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.

What to Wear for a Phone Interview - Also, Gifts Received and Given

Warning: big post, lots of stuff going on.

Firstly, I had a phone interview today with the company whose job fair I attended a couple of weeks ago (outfit here)! Woo! I think it went very well. I should hear by the end of the week if I am going to get an "in person" interview. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, silly thing, but hmmm...what do you wear for a phone interview? This is what I went with:
No rattly bracelets or earrings to distract while on the phone. Solid shoes and a classy look but with a bit of funk (for that confident edge).

I was really pleased with the layering of the navy tulle skirt under this floral one.

I glopped on my strands of necklaces for some bling near my face. Got my haircut last night - man, I need to dye it badly. I have massive roots!

The stuff:

I love those shoes - it's hard to see but they have a black platform and solid rubber heel. I had to be bad, though: I slit the back of the heel because they rubbed really badly right in one spot. So much better now!

The sparklies:

I've worn all of these lots of times before, although the earrings are new. Check 'em out:

Heh, I've got big steel balls. Heh heh.

Sweater (Tobias), skirt (Mexx), underskirt (Noa Noa), shoes (Camper), belt (Plum), rhinestone necklace (Jacob), other necklace (Plum), earrings (Aldo Accessories).

The lovely and fabulous Sherylyn (oh my god, bacon sauce??) gave me a birthday gift today. We meet every Wednesday after work for a walk. She's also one of my Book Club and Winesday Women and is a wonderful friend. Look at the card:

And Shi Studio earrings! My favourite! Thank you, sweetie, that's so generous of you.

Now, if you don't know Hilary, you absolutely should! Go now! Wish her a very Happy Birthday - she is a wonderful Libra just like someone else (ME). And for her birthday, she asked people to post the contents of their daily bags.

Well, honey, I hope you're not disappointed, but I don't carry a bag like most people on a daily basis. This is my bag:

My rockin' red Mountain Equipment Co-op backpack! I've had this one for about a year - I wore my last one out.

It has a rear big pocket:

Emergency tampon and bandaids in the mesh pocket; otherwise empty. That's where I pack my shoes or boots and my clothes/accessories for my work day.

It also has a biggish middle pocket:

Completely empty. That's where my lunch bag goes.

It also has a smaller big pocket that contains this stuff:

Clockwise from top: black make-up bag, blue toque, wallet, Band-Aids and my card-holder.

I have "business" cards in my cardholder:

I give them out when I'm out shopping and the subject of my blog comes up. I made them using Publisher - not bad, eh? I matched the colours to my blog layout.

In the little black make-up bag, I cram all this stuff:

Clockwise from the top: tampon, deodorant, face powder, Clinique bonus collapsible brush and mirror, Avon nail file, mirror compact, more Band-Aids, and tutti-fruiti dental floss.

I love my mirror compact:

It's very me.

The very front of my pack has this stuff in it:

Bus fare ($2.50), my homemade Weight Watchers tracker (I can track a whole week on one sheet), and my key card for work.

The pack also has two mesh side pouches. This is what I have in those:

The yellow thing is my pouch rain protector, and the green thing is a shopping bag. In the summer, I swap out the rain cover for a tube of sunblock. I guess I should have my rainhat in there too, but the weather's been good this week.

That's it! When I have my pack loaded with my lunch and my shoes/clothes, it weighs about 20 lbs. That's a workout in itself.

Did you notice what I don't have? A cell phone! I don't have one. I do carry keys and an mp3 player (not an iPod, I have one by Creative), and lip balm, but I carry those in my coat pockets.

Happy Birthday, Hilary! I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my world.

Purple Pops and Some Catching Up (and a Book Blurb)

Okay. The Dolphins are playing right now, so this is going to be fast! My birthday is this week (Saturday!), and so I'm going to be wearing some of the my favourite things this week, as well as some gifts.

Today, I wanted to wear these purple shoes that L got me for my birthday last year (well, a gift certificate - I bought them):
Eeee, purple goodness! I'm also wearing a new purple cami under this wrap top - it's getting its second wear (last seen here, also with purple - ha!). And I do love this skirt.

I've worn the skirt a couple of times since I got it (here and here). Both it and the top were thrift store finds - a total of $20 for them.

The stuff:

A bit of a drool over the shoes when I first got them here (have you been doing your push-ups?).

Top (Talbots, thrifted), skirt (Bedo, thrifted), cami (InWear), shoes (Friis and Co., gift from L), earrings and bracelet (Fossil, gift from L).

What I wore to Weight Watchers:

The belt weighs a ton - it's glass beads and is all hand-sewn. Of course, I took it off before I got weighed! It velcros together in the back so you can adjust the length. I paid $20 for it on consignment in Feb '09.

L and I had a memorial service to go to for a gentleman whom we were acquainted with, so I wore a jacket so that my sparkly belt wouldn't be too much:

L wore a suit. When we went to our usual diner for brunch after WW (but before the memorial), our waitress was stunned to see us in "grown-up clothes". Heh, I love messing with peoples' perceptions, don't you?

Very sombre here.

There was a "no snivelling" request in place (the gentleman was quite a funny guy), but of course, I cried. I always cry.

A close-up of the belt:

Pretty awesome.

Dress (BCBG Max Azria, gift from Ruth), jacket (Mac & Jac), shoes (Fluevog), belt (Birks, consignment).

And I finished a book a couple of weekends ago! It's "The Crazy Years" by Spider Robinson:

I've been a fan of Spider's science fiction novels for years (he's a huge Robert A. Heinlein fan, as am I). I've read most of his Callahan novels - they're a lot of fun.

Stats: 294 pages. Started July 12, 2010, finished September 25, 3010.

Blurb: As you can see, this one took me a long time to finish. It's a collection of Spider's short essays that he wrote for Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper from 1996 - 2004. The essays are grouped by theme (there's a chapter on computers, one on Canada, one on space), and are nice and short - good bedtime reading. Spider is a "small l" liberal, which I like. Although I enjoyed reading these, I read them very slowly, to let them sink in. Hence, the long time period.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction - I like my books to be escapist - but since I love his novels, I thought I'd give his non-novel a shot. I'm glad I did.

My copy is a publisher's advance copy, before the book was for sale. It has a letter in it from the publisher. Cool.

Casual Friday: Vintage and An Ampersand

And my week of red wraps up with a bit of coral red, in accents. I have been wanting to wear this top again for ages:
I last wore it over a year ago (here), and twice previously, here and here. I don't like to wear my actual vintage too often, as it can be delicate. I also remembered that this one tends to expose me...and with these low rise pants, I had double the risk of having muffin top exposed! I wore a cami under it to alleviate that.

I love the back view:

I feel very Audrey in these pants (always do) - these are just the right width and length on me.

And because it's casual day, I tossed on my jean jacket (I took it off for most of the day, though):

That's my new-to-me purse - also in coral red. I realize now that I'm holding it backwards, so you can't see the ampersand handle properly. Arg.

I got this in a thrift store when I went shopping with Elaine a few weeks back. I spotted the bright colour and pulled it out...hmmm, what's that I see?

That reads "matt & nat - montreal" - whoa! matt & nat are very expensive, as they are all vegan and eco-friendly. Check it out - even the cheapest bag on sale (a wallet) is minimum $45. My bag feels rubbery on the outside, and the inside is very soft, like felt. It closes with two big velcro circles.

And what did I pay? Glad you asked! I paid $4.00.

The stuff:

The bracelet and earrings were "liberated" from Mom's jewelry box back in the early 80s. The ring is new.

Top (Style Rite, vintage), pants (Focus 2000), cami (Esprit), shoes (Tsubos), belt, bracelet and earrings (70s vintage, Mom's), ring (Le Chateau), jean jacket (Ann Taylor Loft), bag (matt & nat, thrifted).

Casual Friday: Big Black Bling

Okay, try saying that three times fast: Big black bling!

I made you say "blig"! Hee!

This outfit came together because it was all stuff I hadn't worn for a while (or ever):
That grey coat is mine from about 4 years ago. I had given it to Vero last year, and she brought a bag of clothes to Winesday...and there it was! Well, I admit, I'd missed it. I wore it a couple of times in 2009 and 2008 on the blog.

I also wanted to wear my sailor pants again. Whoosh!

And the sparkly tank is just so darned...sparkly!

This is my last Wonder Woman pose for August. It's been a blast! Don't forget to check out In Professorial Fashion for their WW Conference!
I also wanted to wear these shoes again before I store them away for fall/winter/early spring. They just don't work with tights, and besides, only wearing them a few times a year means they'll last that much longer, right?

The stuff:

There's the big black bling! The plastic bangle tends to fly off my wrist, so kept it on with my rocker cuff. But really, look at those black chains! Sweet Mr. T goodness!

Check it out:

So...much...shiny....Heart...exploding...

Here's a better shot of the necklace:

From the grossgrain ribbon (adjustable length!) to the bigass black links (they are a solid, smooth hard plastic with a matte finish), I love this. I got a few strange looks and some silly comments from my co-workers, but pshaw!

This, however, is outrageous:

Do you see that? That is the original price. Yes. $89.00. That's just insane. I think the $9 I paid is much more reasonable - that's why I always dig through the sale bins on the counters at Club Monaco.

Have a great weekend!

Jacket (Ricki's), tank (Costa Blanca, consignment), pants (Noa Noa), shoes (Qupid), necklace (Club Monaco), plastic cuff (Le Chateau), rocker cuff (80s).

Bride of Dress Week - Pink and Roses

Yes! Finally! It's a new dress, presented to you in full-on Wonder Woman pose:

Okay, you can probably see why I was drawn to this - my cheapie camera does not do the colours justice. It's peach and pink and dark greeny teal and yellow and brown, all smooshed together in a lovely watercolour mess.

I actually took a little yellow cardi to work to wear over it, but this dress has a super high waist and the cardigan looked all wrong with it, so I just trucked it to work and home again in my trusty backpack.

I'm used to waists being at my...waist, as opposed to being at my underboob. My hands in the top picture are at my real waist.

The dress is probably a half size too big, but eh, I'm never going to get it tailored. "Good enough for government work!" as my dad would say.

I thought the bigass rose went perfectly with it and added a little somethin' somethin'. And as soon as I started holding the dress up to my shoes in my closet, these Fluevogs leapt out at me. I know, dark shoes, light dress, but the colour went so well!

The stuff:

The colour of these shoes never quite comes out right - they are a dark green. Click here for pictures of them when I got them before the writing on the sole wore off, as I knew it would (caution: there are pictures of me dressed for an Alice Cooper concert - don't say you weren't warned!).

But doesn't the rose look amazing?

A close-up of the sparkly stuff:

I really liked the way this green bracelet looked with all the pinks and oranges. The bracelet is one of Mom's from the early 60s, I believe. The earrings are clip-on vintage, probably late 50s. Neither item is stamped or marked. The ring is a $5 cheapie I got in a costume shop years ago.

Whenever I buy a new-to-me article of clothing, I always search inside for the tags. For one, I am not spending my hard-earned $22 (yes, that's how much this dress was) on something I'll have to dry-clean. For another, it often yields valuable clues as to the origins of the item.

In this case, a) it's machine washable - woo! and b) it sold in Target in Q3 (Fall/Autumn) of 2009. Nice. We don't have Target in Canada.

Dress (Merona, thrifted), shoes (Fluevog, "Memories" family, "Madly" model), rose pin (Roberta's Hats), bracelet (Mom's, vintage 60s), earrings (vintage 50s).