Skulls and Bows

It's Monday, which has never been my favourite day of the week. I didn't like my outfit today either. I love the parts of it, but not the whole: Sorry about the light - it's the time of year. This is my skull sweater previously seen here, and this is a new blue skirt. I fell in love with the colour and the pouffy shape, but I think this outfit needed a belt to define the waist.

The cardigan got baggier as the day went on.

The stuff:

I love the shoes - they are so comfy. This is my second wear of them (last seen here).

Some new sparkly bits:

Jacob had a bunch of their jewelry on sale. The bracelet was $9 and the earrings were $3.50.

Cardigan (Kersh), skirt (Fenchurch), shoes (Jeffrey Campbell), jewelry (Jacob).

A Spring Bouquet

I felt very Spring-y today, although the weather did not cooperate. I got soaked when I headed out at noon to go do my Tuesday WW group meeting.

I liked that there are really no neutrals at all in this outfit: I got the top a couple of weekends ago. Normally, I would shy away from Tabi (isn't that an old-lady brand? No offense to old ladies, hee, I'm well on my way!), but I was really attracted to the abstract paint-y look of the pattern. It reminds me of tulips and poppies in the rain. How apropos, considering the weather!

It's a cotton/Lycra blend, and is a wrap cut (my favourite, works great on me). I think it was $14.98. I liked how it looked with this bright purple skirt (first seen here): I've only worn the skirt once because it's not lined and it's also a cotton blend. I did have a bit of hosiery creep with my nude microfishnets today. Most annoying.

I love how this all looks with the bright blue shoes. Stuff:

These are one of my very favourite pairs. Good thing they didn't sustain any damage from the rain.

A close-up:

The pewter rose has a wrist-strap and is made of leather. I bought it in a consignment store for about $15.

Regarding Fluevogs, because I have been blathering about them for a couple of weeks now, the lovely Terri of RAGS against the MACHINE asked me yesterday, "Can you remember how and when you first discovered fluevogs?"

Terri, I can't actually remember NOT being aware of Fluevogs, at least since I was a teen, back in the mid-80s. It was the height of the punk era, and supremely pointy-toed shoes were everywhere, and the brand everyone wanted was Fluevog.

My best friend Lynette and I went to Vancouver, to the original Granville Street store, just after it opened in 1986. We couldn't afford anything (I recall that we ate at McDonald's and I bought this vintage bathrobe - yes, that's me in about 1986-7) except our ferry fare there and back.

I remember walking up Granville (it was pretty scuzzy back in the day, with peep shows and head shops) and then gasping at the window. Flames! Pointy-toed shoes with chains that went from the toes to the ankles (oh, how I wanted those)! They were the most amazing shoes I'd ever seen. The store wasn't open (must have been a Sunday), but we pressed up against the glass exclaiming over the wild styles.

I lost touch with Lynette, I worked for minimum wage for over a decade, had an ex, and then I met L back in 1995. Fluevogs remained unattainable - and not just because only one store sold them in my town. I just couldn't afford them. Then about 5 years ago, when I first got my last job, L and I went to Vancouver for our anniversary, and the first of our annual pilgrimmages to Fluevog was born. L bought me the pair I wore yesterday, and he's been steadily buying them for himself over the years (I think he has 6 or 7 pairs). We always go to the Granville Street store, and every time I remember that very first trip to Fluevog.

Blouse (Tabi, consignment), skirt (Jacob), shoes (Feet First), cuff (consignment), earrings (don't remember).

A Fluevog A Day - Listen Ups Harlow

Well, this is it: my last day of the Daily Fluevog. I have now worn every single pair of Fluevogs that I own, which is 11. I go to eleven!

These are my oldest Fluevogs and I love them dearly. I hope they never, ever wear out. I got these about 5 years ago, when I was heavier than I am now (remember? I lost 50 lbs). They are one of the only things in my wardrobe that I still have from my "fat" days. Without further ado: I quite liked this outfit - usually I do these shoes with black and some other colour to pop off the black (like last time worn here), but this time I did more of a colour mix. This is the second wear of both the skirt (last seen here) and the cardigan (first worn here).

Doing the Wendy B pose:

The shoes make me think of gangsters' molls.

The stuff:

My purple skinny belt went perfectly.

The jewelry:

My black rose and my little white stone earrings.

Wow, over two weeks of Fluevogs - whatever will I wear tomorrow??

Cardigan (Plum), skirt (Dex, thrifted), belt (Plum), bracelet (Le Chateau), earrings (Plum), shoes (Listen Up Harlow, Fluevogs).

Weekend Outfits - A Bit of This and That

A quiet weekend, which is just what I needed. I went to my regular WW meeting, and dressed light as usual: This is a new-to-me dress that I picked up last weekend on the 1/2 price rack at a consignment store for $11.50. I like the really drapey construction (it has an elastic waist) and it has beautiful movement when I walk.

The purse is also new-to-me. Got it for $20.98 at the same store - not bad for a Matt & Nat! I was practically willing Spring to be here in my bare legs - I had cold feet for most of the day.

I went shopping afterwards - I'd planned to go to Ellen's Bonspiel open house (the designer who made my cool blue jacket from last week), but the door was locked when I got there.

I continued on with my main goal of bra shopping. I loath bra shopping, but at least this dress made it less of an ordeal: I can just slide out of the top half of it. The dress will work perfectly for my next tatttoo which I've been planning. Now that I have a job, I'll get it scheduled, probably for the summer.

My shoes were not the most comfortable for a day of shopping, but at least they looked good (last seen here).

Coat (Plum), dress (Lady Dutch, consignment), shoes (Feraglicious), belt (Dorothy Perkins), necklace (Foxy), bag (Matt & Nat, consignment).

It rained on and off all day, but I have hope for Spring as the Japanese plum and cherry trees are in bloom:

I love the smell of them.

Today, L and I went out for lunch and got groceries:

Second wear of my OTK socks. *sigh* I wish this was the last wearing of my boots...

Cardigan (Kensie), scarf (Club Monaco), t-shirt (TMT), jeans (Jackpot, swap from Caro), socks (Steve Madden), boots (Aldo, consignment), bag (Licence 71195).

For those of you who have mentioned it, yes, indeedy, I am in the Huffington Post! Pretty cool - thanks again, Wendy! You rule!

Best Weekend Ever!

So, following yesterday's outing to drop off my signed offer at my new job (!), I headed downtown to look for a Desigual jacket - I really wanted one like my dress so I went to two stores that usually have a few.

Not much selection, sadly, but then I remembered another store that I'd seen them in last summer - and I found an amazing jacket there! Yay!

I caught a bus home, then quickly realized it wasn't going where I thought it would, so I hopped off and headed for another bus stop. On my way, a woman stopped me and asked if she could take my picture. She does a Twitter thing where she takes pictures of people on the street that she thinks are well-dressed. Well, how cool is that?? Shout out to Missy - I've forgotten the name of your Twitter account, so if you drop by, leave me a comment.

As I was standing at the bus stop, I waved to the bus driver so that he'd stop (they're touchy that way sometimes), and some random person started waving at me down the block. It was Ruth! And G! And they had just picked up Ruth's engagement ring! We celebrated the good fortune of all of us with a few drinks. How cool that we all got to have a nice moment together. Awwww.

Which brings us to today:
I do like to dress when I'm going out, even if it's just to the regular ol' diner for brunch. This is my purple cashmere sweater (last seen here) and long denim skirt (last seen here), along with my purple combat boots (last worn here).

But no one looked at that stuff. This was the star:

Let's take our time and fully enjoy this beauty. It's Desigual and it was $489.00. Yes, I choked a little bit when I heard the total, but I'm in love and it's worth every penny - this is a piece of art and I can tell a lot of hand-work went into it. Plus, I paid cash so I don't feel a smidge of guilt. I will always own this jacket.

Fully buttoned-up (except for the collar):

Like on my dress, every button is unique. I love all the emerald greens with the turquoise. The black sections are a felted wool. That sort of pebbly texture at the cuffs and on the centre panel is the same as the back panel on my dress (although the dress has black beads sewn on it). And yes, that's a peacock embroidered on the front!

Someone is helping me show off the back:

Hee, he always looks so startled when he's listening to the camera timer.

Ooh, the purple, the floral patterns, the line of embroidered roses across the waist! Like my dress, this also has the large panel at the top. It reminds me of how guys would put a "back patch" (like an Iron Maiden one or something) on their jean jackets back in the day. Heh.

As with all of Desigual's pieces, the attention to detail is wonderful:

Emerald green satin lining and the backing of the front edge is a fine turquoise and brown dot pattern. There are two hidden pockets on the front as well (you can see my hand in one above) and both are lined...with different fabrics. Attention to detail is my thing, man, and this jacket goes to 11.

Here are some detail shots:

The inside back lining. It's two fashionable ladies having a stroll in some overgrown gardens. I am too old for such short shorts/skirts.

The front of the jacket:

Click the pic to enlarge a bit.

The wonderful mix of fabrics, patterns and textures...my heart is happy. The peacock is sewn with metallic thread.

The back patch:

It's some sort of crazy abstract art composition. The entire patch of fabric is fuzzy, like bouclé wool. And check out the purple lamé section across the back of the neck! Caw! The crow in me loves this.

I had to take a picture of this button - it's the bottom one:

Just like with my dress, I've always got my eye on you.

Anyway, the jacket caused a stir (well, duh), and my favourite waitress at the diner bought me mimosas to celebrate my employment, so lunch was delightful.

But best of all, tonight it's Winesday and I'm going to surprise my lovely women (whoever hasn't read my blog in the last 24 hours, ha) with my exciting news and we will eat and drink and be merry and swap clothes.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

And because it's not a great weekend without another cat picture:

Such cuteness!

Jacket ("Abrig_Colette", Desigual), sweater (Daniel Bishop, consignment), skirt (InWear, consignment), boots (Penny Loves Kenny), earrings (gift from L).

Weekend Outfits - Winterizing Summer Dresses

I occasionally view my Stats tab on Blogger, just to see what people are looking for when they end up here. By far one of the most searched-for topics is "how to wear a summer dress in winter" (closely followed by "dress like a song" which gets them this post). So they find this post, which I did a couple of years ago in response to a question from Faithful Reader Alison.

Well, here's another post for you folks to find! It's been so freakin' cold the last few days, I swear, my hair is going to crack like shards of ice and fall from my head. Anyway, I've been winterizing some dresses for a couple of special occasions.

Last night, I went as my mom's date to an awards night put on by the athletics club she (and my dad, when he was alive) belongs to. I'm so proud that she won Racewalker of the Year - AGAIN, for the fourth time! I cried with pride as they reviewed all of her accomplishments. You kick butt, Mom!

I spent a lot of money on this dress in London and I aim to get a lot of wear out of it:
As Sal over at Already Pretty will attest, Desigual makes the most divine, interesting and unique clothing I've ever seen. I fell in love with this dress as soon as I saw it, in the Desigual store near Carnaby Street in London. It was 169.00 pounds (over $300 Canadian), making it the most expensive piece of clothing (including shoes) that I've ever owned.

You should see the amazing jackets they make using the same technique of patchwork (if you do an image search on "Desigual coat" you'll see a bunch). I didn't get a jacket, though, because they button up on one side (like this dress does) and they only looked right when they were done up. That's not very practical, in my opinion.

I've worn this dress four times previously (here, scroll through the other stuff - there are some good close-ups in the last post from the first time I wore it), always bare-armed, sometimes with a jacket. This time I added my long-sleeved turquoise tee underneath and I had a cami underneath that! I'm pointing at the rooster, in case you are wondering.

Even with the layer underneath, I was still freezing, so I wrapped this orange scarf around my neck a few times and pinned it in place.

I've got my eye on you!

I wore thick purple tights, wooly socks and boots. This worked quite well to keep myself warm.

Close-up of the top:

Mom gave me this pin for my birthday and I've been remiss in wearing it. I liked how it went with all the different buttons thematically and kept up the round theme with the bird ring.

The stuff:

Dress (Desigual), tee (Plum), scarf (vintage, thrifted), ring (Lavichy), boots (Aldo, consignment).

Today, I went to my regular WW meeting (down a pound! Woo!), and had a bunch of errands to run. I needed to be warm, as it is still trying to snow, and also needed to be light on the scale. Did you know that a pair of jeans weighs nearly 2 pounds?

I'm trying not to cough. But there you have it - same formula: one light dress, one long-sleeved tee, one pair of tights, one pair of boots. Voila!

Dress (Gap, consignment), tee (Press), Boots (Aldo, consignment).

Tuesday WW Group - Teal and Purple (and Some Pictures of Inigo)

Apparently my Fluevogs caused quite a stir last week! I had many comments on them today, so I have promised to wear a different pair of shoes every week to my Tuesday Weight Watchers Group. Good thing I have the blog to refer to!

I pulled together today's outfit from some of my new Plum purchases:
Yes, I know the tights are more blue than teal, but whatever, I think they go just fine. The cardigan is new - it was 50% off, so $24. It's a nice cotton and spandex blend, so washable (yay!). It's the same brand and similar cut to this green cardi (warning, picture-heavy post) I picked up second hand last year.

The cardigan is a nice basic in a good colour, but my love is for the skirt - it's got pockets!

Plus, it's purple, it's brocade, it's designed and made in Canada - and it was $25, regular $85. Sweet!

Also, check out the nice waist detail:

It criss-crosses in the front - isn't that awesome? You can also see the 3 black sparkly buttons on the side, just above the zip.

The stuff:

These are the shoes I bought for my birthday back in October - only worn them once (here).

Oops, forgot to put my new belt in the photo:

It's the same purple as the skirt, also from Plum, and was $4 (and it's leather).

Because I was wearing a black cami under the cardi, I was going to go with all black or all-silver jewelry, but when I started poking around in my jewelry box, I found this fabulous silver bracelet that L gave me (again, for my birthday, I think):

I quite liked the pops of red in it and the ring. You can also see the 3 black sparkly buttons on the skirt - they're roses! What a cool detail. I love stuff like that.

Cardigan (Kersh), cami (Esprit), skirt (Plum), tights (can't remember), shoes (Me Too), belt (Plum), bracelet (gift from L), ring (gift from Cindy), earrings (over 15 years old).

Inigo has been hanging out on this box lately (it's the one that was full of recycling, which has now been emptied and is sitting on its side):

I love his dear little white paws.

I changed out of my "good" clothes when I got home, and into my "house" clothes. I got this long-sleeved grey tee yesterday in a thrift store for $7.50. I put the cami I had on with the work outfit over top of it, and tossed on my black jeans. I was laughing at Inigo. See why?

Rar! Attack of the monster kitty!

Grey top (Jacob, thrifted), cami (Esprit), jeans (Dish).

I got another shipment of supplies from WW today. Inigo wasted no time in jumping in the box:

Hee!

Happy New Year's!

I hope you all had an awesome New Year! We had a party, and I spent Saturday on the couch, then Sunday having food poisoning, so I'm getting back into blog life slowly.

I had planned to wear something entirely different, but then had a last-minute spaz and changed into this dress:L had bought me a top for Christmas, but it was too small - I returned it for this, as they didn't have any more of the top in stock at Plum. I fell in love with the dress when I tried it on - such a good fit.

I also found these shoes the other night while I was waiting to get my eyebrows waxed and then have drinks with Elaine:

They're pretty sweet - they were $50 on sale at Aldo (and they're leather).

My spazzitude was carrying over into my pictures (and I was running late with people arriving any minute!) - you can see my frustration.

And yeah, I just left my hair in "mad scientist" mode all night. It was fun.

Kitty always helps when I'm having a bad photo session:

L and I did our "fam" photo with Inigo:

L is so much taller than me (he's 5'10"), so you can't see his top hat, but doesn't he look dapper? Inigo looks awkward.

Oh, but let's move on! Shoes:

Yeah, those are pretty freakin' awesome.

The bling:

Those are my new-ish feather earrings I got while out shopping with Ruth before Christmas. The bracelet is a gift from Toronto from Elaine - I was admiring hers (which is a bit thinner and I think a different colour metal), and then she hauled this out for me! What a sweetie.

It's actually a long loop of articulated metal circles - you can shape it however you want:

Very bendy.

I had a lot of fun playing with it - and because it's metal, it's nice and strong.

I also (finally) printed out the picture that Megan did of me for my birthday (actual outfit seen here) and framed it, so now that is up instead of the Dolphins clock.

Dress (Max and Cleo), tights (Hue), shoes (Aldo), earrings (no brand), ring (Soul Power), bracelet/necklace (gift from Elaine).

Today, I dragged myself out of bed quite late, and L and I went out to our fave diner for lunch. I was all ready to take my casual outfit picture, but someone had other ideas:

He's standing right in my pose spot.

So I hunched down with him:

Silly kitty!

Inigo wouldn't move, so I just stood over him:

Psycho eyes and back-pointed ears! He's not happy.

T-shirt (Upper Playground), purple tee (Kersh), jeans (Seven7, swap from Caro), boots (Miz Mooz).