Out With a Bang! - Colour Explosion

Today's outfit is a little more conservative than the other outfits this week (yes, I planned them all on Sunday), due to going to a WW at Work registration today at noon. I get my first little group of victims in the new year! I mean, clients, yes, that's what I meant.

However, I am proud that this outfit contains NO neutrals:
All remixed stuff: this skirt is my "mystery" skirt - I got it thrifted in Seattle in autumn 2009, and the only tag is a leaf symbol (previously worn here and here). It's a wool and silk (I can tell by the feel) tweed.

This top has only been worn once (here) because I find the shape challenging. I'm very used to clothes that work with my figure (I'm hourglass) and have a defined waist, so this dropped waist always prompts a few "hmmmm"s when I'm planning around it.

It's a silk blend, so nice and warm. I was very pleased at my solution for what to wear under it. I wanted to bring out the yellow of the flowers in the skirt, but I don't have a yellow cami in that colour, plus just a cami feels a little too bare and open on its own with this. So I layered this tie cardigan (worn here and here) underneath and safety-pinned the ends in the small of my back. Voila! I'm so clever.

Here's a look at the top:

I like the little blue sequins on the sweater.

No pic of the shoes, but they are these ones. I did my photos this morning before work. I walked to work, but didn't want to carry my knapsack, so I wore my clothes with runners - how 80s!

Sweater (The Limited, thrifted), yellow cardi (BCBG Max Azria, consignment), camisole (Smart Set), skirt (unknown brand, thrifted), shoes (Feet First, thrifted), necklace/earrings (Lavishy).

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.

A Mess O' Colours

September weather is goofy on the West coast of Canada. It's warm, but it's rainy. It could be sunny one minute, and cloudy the next. It's windy, then it's foggy. The older I get, the more I want to wear my hair really short because the humidy does crazyass things to it.

Anyway, what I meant to get at was that it's hard to figure out what to dress for when it's so changeable.
Blouse, tweed skirt and bare legs. I roasted in my thermal jacket on the way to work (I walk to and from work in workout wear), but was happy to have it when it poured all the way home.

I've worn this blouse twice (here and here (beware, vacation pictures)) since I got it. I really love the cut and drape of it.

Hee, I'm blurry in that picture because I'm waiting for the camera timer to go off. Try holding your balance like that for 10 seconds!

I also like that it has purple, pink, orange, green AND black in it - it's fun to pull out the various colours. I was surprised to see how well it went with this orange skirt, which is an old workhorse in my wardrobe, and the burgundy cami I have on underneath.

The stuff:

I've worn the shoes 5-6 times since I got them.

The sparkly bits:

Got those on sale at Plum many years ago - real gold and crystals.

Blouse (Nolita, thrifted), cami (Jackpot), skirt (Talbot's, thrifted), shoes (Hilary Radley, consignment), necklace/earrings (Plum).

Flower Power

I've been asked a couple of times where I get my ideas for colour combinations. Aside from having a mom who's an artist and growing up doing art all through school, there are a couple of ways I put together colours.

One way is to take a pattern in a clothing item I already have and pull colours out of it. The other is to copy something I see. The easiest thing for me is to look at nature, especially flowers:
This outfit is a bit of both. The shoes are green, yellow and purple, so duh, that's pretty simple. But I also have a life-long fondness for the flowers that were in the garden of the house I grew up in. I love pansies:Isn't that just gorgeous? You could do purple, white, cream, yellow, fuschia, black and brown - and they'll all go together, because there they are, all in one flower!

As soon as I put this lovely purple shirt next to the shoes, I looked around for some yellow in my wardrobe. I have a lot of pale yellow, but when I held this mustard yellow cami up to the vivid purple, they really popped together:

The softer olive helped tone it down. With flowers, all the greenery acts like a neutral. In an outfit, you don't really have to worry about the green as long as it's the "background" or neutral colour - I wouldn't have done bright green (too much), but I would have done a deeper olive or a forest green.

This iris is another flower that I loved when I was younger:

This is the second wear of my shirt (seen here), the second wear of this skirt (seen here) and also the second wear of these shoes (seen here). Not counting the jewelry, this outfit cost a total of $19.50 - everything was thrifted/consignment.

The stuff:

Those shoes are so fun.

I quite liked all the sparkly stuff:

I was very rattly with the charm bracelet today! Hee! That's a big ring, by the way.

Shirt (H&M, thrifted), cami (Smart Set), skirt (Club Monaco, consignment), shoes (Enzo Angiolini, thrifted), bracelet and necklace (Plum), earrings (vintage), ring (Guess).

Wonder Woman

I am not sure about the Wonder Woman re-design - I watched the TV show back in the day (of course! along with "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman"!), and man, I wanted to kick butt (and have an invisible jet) like her! Click here for the funky intro of the show - ah, memories!

I wore my gold bracelets today in case I needed to ward off any stray bullets:
I've only worn this dress once (here), and today was a stressful day, so I'm glad I picked something simple. I'm also keeping with the whackadoo colours earlier this week, with some pink and orange. Woo, look out, I'm crazy!

This is also the second wearing of this belt (previously here). I like the dress better with a belt - this one sure made me sit up straight!

The stuff:
Every winter, I go to toss these bronzy sandals in the consignment bag, but then I remember how nice they are in the summer, with their low heel. I'm glad I kept them.

My Wonder Woman gold bracelets:

Ka-pow! Biff! Zot! Look out, evil doers!

Dress (Talbots, thrifted), shoes (Naturalizer), belt (Dorothy Perkins), earrings (Plum), bracelets (solid, Oscar & Libby, leafy, the Bay).

Embrace Your Geekness

In case you missed it, today is "Embrace Your Geekness" day! I have been a major nerd for most of my life (I'm mostly a word-nerd, but I'm also a Star Trek geek, and a D&D geek - I'm other things too, of course), so I revel in celebrating what makes us unique. Geeks rule!

Anyway, moving right along. If you're experiencing deja vu right now, it's because yes, I'm wearing the same bright colour combination as yesterday:
I've only worn the yellow skirt once (here), and the lovely satiny top is such a pretty colour with it, and then I got the grey shoes, and they looked like the perfect neutral. What's a girl to do?

I tried this all on last night (I'm trying to get into the habit of doing that for more complicated combinations) and realized that the waistband was all wonky and that this shirt is really long. Hence the sweater vest! It's perfect nerd-wear too.

The blouse was around $16 and the shoes were a STEAL at $10 on sale. They were majorly comfy all day.

The stuff:
The shoes are a perfect "job interview" type of look. I like the suede and the shiny faux croc. It didn't show up well in the pictures but the heel has a nice outward curve to it. I think they kept the garishness of the colours to a nice dull roar.

The belt was a great match to the shoes (matchy! ah!) and the fabic in the buckle is the perfect match (matchy again!) for the lovely purpley-pink of the top.

A shot of the neckline of the top without the vest getting in the way:

I am showing off some of my graphic novels, because I am also a geek about those. These are from three of my favourite series (from left): The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman; The Invisibles, by Grant Morrison, and; The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman (all not for the faint of heart).

Blouse (Esprit, consignment), vest (Esprit), skirt (Club Monaco, consignment), shoes (Franco Sarto, consignment), belt (Shi Studio), cuff (St. Paul's Cathedral).

Colourful Monday

I like to rotate through my new stuff once it's been a month or so - put together another outfit, trying to pull out the potential. I first wore this skirt here (aw...the day we said goodbye to Othello). I love purple and yellow together, so played that up again today:
I left the side uncropped because Inigo's being cute.

The stuff:

I haven't worn these shoes in ages (yup, it's been a year). I put my sparkly barrette on the yellow scarf, since barrettes never stay in my hair (it's too fine). I feel so kooky when I wear a scarf in my hair for work.

A close-up:

The shiny rhinestone belt I also never wear.

Blouse (Esprit), skirt (Vivienne Tam, consignment), shoes (Jessica Simpson), scarf (thrifted), barrette (Club Monaco), belt (The Bay).

Funka-Floral...and Three Years Maintaining!

I'm so happy that I'm able to combine a chore with a pleasure. I'm speaking, of course, of exercise and shopping! Up till four years ago, when I started Weight Watchers, I loathed any kind of exercise. Walk all that way to town to shop? Forget it - I'm taking the bus.

But now...walking is my main mode of transportation. I realized this week that it's been three years that I've maintained my 50 pounds lost since I started looking after my health and weight in the summer of 2006. I hit my goal in the late spring of '07...and here I am. It's still really tough - I still struggle every day not to stuff my face (or take the bus). I have to remind myself when I'm preparing my lunch at 11 pm, "It's worth it, it's worth it."

Anyway, how I love that shopping counts as a low-impact exercise. You're on your feet, you're carrying mounds of clothes or hangers (well, I do), and the lovely distraction of trying and (maybe, not always) buying takes my mind off food.

This weekend, I found this cute little dress in the 75% off area in a local boutique:
It was just under $15. It's a titch short for bare legs (I'd do it with tights for sure, though), so I layered my cream ruffly skirt underneath it.

Twirly goodness! I realized after I saw all the colours in daylight that the pattern's "turquoise" is actually more of a green, but whatever. It all goes!

The stuff:

I found the red flower wood earrings in the same shop for $6. They're the same make as my orange wood roses that I wear all the time.

Heh, I forgot I had a meeting with the president of the company that I work for this morning. I'm sure he will remember me!

Dress (Papillon), skirt (no label, consignment), shoes (Le Chateau), earrings (no label), cuff (Shi Studios), belt (Plum).

Double Challenge: Summer Black-Out and Summer Capsule Wardrobe - Day 5

Today's the last day of the Summer Capsule Wardrobe Challenge! It's been fun but I'm tired of wearing the same clothes. I broke out the green blouse for the 3rd time, and put it with the pencil pants.
Inigo helped this morning.

I had planned to do my red belt, but it only fit right at my waist, so I used the blue one instead.

It was cloudy and cool this morning - the average temperature here right now has been around 13-15 C (58-63 F), so I need a jacket in the morning - sorry, Jane! I'm not counting this piece of outerwear either. I only wore it outside, I promise!
The stuff:
Man, I love those sandals. I love all the mixes of oranges and reds together too.

I wore the "S" Scrabble tile pin on my jean jacket. The Lady in Flames necklace is actually a domino so I thought they went well together. Hmmm...I just noticed the black beads! Ack!

Blouse (Esprit), pants (Noa Noa), belt (Denver Hayes, gift from Ruth), shoes (Rinaldi), necklace (gift from L), earrings (vacation), tile (someone local), bracelet (Plum), jean jacket (Ann Taylor Loft).

Double Challenge: Summer Black-Out and Summer Capsule Wardrobe - Day 3

Day 3! In which the 5th and final clothing item is presented: this yellow skirt: Isn't it a glorious colour? And really, this picture does not do it justice - it is an acid, bright yellow. I found it on consignment for $24.99 at Regalia Boutique (shout-out!) - it's a Club Monaco stretch wool weave. I would guess by the style that it's from the 90s.

I was quite proud of myself for not wearing a single neutral today! I wore the same green shirt as Monday, and then once I thought of wearing the scarf as a belt, the blue shoes fell into place.

Ooh, I almost forgot: I'm actually wearing a camisole underneath my shirt (I'm not counting that as cheating, since you can't see it). It is so freaking NOT summer here...grrr...

The stuff: This is also the perfect opportunity to wear my peacock feather earrings for the first time - I've been wanting a pair of these since I saw Kasmira sporting them. I didn't really like my pair, but last night while I was choosing accessories, I decided to trim all the excess feather off the bottoms so that they looked more rounded and not all straggly.

Also wearing my ring from the Louvre again.

Blouse (Esprit), skirt (Club Monaco, consignment), shoes (Feet First), scarf (Dad's, vintage 1960s), ring (the Louvre).

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).