McWow in McQueen

I saved my Alexander McQueen trousers for today, as I always try to wear something special for my WW meeting. 

 I did not succeed in wearing a new-to-me necklace today, however, as the top I'd planned didn't work with the necklace I'd planned, and then I changed to this top and the necklace didn't work, and I was running late and then I said, "SCREW IT."

• Jacket - Jacob, thrifted; last seen here (3rd outfit) earlier this month over the Spanish ladies dress
• Blouse - Spense, consignment; last worn here in November 2017 with oodles of colour in a super-girly look
• Trousers - Alexander McQueen, thrifted; purchased here for $29.99
• Shoes - Eject; last worn here (2nd outfit) for high tea in a fancy gown the same weekend as this jacket

This outfit was all about the pants, anyway. ALEXANDER MCQUEEN. I could never afford these new. I gleefully shared them with everyone at work, and made them feel the fabric.

 These were amazing to wear - you really can feel the difference in quality. These do not even compare to my other black and white trousers, these ones.

Look how the seams are lined up.

 They're perfectly balanced.

I'm totally skimming over the rest of the outfit, but I do love chartreuse/acid yellow and cobalt blue together.

 Back to the pants - the rear view is important! The original top I'd planned covered up much of my bum. That will not do!

Hatted and ready for outdoors.

 This hat lasted about 5 seconds before it started to try to blow off. Dumb wind! I want to wear this hat!

The stuff:

 I have to wear really tall shoes with the trousers, as they are quite long on me (Anna gets that! go here!). That limited the shoes I could wear for my 11 hour work-day. I confess I did the old "double bulldog clip" trick and rolled the cuffs up one more so that I could walk to and from work.

Simple bling:

Move along, not much to see here. Let the pants do the talkin'.

• Earrings - can't remember
• Crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Have a lovely weekend, my friends! I'll be back on Sunday.

Ballerina and the Alien Necklace

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll know I resist categorization. I'm more than one thing when I get dressed, and I do like to dabble in looks here and there. Today's outfit was inspired by the lovely Dominique who gifted me this necklace. She is tiny, and reminds me of a prima ballerina. 

 Homage? Dom-age!

• Sweater - Sonia Rykiel, consignment; last seen here in April under a silk slip dress
• Skirt - H&M, consignment; last worn here also with a black sweater in June 2017
• Shoes - Michael Kors, thrifted; first worn here in April with a fabulous sweater dress

Every time I wear this skirt to work, Emily compliments me on it - I'll probably give it to her when I'm tired of it.

 I love the full ballet length of it. The pattern is pretty limiting - that pinky brown colour is tricky, and the black demands...black. There is also a subtle grey "crackle" design on the black that looks blue in certain lights.

The sweater is my thin Sonia Rykiel, worn with a camisole under it because it's rather sheer.

 The skirt is very full, front and back.

Thank goodness it has pockets.

 I have some holiday time coming up, can you tell?

Ready in my ginormous hat to face another day!

 It was super-windy on the way home, and I had to keep one hand firmly clamped on the hat to keep it from wheeling off down the street.

• Hat - thrifted

The stuff:

 My toenails are painted blue (you can kind of see it in the stair picture), and just peeped out of these very comfy leather flats. They kind of look like ballet flats, right?

Alien bling:

"I'm looking at you..."

I liked how the pale blue sparkly stones in the necklace went with the ring and the little stud earrings - and my toes!

• Belt - vintage fair
• Necklace - All Saints, gift from Dominique
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Earrings - don't remember

There were many admirers of this necklace all day. It was such a fun piece to wear!

Lady Garden of Delight Skirt Returns! and Presents

Oh, Tuesday-that-feels-like-a-Monday! These weeks always seem to drag, even when the days are busy. Let's throw some colour at it and see if it sticks. 

 Brights for a sunny day.

• Top - Talbots, thrifted; purchased here for $19.95
• Skirt - no label, vintage 80s, thrifted; last seen here in August 2017 with black
• Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog; last worn here in March with pink Bollywood

I have a bunch of new necklaces (more on that in a bit) so I'm making all my outfits this week around them. I often style around new-to-me clothing items, but it can be just as challenging (if not more so) to build around an accessory item.

 I did put this newly thrifted necklace with my also newly thrifted top. But it's so cool - I had to wear it! The hem of it is great - I like not having to tuck it in - and works really well with this skirt. Love!

The skirt, if you have never met her, is named the Lady Garden of Delight. I think you will agree, she is a delight.

 She is also made of leather. YES.

Outerwear now means just a hat.

 This hat works best with no breeze and one hand free to grab if it starts to lift off.

• Hat - thrifted this past weekend for $2.95

The stuff:

 The skirt has gold thread trim and gold pieces of leather appliqued to it - these shoes aren't quite gold, but close enough.

Turquoise bling:

 All my real turquoise. I love that I have a nice little collection of it now.

• Necklace - thrifted, purchased this past weekend for $5.95
• Ring - local
• Earrings - Mango's

My colleague Dominique brought me a bag of goodies today - I gave her my Theory blouse recently. Look at all this amazing treasure she bestowed upon me!

 This is a chain necklace - it hangs lariat style straight down between the boobs.

It's by All Saints. It's called the Millais necklace and I found one on eBay for $75.00.

 Wow.

I like the uneven sparkly stone circles.

 It's heavy, all metal.

I like the little skull tag.

 And the back:

 Both sides say "All Saints Spitalfields". I've been to the Spitalfields store!

This necklace has just my brand of crazy. It's called the Oncidium necklace and retailed for $90.00. The colored bits are glass.

 What! I don't even know what to say. What is going on?

Is this a face?

 It's like some space alien or a deep one. It's looking at you...

More of them.

 The black parts of the round things (forgive my technical language) are actually dark red.

All Saints as well, there's the tag.

 These round thingies look like holy hand grenades.

Each necklace was wilder than the previous one!

 This one has FEATHERS. I think those 4 loose chains on the side just need a jump ring to put them back onto the necklace. I can do that.

Some close-ups.

 Feathers, a cascade of metal pieces that I think are cast from shells. Wine-coloured beads.

Coins, because, of course!

 The obligatory "All Saints Spitalfield" again.

Even on the back (which is different - and therefore expensive).

 These pieces below look like cowrie shells. This necklace weighs a ton.

 This is a major collection of necklaces. It'll be a challenge to find outfits that work with these (and mental note: keep the feathers away from Vizzini).

Dom also gave me a purse. What a lovely green!

 It's suede with a leather handle. I recognize this style - it was ripped off by mall stores a lot in 2000-2001ish.

This is not a rip-off.

 Real Prada! Dominique bought it at Holt Renfrew, so the provenance is impeccable.

The inside.

 The zippers are heavy, the lining is woven with "Prada."

Proper hardware too.

What a generous gift, thank you, Dominique!

Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Wedding All-Nighter; Ulti Birds and Shopping; Whale of a Winesday; Birthday Lilies; Floral Brunch

Hello, my friends! The long weekend is dwindling, and I have so much fun stuff to share, so let's get right to it. 

First up: the Royal Wedding! I'm not going to go heavy into all the fashion or spectacle - I enjoyed it and liked the fashion. For a excellent round-up of the fashion, I recommend Go Fug Yourself's coverage (link here, because I love - I have been a fan of them for close to 10 years).

I stayed up all night for Charles' and Diana's wedding, and I watched Kate and Wills get married, so of course, I stayed up with two of my besties for it!

 Cheers to Cat and Yvonne, for pulling an all-nighter with me! We had an awesome time. There is something to be said for watching an event live. The wedding itself didn't start until 4am here on the West Coast, so we had a full night to get through.

I stocked up on my British sodas. IRN BRU has been a favourite of mine since L and I went to Scotland in 1996. The Barr limeade and the Royalty Ginger Beer were delicious (I watered them down half and half with fizzy water to help cut the sweetness).

 I made whole wheat cheddar baking powder biscuits with chicken and apple salad filler. I made the biscuits ahead of time and chilled them until they were ready to go in the oven. They were dee-lish!

I made L move the microwave so I could get at my small colletion of good china and pieces from my childhood. I put out glasses for all of our beverages: crystal sherry glasses, vintage 70s green glass (used for the IRN BRU), champagne flutes for the prosecco, and china tea cups and saucers for the tea.

 We had sherry during the pre-wedding, prosecco for the wedding, and tea for afterwards.

The violet set is one I used as a little girl at my Grandma J's house. I had another iridescent-finished tea cup set prior to this one, also with violets, but the cup broke (I still have the saucer, though). I think the other pieces are also Grandma J's.

 Sipping tea from these, we realized how small teacups are! They don't hold very much.

I put out a bunch of fruit: fresh organic strawberries, green grapes, cubed watermelon.

 The local grocery store carries a big selection of British candy. I ate a lot of it.

Cat bought tiny tea cakes from Murchies, caramels, and Yvonne made crustless cucumber sandwiches.

 I loved the tea cakes. Yum!

Yvonne also brought an assortment of Walkers crisps.

 These did not ring my bell. Yuck.

Vizzini was very confused by us being up all night.

"When is breakfast?"

 Cat bought each of us a souvenir spoon of the event - so cheesy, but so sweet.

 A huge thank you to my dear friends - what a fun evening!

I managed to nap for an hour and a half in the early evening on Friday, but I never actually sleep when I nap - I just lie there and let my brain wander. I went to bed at 6:30am and got a whopping two hours of sleep before I got up and got ready for a game of Ultimate Frisbee. Woo, let's run around in the hot sun on two hours of sleep!

 Great idea! Easy dress for slipping off and changing into my workout gear.

• Dress - Rachel Roy, thrifted; last seen here in August 2017 in the exact same outfit, right down to the accessories
• Shoes - Half Truth Veda, Fluevog; last worn here (4th outfit) for a shopping expedition in January

The pattern on the dress is little horned larks.

 Such a low-effort outfit. I love easy looks like this.

Got my contact in so that I can wear sunglasses to play.

 After Ulti, I came home and washed up, then went to town for a wee thrift expedition.

Hands in pockets!

 I have a short black vintage half-slip on under this for errant breeze coverage.

The stuff:

 These shoes have taken a beating since I've had them. They're awesome for being on your feet for a while.

• Earrings - vintage furniture store
• Ring - local

I went to both the downtown WIN store and the WIN Boutique, looking for presents for L for his upcoming birthday, but didn't find much. I did find a few things for myself, though. Shocking!

 This skirt is grey and feels like silk, although it's polyester (and washable!). It has a very high Swoosh Factor.

Only $6.95.

 The brand is We Are So Good Together, S.Oliver Casual Women, a European online store. Looks like their maxi skirts are around 49.99 Euros, which is about $75.00 Canadian. Wow, I guess that's good deal!

I found another hematite necklace for my collection - this one is a shorter style, and was $3.95.

 The turquoise necklace is actual turquoise, not plastic (hurray!) and it was only $5.95.

At the WIN Boutique, I found this cool double-wrap leather belt. I like the "hypno-buckle".

 It's a dark browny-black.

 Real leather, made in Italy, by Sisley.

Sisley belts run up to $100+ for fancier designs.

 This was only $4.95 - I love shopping second-hand!

I also found a really nice quality 100% merino wool sweater in a rich burgundy shade of red.

"Colour me not impressed."

 It's by Contemporaine by la Maison Simons, and it was $15.95.

 Digging around, it probably retailed for around $69.00 Canadian.

Shopping out of season right now with this lovely jacket!

 It's a gorgeously soft leather - it's so soft, I had to turn it inside out and inspect it really carefully to make sure it WAS leather.

I think this is probably from the late 90s/early 00s.

"I think I'm softer.You should give me a cuddle."

 It's by Boutique of Leathers, a longtime Canadian mall store - I used to walk into the store and just inhale the smell of the leather. I couldn't afford anything in there, though.

 I couldn't believe this was only marked at $34.95! This would have been around $400.00 new.

I've had my eyes peeled for a sun hat for summer. All this hair I have now - I have to cover it up or it fades like crazy.

 I lucked out with this neutral wide straw hat. It was only $2.95! I wore it home so that it wouldn't get squished.

I was enamoured with this lovely blue sun hat too. It's malleable, so you can play with the shape and the brim.

 I couldn't decide between them, then realized I'd spent more on IRN BRU than these two hats cost together. I'll get both!

This one's by Bianca Nygard, and was only $7.95.

 I'm sure it cost more than that new.

Especially since it has an added bonus feature!

 It folds up! I love being able to do that with a hat!

I came home and napped (lay there with my brain humming away still, thinking about my new-to-me purchases) for two hours, then I dressed for Winesday!

 I felt like being colourful.

• Sweater - C. Wonder, thrifted; last seen here in April with whites
• Skirt - VanessaVirginia, thrifted; first worn here fully winterized in December 2017
• Shoes - Tsubo, thrifted; first seen here (3rd outfit, past all the closet swap-over stuff) in April with JPG sailor jeans
• Jacket - Dolce & Gabbana, thrifted; last worn here in April over Helmut Lang for The Beaches concert

Yup, that's a tired face!

 Yvonne, Cat and I were the last to leave - such party troopers! - at 1am from Karen's place.

 It was a fun evening, full of laughs, and Royal Wedding talk.

 I love blues and oranges together, don't you?

The stuff:

 Comfort things.

• Dragon bangle - Lazy Susan's
• Earrings - local
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

On Sunday, L was a dear and let me sleep until I naturally woke up - it was 2pm by the time I blinked awake (Vizzini was snuggled up with me). We lolled around the house for a few hours, then strolled to town to join friends for Andrew's 50th birthday celebration.

 I have a fun flashback for you: Andrew's 40th birthday! Here is one of my very first party outfits ever featured on the blog, from May 2008. I don't have anything left in my wardrobe from that outfit.

• Berries and lilies dress - no label, vintage 70s, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in March 2016 to Urbanite at the Art Gallery
• Sandals - Dr. Scholls, thrifted; last seen here in April with black and red leather
• Fur jacket (below) - Bebe, vintage store; last worn here (3rd outfit) in December 2017 for my company Christmas party

This is my entry for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style. I was slightly visible in this outfit, as we walked to town and back. 

 I love the full long pattern of this dress. As I say every time I wear this, they do not make them like this anymore.

The cut is impeccable. I feel like million bucks when I wear this dress.

 Feelin' it?

Oh, yeah, I am.

 The slit makes it easy to walk in.

Such gorgeous and unexpected colours.

 I had compliments at the bar all night.

It was windy out, and I was really glad I'd decided to wear both long sleeves and this little furry jacket.

 It is real rabbit fur, by the way. I bought it second-hand ages ago.

We walked to town and back and I was snuggly warm.

 Yes, I walked in those shoes - they are far more comfortable than they look.

And L dressed up too, of course. We arrived early, so grabbed a quick drink - the bartender commented on how we were dressed. Why not dress up?

Look at that handsome guy!

The stuff:

 I love my Dr. Scholl's! So comfy!

Blue bling:

 A few familiar pieces.

• Earrings - vintage furniture store
• Turquoise ring - local
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

Oops, forgot my purse.

 It's by FiveLeft and is a numbered limited edition.

We got home at a respectable hour, so stayed up and played boardgames. This morning, we were up early for a walk to town for breakfast at Floyd's, followed by a quick grocery shop.

 Dress = pajamas. No heavy lifting here, of the outfit variety.

• Dress - H&M, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) in September 2017 with these same boots
• Boots - Matisse, consignment; last seen here (2nd) outfit with a vintage circle skirt in April

It's slightly overcast but warm enough not to need a jacket.

 I have a full-length vintage slip on under this, both for warmth and because the slits on the sides are ridonkulously high.

 It was a lovely stroll both ways.

The stuff:

 These boots are destined to be worn with this belt forever now. They match so well!

Sparkly bling:

One of the earrings fell off on the way, but I caught it as it fell - lost the back, though, so had to scavenge a new one when I got home.

• Belt - thrifted
• Green crystal ring - consignment
• Amber ring - c. 1996
• Earrings - vintage fair

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I need another one to recover!