Layered Crochet and Last Day

Last day! I am on vacation now, until the 4th! Many adventures to be had, and one must start now. 

I like this 70s/80s vibe thing.

• Blouse - Levante, thrifted; first worn here in October with plaid
• Dress - Le Chateau, consignment; purchased here for $29.00 in November
• Shoes - Ralph Lauren, thrifted; last seen here in September with leopard and cream

I was excited to wear this dress finally! I picked a day when not many people were around - it was so dead today at work! I really loved how this looked with the blouse layered under it.

The red on the bottom under the dress is a vintage half-slip that goes to my knees.

The stuff:

I walked to lunch (not raining) and back to the office (pouring rain) in these shoes.

Folksy bling:

This metal belt was a gift from Mom from London years ago.

• Belt - gift from Mom
• Earrings - Plum

I am now off to wrap presents! Wishing you all a very happy Christmas! I'm taking a brief break - I'll be back on the weekend.

Cheers,
Sheila

Christmas Presence

The countdown is on - T-minus one day till vacation!

Also, one more day to bust out the glam!

• Sweater - Dalkeith, vintage 60s, thrifted; last worn here in May with pink and florals
• Skirt - Kensie; last seen here over 3 years ago for an evening of debauchery at the Art Gallery
• Shoes - Fly London; last worn here in May with splatterberry

Some shocking shortcomings here. It was a hot summer, so I didn't get a lot of wear out of this lovely thin green vintage sweater, but still...May? That's a long gap between wears. Tsk.

But let's talk about the skirt. This is my fourth wear of it ever, and I've had it since about 2008. It fits much better now that I've lost a few pounds - aside from not being able to take very long strides, it was fine to work in all day. Everyone wanted to touch the flouncy hem!

It's a sample piece I bought at Dots way back in the day for about $30.00. I guess my cost-per-wear is pretty good. It's so shiny that I feel like a Christmas present. All I need is a butt-bow, hee hee.

The stuff:

I'm also really surprised that it's also been May since I last wore these shoes. Again, they were too hot to wear all summer, but I've had all fall to wear them. They are so cool! Must be worn!

Pokey bling:

Another instance of me being remiss.

• Bracelet/earrings - Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007

I haven't worn these in 3 years either! They are rather pokey, though. And stars, compasses and other cool shapes (one snowflake) - this doesn't have to be saved for the holidays (she told herself sternly).

One more day!

Red Argyle and Black Sequins

L and I are headed out to see the new Star Wars movie - I am a HUGE fan, so I'm fangirling all over the place. Now! I want to see it now! 

Oh, and I did wear a lot of red today.

• Blazer - Harve Bernard, thrifted; first seen here in April with much 80s
• Top (not very visible) - Plum, consignment; first worn here earlier this month with burgundy and houndstooth
• Skirt - J. Crew, thrifted; last seen here in September 2014 with aqua and orange and white

And sequins! I'm shocked that it's been over a year since I wore this skirt - last time, I complained that the little plastic rectangular sequins tore up the back of my (bare) legs. This time, I'm complaining that they made the back of my knees all bally - my tights are not ruined, but I'll be wearing a longer skirt with them from now on.

The tights are cool. I like a funky leg.

The stuff:

Easy shoes for an easy day.

• Earrings - Glee

And I'm off! May the Force be with you...always.

Visible Weekend: Fringed Suede and Peach Feathers

It's been quite a weekend! Three work days left and then I'm off until the New Year. Posts will be sporadic - you've been warned.

This is what I wore to go for brunch on Saturday morning with L - afterwards, I took off and finished up my Christmas shopping. The streets were quiet, but the stores were busy!

• Coat - Pioneer Wear, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Shirt - Dept, consignment; last worn here in August with red and white polka dots when I purchased this coat for $43.95
• Skirt - J. Michaels, vintage 80s, thrifted; last worn here in July with equestrian details
• Boots - Dirty Laundry, thrifted; last seen here a few weeks ago with my pink Muppety skirt

I only had my coat off for brunch, but this is what I looked like.

This is one of my favourite shirts - I love all the colours and pattern on it.

However, the star is the coat.

Aw, yeah, fringe-o-rama! I also wore my purple leather gloves and a vintage orange scarf to hold my hair up.

The stuff:

Those are indeed boots.

I was good and only bought one thing for myself: this cool faux leather belt. I fell in love with the buckle.

And only $3.99 at Value Village?

I love it when an item has a stamp or mark on it.

This one says "Mimi di N - (c) 1981". Never heard of this company before - their website (here, linking 'cause I love) is pretty basic.

After a long shop, I am done! I came home, napped and then got ready for Nick and Karen's party. I had to wear my new dress!

My head got cut off in the photos (the heels are too tall!), so I did some selfies in the bathroom. I had to add the brooch to the decolletage, as it really dives low! No one needs to see that far down my dress!

It's pretty spectacular.

I felt like a million bucks all night.

• Dress - Lillie Rubin, vintage 80s, thrifted; purchased here for $42.00
• Shoes - Jessica Simpson, c. 2007; last seen here (3rd outfit) in November 2014 for a gala holiday party

I was tugging at the top a bit during the party, as it kept trying to expose my strapless bra.

"Did I hear feathers rustling?"

I also neglected to test to see if I could go to the bathroom in it. I had a moment of panic at the party, hoping I wouldn't have to remove the dress (like this one!) in order to pee.

The stuff:

My party shoes lasted about 4 hours before I took them off. I just don't wear high heels like this much anymore!

Party bling:

The feathery fascinator and the swirly brooch matched well.

• Fascinator - local
• Purse - gift from Megan Mae
• Brooch - Sarah Coventry, vintage 80s, vintage fair
• Earrings - Aldo Accessories
• Crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop
• Death Star ring - Soul Flower

I'm linking up to "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style! Be there or be square!

Funky Friday: All the Colours, with Teal as a Neutral

I had another outfit picked out to wear today, and changed to this at the last minute.

"At the last minute" for me, of course, means last night.

• Blouse - Antonella, vintage 80s, thrifted; last seen here in October with green tweed
• Dress - Desigual; last worn here (2nd outfit) for the 40+ Blogger Meet-Up in July in Vancouver
• Boots - Libby Smith, Bellevues, Fluevog; last seen here while rolling in the 70s last month

I wore teal tights with this - the dominant colour of the dress is teal, so that acted as my neutral.

Is that a parrot on my bum or are you just happy to see me?

This is such a fun dress - I love it and love wearing it. It always gets tons of reactions, from the predictable, "Hey Sheila, you've got your eye on us!"

...to the less predictable, "All the colours!" comment. I do love how this vivid orange blouse brings all the orange patches on the skirt into play, much more strongly than they normally are. This dress is worth the travel back through my links; I've worn it so many ways since I bought here in 2010 in London.

The stuff:

Fabulous boots for walking to and from work today!

• Earrings - Tania Gleave

Our other office in town had a potluck today, so I walked over at lunch with some of my colleagues. I took sausage rolls (hey, it is perfectly valid to buy food that other people have made for a potluck!), but there was so much food. I'm still stuffed!

I'll be back on Sunday for "Visible Monday" - I will be very visible in peach this weekend!

A Two-Fer: Classic Seasonal Plaid, and the Debut of the Icicle Shoes

I'm baaack - did you miss me? Sometimes I just get busy. 

I dressed for my day - near the end of the day, I participated in an "Epic Escape".

• Sweater - Lord & Taylor, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in October with my ribbon skirt
• Skirt - Roland Kerry, consignment; last seen here in April with these same shoes
• Shoes - Half-Truth Tanya, Fluevog; last worn here in August with green culottes

"Hmm...what's in this bag?"

Epic Escape is a locked-room puzzle, where you have to work with a group and figure out puzzles in the room in order to find the key to get out. I was on a team of 6 with some of my coworkers, battling the clock (you have an hour to solve all the puzzles...and it flies by!). Afterwards, we all went out to the pub with another two teams, and commiserated with each other: not one of the 4 teams solved the puzzles and made it out! It was super-fun - if you have one of these in your town, I'd highly recommend it as a fun group outing.

I took a bag of food donations to work - that's what my little monster is digging at.

I wanted to look cheery for the season, and I wanted walkable shoes, so this was a last-minute outfit. How could I not wear this awesome skirt before Christmas?

Because I was going to be out late, I took the bus to work - an outerwear shot for you! I love this yellow leather jacket.

The stuff:

I'm surprised this picture is in focus - I might have been a wee bit tipsy when I got home.

• Earrings - Stella and Dot, consignment

So, no blogging last night, and I fell asleep on the couch and went to bed early, after guzzling down two large glasses of water.

All better for this morning:

Flash! In my face! 

It was so dark and stormy this morning, I had to resort to using the flash on the stairs. It worked, though!

• Dress - Adrian, vintage 1960s, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in May with aqua
• Shoes - Poetic Licence, thrifted; purchased here in November for $30,00 in Sidney with Elaine and Cat

This dress is super sparkly - you can see that a bit in the flash picture - with green lurex threads all over it. I love the cut and fit of it.

This was my first wearing of these new-to-me shoes. I think they were definitely worn as wedding shoes - I'm happy to give them a new home! I waggled my feet at all my female (and some male) coworkers today.

The stuff:

I saved these for my WW meeting tonight - it's the last one for me until January, as my meeting falls on both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. That's fine with me - I can use a break to unwind and relax - January will be busy!

Anyway, my WW members LOVED these - the sparkles, the clear "icicle" heel. They were pretty comfy, although rubbed a bit on the peep-toe (I expect that will loosen up a bit).

Sparkly bling:

More shiny stuff!

• Cuff - thrifted (this is the first wear)
• Earrings - thrifted (purchased at the same time as the shoes for $6.00)
• Pin - Sarah Coventry, vintage 70s, vintage fair
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

Must wear all the sparkly!

Chartreuse, Lace and Navy with Sparkles

Holy smokes, today was insanely busy. I am glad that I was looking spiffy. 

My hair has elevation!

I always feel good when an outfit comes together the way I envision it.

• Blouse - Kensie, consignment; last seen here in September with tux pants
• Skirt - Plum, thrifted; last worn here (5th outfit, way down at the bottom) with much blue in March
• Shoes - Esoteric Temptations Odette, Fluevog; last seen here in June with pouf and Chinoiserie

The light is so craptastic in the mornings, sorry!

This outfit was built around my obi - I just went through the closet and pulled out items that went with it. How easy is that?

Well, it's pretty easy when you have a massive closet...

The stuff:

Sweet shoes, man! I love these - but after a very long, active day, my feet are happy to be in my fluffy slippers!

Lemon-lime bling:

The obi was lovely to wear - not bad for a $2.00 purchase!

• Obi - thrifted
• Brooch/earrings - vintage 60s, Grandma J's
• Ring - consignment

I love sparkly jewelry! If you've got it, wear it!

Purple and Blue Sparkle

I'm starting to get into my really sparkly stuff! 

This skirt gets worn at least once a year because it's so uberly sparkly.

• Blazer - Braemar, vintage 80s, thrifted; last worn here in June with magenta fringe
• Top - Dana Buchman, thrifted; last seen layered and barely visible here in September in matching yellow and grey
• Skirt - Beaded Drama, vintage 80s, thrifted; last worn here almost exactly a year ago, in December 2014 with orange
• Shoes - Feet First; last seen here in August with all the primary colours

I liked all this colour today, but the tights went right in the trash when I got home. Non-control top, and they popped a hole right on the front of my leg. Begone!

I also have to take itty-bitty steps when wearing this skirt, as it has no slit. However, it looks so awesome, all is forgiven.

The stuff:

Heavenly blue shoes!

Sparkly bling:

I only have one of the blue clip-on earrings that match the brooch, so I wore a dangly in the other ear. 

• Bracelet - Coro, Grandma J's
• Brooch/earring - vintage 60s, vintage fair
• Earring - Jacob
• Lapis lazuli ring and Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

Off to our strata AGM...I'm trying to control my excitement.