It's Equestrian, Really

Oh, I am tired and sore today. Another 30+ flights of stairs!

And I did it in heels again! My blurriness above reflected my state of mind today, though - everything felt very chaotic. Must be a full moon coming!

• Jacket - Ralph Lauren, thrifted; last seen here (4th outfit) in October 2014 in a similar outfit
• Skirt - Skott's Suede, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) earlier this month with reds
• Boots - Indigo by Clark's; last worn here a couple of weeks ago to a hockey game that didn't happen

Before we proceed, I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone who reads, and who comments. I consider many of you good friends of mine. I'm not particularly chatty or responsive in the comment section of my posts, but I read every word and think about what you've said. So thank you.

I've decided I don't like this jacket. It's not lined and is a heavy stretchy cotton and it feels sloppy to me. If it were a nice light wool with a full lining, then we'd be talking. But since I thrifted it, I'm just going to put it in the giveaway pile and let it go. Buh-bye.

Love this skirt! It made a most excellent flapping noise while I galumphed up the stairs today. I dig this equestrian look, as a variation on my "cowgirl" look.

The stuff:

Did I mention I was blurry today? I left my boots at work. D'oh! They continue to be marvelous boots and were very good for stairs.

• Belt - Plum
• Choker - vintage 60s, Mom's
• Cuff - SkinZnHydez
• Ring - Twang & Pearl

L and I were going to go to the gym today, but I talked him out of it. I did enough stairs, plus walking to and from work today (and I worked close to an hour overtime), that I don't feel a wee bit guilty. I'm going to make stir-fry for dinner and watch all "my" PVR'd shows (the ones L doesn't watch, like "Biggest Loser", "Antiques Roadshow" and "Gotham"). Ah...

All the Jewels, Plus Speckled Pink

Whew! I have done a lot of exercise today! 

And most of it in a pink leather skirt and heels, take that! I do have to exercise regularly (aside from this whole stair challenge thing) to help me keep my weight on track. You may or may not know that I lost 50 lbs seven years ago, and have maintained within a few pounds of my goal weight since then. I was lower than that 50 lbs down when I started this blog - I often look wistfully at that younger and skinnier me, but my body is pretty happy at my current weight. But it does take work - I know as a WW leader that it's a slippery slope back to being heavy and unhappy. I would like to be down about 5 lbs from where I am, but of course it's hard. So many good things to eat and drink!

I like to dress nice, because I feel good about how I look. When I feel good about how I look, I'm encouraged to keep dressing nice. That's the kind of happy feedback loop I like.

• Jacket - Le Chateau, consignment; last worn here in November 2014 with dark florals
• Velvet top - Bianca Nygard, consignment; last seen here layered under brocade in January 2013
• Skirt - Evan Davies, vintage 80s, thrifted; last worn here with yesterday's shoes in December 2014
• Shoes - Camper; purchased here a couple of weekends ago

I rarely wear this little velvet top (it's one of those semi-Ren Faire ones that were popular in the late 90s/early aughts), but it's a handy piece when my other black layering tops are in the wash. I variously wore my jacket fully buttoned (as in the top photo), unbuttoned, and completely off (while doing stairs). I need the temperature control. Thank you, peri-menopause for the sweatiness, much appreciated.

Glorious pink leather skirt! And look at those sweet heels. I told you they looked amazing on the foot.

The stuff:

When I set up the office in the morning, I make my rounds of each floor, see what's going on, see who wants something, show off my new whatevers. I have a bunch of fashionable coworkers so I waggled my feet at them today. The shoes received many oohs and ahhs. They were amazing to wear all day - very comfy, lots of padding and not too high a pitch in the heel angle. My feet feel just dandy.

Ba-da-boom bling:

One of our clients was very interested in all my jewelry. "I wear all the jewels," I said.

• Necklace, bracelet and earrings - Myka, gifts from L several years ago
• Poe "Nevermore" cuff - Jezebel Charms, gift from L
• Brooch - The Bay
• Crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery Gift Shop
• Pink stone ring - vintage 60s, Dad's

And now, having walked to work, done about 20 flights of stairs, walked to our other office and back, walked home, and gone to the gym...I need dinner and a shower!

Black and White Leather, and Courreges

Wee! It's Tuesday! My team is in the caboose position (i.e. last) in the stair challenge at work, so I had to get motoring today so that we can catch up. I climbed over 30 flights over the day.

And I did it in heels! I tied this leather jacket around my waist, because I was huffin' and puffin' by the time I hit the 6th/top floor.

• Jacket - Bianca Nygard, thrifted; purchased here a couple of weeks ago for $39.50
• Skirt - Andre Courreges, vintage 80s, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit, past the cat pictures) in July 2014 with paisley ruffles
• Shoes - Poetic License; last seen here in December 2014 with posh pink leather

I also wore a silky red cami underneath the jacket to show my team colours!

I absolutely loved this jacket - the white piping is just spectacular. Also, amazing fit.

My much-treasured $5.00 (yes, you read that right) thrifted Andre Courreges wool/cashmere pencil skirt. Five dollars! I still boggle - Courreges invented the mini skirt, fer goodness' sake!

The stuff:

Sweet, sweet dotted shoes! As comfy as ever, even for doing lots of stairs.

Round bling:

Black and white is quite a statement on its own, so minimal accessories.

• Earrings - Plum
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Sparkly Blue and an Uncommon Amount of Black

Silly me! After wearing all of my red items last week, in an informal theme week, here we are starting the Stair Challenge at work, and I'm on the red team!

Not the blue team. I'm going to have to skip my already-planned Friday outfit to pull out all the red stops for our Team Spirit contest.

• Jacket - vintage 50s, Tricot d'Or, thrifted; scored here a couple of weeks ago for $15.50
• Skirt - vintage 80s, Jones New York, thrifted; last seen here (4th outfit) in October 2014 with Ralph Lauren plaid  
• Shoes - Guess; last worn here in December 2014 with paisley and mustard

I loved wearing this jacket today. Often I find that items with Lurex or lame (lah-may!) can be itchy, but all was well. I wasn't too hot in it either. Thumbs up!

Someone at work today commented on my plethora of black in this outfit. Hey, even us colour-loving gals like a little black sometimes!

I completely adore this wonderful 80s vintage-40s inspired skirt - it's not quite a circle skirt but it has that vibe. Also, pockets!

The stuff:

I am going to be very sad when these pumps die on me. They are so very classic.

Spaghetti monster bling:

Okay, that pin could also be a spiral galaxy, but the ring is definitely a Flying Spaghetti Monster (Wiki link if you don't know what that is).

• Belt - Bianca Nygard
• Bracelet - Mom's, vintage 60s
• Pin - Sarah Coventry, vintage 80s, vintage fair
• FSM ring - vintage fair
• Crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop
• Blue stone ring - Scotland, handmade
• Drop earring - Jacob
• Clip earring - vintage 60s, vintage fair

I'd better include some red tomorrow or my team will think I've defected!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Fruital, Leather and Zentangling

What a lovely weekend, following such an exhausting week! I feel recharged and ready to face another crazy week ahead.

Friday's armour, and a repeat combo of this outfit from October 2014.

I'm one of the organizers of the Stair Challenge in my office, and we extended it out to all of our BC offices this year. It's a lot of work behind the scenes - and in front of them! This was what I chose to do our breakfast launch on Friday morning. We announced the teams and the stair climbing starts on Monday.

• Blouse - no label, thrifted; last seen here in October 2014 with this same skirt
• Skirt -  Lui Jo; last seen per links above
• Shoes - Half Truth Tanya, Fluevog; last worn here with grey lace in November 2014

"Not up to anything, nope, nothing to see here."

Until I looked up this skirt and blouse, I'd actually forgotten that I'd already worn this blouse and skirt together! I know no one noticed, though. I'm sure most of my clothes are just a big blur to my coworkers.

I layered a vintage half-slip (a pink one!) under the skirt for extra warmth, and a camisole (a blue one!) under the blouse for coverage.

Outerwear:

I like my toque pulled down right over my hair and ears. It keeps my head warm and doesn't mess with my hair. That's a glorious vintage leather coat, thrifted about a year ago.

The stuff:

I'm kicking myself now for not buying these shoes in the purple as well as the green. The only size left is a 6, boo.

Bold bling:

Grommet belt, and the first wearing of these green vintage teardrop earrings.

• Belt - gift from Ruth
• Jade ring - 70s, liberated from Mom's jewelry box sometime in the mid-80s
• Spinner ring - Twang & Pearl
• Earrings - vintage 60s, vintage fair

On Saturday, L and I went for brunch at the diner, and then I walked over to work-friend K's house to hang out for the afternoon.

Yup, that's a leather dress. Pretty groovy, isn't it? It even has pockets!

• Dress - Truly, Part Two; last seen here with the above fruital blouse in September 2014
• Sweater - Max Studio; last seen here (2nd outfit) for a weekend hang-out with friends in March 2014
• Boots - Doc Martens, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in November 2014

It's been a blustery weekend, full of wind and rain. Leather is awesome for blocking the wind.

And my boots were very practical for walking 30 minutes each way to K's house.

The stuff:

Rockin' Docs! I love these so much. The gals in the diner cooed over them (and my hair).

Odd bling:

That salamander earring is one of a pair; they were a gift (birthday?) from Mom and Dad back around 1986 or so (I was in University, I recall). I used to have the matching brooch, which was about 5 inches long; unfortunately, it was made of soft metal and the tail broke off after a couple of years. I'd forgotten all about the earrings until I found them recently when I was going through one of my jewelry boxes.

• Belt - Plum
• Choker - vintage 60s, Mom's
• Salamander earring - gift from Mom & Dad, homegrown mid-80s vintage
• Stud earring - local

K is into Zentangle drawing (comprehensive info about Zentangle here, linking 'cause I love); I didn't follow the formal process, but I do love the idea of purposefully building up an image stroke by stroke. I chose to play with felt pens.

The white blip in the bottom right is my name whited-out for privacy.

I drew a long swirl with curlicues off it in pencil (which I erased as I went), but other than that, I didn't plan out any of the drawing. I just went with what felt right and played with colour, creating the different elements on the spur of the moment.

When I finished all the curly pieces I wanted to tie it all in together so I did black swirls around every element and filled in some of the while with those.

A close-up of a couple of the swirls:

We listened to music and drank tea, chatted and sat in peaceful silence as we both worked on our drawings. I found it hugely relaxing and pleasurable; I might have to get myself a sketchbook and some felt pens to do this myself. It felt really good to be creative in a semi-structured way. Nearly 3 hours passed and it felt like no time. Thank you, K! Please invite me over again!

What's have you been creating lately? What's your art?

Shoe Shine #19

Shoe Shine is on!

Get your kicks by showing your kicks!

Woo-ee! Let's talk about shoes!

As you can see by the button in my sidebar, I am going to the 40+ Blogger Meet-Up in Vancouver this summer - I am both excited and terrified to meet so many amazing women! I have to plan what I'm wearing early...but no doubt about it, I will be wearing a pair of Fluevogs!

These are the Q-Tee Minis, a family of Fluevogs that has been around forever. I bought these on consignment for $99.00 (Fluevogs are one of the few brands that retain or even increase in value over the years), when I bought them here in 2011. The Mini family started in 2001 and they still sell them (link here 'cause I love).

They are spectacularly comfortable, cushy and above all, they have got funk.

Show us your funky shoes! What pair rocks your world? 

Want to play? It's super-easy. Anyone can join.

1. Link to a post featuring a fabulous pair of footwear!
2. Include a link to Ephemera somewhere in your post (it's only polite). Leave a comment here if you like (note that comments continue to be moderated).
3. Go to the bottom of this post and click on the InLinks "Add Your Link" button to open a new page.
4. In the "Next Step," you crop the picture you want to display, and voila!
5. Show your Shoe Shine spirit by grabbing and displaying the button in the sidebar.

An InLinkz Link-up

Jumbled Decades

Well, let's see. There's my new haircut - that's the teens (current). I am pretty sure that the penchant for the side shaved head on a lady of my age hasn't been a style in any decade except now.

My top is from the '70s, the skirt is from the '60s, the scarf and the bracelet are from the '80s, and the boots, earrings and belt are from the aughts.

• Top - B. Altman & Co., by Hal Fentman, vintage '70s, thrifted; last seen here when I was Carol Burnett in October
• Skirt - Hettemark's of Sweden, sold from W&J Wilson, vintage early '60s, thrifted; last worn here way back in January 2014 with Etro
• Boots - Kope Tiam Coffee, Fluevogs; last worn here in January 2014 with a bigass leather skirt

I was stuck with how to wear this big scarf - it's soft and breezy, but too much up around my face, and too thick to tie into my hair, and yet too short to go around my waist. I wanted to wear it for indoor wear, not just as a scarf with outerwear. I really liked how it looked on the belt. I basically folded the scarf in half (into a triangle, not a rectangle) and then tucked half of under my belt. Easy!

This skirt is the bottom half of a suit; you may recall I just wore the jacket part here just two days ago.

The stuff:

I love my Kope Tiam booties. They are heavenly to walk in; just perfectly balanced.

Lush bling:

My genuine Pierre Balmain of Paris scarf, just thrifted last weekend for $15.50.

• Scarf - Pierre Balmain of Paris, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Belt - Plum
• Bracelet - fake Gucci, vintage 80s, gift from Mom and Dad
• Earrings - local, 5th anniversary gift from L

I'm off to cook some beef stew for dinner. I think I just might have some wine with that!

The Disappearing Outfit...and Happy Birthday, Dave!

First of all, it was my brother Dave's 45th birthday yesterday (yes, Mom, I did remember). I got busy and kept forgetting to call him, but I remembered all day. Today, I sent myself a reminder to email him tonight, so I've just written him a novel about...me! How typical. 

I'll get to the outfit in a second. When Dave turned 40, I wrote this post for him. Here's to you, my cowboy. I'm a day late and a dollar short.

Okay, the outfit. The only thing left is the jacket, but here's the deets (as the cool kids no longer say):

• Jacket - Peter Nygard, consignment; first worn here (2nd outfit) in late September 2014
• Skirt - no label, consignment; first seen here in November 2014
• Shoes - Jeffrey Campbell, thrifted; purchased here (way down at the bottom) for $14.99 in October 2014

I really liked this outfit overall. The jacket is awesome (dig that attached strap at the throat!) and is killer with a pencil skirt.

The skirt is really sweet - I only paid $5.00 for it on the clearance rack at a consignment store near work. However, as I noted last time I wore it, it has no stretch and the seam that I sewed up above the back slit has pulled apart. I can't wear it again, so into the giveaway bag it goes.

And the first wearing of the shoes...and my feet remembered how much they hated 90s shoes, with their steep pitch and non-cushioned soles. I got my hair cut after work and my hairdresser was admiring them. So I gave them to her, and put on my walkin' shoes. She was so excited! She's in her 20s, so these pretty shoes will go to a good home. Makes me feel good - and I know they will get the love they deserve, just not from me!

I only wore a pair of crystal stud earrings today, so without the shoes there is no "stuff" pictures.

Rock on, my friends! Get ready for my re-buzzed short hair again - can't believe I haven't had it cut since mid-November!

Agent Sheila in Granny Shoes

In case you haven't figured it out, I am having a major woman-crush on Hayley Atwell of TV show "Agent Carter" (IMDB link here)

I adore the looks of the post-war (that'd be World War II) era, with the strong shoulders, the curvy figures, the chunky yet feminine shoes, the hair, the everything!

• Jacket (part of a suit) - Hettemarks of Sweden, W&J Wilson, vintage early 60s, thrifted; last seen here in January 2014
• Blouse - Cleo, thrifted; last seen here in September 2014 with sequins
• Skirt - Darling; last seen here in October 2014
• Shoes - Nine West, thrifted; last worn here in October 2014 with purple velvet

Although none of my items are actually from the '40s, the inspiration for the strong shoulder of the early '60s is there in this wonderful structured jacket.

The shoes are higher than I normally wear, but feel great on - I think it's the high vamp and the lacings - there is no instability in them. No wonder this "granny" style shoe has been in vogue (off and on) for decades!

The stuff:

I was waffling on these shoes this morning. They aren't really my style, whatever that is now or at any given moment, but I'm grooving on them. I got a lot compliments on them from my younger (under 30) coworkers, which means I am "down with the hep cats" as no one ever says these days. Heh.

Silver bling:

I do love a nice bracelet sleeve for showing off...bracelets! I think Agent Carter would approve.

• Belt - Club Monaco
• Leaf bracelet - thrifted
• Lattice bracelet - St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop
• Bangle - local
• Earrings - local

What era are you crushing on right now? I'm also having a major '70s infatuation!

Pink and Red Chinoiserie - with Blue

Oh, it's a late one, and it's Monday. This week is off to a great start.

Yeah, that was sarcasm. I'm wearing lots of red - one of my power colours (along with yellow, in case you were wondering) - to ward off bad vibes. The cursed newsletter is underway again, so I stayed late tonight sending off all of the content to my co-editor.

• Jacket - Tian Art, thrifted; last seen here almost exactly a year ago, in January 2014 with red leather pants (really)
• Top - Liz Claiborne, thrifted; last worn here in November 2014 tucked under a chambray dress
• Skirt - J. Michaels, vintage 80s, thrifted; purchased here a couple of weeks ago for $12.00
• Shoes - Garden of Enjoyment Rita, Fluevog; last seen here in September 2014 with turquoise origami 

I'm shocked that I haven't worn the jacket in a year! I can't remember if I packed it away over the spring/summer, but that's just a cryin' shame - it's a fab jacket and needs more love.

All of that design along the edges is embroidered in pink, red, white and blue, and then edged in gold. Pretty danged spectacular.

The stuff:

Speaking of spectacular, these shoes just go to eleven, don't they? They're amazingly comfortable too.

Blue bling:

Blue! Such a good colour.

• Belt - Danier Leather
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia ring - Wendy Brandes
• Earrings - local

Now, y'all will forgive me for running off, but it's 8:40 pm and I haven't had dinner!

Oh, and mustn't forget - Shoe Shine is on this Friday!

Start planning now!