Tiger, Pink Leather and Boots; Plus Snake Jacket Art Part I

Happy Monday, folks! Today's outfit features a new-to-me item plus a couple of older favourites, and I have a sneak peek to share of the start of my next art project! 

I've been eyeing this ensemble in my closet for a while - it's the last bit of Mental Health Outfit Planning from several weeks back. Time to wear it! 

I built it around this lovely tiger-print linen top, pairing it with a bold bright pink leather. Yes, I'm wearing boots, and yes, it's still August. 

• Shirt - Jones New York, consignment; purchased here for $24.00
• Skirt - Evan Davies, vintage 80s, thrifted; last worn here in August 2021 with my optic cardi
• Boots - Rockport, thrifted; last seen here in April with a spring green dress
• Welsh cape (below) - vintage 60s, Dafydd Snowden,thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) in June

I really like the fit and cut of this top - it will go well with many of my solid bottoms. 

My pink leather skirt is getting its annual outing - this is its 17th wearing (Flashback here).

The skirt is quite high-waisted, so I added this leather/metal belt over the shirt to define the waist a bit more. 

I have nylons on, just because I don't like bare feet in boots. 

Masked up - pink for matchy-matchy! 

I saw six people in the office today!

• Mask - by Mom

Outerwear returns! It's cold enough at night now that it's chilly in the mornings. 

I found myself wanting gloves on my walk to work. 

The stuff: 

With September just around the corner, we're officially into the "shoulder season" - it's not quite full-on summer, but it's too warm and bright to be fall. And autumn is still three weeks away! 

Twisted bling:

I chose bold gold to match the blouse's buttons, and browns to go with the boots. 

• Celluloid snake cuff - vintage 1920s, antique shop, Sidney, purchased here for $60.00
• Brown bangles - vintage, Lazy Susan's
• Chain bracelet - thrifted
• Earrings - Biko, consignment
• Wooden ring - Dots
• Bronze Brutalist ring - vintage 70s, vintage mall
• Belt (not shown) - Club Monaco, thrifted; purchased here for $12.00

I added the belt after I took the "bling" picture. 

Snake Jacket Art Project, Part I

On Sunday afternoon, L and I have the lovely habit of reading while we listen to music. It's become a wonderfully relaxing and soothing part of our weekend. Instead of my book, I decided to delve into my next art project this week: my tan leather jacket, which I plan on covering in snake, skull and roses motifs. 

I'm a methodical person, so I started by gathering my supplies. 

The jacket, a variety of felt-tipped pens, scissors for cutting off the loops and buttons, and a bunch of printed design inspirations from the interwebz. Those pictures are for the main design on the back (that's a clip-art design - it's not a copyright infringement). 

Here's the jacket all stripped down - buttons removed from the front. I'll sew the replacement glass buttons on last, as I don't want them to get chipped or dinged.

And buttons and loops removed from the sleeves. 

The holes from the thread remain. 

But the loops disappeared pretty well into the seams. I'll be drawing over all of this section eventually. 

Learning my lesson from the Fluevog Shoe Art Project (end result here), I used the buttons to test all of my pens. Not all ink is created the same, nor are all leathers. 

The top line and number is the pen that I used on my Fluevogs, a Micron; the bottom line and designation is from my Staedtler permanent marker. 

I did a smudge test on all of the different kinds and colours - only the Staedtler didn't smudge or rub off with water. 

I also did tests with the spray lacquer and the coloured markers. I discovered that I had to spray the leather very lightly with lacquer in order for the coloured markers to stick, and I'll also have to spray over each colour to keep them from smudging. Or, I could always go buy more pens...

Fortunately, the lacquer didn't hurt or stain the leather when I tested it on the buttons, so I gave the entire jacket a light spray and then let it air on the deck with all the windows open (and doors shut, phew, it was stinky!).

I also tested my gold pens on the leather. 

These are the pens I used when I worked at Christmas House (1986-1997) to write on Christmas decorations for people. I mostly did "Victoria, B.C." in calligraphy, but sometimes customers' names. It's a liquid gold ink (you can also get these in silver).

No smudging - but I reminded myself to give any gold pen-work time to dry before handling it.

It looks good over black. Nice. I have Grand Plans for this!

Once I realized that most of my pens would just rub off with water, I sketched out the design on the back of the jacket with a grey felt-tipped marker. 

After my first attempt turned out crooked, I "erased" it with a damp paper towel, and drew vertical and horizontal lines to keep the drawing centered. You can see one of the lines going through the nose on my second attempt.

There's no going back now - permanent ink is going on it! 

Just a very basic black outline of the main sections: the skull, the snake and its coils, and circles for where the roses would go. 

I erased my sketching after I got the main lines in, then started working on the roses first, as some of them overlap the snake and skull. I didn't like the snake's head or pattern in the main inspiration picture, so I copied a different head from another image. 

I did the same flowers as I did on my shoes, and did the connecting leaves and thorns again. I changed up the large leaf design slightly. 

I filled in the scale pattern on the snake - this will be further elaborated on with a Zentangle-ish pattern and shading. 

That's about four hours of work, and my hand needed a rest after that. It's got a long way to go still, but I'm really excited. As NFL football season starts soon, I'll likely work on the jacket while I watch the games. It's better than sitting like a lump. 

Speaking of lumps...

Vizzini, aren't you excited by my new project?

"I can't believe you kept me off my deck for an hour, Woman!"

Silly bub, I can't have you inhaling that stinky spray! Besides, you were sleeping on the laundry most of the afternoon. 

"Oh, that's true. The warm t-shirts called to me."

Oh, to be a cat.

Weekend Wrap-Up: Colour Therapy Bold Brights

Welcome back! I hope you've all been enjoying your weekend, and that it's been full of good times. Ours was pretty quiet, aside from brunch out with Nick on Saturday. 

I needed a jolt of Colour Therapy to face the world - bold brights will do the trick. 

Nothing new here, just remixing some of the glorious colours I have in my spring/summer wardrobe. I have one more month before I do my closet swap-over for fall/winter. 

• Sweater - Banana Republic, thrifted; last seen here (3rd outfit) in June for Sailor Pants 5 Ways
• Skirt - A Tribute to Marimekko by H&M, thrifted; last worn here in June on the anniversary of Karen's death
• Shoes - Prepare Guide, Fluevog; last seen here earlier this month with stripes and tropical print

We met up with Nick at the Ruby for our usual brunch, as Ulti was cancelled due to not enough "I'm ins" to play this week.

It was sunny, with a light breeze - perfect for my skirt to billow as I walked (it's a silk/cotton blend). 

As you can see, it's rather swoosh-tastic.

I've worn turquoise with it before - I like how it pops - but never gone full-on orange with my top. A small Flashback here (scroll down), if you're interested.

Enjoying the deep pockets. 

Not quite awake - I need more coffee! 

I wore a full coral-red vintage slip under it for smoothing.

The bruises are starting to come out on my knees. 

Masked up. 

As of Sept 12th, we're required to show a "Vaccine Passport" in order to go in restaurants and other public venues. I'll need a print version, since I don't have a phone. 

L, warm up the car, I'm ready to go. 

We ran a couple of errands after brunch, then chilled at home in the afternoon.

The stuff: 

I'm on my 56th wearing of these shoes! It's almost like being barefoot. 

Orange and turquoise bling:

This is one of my favourite colour combinations. 

• Leather obi - Bronsino, gift from L
• Cuff/ring - Italian, vintage 60s, vintage mall
• Silver/Lucite ring - Calvin Klein, thrifted
• Earrings - Charmaine's
• Pendant - Karen's

Other than that, it's been a quiet couple of days, full of music, board games, reading and cat-snuggling. I hope your weekend has been as fun! Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Funky Friday: Hemmed and Sewn, and a Suitable Guest

Happy Friday, my friends! I spent Thursday working on a sewing project and decided to go ahead and wear it right away. Yes, I hacked my beautiful velvet kimono dress! 

And I was pleased enough with my work that I decided to wear it right away.

Twice in less than a week - how unlike me. 

• Kimono (altered by me) - Hale Bob, Century 21, NYC, 2007; last worn here as a dress last weekend (Flashback there too)
• Sweater - Wanko, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in June for brunch
• Pants - Zara, thrifted; last worn here in July with a now-gone tee
• Boots - Coffee Kope Tiam, Fluevog; last seen here (3rd outfit) in June for Sailor Pants Worn 5 Ways

I have to say, I am glad I split this dress down the middle. This is so much more me. 

I had planned on wearing a sleeveless cream top, but it was so chilly and cloudy this morning that I said, "NOPE," and changed into this turtleneck. 

By the time I left work, it was sunny, but still barely in the low-20s. What is this, Augustober? 

The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that I finally hemmed my Big Lady Boss Pants. I actually did this about a month ago. 

I spent a couple of hours making teeny-tiny hidden stitches, and not bragging (okay, I totally am), but my hemming is better than what I've had done at a tailor's. 

I've never worn red with this dress/kimono before, and I like how it emphasized the pinky-reds in the robe. 

Without the robe it's all rather dull, I'm afraid.

Every person I saw admired the pants, but these trousers revealed themselves as Danger Pants today - my toe caught in the leg and down I went, crashing onto my hands and knees. Thankfully, I was going up a small set of shallow stairs, and didn't have far to fall! No broken wrists (phew!), and a couple of small marks on the trousers (I would have been heartbroken if they'd been ruined), but I'll have bruises on my knees, I'm sure. 

Masked up - this grey looks better in person, where you can see it matches the grey on the kimono. 

COVID cases continue to rise, even with the reinstated mask mandate for indoor spaces. Who'd have thought a year ago that we'd be on a fourth wave??

• Mask - Lazy Susan's

Cloudy and cold? Wearing my sunglasses anyway!

I look like I have some attitude going on there. 

The stuff: 

I always seem to be carrying these booties when I pop into the Fluevog store (I had to pick up a gift card for a friend). I printed a page of pics from my shoe customization to show my Fluevologists. They were suitably impressed. 

Silver and amber bling: 

A good dose of armour (accessories count as armour too!) for a Friday. 

• Amber/silver necklace - vintage, vintage mall, gift from L
• Silver/amber earrings - vintage 1930s, vintage mall, gift from L
• Bangle w/stones - vintage 1920s, vintage mall
• Bangle - Lazy Susan's
• Copper rings - Glee
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Lucite/silver ring - Calvin Klein, purchased here for $7.95

I took a few pictures as I did my destruction customization of my dress. 

I steamed out the sash - it was a good 2.5 inches wide, of double fabric. I cut it in half to trim the raw edges and it was just the right amount. 

I measured the hem of the skirt and put a small mark at the centrepoint. 

I used a white eyeliner as my "chalk". 

Then I measured across again, halfway up and did another mark at the centre. 

I connected these lines...

...from the bottom of the neckline and then I cut! 

I pinned the edging a few different ways, and after a few attempts (picking out stitches), I settled on a blanket stitch to keep the raw edge of the silk secure under the edging. 

Yes, I know it's a little raggedy, and reader Robyn, you were right about the silk fraying! 

I did one side in blue thread (there is blue in the pattern) and one in yellow. I ran out of blue thread! 

I like the look of "visible mending" - it reminds me of this garment's history. 

And I have to say, I LOVED wearing this as an open duster-style topper. 

Extra bonus content! We have a guest! And he's in a suit! L got a kazillion comments on his suit at work and out in the world yesterday, so I asked him to pose for y'all. 

"What about me? I want to be included!"

This is how L dresses for work - he's been going into his office every work day since lockdown began back in March 2020 - and he has worn a suit for work ever since I've known him. He has multiple suits, a wide selection of colourful shirts, a box of amazing vintage ties (most courtesy of Yours Truly - the one he's wearing is from the 50s), and a collection of Fluevogs that most people would envy. Isn't this an awesome outfit? 

And here is Vizzini, fresh from complaining and being grumpy. 

"I wanted attention then, not NOW, Woman!"

And then he would not stay still. Oh, cats. 

Well, my friends, I'm now off for the weekend, and will wish you a fond adieu. Enjoy yourselves, and I'll be back soon with tales of adventure! 

Shocking Pink, Green Lace and Ragged Plaid

A quiet Wednesday, and another outfit with an item I've not worn this season: this shiny green lace skirt. 

This is my 21st wearing of this lovely skirt (Flashback here), but only the first time I've worn pink with it. I know, shocking, right? 

• Jacket - Marc Cain, consignment; last worn here in July for a pre-dental Mental Health Shop
• Blouse - Talbots, thrifted; last seen here layered under a pink sweater in April
• Skirt - Alfred Sung, vintage 80s, consignment; last worn here in August with blue bookends
• Shoes - Poetic Licence; last seen here in April for a Zoom call with Elaine and Cat

Pink and green is a fabulous combo - if flowers can do it, so can I! 

I added my multi-coloured, ragged-edged plaid jacket. It's got navy blue, white, pink, orange and green in it, so it goes with a lot of my wardrobe. 

Done up - it has big snaps down the front - with the blouse ties hanging out.

The jacket itself has some pre-done embroidered and beaded embellishments. No brooches needed! 

The skirt's hem is also deliberately ragged - I give it a "haircut" every so often, as those little bits are total cat-bait. 

Jacket off - I left it on all day, but you never know when a hot flash may strike! 

Or when I'll suddenly feel chilly. 

Masked up. 

More green. 

• Mask - by Mom

Just fill me up with coffee and push me out the door. 

Just another day of work. 

The stuff: 

An outing for my "Kermit" shoes. I'm at 21 wearings of these too (Flashback here). These are a bit high for me these days, but I didn't leave my desk much.

Simple bling: 

My clothes are pretty busy, so just a few matchy things. 

• Snakeskin cuff - vintage 80s, given away by me, and thrifted again
• Earrings - Stella & Dot, consignment, Vancouver
• Silver/aventurine ring - consignment
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Last night the snoozing racoon was still in the tree. 

Must have been sleeping off a trash-raid bender. He was gone in the morning.