Shiny Green - and the Heather Skirt

This is the second wear for this patterned green shirt. The label (Point Zero) is kind of surfer-dude and jeanswear, so I was so thrilled to find something more classic, but still with a lot of funkiness to it. Paired it with the brown skirt and turtleneck for warmth:
Then my very sweet co-worker Heather came to my office and gave me a skirt she bought and never wore! And it fit perfectly! What a nice thing to do. I wore it all day.

Ooh! Look! A skirt!

Considering this is Suzy Shier (a teen-oriented store, kind of like Forever 21 in the US), it's a really good quality (lined). I love the herringbone texture.

A shot of the accessories:

My lovely faux croc pumps, gold earrings and my mom's vintage chain belt.

I "liberated" the belt from her in about 1983. It originally had gold chains hanging down in a U-shape between each set of square links, and gold chain tassels hanging in the centre of each U. I left the little bits there so that I would always remember what this belt originally looked like. I removed the U and tassels around 1988 because they severely limited the wearability of the belt. You can see a little bit of one of the U chains on the left near the square link, and one small link from a tassel left on the O-link centred between the square links (it looks like a mark on the O).

Blouse (Point Zero: Nicole Benisti), turtleneck (Kersh), suit skirt (Kensie), Heather skirt (Suzy Shier), shoes (Jessica Simpson), gold earrings, belt (vintage, Mom's).

Burgundy, Black and Sparkle

I love the time leading up to Christmas. I'm feeling all sparkly (let's just pretend work is all happiness and light, shall we?), so I have to reflect that in my clothes, right?
This skirt is actually a micro-polka dot pattern (see the background of the accessories shot), and I used to have pants, a jacket AND a dress in this, but every piece got just a bit too big when I finished losing weight. I gave away all but the skirt, which I love. '

I had fun putting this summery cotton jacket over top of the turtleneck (nice and warm!), then playing with sparkly accessories:

Love the shoes!

Jacket (Vero Moda Jeans), turtleneck (Plum), skirt (Precis Petite), shoes (Blecka), tights (Hue), assorted sparkly jewelry (I can never remember where I get this stuff, but it's all costume and nothing's over $20).

Turquoise Tights

Since I had fun with the purple tights a few weeks ago, I thought I'd try out my turquoise pair. These are slightly darker than the top I'm wearing, and close to fully opaque.
This was a fun outfit - I even got a compliment from a stranger in the book store! I love the silver booties, and the mix of the black pinstripe skirt with the dark grey pinstripe boob vest.

A close-up of the accessories:

My fab BCBGirls booties, the coloured stone earrings and bracelet from L. The other bracelet has an addition by me: the black ribbon bow. The elastic on it is actually too big, so the bow helps hide the excess.

Blouse (Smart Set), vest (Kenzie), skirt (InWear), tights (Hue), shoes (BCBGirls), jewelry (all gifts).

Green and Ruffles

It felt so liberating to be able to choose whatever I wanted to wear when I picked all my outfits this week! Of course, I do tend to gravitate towards the same colours over and over...

Just like here:
Good old green and brown! I love this ruffled-front shirt (it ties behind the neck in a big pussycat bow which you can't really see in the picture) but have struggled a bit with putting it with other items. I'm pleased with how it looks under a sweater.

Love this suede belt and of course, adore the shoes:

Ooh, I'm so matchy. Ha!

Sweater (Max Studio), blouse (Vero Moda), pants (Mac & Jac), shoes (Luichiny), belt (Aldo), gold earrings (some ethnic boutique).

Wardrobe Challenge Wrap Up

Thanks so much to Jane at Work That Wardrobe for setting up this challenge! What a lot of fun to see what she and the other participants did!

Things I liked:

- having to work with a very small amount of items - I do love a challenge!

- once my outfits were set, not having to think too hard about what I was wearing each day;

- seeing how the other participants worked their mini wardrobes!

Things I didn't like:

- having to wear the same clothes over and over;

- limiting my shoes! Ha!

- limiting my accessories.

What I would have done differently:

- added another pair of pants;

- more layering pieces for tops - three of my tops were only worn once each;

- adding another belt or a scarf.

What I learned:
- I'm really inflexible about wearing the same items more than once!
- no one who saw me every day really cared about what I wore;
- I could pack a very efficient wardrobe for travelling.

There's a poll over on the right for you to vote for your favourite outfits - you can choose as many as you like.

My personal favourites:

My favourite outfit: Day 3I really liked the coral and brown together, and loved layering the dress underneath this. The boots are also shown off well. I got the most compliments on this outfit from my coworkers.

My favourite clothing item: The floral skirt
I think it's unanimous: this is a great skirt. It's got aqua, teal, green, shades of orange/coral/red, brown and grey, not to mention the white background. And it's machine washable! This skirt rocks!

My favourite accessory item: The brown/gold necklace I was surprised how much I liked wearing this. I wore it doubled up as a choker on Day 1, long on Day 3, and short/long on Day 5, and I could have wrapped it around my wrist as a bracelet.

Whew! Anyway, I am looking forward to digging back into my wardrobe and wearing some different clothes/accessories/shoes this week, not to mention wearing some different colours!

Thanks again, Jane! What a lot of fun this was. I am in for any other challenges you might come up with.

Special Occasion - Whisky Club Formal Dinner

I do love formal occasions - there's something about the preparation that thrills me. The long gown, the special makeup, the extra attention to the hair, all the glitz and glamour. Ah...it makes me feel happy.

I belong to a whisky afficianados club (yes, I drink scotch) - actually, this will be my last year in it, as I trim away some things from my life that I don't get the same fun out of as I used to. Every year we have a formal dinner, but I missed it last year due to a conflict with my work party.

This is a dress I got last year, off the clearance racks for around $49. Not bad! It's great because the style is timeless, the colour is neutral and you can accessorize it a lot of different ways.
It's a heavy jersey, with ruching down the front and down the back. It has great weight and movement in the fabric, and I feel like an Oscar-nominated actress in this. A shot of the back:

It's also very long, so here's a look at the shoes (I was totally in a hurry to get ready, so you get to see my shoes On My Feet, which I don't do anymore since I had a comment from someone who wanted me to send him pictures of my feet. Ew.):

The shoes are Guess, from DSW in NYC, from my trip with mom a couple of years ago. They go with everything!

The accessories:

My lovely brown beaded purse. This was $12.95 on clearance a few years ago.

The earrings and Grandma J's copper cuff.

Dress (Enchante), shoes (Guess), purse (Plum), cuff (Renoir, vintage 1960s), earrings (don't remember, but they were on sale).

Wardrobe Challenge Week: Day 5 - Casual Friday

The final day! I'm a little late in posting this up, but it's been a busy weekend, going to Christmas events, lunch out, shopping and having some couple time with L.

I had planned to do a denim vest with this outfit, as my one piece of denim for Casual Friday at work, but I felt like mixing it up a bit, so instead, I went with this jean blazer. I was pleased with the look overall.

Here's the look:
I wore my purple trenchcoat and carried my Betsyville bag today (only used once all week), since I allow myself to bus to work on Fridays (oh, the luxury!):
Here are the pieces:

The purple trench

The Betsyville bag

The coral sweater

The plaid pants

The gold shoes

The brown belt

The brown/gold necklace

The gold earrings

The jacket really made it feel like I hadn't done this what felt like a million times already this week!

Jacket (Bisou Bisou, consignment), sweater (Esprit), pants (Vero Moda), shoes (Naturalizer), belt (Plum), necklace (Plum), earrings (gift), trench (London Fog), bag (Betsyville by Betsy Johnson).

Wardrobe Challenge Week - Day 4

Today's outfit:
Kept it simple (no belt! ha!), and just played with colour and texture today. I actually really liked this outfit and would probably wear it again. Today was the first day that people noticed that I was repeating things I'd worn earlier this week (the skirt is rather distinctive).

The pieces:

Aqua turtleneck
Floral skirt

Brown boots

Gold hoop earrings

Brown/gold necklace

Red bracelet.

Sweater (Smart Set), skirt (Mexx), boots (Roberto Vianni), necklace & bracelet (Plum), gold hoop earrings (gift).

Wardrobe Challenge Week - Day 3

I am starting to get sick of this belt. And these accessories. And the shoes.

I'm still good with the clothes, but am predicting that as of Friday, I will be quite thoroughly tired of everything I've worn all week.

Anyway, today!

This is the brown dress that I wore out for dinner the other night, only worn to look like a skirt, with the coral sweater over top. Comfy and it looks all right. I'm starting to crave other colours...and black!

The pieces:
Boots!

The Dreaded Belt, which is making an appearance one more time.

The brown/gold necklace.

I never really get tired of gold hoops. My really big ones used to be a signature thing for me - I wore them with everything.

The brown dress. A lovely dress - it will be great for traveling. Worth the $24.

And the coral sweater. Great colour.

Dress (no tag, consignment), sweater (Esprit), belt (Plum), boots (Roberto Vianni), necklace (Plum), earrings (gift).

Wardrobe Challenge Week - Day 2

Today's outfit:
I was pleased with this overall. I do love the greeny-turquoise of this sweater.

Today's outfit pieces:

Turquoise turtleneck sweater:

Brown plaid pants:

Brown suit jacket:

Gold shoes:Brown belt: Gold hoop earrings: Turquoise/red/brown/gold necklace:
Jacket (Kenzie), pants (Vero Moda), sweater (Smart Set), shoes (Aerosoles), belt (Plum), gold hoops (gift), necklace (Plum).

Wardrobe Challenge Week - Day: Evening

Adding to the technical difficulty overall, I had an evening event to go to: dinner out with another couple. Fun and drinking ensued, but one must look fabulous. But what to do?

A dress is essential! Keep it nice and simple with some pretty shoes:Add a few accessories for visual interest: The hoop earrings again.
A funky turquoise, red stone, brown stone necklace strung with gold thread.

The red bracelet again:

Top it with a lovely deep purple satin raincoat:

This camera - colour does not show up well, my apologies!

And here I am ready to socialize:

And a shot of me in the coat:

Non-wardrobe challenge item: nude fishnets.

"But Sheila, where's your purse?" Ha! I didn't carry one - I stuffed my ID and credit/debit cards in one pocket and lipgloss and keys in another. You don't need a purse!

Dress (unknown, consignment), shoes (Aerosoles, NYC), necklace, bracelet (Plum), raincoat (London Fog), gold hoop earrings.