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).

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).

Out With a Bang! - A Whole Lotta Frosting

Okay, have to make this quick as we have to eat dinner and go to our Strata AGM. The joy.

I was happy with this outfit. After all the cake and frosting discussion (and strangely, I am not craving cake AT ALL) yesterday, I resurrected this "cake" dress:
Can you believe I haven't worn this in a year? What's wrong with me? Clearly, I am deranged.

I enjoyed playing with layers with this - button-down shirts (this one was first worn here), once my sworn enemy, are now a staple for layering under my sweater dresses (and are good for showing off L's cufflink collection).

I felt too exposed in the middle (and lumpy) from the shirt, so I added the bustier over it (last seen for Hallowe'en - look out, costume pictures), and my bigass belt. I love the striped tights with the plaid.

Iced it all with the shiny shoes, two necklaces and the cufflinks:

This just didn't look right to me without all that blingy goodness.

The stuff:

The shoes were last worn in May with my groovy London dress (here). They are up high in my closet and I totally forgot about them!

The shiny stuff:

I've worn that pair of necklaces together for years.

The cufflinks are from the 50s-70s and feature hematite (known as "Alaska black diamond" back in the day, I believe).

They are stamped "Senator" which was by Sherman:

Nice.

Dress (Vero Moda), shirt (Ann Taylor, thrifted), bustier (Le Chateau, consignment), tights (Filodoro), shoes (BCBGirls), necklaces (Plum and Jacob), earrings (Aldo Accessories), cufflinks (Senator by Sherman, vintage).

Casual Friday: Floofy Layers

Ah, Friday! How long you have taken to arrive this week! However, I forgive you now that you're here, aside from that trip to the dentist this morning. Thank goodness I have a nice boozy dinner planned for this evening with my old boss from Fairweather, Tammy. Yee haw!

I'd planned to wear my new combat boots with today's outfit (the ones in my concert-going outfit here), but they just didn't look right. I'll take some time this weekend and build an outfit around them. Perhaps I'll document how I build an outfit - would anyone be interested in that?

Anyway, this is the outfit, and shoes I ended up wearing:
Someone (I've forgotten who) in Style Nation wore a denim dress recently and I gushed over it and I said, "I need to wear my denim dress again!" so here it is. Sorry, I have a terrible memory - thank you for the inspiration, Inspiring Blogger!

I've worn this dress a billion times* as seen here, here, here, here, here and here, and probably a few times before that. I'm wearing a grey cami underneath the dress, and my black velvet vest (as seen multiple times here) over top.

*numbers may be estimated
The underskirt is my black floofy Noa Noa one (last seen in my Hallowe'en costume, but last worn normally here).

The shoes are going to go sit in the "take these to the cobbler" bag for approximately a year (i.e. until I remember to take them in) to get them re-heeled as the stupid plastic heel caps are down to the nails after only one previous wear. I hope I don't have to walk on any hardwood floors!

Jewelry:

Got sort of a burnished silver thing going on.

My tights are new - the colour is called "cobblestone":

Leg on table pose! You can see the nice herringbone texture here.

******

So, I keep forgetting to mention, I am training to become a leader at Weight Watchers! As you may or may not know, I lost a lot of weight about five years ago, starting in 2006 (I did a post on it here). I have maintained my weight for 3.5 years (I hit goal in early 2007 and became a Lifetime member in May 2007), and I continue to go to my Saturday morning Weight Watchers meetings every week I can for the support, and to give and get inspiration from my fellow women and men who are on their own weight loss journeys.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the receptionists (of course, I know everyone at my meeting) asked if I had thought about becoming a leader. I considered it, interviewed on Monday with the Territory Manager (it was very informal) and did a webinar on Tuesday. Tomorrow, I shadow my mentor leader, and then next weekend, I do two days of intense training. I am pretty excited about this - it's not a full-time job (heck, it's not even part-time), but it's something I think I can do to give back. And it's something I can do while I look for work.

Note: I don't intend to push WW through this blog, but I've always been up-front about being a member. It's just a program that works for me, and I like it. I'm not getting any compensation for talking about WW, and I don't want any. You won't see any WW ads on my blog, or any other ads (I am not a personal fan of blogs loaded with ads - that's not how I roll, baby - but I don't judge what other people do with their blogs. We're all one big Style Nation family, right?).

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this new adventure (think of the outfits!) and wanted to share it.

Dress (Ricki's), vest (Surrey Classics, consignment), skirt (Noa Noa), belt (Plum), tights (Hue), shoes (Miss Sasa, consignment), earrings (Aldo Accessories), ring (can't remember, maybe Nine West?), cuff (St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop), necklace (handmade).

Marigold Repeat and Snakes

Even though it hasn't even been a week, I'm wearing this sweater again:
Reason? I only wore it for a few hours on Friday night, the restaurant was dark and dammit, no one saw it. Yes, I'm vain - I have a fashion blog, ha ha! I have no issue with that.

I almost forgot about this skirt - it is one of my favourites and I've only had it a year (last worn here, with links to previous wears). I have a lot of skirts in my closet, so sometimes they get lost in there.

It's a bit hard to tell, but I'm wearing purple tights. Of course.
Inigo and I have a moment.

The stuff:

My fab shortie cowboy boots.

The punky stuff:

Snakes abound! My vintage 80s (*choke* I can't believe I just called the 80s "vintage") ring and pin. I pinned the snake brooch over the tab on the collar of the sweater.

Sweater (Pria), skirt (Le Chateau), boots (Miz Mooz), belt (Jacob), cuff (old), ring (80s), pin (gift from Mom & Dad, 80s).

I Get Back Up Again - A Musical Interlude

I've had that old Chumbawamba song going through my head all day. You know, THAT one - it's right up there with "The Logdriver's Waltz" (oh come on, you know you want to watch it) for being an insidious earworm.

Anyway, I felt a lot better today. As Cat at Thrifty Muse reminded me in yesterday's comments, I once said a couple of years ago, "When you're feeling sad and blue, wear a dress." So I did.My Banana Republic dress (last worn here) that I bought two years ago in Vancouver with Ruth, AND my Fluevogs that I bought on the same trip. Worn those lots of times - they're actually getting worn out!

My Noa Noa wrap cardi on top (last seen here): "Yes, my sleeves are big, what of it?"

The stuff:

Nothing terribly exciting.

My cuff and earrings:

Blurry...was in a hurry.

Dress (Banana Republic), cardigan (Noa Noa), shoes ("Ivanna Listen Up", Fluevog), cuff (St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop), necklace (Plum), earrings (Aldo Accessories).

Purple Power!

Okay, so I've been indulging in a little bit of retail therapy to salve my recent woes (job, dead Grandma).

I've tried to be good and only buy thrift or consignment, but I did go into one of my favourite stores (Jacob) that was having an extra 30% off last sale prices - and this purple skirt called to me!
As you can see, I've got the Power of the Wonder Woman bracelet going on.

Anyway, the skirt (which is a nice royal purple, not as blue as it looks here) was $39.99, so that would be $30 on sale. But it's made in Canada (not China) and it's machine washable (no lining), so I'm willing to pay a little more for those kinds of benefits.

The top is also new - it was a whopping $8 in a thrift store yesterday. It's Talbots, so the quality of the fabric is awesome. It's a thick, heavy double-knit that drapes really nicely.

But let's not kid ourselves. It's all about the shoes. Check out those babies! That's 5 inches of heel (less about an inch platform in the front of the shoe).

I really liked my accessories today, so here's a shot of my mug:

I especially like my wee ear cuff (you can see it just above the bigass pearl stud). This also shows the pattern of the top better.

The stuff:

I like that the shoes have the taupe colour, black suede AND black patent on them (the shoes aren't leather, however). I do like a mix of textures. I got them last year and have worn them a few times to work. They are tough on my feet though (I took them off when I was at my desk and even gave myself a foot massage!).

A close-up of the jewelry:

My leafy bracelet, the pendant Mom got me in Australia (real pearls and white gold), and my cheapy pearl earrings.

Top (Talbot's, thrifted), skirt (Jacob), shoes (Qupid, consignment), necklace (gift from Mom), bracelet (thrifted), earrings (Aldo Accessories).

Guinness and Major Excitement! (and Spanish Ladies)

First of all, there are no cat pictures today ("awwwww!"). However, I've had two pints of Guinness, so goodness knows what craziness will ensue!

Second of all, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, an end in sight, and we all have "Horse to the Barn Syndrome"*. We are now looking at Friday - the weekend is almost here.

As I knew I would be going out for drinks at the waterfront pub a 2 minute walk from my office to send off my dear soon-to-be former colleague, Natasha (aka "Natty Nat"), I dressed for the occasion:

Last seen here (enjoy a tour of Camden Market and the Tower of London).

Instead of going with just red this time, I pulled out three colours as accessories: the orange scarf at the neck, the orange and yellow shoes, and the blue belt.

A shot of the scarf:

It was very breezy today, but warm. My scarf wafted (okay, more like flapped) in the wind and I felt very chic.

The stuff:

My fab shoes, a shot of the Spanish ladies, and do you see how I kept the belt end from waving around all day? Yes, that is an elastic band.

The Major Excitement! is that "something" (it might be a skirt) arrived in the mail today from another blogger (whose name rhymes with "Fasmira") - it's my first blog swap! I am going to wear my new item tomorrow!

*This is an expression my mom used when I was a kid and I use now. Like when you're riding a horse and he knows you're getting closer to his barn and so he speeds up. You know, like a horse to the barn, let's get there! Anyway, I think she made it up. Whenever I use it, people look at me like I'm a kook. Which I am, but still.

Dress (Lirub), shoes (Portia), belt (Denver Hayes, from Ruth), scarf (thrifted), starburst ring (Nine West), red stone ring (Oscar & Libby's), earrings (don't remember).

London - St. Paul's Cathedral

Day 3 in London!

We walked down to Oxford Street, but were generally disappointed in the shops (Primark is cheap crap, sorry Londoners, but it is). Mom headed off to see "The Lion King" and L and I headed off to see St. Paul's Cathedral (which Mom had seen on a previous visit to London). We'd seen St. Paul's the night before when we walked over the Millenium Bridge on the way out of the Globe:
L and I had also seen a really cool TV show on Discovery about the architecture of St. Paul's dome - the church was designed by Christopher Wren in the 17th century (click here for a Wiki entry). Whew, I tell ya, coming from a "new" country like Canada, it is boggling to be touching things that have been around for hundreds of years! My own city is barely 200 years old.

You aren't allowed to take any photos inside of St. Paul's, unlike 99% of museums and other historic sites in London, but we did the climb inside the dome (over 500 steps on little spiral staircases). From the Whispering Gallery, we looked down to an actual wedding taking place! It was like Princess Diana all over again. We were able to take pictures at the outside landings:

Looking down into the step constructs.

Looking back at the Millenium Bridge:

Looking down from the Golden Gallery, you can just see the edge of the dome at the bottom of the photo:

Looking into the hollow outer dome:

I didn't get any vertigo until we went down - I was wearing a long skirt and it billowed as I stepped down, and I coudn't see my feet. That made me dizzy.

We also went into the crypts (Nelson's tomb, William Blake, Lawrence of Arabia, and my favourite, William Ernest Henley ("Invictus" is one of my favourite poems). I was eeeevil and took a picture of Sir John A. MacDonald:

While I waited for L in the loo, I browsed the gift shop, where I bought a bracelet (which I wore today. After St. Paul's, we went back to Regent Street and Carnaby Street for some more shopping (L bought a fabulous purple/black/white striped jacket from Sherry's), and I bought this dress:

It's from Desigual, and I was first drawn in by their jackets, but I couldn't find one that I really loved. When I saw this dress, I gasped. It's all handmade and I absolutely love it. At 169 pounds ($259 Cdn/$243 US), this was the most expensive thing I bought on holiday, but I think it's worth it. I'll never find anything like this ever again.

I love the mod shape of it, and check out the back:

These photos don't do it justice (and my tights are teal, not blue).

Let's try some close-ups:

The front. You can see the subtleties of the fabrics more, the free-hand embroidery on the bottom panel, all the different buttons. You can't see the detail (that's orange with pink! the black side panel has a gold pinstripe! the purple satin lining! the irridescence!), but it's as close as I can get.

The back:

That's a green and a red zebra on the eye panel, and that "bubble" section is actually black faceted beads sewn on. And how about that thickly embroidered rooster??

A better look at the eye panel:

I love the zig-zag connecting stitch on all the panels. It's not perfect - it looks handmade. That's a good thing.

The stuff:

Simple (but cool) shoes and jewelry. The cuff is the "Tijou Cuff" bracelet and was inspired by the gates in the High Altar of St. Paul's, which are Baroque and were made around 1700 by Jean tijou, a French master ironworker. It was 22 pounds.

A close-up:

That's my favourite kind of souvenir: it's from a place I visited and is something I'll have forever.

By the way, yes, that's George Clooney's face I pasted over top of L's yesterday. Hee!

Dress (Desigual), tights (Hue), shoes (BCBGirls), cuff (St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop), earrings (don't remember).