A Baker's Dozen and Some Marigold

I went shopping again this weekend - mostly thrift and consignment (I really do prefer it, I find such better things!), so I'll be featuring all my new stuff over the next couple of weeks. That's one of my favourite things about new clothes...ooh! What will I wear with this?

Today, it's this gorgeous 100% cashmere cardigan:
And the shoes, and a ring. I absolutely adore this rich shade of marigold - it has too much orange in it to be a mustard.

It's so hard to find cashmere cardis that aren't grandma-styles. This was $26.95 in a consignment store. I checked this brand out online (they don't have a website) and they sell from about $70+ new. Wow. I don't think this one has been worn much at all.

I loved how this went with the teal embroidered skirt - all the shades of brown and turquoise worked well with the yellow, I thought.

I got a grab bag of jewelry for $10 in the same consignment store - some of the stuff was crap, but some of it is really nice. The blue ring is one of the nice items:

These are the new shoes:

They are a bit scuffed, but otherwise in pretty new condition. I like the grey/blue, dark green and brown mix with the gold trim and the brass studs. And check out the striped leather on the heel!

I also like the shape of the toe:

These were $24.00 in another consignment store.

The "baker's dozen" is how many years L and I have been married as of today! Wow, I can't believe it's been that long....haven't killed each other yet, haha!

Blowing a kiss to you, L:

Now, let's go out for dinner!

Cardigan (Future Paradise, consignment), cami (Smart Set), skirt (unknown, label cut out), belt (Plum), shoes (Firetrap, consignment), blue ring (no brand, consignment), gold ring (Sarah Coventry, vintage 70s), necklace (Foxy).

Dress (Mac & Jac), shoes (Ralph Lauren, consignment), bag (The Bay), earrings/bangles (Le Chateau).

Casual Friday - Too Blues

I went for shopping with new work-friend Kristina last night, so I planned my outfit accordingly for stuff that was easy to slip on and off.
Layered graphic tee, vest, skirt, tights, kitten heels. Jewelry that won't snag on fabrics.

The weather's been fab, so I didn't have to wear a huge coat:

Just the boyfriend jacket and my fingerless gloves.

The shopping trip was fine - I tried on a bunch of stuff, but only got one item. Of course, I will wear it next week! Oh, and I did find a pair of spring-y tights that I am deeply in love with.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Long-sleeved tee (Esprit), graphic tee (Plum), skirt (InWear, consignment), vest (Vero Moda), tights (Hue), shoes (Kenneth Cole Reaction, gift from Cat), jacket (Banana Republic, thrifted).

Feed Your Head

Oh, it's late, it's late...but not such an important date. I went to see "Alice in Wonderland" tonight with Elaine. I was supposed to go home right after work, but I fell down the rabbit hole and went for drinks (wine!) after work because Ruth Is Back From Vacation and I missed her.

I barely made it to town - and I discovered that the payphones here don't actually accept change anymore! That's ridiculous. So I begged the pizza place to lend me their phone and I let L know that I was staying in town to go to the movie.

Good thing I had wine. It wasn't a very good movie - I kept waiting for that elusive spark, and alas, it did not come. It was very pretty, though.

But I digress. Because I am tired:
I felt very springy in this. I have tried to do turquoise with this skirt before, rather unsuccessfully.

The lighter turquoise shoes with the not-quite-matching belt and the blue/orange accessories was better this time, I think.

You can't see any of the blue in that shot, but I wanted to pet Inigo.

Here:

My hair is unkempt because I walked home.

The stuff:

My necklace is actually a brooch strung on the silver cord, and coincidently, the earrings were a gift from Elaine.

Cardigan (Jacob), cami (InWear), skirt (Nine West), belt (Nygaard), shoes (Le Chateau), brooch (The Bay), earrings (gift from Elaine).

Ten Little-Known Things About Me

A Fabulous Sugar Doll! Apparently, that is what I am. Thank you, Jane W. for the kind award!

As I do my own Major Awards once a year, I don't pass any of these around - but if you feel like listing 10 little-known things about yourself, go for it! Don't pine away!

Without further ado, more crap about me ('cause you know I like to share):

1. I know a lot about scotch, specifically single-malts from Scotland. I like Islays in particular. There is something about that nice smoky peaty tar taste that I like.

2. I once had the record for badges in Brownies in my city: 32. This was back in the 70s, and I was in Brownies for a loooong time. There are pictures. I'm not showing them. I had badges in crazy things like weaving and beadwork.

3. I love Bruce Lee movies! "Fist of Fury" (aka "The Chinese Connection") and "Enter the Dragon" are the best.

4. I don't have a cell phone. I don't answer the phone at home either - I figure if it's important, people will leave a message. I arrange dates with friends by email, either at home or at work.

5. I co-wrote a thrash metal song for my ex's band. My contribution was "Sealed in by the nails of your faith, you are thrown in the coffin of no escape."

6. I regret being too shy to take on the lead in my elementary school's musical of "Oliver!" when I was 11. The music teacher really wanted me and I wanted to do it, but I was too scared. That's one of those things that if I could, I would go back and change. I ended up being a boy in Fagin's den. My only line was, "Oh, what a terrible day! I feel awful!"

7. I can swim and ice skate but I can't drive a car. I've never gotten past my learner's license when I was 18.

8. I am really good at throwing and catching a Frisbee. I have played Ultimate for 10 years, but I grew up throwing the Frisbee in the back yard with my dad and my brother, Dave.

9. The rice I cooked for dinner is burnt on the bottom. Oops. I'll just scrape off the good stuff and let the pot soak.

10. I hate parsnips. Evil things. Mutant carrots. Yuck.

Thanks, Jane! That was fun.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Contrary to what you might think, based on my first name, red hair (dyed, my natural colour is brown), green eyes, freckles and pale skin, I am not Irish. I am a mongrel of English, French and Dutch. My maiden name is actually of Huegenot origin.

However, there is a bit of Irish in there. I believe my dad's father's grandmother was Irish, so that would make me 1/16th Irish. Enough for me:
I have tons of green clothes, anyway.

Today, I hauled out the crap-tastic green boots. They were $10 on sale and kill my feet, not to mention the heels are not balanced right and my ankles are very wobbly in them. I've had them for oh, gosh, about 5-6 years, so they are one of the rare things I still have from when I was 188 lbs! I do recall that I couldn't get them all the way up my calves back then, so I scrunched them around my ankles.

This was a very comfy outfit (aside from the boots), although dang, that skirt is short!

The necklace is about as old as the boots - I used to have matching earrings, but they hurt my ears so I got rid of them.

The stuff:

Yup, that's stuff.

On a side note, I am starting to get very excited about our trip to London and Paris! Eee! We're going in May. I have some special posts lined up for while I'm gone (they will be set to go up every few days). Excitement!

Sweater (Max Studio), cami (Esprit), skirt (Jacob, consignment), belt (don't remember), boots (The Bay), earrings (Plum, gift from L), necklace (Plum).

Colour Matchy Fear - Gone!

I had a little mini-epiphany last night while throwing today's outfit together: I've lost my fear of not being matchy! Example: in the pre-blog days, I would definitely have bought this skirt:
But I would have been stymied by what to wear with it, in a tizzy over finding the right blue to match it, and probably stuck with wearing only black or white (or a matching blue, if I found it) with it. And in fact, the first time I wore this skirt, it was with just plain ol' black.

The horror!

I stood there in the closet, staring at the skirt, and then it struck me: red looks great with blue! And I grabbed the red shoes, then the (different shade of) red top, the lacy nylons and the black cami.

The stuff:

Ah, Fluevogs, how I love thee.

I also felt very daring in mixing up my metals and colours in my accessories:

The brooch is done in copper (and the blues don't match the skirt!), the earrings are actually dark orange, and the ring is a deep blood red.

I felt great in this, but I had a crappy day. It didn't help that I got rained on while walking home. Ah, well...maybe there will be sun tomorrow.

Cardigan (Vero Moda), knit top (Planet), skirt (Ricki's, consignment), nylons (I forget), shoes (Fluevogs), earrings and brooch (Plum), ring (Kenneth Cole).

Worky-Work, Busy Bee!

I've hit a dilemma: most of my tights are toast. Runs in them, big snags where they've rubbed on boots, big holes where I've put my fingers through them. But do I really want to buy a bunch more tights now? Maybe just some black ones...there aren't many left in the stores.

Anyway, this dilemma led me to wear pants today:
I know! I never wear pants. I don't really like them much. I do like these ones, though - of course, they are from Esprit, source of the best-fitting pants for me.

Preppy is not one of my usual looks, so I threw on the heavy chain necklace, and the bigass belt:

And my green shoes!

The stuff:

The shoes are more green in daylight - they never quite photograph well. And who's that over by the earrings? It's Johnny Big Hands!

Okay, so he's not actually 1" tall - I measured and he's 1 3/8" tall:

Blurry, sorry.

If you're interested, click here for some figures that I've painted (and a few earlier ones that I like) since I started doing this blog (there are a few pages if you click through, including shots of our painting area, which is on my right when I'm on the computer). You can see the process and how much work goes into them. I've painted about 2,500 in the last 13 years or so - my painting has slowed down a lot in the last 5 years. I used to paint about one a week. We have display cases of them all over the house.

What can I say, I'm a geek!

Vest (Esprit), shirt (Pink Martini, consignment), pants (Esprit), shoes (Hilary Radley, consignment), necklace (Nine West, gift from Cindy), belt (Plum).

Special Occasion - Art Gallery, I Won!, plus a New Figure

I hope everyone is having a fab weekend!

Jane over at The Small Fabric of My Life has done a round up of all the Capsule Wardrobe Challenge participants from a couple of weeks ago, and I won the "spot" prize! I'm not sure what a spot prize is, but woo hoo! I won! This is so exciting. I hope it's a pony.

I went to the Art Gallery this past Friday night with my friend Elaine for a martini/music night to celebrate their contemporary Japanese artist exhibit. My favourite things were objects covered in glass beads - the deer head was wild! I would hang that in my house.

Of course, I had to wear something artsy:

I could have gone way more over the top (i.e. a hat, a cape, something really flamboyant), but I was tired from a stressful work week, and because we walked to the Art Gallery, I had to wear semi-sensible shoes. I was also one of about a hundred women in black, haha.

This is my Kitchen Orange dress that I've only worn once (here). Because of the major industrial zipper down the front of it, I felt it needed some major accessories. I finally used my giant clutch that I got on consignment ages ago:

Inigo has taken up residence on the table again.

Here's a better shot of the awesome neckline on this dress:

I love that.

The stuff:

The clutch is much more of a burgundy shade (and it's lined in pink satin!). It's by Nine West and was $16 on consignment months ago.

I stopped downtown on the way home after work on Friday and popped into Aldo Accessories for some trendy bling:

All the bracelets came together, and were $15.00. The earrings were $10.00. The bracelets are made in India - I love Indian brass. Isn't that massive cuff awesome? It has a mix of grey and brass studs. I will definitely be working that into my rocker looks.

And I know no one is really that jazzed about my painting hobby, but it's my other artistic outlet (other than fashion), and it's been months since I finished a figure. This guy's been a major artistic block because he's so boring:

I'll put him in the Christmas village. I think I'll name him Johnny Big Hand. He's actually only an inch tall, so cut me some slack for the ultra-surprised look on his face - eyes are hard to paint!

The back:

Off to dye my hair!

Dress (Kitchen Orange, consignment), fishnets (Secret), shoes (Guess), bracelets and earrings (Aldo Accessories), clutch (Nine West, consignment).

Casual Friday - Too Warm

I listen to the radio in the morning while I get ready for work. Today, it was snowing in all areas except downtown (I live a couple of blocks from downtown) - stories of jacknifed trucks and 8-car pile-ups...so I figured, "It'll be cold, better bundle up. It might snow in town." It was raining when I left home.
Jean dress, sweater underneath, wooly striped tights, old motorcycle boots (didn't want to ruin my newer ones in the rain/snow). Inigo supervised the pictures this morning from his vantage point on the table.

I piled on the outerwear:

Wooly beret, scarf, gloves, lovely vintage wool coat.

And would you believe it's now sunny and warm out?? I roasted all day. Sweated in my sweater. Crazy weather!

Here's what I was looking at while I waited for the camera's timer to go off:

Lovey eyes! Utter cuteness! I wanted to take him to work with me.

Dress (Ricki's), sweater (Tobias), tights (Hue), boots (Cougar), belt (Plum), earrings (Plum), coat (no label, vintage, thrifted), scarf (The Bay), gloves (Parkhurst).

She Wore Blue...and Velvet

Today's outfit features my new grey velvet skirt. It's pretty shiny, so I decided to tone it down a bit (my VP is still in town) to make it work appropriate:
That's a pinstriped button-down - which I usually loathe - but this one is so beautifully cut. Everyone raves about the white button-downs, but they always turn yellow in the armpits on me, and you have to iron them (the horror!), and they're nearly always see-through. And frankly, for me, way too boring.

I deliberately bought the skirt one size too big, so that it would sit on my hips, rather than at my waist (it would have been too short for work otherwise). Check it out: pockets!

I had to do some copying in another department today - I think about 6 people went past me and said, "Great shoes!"

The stuff:

I love those shoes. They are just such a perfect pump...and the heel is not that high (just under 3", I believe).

A close-up:

That's my ring from Scotland (story here). I don't wear it enough.

And that's the price tag from the skirt! Club Monaco had "extra 50% off last ticketed price" on sale items this past weekend. Seriously, that skirt for $34.50? That's a steal! I think it would have been more than that on consignment.

Shirt (Esprit, consignment), skirt (Club Monaco), shoes (Feet First), ring (handmade, trip to Scotland), necklace (Jacob).

Not So Sure - Skinny Pants

I'm not a leggings gal, never have been. However, I'm not averse to skinny pants. Mostly they are not cut to fit my curvy figure and strong thighs, but when I tried these ones on a few weeks ago, they stuck in my mind. I went back and got them last weekend (they were $39.99).
I don't think this is quite the right outfit for them. Maybe flats and a top that comes down lower (like this one?) would work better. I really should have tried stuff on before I packed this outfit.

I like that picture because I'm actually laughing at the cats (sorry it's blurry).

Anyway, I felt pretty good in the pants, even if I didn't quite style them right this time around. Thoughts? Suggestions?

The stuff:

I also had a pair of knee-highs on for part of the day, but I didn't like how they looked and they were kind of snagged so I tossed them.

A close-up of the jewelry:

I love that ring.

Jacket (Jacob), pants (Kensie), shoes (Steve Madden), ring (Fossil), earrings (Plum).

The Mystery Jacket and My Scuba-Suit

Today's outfit features my new jacket that I got at a thrift shop on the weekend:Also, my ribbon skirt, which I've owned twice, once in a size 12, when I was losing weight, and this one (a size 6). I packed up a new pair of brown fishnets to put on at work, since I popped a hole in my last pair when I wore them to Ronnie's party.

Little did I realize...scuba suit!

Okay, maybe I'm dating myself here, but do you remember the scene in "St. Elmo's Fire" (I've been having John Hughes nostalgia since he died, and didn't you love that part of the Oscars? *sigh* Molly, you look gorgeous!) between Rob Lowe as the rebellious sax player and Mare Winningham as the dowdy girl who secretly loves him? They're sitting on the back stairs at night and he makes a move on her to push her skirt up her thigh and he encounters the 80s version of Spanx and he says, "What's this? A scuba suit?"

I died a little inside for her, poor Mare. I know, I've worn the control garments too! Heh, everytime I went to the bathroom or changed to go for a walk today, there was my scuba suit.

The stuff:

Yup, done all these before, good wardrobe stalwarts all!

But back to the jacket. It was $13.50 (steal!) and was in the vintage section of the thrift shop. It's a wool blend, but no labels at all, not even evidence that a label was ever in it (not on the side seam, or at the back of the neck).

The neckline is perfect. Is this not the prettiest neckline?

There's a teeny shoulder pad in it (not a bigass 80s shoulder pad, and not the little pillow pads that 50s/60s stuff has). The lining is all hand-stitched into place along the bottom edges, and in the sleeves at the cuffs. The serged edges of the hem underneath (what I can see) have been hand-stitched down in a different coloured thread.

I think this is either a hand-made garment, OR it's been shortened from a longer style.

Either way, it's beautifully made. Look at the lovely hidden buttons! There are three up that seam and one at the crossover - and they aren't vintage buttons (and again, the thread is the wrong colour). I can't find any evidence that there were ever buttons on the front of the garment - I doubt this was ever worn (no armpit wear).

Anyway, I absolutely love the colour and the cut - and it's like it was made for me! But it will have to remain a mystery.

Jacket (thrifted, no label), skirt (Ricki's), shoes (Bleka), belt (Plum), earrings and cuff (Oscar and Libby's).