necklace (Lavishy).