Deconstructed Poppies and How I Transport My Shoes

Happy Family Day to all my Canadian friends! For some reason, my province (BC) celebrates it a week before the other provinces. I would have liked a day off today! 

A simple outfit for a busy day. My plague is abating, but I'm still really tired. And of course, I passed it on to L. Sorry, love!

• Blazer - Jacob, thrifted; last worn here in December 2016 with purple plaid
• Dress - Desigual, thrifted; purchased here for $5.00
• Shoes - Calvin Klein; last seen here in November 2016 with my Wonder Woman ensemble
• Coat (below) - Samuel Dong, thrifted 

 As this dress has a halter-style neckline, I need to wear something over the shoulders or all my bra straps and sides are exposed. I thought this nice teal blazer worked well.

I adore the square floral pattern on the front of the dress - it reminded me of deconstructed poppies, you know, like Duchamp or Picasso would paint.

Shame about the back. Why would you leave that all so boringly beige? *shudder* I just pretended that wasn't there.

Outerwear:

I could have worn a hat and scarf (and regretted not doing so), but my hair was going nicely sideways swooshy and I didn't want to mess it up. Parkhurst gloves.

The stuff:

Shiny red shoes...

Silver bling:

Simple pieces that don't fight with those square poppies.

• Cuff - Glee
• Earrings - Tania Gleave

A few readers, including Mel-Bee (hello! thanks for the comment!) have asked me how my shoes stay so pristine. Answer: I don't wear them outside! If I do, it's never more than a couple of blocks at the very most.

I carry my shoes to work in a plastic bag. This one:

It rains a lot here, so I don't want them to get wet. Plastic it is. I reuse the same bag until it starts to fall apart, and then I find another one.

Then my shoes go into this reusable cloth bag that my mother-in-law gave me about 15 years ago. I use this bag when I go shopping (it rolls up into a little fist-sized package), and I also carry my lunch bag in it on the way to and from work.

Loaded with shoes and lunch there. A pair of boots also fits in this bag, in case that's what I'm wearing. It holds a lot.

And this is what I REALLY look like when I'm just about to leave for work. I have my walkin' shoes on - right now, these lovely thrifted white leather floral Doc Martens are my shoe of choice - my shoe/lunch bag on one shoulder, and my cross-body gold leather snakeskin print purse holding the shoe bag in place.

Getting my ear-buds ready for my tunes while I walk. Just gotta grab my coffee and off I go!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Grey Daze, A Wee Shop, and Orange Leather Shorts

Despite being in plague recovery, the world continues to rotate (news at 11), and things keep happening just as we scheduled them. I'm a planner - our social calendar is always jam-packed with fun things. You can never count on weather or cold/flu, though. 

Saturday morning, L and I were up bright and early to walk to town, have brunch, do the grocery shopping (me) and then meet up with one of my transplanted coworkers for a shop.

• Vest - 2b Bebe, consignment; first worn here in January with a lot of purples
• Sweater - Lord & Taylor, thrifted; not tracked, as it has a hole and it's one of my "wear around the house" pieces
• Skirt - Dolce & Gabanna, thrifted; last seen here serving breakfast to the needy in October 2016
• Boots - Lucky Brand, swap from Cat; first worn here a couple of weeks ago with spring stripes
• Coat (below) - Danier, consignment 

I was snuggly warm, and this was a pretty good outfit for shopping in. Mai is a transfer from our Ottawa office, and I offered to show her a couple of my favourite thrift stores in town. We had a great time! She got two big bags of stuff for just over $100, including a killer pair of green and black real snakeskin vintage booties. I wish they'd been in my size!

Second wear of this vest, and I really loved it.

I have a little half-slip under this skirt so that I'm not flashing my hoo-ha to all and sundry.

Outerwear shot, embiggened to show my silly and awesome husband in all his pimpin' finery.

He's my rock & roll cowboy! Yes, that is real wolf fur on that vintage 70s leather jacket.

Me? I'm just rollin' along in my purple Danier leather gloves, and my purple wool beret (consignment). Easy things to jam into my purse while I shop.

The stuff:

I hit the zippers on these boots with a little bit of WD-40 to make them slide easier. It totally worked!

• Earrings - Glee

After my grocery shop (the groceries were delivered later on in the evening), I had some time to kill, so I browsed through the St. Vincent de Paul. I wasn't terribly enamoured of my old black leather jacket that I wore on Thursday (this one), and although I wasn't looking for a new one, I just so happened to find the perfect replacement.

"My butthole is more interesting than this coat."

It's butter-soft, Danier Leather, and made in Canada. It's very similar to my long red leather coat, which I paid $300 for new (it was half price, too). So imagine my excitement to get this for...

Yes, only $15.00. Take my money!

I also spotted this unusual plaid. C'mon, like I'm going to leave a purple wool-blend plaid skirt behind!

There aren't that many purple plaids out there!

That's a better shot of it in natural light.

I never, ever shop at Eddie Bauer, but $5.00 seems like a good deal.

It was a great fit too, so into my shopping bag it went.

From there, I met with Mai at the WIN Warehouse store. I didn't find anything for me (I was just there a couple of weeks ago, so didn't see too much new stuff that interested me), so I focused on helping her shop.

After that, we strolled down to Flavour Upstairs, where we both had some good luck. Mai found an awesome pair of cowboy boots!

I liked this swooshy ring.

It sort of makes a double "S" shape.

I noticed that it was silver (.925), and for $9.00, it was mine.

I also spotted these awesome loafers:

So wonderfully spotty!

They're by Michael Kors.

Real leather (with hair!).

A teeny bit of wear, but not much.

Looks like these are around $200 new.

$34.99 for me, and that's not a lot of wear on the soles. Happy Sheila!

Last night we had 2 couples over for a rousing and raucous game of Arkham Horror, and today, we're headed out to Glo Pub to celebrate Cat's birthday with 5 other couples. I'm feeling like my flu has turned the corner. Yay, the plague is ending.

This calls for ORANGE LEATHER SHORTS. Heh, they must always be in caps.

I'm linking this outfit up to "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style. Get over there!

• Top - Cartise, consignment; last seen here in December 2016 with greys
• Shorts - Danier Leather, vintage 80s, thrifted; purchased here for $27.95
• Shoes - Miista, thrifted; last seen here (3rd outfit) a couple of weeks ago with a very pouffy skirt
• Coat (below) - Danier Leather, thrifted

 As noted when I bought these shorts, I won't be wearing them bare-legged.

 Top tucked up to show you the upper, pleated part of the shorts. Yowza! That's a long zipper.

Rear view.

With coat, all casual-like.

Yes, I am ready to go have some mid-afternoon drinks!

All bundled, because *sigh* it is still winter, and goodness knows what the weather will be like later.

Fluffy fur boa (thrifted) and my black studded Danier gloves. Isn't this a lovely leather coat? I'm so glad I got it!

The stuff:

Comfy shoes for being louche and laid-back.

The stuff:

I have two sparkly barettes in my hair, but they're anchored in there good, so not taking them out for this shot.

• Silver ring - thrifted
• Crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop
• Wee ring - Bauxo
• Earrings - thrifted
• Barettes (not shown) - Le Chateau

Vizzini enjoyed having people over last night, but he's more comfy in L's tie box.

"Just go out already and let me nap, Woman."

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Finally Friday...70s Flashback

Gads, it's Friday...I am a phlegm factory, hacking up hairballs right and left. Today was a super-busy day, prepping for 6 desk moves, 2 new people on Monday, and carpet cleaning of our entire office starting tonight. I am just bagged.

Bagged = exhausted. I'm putting on a good face - "Fake it till you make it" is one of my mottos - but I'm just wiped by this plague. I'd love some downtime over the weekend, but I have double social events tomorrow and another on Sunday. Golly, life is tough. *cough*firstworldproblems*cough*

• Sweater - Prova, vintage 70s, thrifted; purchased here for $5.00
• Trousers - Banana Republic, thrifted; last seen here in January with floral shoes
• Shoes - Go Fresh, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) for a Sunday theatre matinee with Mom
• Coat (below) - last company corporate swag, purchased in an online auction

First wearing of this "whoa, flashback" sweater from the 1970s. I washed it, which brought out a bunch of white dog hair (!). Strange. Anyways, it was nice to wear, although when I was moving things around in the office, I got suddenly flushed and then it was unbearably warm.

The "orange" stripe in the sweater is actually pink, but I figured that the pants pulled the same-ish colour. Of course, back in the day, I would have been wearing bell bottoms!

Outerwear:

This is a very thick leather jacket. It's good when I don't want a lot of bulk. Just my red Parkhurst gloves - it's quite mild out now. Hard to believe that just over a week ago, we were in a snowstorm!

The stuff:

I have decided that the shoes are gone. I don't like the look of them, comfortable as they are. Wedges are not really me.

In addition to this wear, and the "last worn" noted above, I wore them 6-7 times in a year, and paid $16.95 for them. I'm totally good with letting them go.

Blue bling:

Good ol' blue.

• Earrings - local
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Here's a little real 70s flashback for you.

This is around 1976, the same era as the sweater I wore today. I'm standing on our back deck (nice open sides, safety first, kids!), looking at our neighbour's backyards. I'm wearing a floppy cotton hat with Mickey Mouse on it (my name is embroidered on the front brim - I got it in Disneyland), a polyester rainbow top, and awesome high-waisted white cotton shorts.

Happy weekends, my friends!

Mostly Matchy Magenta

Back to work today. I wish I could have taken the rest of the week off, but I still had to do my WW meeting tonight, so what the heck. Go to work. 

I mostly moaned at people and warned them to stay away. "I have the plague!"

• Sweater - Gap, thrifted; purchased here last weekend (pre-plague) for $5.00
• Skirt - Mexx, consignment; first worn here in November 2016 with corporate purple
• Shoes - Coclico; last seen here in January with another corporate look
• Coat (below) - Parkhurst, thrifted 

I've had this outfit set aside since Saturday, and I was happy to wear it today. I loved all the textures (the dotty tights, the tie-material skirt, the stripes, the pearls). Isn't the sweater a good fit? I always go for fit, even though a white and magenta sweater wasn't on my wish list.

I quite adore this skirt - there is something about the fit-and-flare that just makes my heart sing. It also has pockets!

Outerwear:

A little windy but not too cold. I didn't need the hat, scarf or gloves walking home! Consignment beret, thrifted fur boa, and Danier gloves.

The stuff:

Oh, sweet magenta heels. Although I admit, it was hard to put these on after walking to work in my floral Doc Martens (so comfy!). My "real" shoes never go outside in the weather!

Pretty bling:

Today would have been my Dad's 75th birthday - that is his ring there, that he wore all the time. He died of a heart attack when he was 55 - it will be 20 years this fall. Happy Birthday, Dad! I wonder what he would have thought of me 20 years later. I bet he would have liked my hair, heh. He loved bright colours.

• Necklace - Vintage 60s, Grandma J's
• Ring - Dad's, Frances Jewelers, c. 1965
• Ear-balls - Mango's

While I was moaning and groaning and being a sicky over the past few days, I did my nails. As one does.

This is Rimmel's "Portobello Pink" and Sally Hansen's "Grape Shifter". I feel very pink, like candy. That may be the cold medication talking...

Wearing My Valentine's Colours

Happy V-Day! Wishing you all lots of love and good vibes! Remember to love yourself and be kind to yourself first! 

I had to wear this groovy top today. Shame it was really wasted, as I lasted until 1pm and then went home. Sheila sick. I've been sleeping all afternoon.

• Blouse - Hazel, thrifted; purchased here for $8.50
• Skirt - J. Crew, thrifted; last worn here (6th outfit) for my birthday long weekend in October 2016
• Shoes - Mini Qtees, Fluevog, consignment; last seen here in November 2016 with plaid and flare
• Unsafe Polar Bear coat (below) - Vassali, vintage, thrifted

Really gritting my teeth here. I loved the ginormous sleeves of this blouse. It was very comfy and swooshy. It will be lovely in warmer weather (I am wearing a camisole under it for coverage).

Although the centres of the flowers are pink, they also read coral-orange to me, so I did an orange skirt.

And orange suede mini, to be accurate.

Brrr...still cold out, but all the snow is gone. Yay!

Thrifted fur boa, with thrifted pink angora/wool gloves.

The stuff:

I enjoyed the unexpected shoe with this outfit. These are fabulously comfortable.

Rhinestone bling:

The bracelet snagged on the blouse twice: once on the front, and a big snag on the back. Arg. The blouse is fine, but not as perfect as it once was.

• Earrings - vintage fair
• Bracelet - Birks jewelry, vintage 70s, Mom's
• Ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop

I hope your day is filled with wine, flowers, chocolate and yummy food. Happy V-day!