Casual Friday - Creamsicle

The first of my swap items makes an appearance today (the full swap post will be today or tomorrow), my new-to-me khakis:
I have not owned a pair of khakis in oh, about 20 years. I put them with my good ol' orange t-shirt/cami combo and my groovy summer wedge sneakers. The funny thing about grabbing these in the swap is that these were actually my friend Caro's!

The stuff:

I think of most of these things as my summer accessories. The shoes have just this summer left, as the soles are peeling off (they are not very good quality).

L and I went out for Thai food for dinner after work, so I changed a bit:

Black skirt for the pants, tie belt from my painty skirt, black flower flip-flops.

I love Thai food, but it's easy to eat too much. My trick is that I skip the white rice altogether - it's just a sauce delivery system, and with that full-fat coconut milk in Thai curries, you know too much can't be good for you, no matter how good it tastes!

We had yum nua (barbecued beef salad with lettuce, mint, cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, green onion and a chili/lime dressing - spicy!), chicken cashew (loads of veggies, chicken and duh...cashews, a big WW points splurge, but so good), and prawn curry (bamboo shoots, loads of jumbo prawns, red and green peppers, onions, in red curry). We walked to town and back to enjoy the sunny warm evening, so I treated myself to a Singha beer. Wonderful!

Here's to the weekend!

T-shirt (InWear), cami (Mexx), pants (Old Navy, swapped), shoes (Gotta Flurt), belt (Nepean), earrings (vacation last summer), wood bracelet (Caracol). On 2nd outfit: skirt (Club Monaco, consignment), scarf/belt tie (Nine West, from a skirt), shoes (unknown, brand worn off).

Request from Tina: Consigning Clothing and Other Ways I Profit From My Old Stuff

Tina from T Minus, T Plus (great fashion/food/weight loss blog, check it out) asked:

I would love a little tutorial about consigning clothes. Do you take to a store? sell on eBay? I have a stack of too small for me and too big for me clothes that are in great condition. Normally I just donate everything, but right now I think I would like a little extra cash in my pocket.

Well, firstly, I have to confess. When I talk about my favourite consignment store where I take my clothes and shoes and stuff, it's not actually a consignment store as most would define it. The wonderful Annie goes through my stuff (I don't even need an appointment) while I browse, takes what she wants and offers me an in-store credit or cash. The cash is less, so I usually do a credit.

Real consignment stores usually have rules: the clothing must be in good condition, no rips, wear and tear, not obviously out of fashion, recently cleaned or dry-cleaned, current season (i.e. summer, winter, etc.). You have to set up an appointment, they take all your contact details and then take the items they think will sell. If those items haven't sold in a set period of time (which will vary according to the store), you get them back.

I am totally lazy. I don't want to have to deal with following up or having to take back my clothes. I have never actually consigned something because of this. I just can't be bothered. And I don't shop online (I like to touch, try on and examine my clothes before I buy), so the likelihood of me selling things online is miniscule.

However, I don't want to totally disappoint you, Tina! I dispose of my unwanted clothing in a variety of ways that almost always benefit me, if not immediately, then at least karmically. Maybe this will give you some ideas.

Informal swaps/giveaways: Whenever a gaggle of us gals get together, I bring over a bag of my best stuff or things I think they will like. I email them ahead of time to encourage others to raid their closets for rarely-worn or castoff items. I have gotten some great stuff and discovered that my friend Caro and I are exactly the same measurements, even though our bodies are proportioned and shaped differently. Even if I don't get anything right away, I'm building good karma...and later on, they will give me something amazing in return down the road.

Formal swaps: Like the organized swap I went to last night (more on that this weekend), keep your eyes peeled for advertised swaps, sometimes called "swishes". You can also plan your own swapping party (I'm too lazy to do this, so I'm hoping one of my friends will do it, ha!) with a group of women friends. The more people who attend, the more variety of sizes and styles you'll have to choose from.

Buying/consignment shops: Like Annie's shop I mentioned above, if you can find a shop that does this, wonderful! A little bit of cash on hand is bonus, but the best deal is the in-store credit...if you shop there already. I know Annie's demographic and what she likes, so I don't waste her time with clothes that she won't want - and she knows that what I bring in will sell (and that I will buy from her), so she gives me deals and lets me peek at new things that come in before they go out on the floor. Building a relationship with your favourite stores is awesome!

Consignment shops: You might have to wait for the money, but once you have a few regular places, you can rotate your clothes around from store to store. Check your local shops to see what their guidelines are (some even have rules sheets they can give you).

Donate: Anything I don't get rid of through informal swaps, giveaways or the buying/consignment shop, I donate to the local thrift stores. Most of my clothes are bought very cheaply, but are good quality. I don't mind passing on good items after I've exhausted all other avenues. That's just good karma!

One final word. As far as buy/consignment and consignment stores go, I would recommend one thing: Get familiar with your market. Do you have a lot of Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy, or do you have more designer wear or funkier clothes? A store that doesn't sell the brands or styles you have in your wardrobe is not going to take your clothes. Also, look at the age demographic that the store is aiming at. I rarely shop in a few stores because they are loaded with either club-wear or old-lady clothes. Your best bet is to find stores that carry what you like - if you would (or already) shop there, that store is most likely to want your clothing.

Tina, I'm sorry this isn't really the answer you were probably looking for, but maybe it can help you get started. If anyone is a pro at consigning or E-bay selling, please post a comment for us!

Edit: some great suggestions in the comments - thanks!

Patterns for Peace

The rain turned to sun today, and my mood elevated with it...but I'm still really happy that tomorrow's Friday. It has just been One Of Those Weeks, you know?

I deliberately wore something I knew would make me feel groovy:
Chunky mod shoes, plaid pants and my funky green shirt. I am actually saying, "Peace, baby" as the camera clicked.

The stuff:

Yup, that's some stuff. Nothing terribly exciting...worn the belt, necklace and earrings a bunch of times before. Second wear of my Value Village shoes. When I was younger we called it "Valloo Vill-ahj" (French accent, like "Tar-jay" for Target), or referred to it as the "VV Boutique." Ha, I'd forgotten all about that.

Shirt (Nicole Benisti for Point Zero), vest (Le Chateau, gift from Ruth), pants (Vero Moda), belt (Plum), shoes (Unlisted, thrifted), earrings and necklace (don't recall).

Swap Clothes! And some Good News

Felt a bit better today, and felt much better after I found out that - against all expectations - I got a raise! Now that's the way to start the day!

Tonight was the Swap-O-Rama event, so in anticipation of having to try on clothes in front of other people, I wore something thin with coverage:
Being that it is still cold and rainy (outrageous in July!), I wore tights and this dress that Elaine gave me. The scarf was snuggly warm all day.

The Swap was put on by Big Brothers and Big Sisters. The deal was $15, donate 15 items and then leave with 15 items. I will do a proper post on this tomorrow night (tonight I am tired) and show what I got rid of, and what I got (it's all currently in the wash). I didn't get 15 items, and at least one thing that I chose is going to consignment, now that I see it in proper light.

Thanks everyone for your supportive thoughts while I have been blue this week. I really appreciate it.

Dress (Jacob, gift from Elaine), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, gift from Cat), bracelet (Le Chateau), scarf (The Bay).

Gloomy and Poochy

In a continuation of yesterday, still feeling blech...the weather's turned rainy, and my outfit displeased me today. I also went for a walk for a break from my desk and it rained, so please ignore the craptastic hair.
I had packed a red belt to wear with this, but it didn't look right once I got to work - it didn't sit right. I don't try my outfits on ahead of time; I just pull stuff that goes together and cross my fingers that it all looks okay once I get to work and get changed out of my walking clothes.

The wide band of the waist on this skirt made me feel poochy in the stomach all day (okay, Sal is seriously going to have issues with me, haha). It doesn't help that I gained a few pounds last week - for the second week in a row *sigh* - and have been very stressed out.

And I'm thinking that I might get rid of these shoes. They are a bit big...and they make my legs look stumpy. Much as I love them, yeah, I could give them up.

The stuff:
Pretty plain. I haven't been putting a lot of effort into my clothes this week - I guess I blew all my creativity on that weekend outfit!

In brighter news: The big Swap-O-Rama is tomorrow night! I'm so excited!

Shirt (Oxmo), skirt (Nygard, consignment), shoes (Jeffrey Campbell), necklace (don't recall), white gold hoop earrings.

Lazy Monday - Blue and Grey

After an exhausting weekend, I woke up feeling ill. I've been feeling queasy all day and am developing a headache. Gah. Here I am looking stoic.
Buck up, lil' camper! Basically, I wanted to wear these new-to-me shoes that I got last week. Add the simple grey skirt (love the shape), a plain blue top, a skinny belt and a couple pieces of sparkly stuff and I'm good to go. Although this top has a tendency to get a little cleavage-y over the day...

The stuff:

I'm not a huge collector of flats, but I've been looking for a few pairs for those hot days when you just don't feel like jammy your sweaty feet into heels. Ooh, isn't that an image, ha. These flats were on sale for $10! They're barely worn!

Top (Oxmo), skirt (Tobias), shoes (Franco Sarto, consignment), belt (Nygaard), bracelet (Plum, gift from L), necklace (don't recall), crystal stud earrings.

Special Occasion - It's Raining Babies

It was actually Angela's baby shower on Saturday, which was somewhat excruciating because a) I do not have children and b) I am not so much into babies and there were a lot of them there.

Of course, I dressed up:
I stuck out like a sore thumb, and I'm sure I intimated the hell out of the rest of the attendees. Ha!

I found this dress in a thrift shop last week - it was around $25 (it came with a little bolero jacket, but it has no shape and I probably won't wear it). I love it. The colour is mossy green and matches my eyes - the pattern is a rusty brown. I love the shape of the neckline and the little bow at the waist. This is definitely from the 50s (metal zipper, style, overall quality).

Added the Fluevogs to give it a modern twist, the hat for the kooky factor, and some bold jewelry just for fun.

The stuff (with nice detail of the waist of the dress and the fabric):

These two bracelets were really heavy worn together! The ring is new - it's Guess and I found it on clearance at the Bay for $5! Score!

Earrings:

They are actually more of a rust colour than this.

Hope you all had a fab weekend!

Dress (no tags, vintage 50s), hat (Accessorize), shoes (Fluevog), green stone bracelet (handmade gift from Cathy), stone/silver bracelet (Fairweather, c. 1999), earrings (Le Chateau), purse (Naturalizer).

Casual Friday - Storks!

It would be fair to say that I like embellishment on my clothing. So when I saw this awesome cardigan, I fell in love. It has storks on it!
It's wool, angora and cashmere and is all hand-embroidered with storks and trees - it's even embroidered on the cuffs of the sweater! I really liked the teeny bits of red in the design, so did red shoes and a red cami underneath. The skirt is a thin denim.

With my funky retro-look purse:

A close-up of the front detail:

But what I really love is when a pattern continues around the back:

How cool is that?

Not much stuff (my shoes are pretty old, so no one needs to see how worn they are, trust me):

The necklace is just an old key that I noticed in my jewelry box when I was photographing it the other day. I just slipped it on the chain that I use for my loose pendants.

Cardigan (Lucky Brand, consignment), cami (Plum), skirt (Jacob), shoes (Feet First), bag (Naturalizer), silver chain, key, white gold hoops.

Suits Me Fine

After I picked up this fab suit in a consignment store for $45 the other day, I felt like wearing it for my first day back to work after my holiday:
Inigo loved it. He's actually in a sunny spot, but I've had to draw the curtain so that I don't have glarey sections in my picture. Aw, so cute.

The suit is black with tone-on-tone micro polka dots! I love polka dots.

The belt is one of my new obi style belts that I got this last weekend. I have been looking for one of these for ages! It's by local clothing company Smoking Lily (blog here). They are known for using lots of natural fibres (the belt is silk) like cotton and hemp, recycled fabrics, and all the designs are one-of-a-kind and hand silk-screened. I have a groovy bug scarf by them. The design on this belt is gold monkeys and trees, and black map fragments of Clayquot Sound. One side is magenta; the other side is plain gunmetal grey silk.

My fab shoes went perfectly!

My accessory stuff:

The earrings are vintage, bought by me over 10 years ago.

That's my dad's ring. He had two rings he wore all the time: this one and a dragon one which I'll have to get a photo of it next time my brother wears it. When Dad was in a coma, my mom said she wanted us kids to have his rings. The dragon is bigger and fit my brother (although I like it a lot more, style-wise), and this one is mine. Dad had a heart attack and never came out of the coma; we took him off life support after a week and his body finally died. I think of my dad when I wear this ring - it's like he's with me.

The ring is 10K gold and is from the late 50s/early 60s - the jewelry store that made it is still in existence in my town. I don't know what the stone is.

Maybe our resident jeweler knows: Lain? It's not amethyst. The back of the stone is open and unpainted (like rhinestones have gold or silver painted on the backs). It's quite hard (no scratches even though I used to wear it every day). I was told at one time that it was Alexandrite, but that seems to be pretty rare. It is deep pink in artificial light (like the above pic), but in natural sunlight it is almost a bright blue with a purple tint. It totally changes colour.

Tina asked me to show what pieces I get rid of when I get new-to-me clothes - I have the "One In, One Out" rule in effect. This is going bye-bye:

It's the World's Loudest Suit (also worn here)! Much as I love the look of it, it is so loud when I wear it that...I never wear it. I am now even at jackets, but getting rid of the pants gives me a further pant credit. I still have a credit in skirts, even with the new black skirt suit.

Suit (Jacob, consignment), cami (RW & Co.), obi belt (Smoking Lily, consignment), shoes (Poetic License, gift from L), earrings (vintage), ring (Dad's, vintage).

A Vacation Week Treat: Showing My Drawers

Actually, I'm showing my jewelry boxes. Shame on you if you thought anything else, ha!

This is where I keep my jewelry:
On the left is my Bombay Company jewelry box. It is massive and gorgeous. On the right is my Gram S's jewelry box, and there are various bags and boxes and things laying about, like my yellow and grey snakeskin bangles and my hairbands.

Gram S's jewelry box is where I keep my vintage jewelry. I asked for this after she died - I have a few pieces that are hers, like the green/yellow rhinestone brooch below. This is the bottom tray, that pulls out:
I keep my plain longer necklaces on the left, my mid-lenth necklaces in the middle and my brooches on the right.

The top tray:

Bracelets on the left, necklaces and more bracelets on the right.

The smaller tray that sits on top:

I keep my earrings and small pins in here.

The big yellow silk bag is where I keep all my metal bangles and sturdier necklaces:

I love big, bold jewelry. That's like a treasure pile!

The smaller bags and boxes:

And now the bigass Bombay box. I have to apologize, the pictures are dark - my bedroom is not well lit.

I had to put this one in - I am totally cross-eyed, ha! The box open:

Starting from the top:
The top flips up, there's a mirror inside, and I keep all my good gold earrings and my stand-by hoops in there, along with my two pairs of studs.

The first drawer is rings:

I like that there's a jumble area, and a display area.

The next drawer is divided into three sections:

These are my brooches and some of my good sets that L's bought me.

The next drawer is dived into four. I store the bulk of my earrings here, sorted by colour.

I often dump this out and rummage through it. Fun!

The last drawer is halved. I keep my larger pendants, jangly bracelets and large earrings in here.

The bottom section is actually a deep drawer. It holds mostly bracelets.

The sides of the box open up and have three hooks per side for hanging necklaces:

Work neckaces.

Some vintage, my pearls and big necklaces:

My jewelry box is so much fun to root through - I often find inspiration in it for an outfit.

L also has a jewelry box, by the way:

It's also a Bombay Company box. We bought them for each other for an anniversary a few years ago. His holds his cufflink collection, a bunch of rings and some pins/brooches.

This is the top of my lingerie chest (which matches my dressers and our jewelry boxes):

That's another little jewelry box on the left, and those are my perfumes. I almost never wear it, but these scents have meant the most to me over the years.

Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene - that belonged to my dad. I gave it to him for his birthday sometime back in the 80s and I think he wore it all of twice, for me. When he died, I asked to have it. When I miss him, I smell it. Grass by Demeter. I loved the Gap's Grass perfume, but they don't make it anymore. This is the closest I ever found. Salvador Dali's perfume. Shi by Alfred Sung (because a few people call me She). Tribu by Bennetton (it smells like tea).

Check out the Salvador Dali perfume bottle:

Cool, eh? I bought this in 1986, and it still smells amazing. It makes me think of going clubbing, wild carousing and kissing dangerous men. *happy sigh*

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little tour of pretties. I'll be back on Thursday - I took a few days off work to recharge my batteries.

Tomorrow is Canada Day! Woo hoo! Happy birthday, Canada!

Special Occasion - Dinner Out

My uncle Brian was in town from Australia, so he, Mom, L and I went for dinner. We had a lovely stroll down to the neighbourhood pub/bistro and back - a lovely sunny evening.

I have been dying to wear this dress since I got it a couple of weeks ago. I had this all planned out to wear last night - I even flat-ironed my hair for the day to go with this. I just love the style:
The designer is Kitchen Orange (warning, that's a link to a large pdf file). I think this dress is about 4-5 years old, and I'm pretty sure it hasn't been worn much. This is the most expensive consignment thing I've ever bought - it was $89...but I had over $60 in credit from taking in my cast-offs, so it wasn't so bad. I've seen a few tops by them around (one on a friend, one in a consignment store) and the neckline is always unusual.

It's kind of hard to see, but the back of the dress comes up quite high on the back of my neck. There is also a belt-type strap that goes from the front seams across the small of the back.

The neck:

The industrial zipper is so cool. I was insanely overdressed, but then L had on a navy suit (lined in sunflower gold), with an emerald green shirt, blue and green and gold tie, and green Fluevogs, so we went well together. I enjoy being overdressed.

I wore my 'Vogs as well:

Forgot to photograph the earrings this morning (they were some dangly brass balls). The bracelet was a gift from one of Mom's students from when she was a teacher before she got married (in the early 60s).

Dress (Kitchen Orange, consignment), shoes (Fluevog Listen Up), bracelet (Mom's, 60s vintage).

Casual Friday - Empress in Wooden Heels

Happy Friday! Look, my Christmas cactus is blooming: I was very happy that Friday had finally arrived, I recall in retrospect, sitting here on Saturday afternoon. I do look like I need a good nap:

The challenge of putting an outfit together around this necklace (which I haven't worn in easily 12-13 years), is that...nothing really goes with it. It's an odd shape, and it hangs a bit awkwardly for standard necklines. I kind of had fun with it, though. A bit of mustard, a bit of brown, and a dab of baby blue for contrast.

Because it's still chilly near the water:

Love that mustard bag!

The stuff:

The shoes everyone avoids calling hooker shoes, but secretly think it. I like them, but the outfit has to be really toned down. The leopard inserts are Dr. Scholl's since these kill my feet.

The empress necklace is cool. I love celtic designs - Mom and Dad brought this back from England (London) for me about 13-14 years ago. The ring is from L, from our first Christmas. I love amber.

Blouse (Mexx), cami (InWear), skirt (Smart Set), shoes (Jessica Simpson), belt (Denver Hayes, gift from Ruth), necklace (St. Justin Pewter, gift from Mom and Dad), ring (Past Times, gift from L), jacket (BUM Equipment, thrifted), bag (Tignanello, gift from Caro).