Leather and Crochet Vintage, and Backless With a Tie

First up: thank you to my longtime blog-friend Sal for mentioning my gateway lemon/houndstooth outfit in her "Lovely Links" roundup over at Already Pretty. I've known Sal since 2009, when I gave her a "Major Award" (here).

Speaking of major...

Dude, that is a major V on your chest. Yes, indeed it is. I loved wearing this outfit all day - it was all so very comfortable. I wore this outfit from 7:30am to 10:00pm.

This is of course, my fabulous 80s leather and silk crochet top, thrifted here on the weekend for all of $12.50. Get out!

I always love wearing this skirt too. It was last seen here in November 2013 with rust. It's vintage haute couture, Andre Courreges, thrifted for $5.00. Really. I'm down to $1.00 per wear on it. Yowza!

I wore a cotton camisole underneath the top to help keep it from shifting around from its weight (which it did).

The stuff:

My Darjeeling Teapots, darling, last seen here for Chinese New Year's earlier this month.

Badass bling:

High and low: thrifted/homegrown vintage leather cuffs and chi-chi Wendy Brandes rings.

After work, I rushed off to my hair appointment. I need to find a new hairdresser, unfortunately! Mine is moving to London. Immediately following my haircut, I walked a few kilometers to Book Club. I got hit hard by allergies - damn you, beech trees and your pollen (shakes fist)! - so I didn't last too long, although I did manage to eat a bunch of chocolate and drink several glasses of wine. A girl has her priorities.

Top (vintage 80s, thrifted), skirt (Andres Courreges, thrifted, vintage 80s), shoes (Darjeeling Teapot, Fluevog), cuff (Guess, thrifted), studded cuff (homegrown vintage late 80s), rings (Wendy Brandes).

And phew! Now it's Friday! I succumbed to my sucky allergies and took a 24-hour antihistamine (much better, thank you). Now I have to get used to really short hair again.

From fairly conservative this week to right off the charts - this outfit ain't for the shy of heart.

I had several compliments on it, especially the shirt and tie worn under the dress.

This is my denim backless dress, last worn here in December 2013 with a magenta blouse.

The shirt is a Club Monaco one I've had for about four years - it was last seen here in December 2013 under a bustier. It's a great layering shirt. I like that it uses cufflinks instead of buttons, so I can match them to my outfit. L has a huge collection.

Wee! My dress is backless!

My fabulous red Adrian Agnes boots get another airing. Love them - they are breaking in well. I last wore them here in December 2013.

One of my tried-and-true combinations of outerwear:

You can't have too much red!

The stuff:

L's tie - I think it was from Tip Top? Maybe the Bay? The cufflinks are vintage.

Dress (Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, consignment), shirt (Club Monaco, consignment), boots (Adrian Agnes, Fluevog), cufflinks (vintage, L's), earrings (local), tie (L's).

Check this out - I got flowers from my dotted-line Manager today:

Aw! I love tulips - and such a gorgeous arrangement. I love getting flowers at work - I don't have to hide them from Vizzini!

Wishing you a weekend of sun and flowers!

Gateway Outfits - Leopard and More Yellow

I a couple of great comments from the lovely Cara (check her out) responding to new commenter Shawna regarding yesterday's outfit:

Of course she likes it -- it's a gateway outfit! Imagine having average interest in fashion, and then seeing a coworker dressing to the 9s every day. It's going to be overwhelming -- but when you wear a "gateway outfit" it allows her to take note of some of the more fun details (the fluttery collar, the made for you fit of that skirt...) that she can slowly adopt into her wardrobe! 

Such a perfect summation of it. I've always erred on the side of whackadoodle in  my dressing and I'm cool with that, but I do understand that many women can be intimidated by some of my bright colour combinations, not to mention some of the more "out there" outfits I do. 

What do you think? Is today's outfit a gateway outfit as well? 

That's a lot of yellow, but this is a good way to wear yellow (or any bright - really, any other coloured skirt would work here) without having it near your face. The dark brown is a solid neutral that helps keep the yellow calm, and the matching leopard shoes and belt provide nice texture.

This is my new-to-me vintage yellow pencil skirt that I picked up here (scroll down) last weekend at the WIN thrift store for $8.50. It is likely from the 80s based on: high waist, length, colour and a more modern label than earlier clothes.

When you have really good quality clothes, they are a pleasure to wear. This skirt is 100% wool, but it's a very thin summer-weight (I'll definitely be wearing it in warmer weather). It's fully lined and has two kick pleats in the back; it also has an overlapping two-button tab above the zipper so that the waistband doesn't pull. Those kinds of details are just not found in a lot of clothes anymore.

The sweater is another gorgeous item to wear. I last wore it here (2nd outfit) while being lame in January.

It's 100% angora, and to prevent allover itch, I wore my new-to-me thrifted vintage slip underneath (it was the perfect length under the skirt too) - this one (picture).

The stuff:

I love my leopard pumps so much. I think they are a shoe wardrobe necessity. I last wore them here in June 2013 with more 80s vintage. These are a smidge too high for me nowadays, but they'll have a place in my closet for a long time, even if I don't wear them more than twice a year.

Vintage bling:

The necklace was Grandma J's, and the bracelet was bought at a vintage fair. Both are by Trifari and are from the 60s.

Sweater (Limited, consignment), skirt (Mister Leonard, vintage 80s), shoes (Steve Madden), belt (Plum), necklace (vintage 60s, Grandma J's, Trifari), bracelet (Trifari, vintage 60s), earrings (don't remember).

Lemon and Houndstooth (and Cat in the Window)

It's a frightfully blustery day today - completely typical winter weather for the West Coast. Rain, wind, sun, dark clouds, rinse, repeat. 

I wore my own sunshine!

Someone at work today told me that this was her favourite outfit of mine ever. Huh. I deliberately went a little conservative (for me). There's no accounting for taste.

This is my new-to-me thrifted lemon yellow cardigan, purchased for a whopping $6.00 last weekend here. I greatly admire the erm..acreage of boobage on Helga (go, she's awesome) and immediately thought of her when I saw this.

I wore it layered over my black Lida Baday blouse (last seen here in December when it snowed). I also have a black camisole on under that.

I adore this wonderful houndstooth pencil skirt. Never giving this up, ever. Last worn here.

The stuff:

My classic Guess pumps are starting to show wear. They were last seen here (way, way down) with a purple, orange and green velvet Chinoiserie dress, in January for a burlesque show.

Pearl bling:

Totally not real. Same stuff as what I wore with my pink long dress for the Valentine's party.

Cardigan (no label, thrifted), blouse (Lida Baday, consignment), skirt (Bianca Nygaard, consignment), shoes (Guess), necklace (Grandma J), earrings (Aldo Accessories).

Vizzini was checking out the maple trees this morning, blowing around in the wind.

"Seagulls, squirrels...Officer Vizzini watches you all."

Of course, I went in for a close-up:

"On the beat, can't talk."

He's lost all his white eyebrows on one side, so he's sporting a rather rakish look.

"Oh, it's you. You're still here?"

I never mind being a minute or two late because I'm taking cat pictures.

"Okay, get ready, I'm coming down for a tummy rub before you go."

And a tummy rub was had. Best way to start the day.

Dress Week Came From Outer Space! Taupe and Cream for Winter!

This is it! *sob* Dress Week is over! 

Everyone may commence mourning - wear black if you wish.

Me? Not wearing black!

No, that is definitely not black. Not even a smidge of black.

But, yes, that is a dress! Really! It's my taupe leather one, which was last seen here way way back in March 2013. I thought I'd worn it more recently than that, but I guess time is flying faster than I thought!

I've layered quite a bit with this outfit. Including the vintage slip (seen peeking out in the above shot), I also have a sleeveless blouse layered under the dress for boobular coverage (this one, last seen here in August 2013).

And of course, over all of it is my lovely cream brocade jacket, last seen here earlier this month, layered over fruit and dark florals.

The stuff:

I have giant boat-like feet (size 9.5-10, baby), and considering I am just 5'4", those are large feet on someone my height. I used to be all weird about my feet looking big in flats (hence a lifetime of heels), however, I have grown to like my big feet; when I do wear heels, I have less of a pitch (a less steep angle) than someone with smaller feet. I'd like to think I have better balance, but uh, yeah, I do fall over a lot.

But I'm loving flats and kitten heels more and more. I loved wearing these wonderful vintage-y looking modern flats today. They are so groovily 60s, aren't they? I bought them a couple of weekends ago (here, way down past the Victoria Film Festival pictures) for $10.00 at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store.

Furry bling:

Sometimes you just want to wear a tribble. Or two.

Jacket (Le Chateau, consignment), blouse (Coldwater Creek, thrifted), dress (Truly), shoes (Fugitive, thrifted), belt (Gap), cuff (Midzo, thrifted), bracelet (Club Monaco), spinner ring (Twang & Pearl), fur stick pin/fur rose (thrifted), earrings (Plum).

Dress Week Came From Outer Space! More V-Day! Brunch! Shopping!

Hey, all! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend! It's been busy around here, what with Dress Week, Valentine's Day and other shennanigans.

The super-secret theme that I did last week for my dresses was, "Dresses that have only been worn once before." Did you guess it? Then give yourself a pat on the back. Well done!

Our dear friends Caro and Ronnie threw a Sweetheart Party on Friday night, with the "everyone wear red or pink" theme. I knew I would have to debut this amazing pink dress.

I was the only person who wore pink!

 I know! So crazy-insane-awesome. This belonged to Joyce, my Mom's best friend Kathy's mother. It's easily from the 70s - I got it from Mom via Kathy here (scroll down) in October 2013.

It's even more vivid nearly-neon pink in person. Also, HOT (as in temperature). Thank goodness it was sleeveless or I would have died in it. It's the perfect February dress. Love that big ruffle panel down the front.

"I am a stylin' cat, yo"

It was also quite tight on the top. There are four hook-and-eyes on it: two at the neck and two at the waist. It was a relief to get it off at the end of the night.

Outerwear:

 We bussed to the party then cabbed home. I love this blue coat. I got a few weird looks on the bus, ha!

Do you see the ears in the foreground?

I wore my floral Docs there and back, just in case we had to walk. Cabs are often scarce on the weekend.

The stuff:

My heart shoes! What else was I going to wear? I last wore my Vivienne Westwood Anglomania + Melissa shoes on the Easter long weekend here in March 2013. They were great for a party, but my feet were a little sore after 4+ hours.

The stuff:

I pinned the swirly brooch over the beaded embellishment at the dress' waist. I loved how perfectly my Grandma J's necklace worked over the high neckline - it's like it was made for this kind of dress. And there's my wonderful metal back from Megan Mae!

Dress (handmade, vintage 70s, Joyce), brooch and ring (Sarah Coventry, vintage), necklace (Grandma J, vintage), earrings (Aldo Accessories), bag (gift from Megan Mae).

After a nice sleep-in on Saturday morning, L and I went for brunch at Floyd's Diner, our favourite spot.

Continuing Dress Week! in this vivid green number.

I got this at the WIN thrift store last year and have worn it a few times, last time here in April 2013, looking rather Christmassy. After wearing the too-tight Joyce dress, it was a relief to wear a dress that was the right size.  I named this the checkerboard dress because it has no label - another handmade item.

We also went to another couple's house last night for a dinner date with Nick/Karen. I wore the same outfit, but added a drapey black cardi for warmth (new couple, didn't know how warm their house would be).

I liked the rock-and-roll accessories with this. These are my great basic riding boots that I last wore here (after all the Film Festival pictures) last weekend.

Outerwear:

The spectacular orange leather jacket. It was pouring rain most of the afternoon (welcome to the real West Coast winter!), and it got very spotted up and wet, but it dried fine. Really, people, don't worry about leather so much.

Dress (vintage, thrifted), boots (Aldo, consignment), belt (gift from Ruth), red cuff (Rimanchik), black cuff (Guess, thrifted), earrings (local).

I spent about an hour at the WIN warehouse store, leisurely browsing through everything. I found a few gems, including this lovely butter-yellow cardigan.

It feels like wool, but there's no label anywhere, aside from a little one on the top of the shoulder, and no evidence of tags removed.

It looked great on, and I love the little pearl buttons.

And only $6.00 - sure!

It seemed to be a yellow sort of day. I also found this wonderful sunny yellow pencil skirt.

It's longer than my wooly yellow pencil skirt (yes, I now have 2 yellow pencil skirts), and has two kick pleats in the back.

Love the vintage label.

Real wool, Mister Leonard, and only $8.50. Crazy good deal!

I am always looking for vintage slips. I really am a bit of a junkie when it comes to these.

 I spotted this wonderful dark peach slip and snagged it right away.

I just love the micro-pleats on the boobs and the hem. Only $7.50 for this, which is an awesome deal.

This was the item that made my heart sing:

Oh yes, we are in love! This is made up of diamond of white leather and floral embossed black leather (on the V), all crocheted together with "silk flosh" (I think they mean "floss" - I blame the Turkish label-maker). Silk floss is real silk.

I blew out the contrast in this pic so you can see the crochet-work. I learned to crochet when I was a kid - I could actually make something like this myself if I were so inclined.

"Whoa! Leather/silk" - indeed!

It's just an insane piece, and I will love it and hug it and call it George forever. I can't wait to wear it!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend!