The Unseen Outfit and My First WW At Work Meeting!

Woo, I've had a couple of crazy days! My first Weight Watchers At Work meeting started this week, and I have been scrambling, trying to get all the materials together, not mention I just got trained for this yesterday! Yes, yesterday!

Gee, you'd think they'd launched a new program, or something, haha.

I had to run up to the local centre yesterday afternoon to grab supplies and beg for presentation material, so I made an effort to get dressed.
It was trying to snow out, so I went with layers: a cami, with the leopard shirt (last seen here), and this navy cashmere sweater that I haven't worn since I got it last December (shocking!).

The skirt (another long one!) was just last seen a couple of months ago (here). A few people have asked me about walking in long skirts - I find that as long as they widen out just above the knee, they are totally comfortable. I really like the A-line or mermaid shape in my long skirts because of this. I have various thicknesses (from denim to leather to this faux thin suede) and they can be stiff or they can be drapey. This one's really flowy. When you try one on, stride around with big steps in it to see how it feels. I also sit down in them to see how they drape.

Aside from L at home (with very attractive socks on, sorry, love), it ended up that no one saw me - I kept my coat on everywhere - so this is what I wore on the bus and at the grocery store afterwards.

My awesome thrifted coat, my faux fur gloves and brown velvet hat - I look like a Hussar!

The stuff:

These Clarke's Indigo boots are my best walking heels I own, hands down. Love 'em!

A close-up:

I've been grooving on hip belts lately. I got these earrings on 1/2 price sale at Plum for about $7 a few weeks ago.

Sweater (Land's End, consignment), blouse (Planet, consignment), skirt (Marc D'Alcy), boots (Clark's Indigo, consignment), belt (Anne Klein pour Caleche, consignment), earrings (Plum).

Kitty interlude!

I hate when the recycle bin is full, but at least Inigo has a box to sit in:

He's upset because we finally flattened his boxes that he plays with in the dining room, in preparation for New Year's.

And...back to fashion. (ahem)

Today, I put a lot of thought into my outfit for my first At Work meeting. I really wanted to highlight my figure, but look professional and competent (ha, the opposite of how I felt!). And of course, I wanted to look funky!

Did I succeed?

I adore this cardigan so much (I last wore it here) - cranes! I love picking out the red and green in it.

I'm not usually a fan of skirts that hit this low on the leg, but the shape of this one is so perfect (it has a couple of deep box pleats right behind the knee). Last seen here.

The meeting went well and even though I feel like I screwed up right and left, I'm sure no one but (perfectionist) me noticed. But gads, so much paperwork involved! WW, you need to streamline some of your processes!

I was thrilled to see when I weighed myself (to test the scale) that I've dropped a pound and am once again below my goal weight - I've been really struggling with that lately. Getting back to tracking on the new program (although I didn't track at all while away this past weekend) is really helping me get myself under control again.

The stuff:

I would usually hesitate over these shoes with this because the laces are more of a pinky-burgundy than a bright red (and you know I like the matchy!), but I think they go just fine. I also wanted to wear a low-ish, more comfortable heel, and you can't go wrong with a good Fluevog (I last wore them here).

A close-up:

Another new piece of jewelry from Plum - the red stones are actually stone, and I love the weight of them.

Cardigan (Lucky Brand, consignment), cami (Smart Set), skirt (Precis Petites), shoes ("Sumatra Coffee" Fluevog), bracelet (Plum), earrings (Aldo Accessories).

Topless at Work

As you may or may not know, I'm not dressed for work when I leave the house in the morning. I pack my clothes, shoes and accessories into my backpack, along with my lunch, and I walk 40 minutes in my workout clothes (the parka has been packed away for winter, as has the toque and scarf). I change at work.

In the three plus years that I have been packing my clothes and hoofing it to work, I have never forgotten anything.

Until today:

I forgot the top half of my outfit. That is my smelly, sweaty Mountain Equipment Co-op navy top. I wore it all day with my lovely new wool vintage 80s plaid skirt that I thrifted on the weekend.

So yeah, it was kind of a crappy day. I felt really stupid. Surprisingly, not too many people noticed, since the dark colour in the skirt is actually navy.

And it could have been worse. I was *this* close to wearing this workout top:

Oh, yeah, rocking my Alice Cooper shirt! But I like to wear that one around the house so I saved it, and next pulled out this one:

Now THAT would have been a fashion disaster! Not a very flattering top to begin with.

And my brand-new nylons did a massive run right up the back of my leg...after only 1 wear! Arg!

At least we have stuff. Sweet, sweet stuff:

My awesome thrifted shoes ($13.95), my $14.95 thrifted new skirt, and the silver feather charm from the $10 grab bag.

I fell in love with the mix of colours in the plaid: red, navy and brown, as well as the classic pencil skirt cut with a high waist. It's 100% wool and in amazing condition. I'd guess it's early 80s, so vintage (god, that makes me feel old).

A close-up of the charm:

It was on a really ugly bigass necklace along with a noisy locket and a filigree square (which I also salvaged) - got out the needlenose pliers and voila! Two new charms.

In case you were wondering, this is what I meant to wear today:Ta-dah!

Jacket (Pelican Cove, consignment), cami (Esprit), skirt (Casual Corner & Co., thrifted, early 80s vintage), shoes (Towne Shoes, thrifted).

Worky-Work, Busy Bee!

I've hit a dilemma: most of my tights are toast. Runs in them, big snags where they've rubbed on boots, big holes where I've put my fingers through them. But do I really want to buy a bunch more tights now? Maybe just some black ones...there aren't many left in the stores.

Anyway, this dilemma led me to wear pants today:
I know! I never wear pants. I don't really like them much. I do like these ones, though - of course, they are from Esprit, source of the best-fitting pants for me.

Preppy is not one of my usual looks, so I threw on the heavy chain necklace, and the bigass belt:

And my green shoes!

The stuff:

The shoes are more green in daylight - they never quite photograph well. And who's that over by the earrings? It's Johnny Big Hands!

Okay, so he's not actually 1" tall - I measured and he's 1 3/8" tall:

Blurry, sorry.

If you're interested, click here for some figures that I've painted (and a few earlier ones that I like) since I started doing this blog (there are a few pages if you click through, including shots of our painting area, which is on my right when I'm on the computer). You can see the process and how much work goes into them. I've painted about 2,500 in the last 13 years or so - my painting has slowed down a lot in the last 5 years. I used to paint about one a week. We have display cases of them all over the house.

What can I say, I'm a geek!

Vest (Esprit), shirt (Pink Martini, consignment), pants (Esprit), shoes (Hilary Radley, consignment), necklace (Nine West, gift from Cindy), belt (Plum).

Heh, She Said "Pants"

I hardly ever wear pants. They are just not my thing, although I live in jeans at home. I also didn't buy very many pairs during the 2009 Wardrobe Challenge, so they have been scarce this year. However, I did buy this pair (new) a couple of weeks ago, on sale at Esprit for $35 (regular $99):
Hard to tell, but they are navy blue with a big pale blue/grey check. I love the really wide leg on these. Esprit's pants fit me perfectly. Love them - most of my jeans are Esprit, in fact.

The cardi/shrug is new-to-me. Picked it up in my thrifting spree right before Christmas. It's a wool/angora/cashmere blend, but that darned angora shed like mad all over the place. Note to self: don't buy angora! I do like the sparkly bits around the neck - I'll just make sure I wear it with light-coloured items.

The cami underneath is one I got last Friday night while out shopping with Mom. Love the ruching - so flattering! The line down the front is little brown and gold wood beads.

This is something I do with the cats all the time:
Bam! Cat-zooka! I carry him around like Ripley carries her gun in "Aliens" and pretend to shoot L with him (I make exploding noises).

The shoes are hard to see because the pants are so long, but they are another new pair (I only have one pair left from my mad shoe-a-thon that I haven't worn yet) - my first pair of Campers:

I was astounded at how comfy they are. There is a bit of a platform on the front, and the chunky heel means good stability. They were on sale for $80 from $200.

I didn't wear any accessories aside from some crystal stud earrings, as all the bling on the clothes seemed plenty.

Cardigan (The Limited, thrifted), top (Bianca Nygard), pants (Esprit), shoes (Camper).

Prep-tastic or "Where are your knee socks?"

That's what Ruth asked me after she gave me the up-and-down inspection at work.

I've been looking for a navy top to go with some of my skirts for a while - this is a lovely 100% cashmere sweater that I found for $38...a steal compared to new (wow, check it out: my navy sweater is $129 regular price). Cat got one in purple. Sofffffftttt....
I felt very preppy in this - not really my look (L didn't like this at all), but hey, I don't like doing the same kind of look every day. This all goes back to my mom's excellent advice when I was 17 and starting to experiment with fashion. She said, "Wear whatever you want, but change it every day and don't get stuck in a rut." Smart lady!

The stuff:

I had to use the flash as it's now pitch dark when I arrive home from work - the blue is a true navy.

Sweater (Land's End, consignment), blouse (Vero Moda), belt (some boutique for $5), skirt (Le Chateau, consignment), shoes (Predictions, consignment), ring (consignment shop), gold hoops (gift from L).

Little Ms. Plaid

After yesterday's crazitude, my coworkers spared me narry a glance today, despite my efforts at mixing patterns. I try to look awake in the mornings:
Can you tell I'm forcing my eyes open? I got this skirt last weekend - I have been keeping an eye out for plaid lately. I've always loved plaid (I have owned many plaid dresses over the years), and I agree with fellow bloggers who think it's going to have a major resurgence. But then, when is plaid NOT in style?

The stuff:

You can see the stripes in the jacket better here. I had to wear a flat shoe as I had (yet another) dentist appointment today and had to walk to and from the bus stop several times.

Yay, it's almost the weekend!

Jacket (Vero Moda), top (Planet), skirt (Le Chateau, consignment), shoes (Predictions, consignment), necklace (Plum), earrings (gift from L).

Office Uniform and Level 2 Beginner Achieved!

There is a classic office uniform when you work in business casual or semi-formal business environments. It has a few variations, but when I'm feeling stumped for an outfit (or lazy, which is more likely, haha), it's an easy "go-to" outfit:
Dress pants, blouse, shoes, a couple of accessories. Easy-peasy! Both the pants and the blouse are new-to-me, picked up this past weekend on a tour of my usual consignment store haunts. The blouse was around $16 and the pants were $29 (they're Calvin Klein - not bad, eh?). If I look a little odd, it's because I have no make-up on; I washed it all off before I went to aikido.

The stuff:

Of course, you can't do just any ol' shoe with the office uniform; it's got to be a wowser! I love these babies. Nice close-up of the stripe in the pant, too (it's black with grey), and the groovy necklace.

So, tonight I finished my Level 2 Beginner's in aikido. I am now free to practice with the "big kids" in my dojo, whenever I want. A big shout-out to Bob sensei, George sensei and Tony sensei, all wonderful teachers and very kind gentlemen. And of course, hola! to all the very nice folks that I've had the pleasure of practicing and sweating with.

I'm so proud that finished this.

Here I am in my new dogi or gi. Getting the gi, as I said earlier this week, made it seem real, that I'd made a committment to doing something I'm not good at. I have been frustrated, wanted to quit, wanted to go back to doing things that were easy for me, but part of doing a martial art is learning humility...and realizing that you don't have to be perfect the first time - or the 100th time. I don't know if I'll ever be good at aikido, but I'm going to keep on trying.

Look out, world!

Blouse (RW & Co., consignment), camisole (RW & Co.), pants (Calvin Klein, consignment), shoes (Poetic Licence, gift from L), necklace (Melanie Lynne), silver hoop earrings.

Odd Molly Skirt and Suit Jacket

It feels kind of weird to be wearing a different skirt! I'd actually planned this outfit last week, before I found out about Jane's challenge, so I just carried it over to this week.
My lovely silk Odd Molly skirt again, but with a suit jacket this time. I had fun playing with the patterns in this outfit: the double pattern of the skirt (the "border" is the skirt lining peeking out), the pinstripe in the fitted shirt, and the red and blue pinstripe in the jacket.

The stuff:
A note about my pictures, since it's been mentioned a few times: I'm sorry that they're dark and that sometimes it's hard to see the colours. This is the brightest room in my condo and I'm using the den's central light, plus a desk lamp aimed at me. I hate how the flash on the camera washes everything out, so I don't use it. You should be able to click on the picture to make it bigger, and I always try to use one of the clothing pieces as my "background" so that you can see texture.

As we just had Daylight Savings (or whatever the Spring equivalent is), the light will be brighter here in the den going forward, but I take my pictures mostly in the evening when I'm home from work, and sometimes it's dark outside. And yes, I have a cheap camera.

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I'm not feeling very well tonight...it's come upon me all sudden-like (plague, I'm sure). Forgive me if I sound cranky.

Suit jacket (Vero Moda), blouse (Vero Moda), skirt (Odd Molly, consignment), shoes (Bleka), necklace (don't remember), earrings (Gracie Rose).

Odd Sheila

Okay, so I am a little odd - and I'm perfectly fine with that, thank you - but today's post title is just playing off my new skirt, which is by Odd Molly. I've never heard of this brand before - apparently, it's Swedish - but when I saw this skirt in a consignment store last week, I had to have it, especially since it was only $36 (plus 20% off). The white part at the bottom is actually a full lining/underskirt, and the whole thing is silk. The quality is lovely and the pattern is gorgeous.

I pulled colours from the skirt to put the outfit together: navy long-sleeved t-shirt, grey jacket (the white pattern has grey in it), and the white/grey/burgundy/navy of my Christmas shoes.

A close-up of the pattern, and my accessories:
Good golly, Miss Molly, I love those shoes.

One of the necklaces is just a cheapo junker that I bought on sale, but the other one is a vintage 50s crystal necklace (these were de riguer with those little cardigans with the beads, I'm told by my mother-in-law, who generously gave me this several years ago). The earrings are a Christmas gift from my friend Elaine.

Blazer (RW & Co.), shirt (Zara Woman, consignment), skirt (Odd Molly, consignment), shoes (Poetic Licence), white stone/silver necklace (Plum), crystal necklace (stamped "aomi", vintage, gift from MIL).

Special extra: I was "tagged" by Kate at Fatally Blonde to post the 4th picture in the 4th folder:

My paintbrushes that I use for painting my miniatures.

The World's Noisiest Suit

I have only worn this suit once and after today, I recall why I don't wear it more. I keep checking the composition list to see if "paper" is listed as one of the fabric components, but no. It is just 95% cotton (with a bit of polyester and spandex to keep it from being a wrinkle-fest). I'm so conscious of it when I move though: scritch scritch scritch. Good thing my thighs don't rub like they used to!

A shot without the jacket:
I wanted to wear my gladiator Fluevogs to work, so a suit is the best way to take those sex-on-a-stick shoes into "okay for work" territory. Put a pretty yellow blouse with it to girly it up and I'm rockin'.

I didn't take the jacket off all day (as I would freeze and my fingernails would turn blue - damned air conditioning), so this is what I really looked like.

All professional...only WE know what was really going on:
Woo! I love those shoes! Naturally, I was hiking up my pantleg to show them to everyone, so it's not like I was hiding them or anything. Elaine gave me the cool drop bead earrings for my birthday - yay! Thanks, Elaine. And this is the necklace Cat gave me for my birthday last year - all handmade.

Suit (Esprit), blouse (Do & Be), cami (Plum), shoes (Fluevog), earrings (H&M, gift from Elaine), necklace (Cat, handmade).

Boho Last Gasp of Summer

We've been having unseasonably warm weather for the last couple of weeks, and I know it won't last forever, so I'm squeezing in as many summery things as I can before the rain comes.

I've only worn this skirt twice since I got it while on holiday in July:
And gotta get those sandals in before my toes are shut away for the next 7 months! I actually planned this outfit around the top, a plain navy rayon tee that I got on consignment over a year ago - I was cleaning out my t-shirt drawer (it's bulging at the seams) and found it, and felt completely guilty for not wearing it for months and months.

I have very little navy in my wardrobe, so voila! I paired the two items together, after agonizing over a belt (Red belt? too formal. Ah! the groovy belt Mom got me in London!) and jewelry for about 10 minutes before bed last night. This outfit had the potential to bomb, because I didn't "test drive" it. I had worries about how it would look at the waist, but I am pleased with it overall.

Here's a shot of the bohemian-inspired accessories: I always forget to put the bracelet on my right hand for photos - dang.

Ha, there's often a surprise in the outside edges of the pictures when I go to crop them:
Inigo in the hall, licking his paw after his dinner. Aw! Kitty!

Blue top (Zara Woman, consignment), gypsy skirt (no label, consignment), metal/stone belt (gift from Mom, London), brown leather sandals (Nine West), wood rose earrings, red bead bracelet.

Cropped Pant Suit - Speech Outfit

Dark navy/black suit (jacket and clamdigger pants) (Vero Moda, The Bay), orange wrap t-shirt (Inwear), rust cami (Inwear), red suede peep-toe platform shoes (Le Chateau), silver necklace (Melanie Lynn), silver double hoop earrings.
Yesterday was my 3rd speech for Toastmasters (I did it on my love of language as exemplified through salt), and I always put a lot of thought into how I'm going to present myself. I feel very stylish and put together in a suit and I love this colour combo. The suit was a bargain - I think the jacket and pants were a total of $50 (naturally, they were on clearance). It's a very dark navy, almost black, with a double pinstripe of light blue and red, so it pairs really well with those colours. I have also done it with bright yellow for a real punch.

These shoes look great, but they kill my feet. I have a blister on my little toe today. A close-up:
A close-up of the necklace. Isn't it cool? It was about $12.
I'm late posting this because we had to rush out to catch the 7pm showing of "Iron Man" (excellent movie!). I changed up the jacket and the shoes for my moviegoing outfit:
Snazzy!

Pinstripe Suit with Orange & Red

Navy blue pinstripe suit (Esprit), orange t-shirt (Inwear, Dots), red ribbed tank (Plum), red slingbacks (Nine West, Shoe Warehouse), white gold hoop earrings. Hmmm...can't see the pinstripes too well, but they're there. This is the suit I got when I was shopping with Ruth a couple of weeks ago - I'm glad she talked me into it, because it looks great on (I caught a glimpse of myself in a hall mirror and thought, "Wow, I look tall and skinny!"). A nice feeling.

The downside: the suit is loud! It's primarily cotton (it has a touch of polyester & lycra to keep it from wrinkling, which is awesome since I'm sitting for most of the day and I hate a butt full of wrinkles), so it rubs against itself really loudly. It's also a cat hair magnet. I need one of those rolly lint picker-upper things (hint to Mom: good stocking stuffer).

I love navy with red, but didn't want to look too nautical, so punched up the suit with the orange t-shirt (same shopping trip with Ruth). Navy and orange go fantastic together. Great shoes - my first purchase at Shoe Warehouse when it opened a couple of years ago. A close-up: