Autumn Gold and Black Nature-Magnet

I lucked out and got a useable stair picture this morning - this calls for celebration! 

Okay, let's just settle for a colour picture. 

• Silk jacket - Tangerine Jill, consignment; first worn here in August with chrysanthemums
• Sweater - Judith & Charles, consignment; last seen here in September for a Mom-Day adventure at Mattick's Farm
• Skirt - Twinset, consignment; last worn here in October 2020 with purple velvet
• Boots - L'Artiste by Spring Step; last seen here with teal suede in March
• Leather trenchcoat (below) - vintage 70s, thrifted; last worn here a week ago

I really wanted to wear this thin gold silk jacket in a fall outfit, but I didn't quite get the proportions right here. 

The skirt is too big and pouffy for the visual bulk of the jacket, especially that collar/lapel.

I mean, look at this massive skirt. I didn't take the jacket off all day, but doesn't a slimmer top set the bottom off better? If you click back to the previous outfit with the gold jacket, I think you will agree that it needs a slimmer bottom.

This skirt is longer than I remembered - for one, it just skims the ground when I'm walking to and from work...which means I picked up a bushel of leaves, twigs and feathers (!), which Vizzini fiercely pounced on the second I walked in the door. 

I am a sucker for this bigass pouffiness, though. 

The fabric is very thin and has a raw edge - it's going to need a bit of a trim after my leaf-collecting today! 

The other thing about this skirt is that it completely hid my amazing boots. 

Yes, those deserve to be seen! 

Masked up. 

And finally, the skirt is full right to the waist so it pushed the jacket ties up just under my boobs. Not my favourite look. Sigh, at least the autumn gold is pretty, and really, I'm not that bothered by it - live and learn! 

Outerwear - I get the weather report from L in the mornings. It was supposed to rain by afternoon, so I dressed for it. 

It did not rain - thank goodness, or I'd have a big WET leaf collection attached to the skirt! 

Accoutrements: 

That's my favourite fedora - it's a snug fit on my head so doesn't blow off in the wind. 

• Hat - Edward Mann, vintage 60s, thrifted
• Scarf - thrifted
• Mask - by Mom
• Leather/wool/cashmere gloves - Roeckl, consignment

The stuff: 

Sorry, beautiful boots - I'll wear you again soon, I promise! 

Black and gold bling:

My colleague Ngoc loved all my hardware today. 

• Leather/chain wrap - local
• Necklace - swap from Vero
• Brooch - vintage, vintage fair
• Hematite ring - thrifted
• Amber ring - c. 1996
• Chain bracelet - thrifted
• Ear-balls - Dior, consignment

Are any of your clothes nature-magnets? 

Creepy in Corduroy Coords

Ah, Hallowe'en week - the chance to wear all my spookiest clothes! Not that you would know it here. 

I can at least make out the ribcage on my sweater (and yes, it's really a ribcage). 

• Corduroy suit - LL. Bennett for ASL, vintage 90s, thrifted; last worn here in March with pale pink
• Sweater - Jean Paul Gaultier, vintage 90s, consignment; last seen and Flashbacked here in October 2020
• Shoes - Napoleoni, thrifted; last worn and Flashbacked here in March
• Snakeskin coat (below) - River Island, consignment; first seen here a couple of weeks ago

I took the suit jacket off several times throughout the day. I like showing off my creepy sweater! 

This fine wool sweater is one of my treasures - it's Jean Paul Gaultier! There is a woman's head, a bird, a spider, a moth and the aforementioned ribcage on it. 

The suit is a double-breasted style, in a very wide-wale corduroy. 

Hands in pockets. 

I love the oh-so-90s strong shoulder. 

It's even better done up. 

Your eyes do not deceive you - I'm wearing grey herringbone tights with my brown coords (coolkid-speak for "coordinates" aka suiting). The sweater has a strong grey element to it that I matched them to.

Masked up.

I always feel more put together in a suit. 

Outerwear - we are still having stormy weather. 

This coat joins the ranks of my sleeveless coat and my vintage caramel trenchcoat as a Coat That Fits Over Bulky Clothes. 

Accoutrements: 

My spooky scarf gets another outing. 

• Scarf - MetroWear, San Francisco, 2006
• Mask - by Mom
• Gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff: 

These shoes are a burgundy/brown colour - they are close enough to brown to be matchy. Love that gold heel.

Tortoiseshell bling: 

My new-to-me Lucite bangle gets its first outing. 

• Chain bracelet - J. Crew, thrifted
• Earrings - Hamilton, Ontario
• Bangle - Lazy Susan's
• Silver/smoky topaz ring - Anneli Neumann, Sweden, vintage mall
• Wooden ring - Dots
• HP Lovecraft and Cthulhu pins - gift from Cat/Ross

I know it's a good party when I totally whiff on remembering gifts I got! Along with several bottles of booze and my annual Fluevog gift card from my Winesday Women, I also got some other goodies. 

I was totally impressed with the silver earrings in the Birks box (Birks is the Canadian Tiffany's) until Petra told me she bought them second-hand and reused the box! Love it, love her and love the earrings. 

Cat and Ross gave me a tin of "Empowermints" and a pair of pins. HP Lovecraft was a horror writer (Wiki link here - that's a good likeness of him) in the early 1900s and Cthulhu (that tentacled charmer) is one of his most famous creations. 

I guess you could call them pals! 

Embroidered Moto and Green Pleats; Plus Gold Wings Dress, Part I

Hello, my friends! Today, I have my outfit, which is not black and white at all, despite the picture. 

And I also started a new Art Project: the Gold Wings Dress, and I'll be sharing my materials and my initial set up on that. 

• Jacket - Frank Lyman; last worn here in February with bad stripes
• Blouse - Talbots, thrifted; last seen here in August with green lace and tweed
• Skirt - DaRue Petite for Draper's & Damon's, vintage 80s, thrifted; purchased here for $9.95
• Shoes - 5YMedia; last worn here in July with red leopard

This outfit started out as being based around my new YSL scarf but in the end, the scarf didn't work so I just rolled with what did. 

I based it around this new-to-me green pleated skirt. Oh, excuse me: it's pine. Such a Sears catalogue name for a colour. 

The faux leather moto jacket is embroidered and studded - you see how I love my embellishments! 

Oops, my slip is showing! I am wearing an orange vintage slip under all of this. 

Without the jacket - I was sweaty off and on as I lugged boxes around. Our office is going to a desk-booking system as we prepare to bring back some of our staff (gawd knows when), so guess who gets to clean out what's left? 

I have my new-to-me black and red bracelet on in these pictures, but I took it off before I left home in the morning, as it got in the way of the jacket sleeves. 

Masked up and zipped up. 

After work, I picked up a couple of items from Tammy that she wants me to customize for her, then swung by the grocery store after work. My mask was so wet from the rain that I could hardly breathe through it. 

Outerwear - despite the rain, it's still not that cold out. 

October is a changeable month. 

Accoutrements: 

The wool hat kept my hair completely dry. 

• Hat - Catawumpus, gift from Tammy
• Gloves - Parkhurst
• Silk scarf - Elaine Gold, vintage, Lazy Susan's
• Mask - Lazy Susan's

The stuff: 

These just seemed like the right shoes for the outfit. 

Minimal bling: 

The embroidered jacket does most of the heavy lifting. 

• Belt - Emmanuel, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Earrings - Tania Gleave, Granville Island
• Snake ring - BC Museum Gift Shop, c. 1986
• Spider ring - gift from Mom & Dad, c. 1986

Art Project: Gold Wings Dress

I picked this faux leather dress on sale at Dots (here) for $14.99, and I'm going to do some artsy stuff on it. 

It's a straight up-and-down piece, with fleece backing (cozy!) and ginormous sleeves. And pockets! 

I decided to do wings on the back, so I looked at a lot of pictures of tattooed angel wings to figure out what I wanted, and what I didn't. 

I like the feathers on the top image (lots of detail), the overall shape of the lower left ones, and the layers of feathers of the ones on the right. 

Then I looked at feathers, how to tattoo feathers, and some Zentangle designs. 

Good to have handy while I'm working. 

These are the pens I am using. 

I bought the bottom pen as it has a nice brush tip (like a paintbrush); the uncapped pen above that is an alcohol-based metallic gold ink, and the uncapped one above that is a calligraphy tip pen, for a wider line. I picked up extras of both of the Pilot pens. 

I tested them on the inside seam. 

It's all fine until you add moisture! 

The painty pen wiped right off. 

Then I took a picture of my back in the dress to see where wings would hit. No point in doing all that work if it won't sit right on my actual shape. 

"What are we looking at?"

Bonus: you get to see my striped socks, slippers and leggings (my football-watching outfit). 

Since the painty pen "erases" with water, I figured I'd be relatively safe in using it as my sketcher. 

Deep breath, here we go! 

Once I'd sketched out the basic lines, I went over it all with the Pilot calligraphy pen. 

A damp paper towel took off most of the sketch parts. 

I used a bunch of Q-Tips and a bit of soapy water to clean up the feathers. 

Even the permanent ink rubs off if you scrub at it. 

One side tidied up. 

Don't worry, I'm just removing the sketch lines. 

It always looks iffy at this point! 

Even these lines will be completely gone by the time I'm done. 

I filled in a little bit along the top, just to see how it looks like against the black, and gave all of the feathers an extra outline, cleaning up the shapes. 

I will likely darken up some of the black with a permanent fine-nib marker at the end. We shall see. 

And here are all of the feathers outlined, plus one that will be falling off at the bottom. 

That took about 2 hours and by that time, I was ready to crash on the couch. I'm working on top of a bookcase so that I can stand, instead of having this lumped in my lap, and so that I can ensure that the wings are nearly the same length, width and look. They don't match, but that's okay. 

Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Tattoo Redux Brunch; Double-Blast October Party!

Welcome back, my friends! I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was full of good times with good friends - and our first party in TWO YEARS! 

Starting things off, L and I met up with Nick for brunch at the Ruby. I wanted to give my custom Tattoo Jacket another airing (you know I had to show it off some more!). 

My go-tos for styling this jacket will likely be neutrals, plus red and dark green, matching the colours in the jacket designs. 

• Jacket - Q Collection, thrifted, customized by me; last worn here a few days ago
• Blouse - Tatum & Olivia, consignment; last seen here in July for a Mental Health Shop
• Leather pants - Classique Entier, thrifted; last worn here in December 2020 with floral (and same boots)
• Boots - Prepare 2.0 Tracker, Fluevog; last seen here a few weeks ago, bounding as Wonder Woman

We chatted in line for 30 minutes, then enjoyed our usual brunch. 

Wendy and Grace (awesome hostess and fabulous server) both oohed and ahhed over the jacket. 

I felt supremely badass in this. 

Remember, my leather fans, don't be creepy! 

After brunch, we picked up some party supplies (fancy fizzy water, chocolate and potato chips). 

I've learned that I can't buy chocolate early or I will eat it all. 

Masked up and incognito. 

I'm in movie star mode, darlings. 

As usual, fall in Victoria is sunny, then rainy, then windy, then cold, then sunny again. 

Scarf and gloves, plus a leather coat and pants, and I'm all set. Leather weather! 

Accoutrements: 

I knew I'd be wearing this scarf a lot. 

• Scarf - fake Louis (Lewis) Vuitton, thrifted
• Gloves - Parkhurst
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

I babied my feet in these - they are practically flats! - in preparation for being in heels for the October Party that night. 

Bold bling: 

Nothing too excessive. 

• Leather cuff - Guess, thrifted
• Chain bracelet - thrifted
• Earrings - Aldo

When we got home, I spent time prepping my fruit plate (cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple, grapes and raspberries) and my veggie platter (cucumber, carrots, celery, red pepper, yellow pepper and cherry tomatoes) and popped them into the fridge. 

We also gave the house a quick once-over and did some furniture rearranging. This is our new dining room/sitting area. 

It completely disguises the Secret Door (link here, from when we had it built), as our library is a bit of a mess and being used for storage until I can unload some books and give away a bunch of the Giveaway Pile.  

Looking at the living room/bar from the gold chair. 

It's a massive space, great for entertaining. I have all the unopened chips and candy out, along with their bowls. I can't open anything until people arrive as "someone" is a food thief. And we are not talking about L or I (okay, maybe me a bit, lol)! 

Looking at one side of the room. 

I like big comfy couches - this is "my" couch. I removed a ton of pillows to make it look classy. 

And the view from my couch. This is L's couch. 

Making sure our guests have a good view of our walls and artwork. Our long coffee table will be covered with snacks and goodies. I always have all of the party food groups: salty/crunchy, chocolate, cheese and fruit/veggies. 

I readied the deck for chill time. Vizzini's post has been moved inside for the season, as it's too cold for him out there now. 

However, since I insulated it in the spring, it's much more inviting to sit out there on a sunny day. I still like to read and work on my crafty things out here. 

I moved the benches (formerly of the dining room area) out into the corner. The table and chairs are in the library until I can find a new home for them. 

Ideally, I want a small square table to go in the corner, but for a small party, this is just right. I always need quiet space, where I can get away from the hubbub. I used this multiple times during our party to have chill moments. 

I know you're dying to know what I wore, and I will not disappoint: I wore TWO outfits! I wore this dress from 7pm till 10pm. 

I love how frothy this is. 

• Dress - Miss Elliette, vintage 60s, thrifted; purchased here for $36.95
• Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog, consignment; last worn here (4th outfit) with purple velvet for lunch with Mom and L for my birthday

I briefly thought of saving this for Christmas, but life is short, wear the dress. 

It keeps moving after I've stopped. Swoosh Factor 10!

Look at the size of the skirt! 

I put both outfits on and did pictures in the early afternoon, so that I'd have light. 

Vizzini lurked around - he knew something was up. 

"You're wearing my favourite snack."

He has been unbearable with this dress while it's been in my closet since I bought it - the person who owned it before must have had a cat.

How do I feel about having a houseful of people? Ecstatic! About 20 people came over the course of the evening - some arrived on time and left early, and our usual cohort of fashionably-late people arrived closer to 10pm and left at 2:30am. 

"Horrified?"

Victoria's double vaccination rate is 89%, which is astonishing (here, link 'cause I love). All of our party guests are fully-immunized. It felt so good to be around all of our friends again! 

The stuff: 

I didn't feel like painting my toes - a nap called instead - so I wore these simple pumps for a little bit of height. 

• Silver/Lucite cuff - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
• Silver earrings - Brenda Schoenfeld, 1992, vintage mall
• Silver snake ring - 1985, BC Museum Gift Shop
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• Belt - vintage, thrifted

Both of the dresses I wore are really focus-pulling, so minimal bling worked best - I didn't change much up

I wore this dress from 10pm onwards, till the wee hours. 

So sparkly - also very stretchy, and excellent for dancing. 

• Dress - Adrienne Vittadini, vintage 90s, thrifted; purchased and worn here (2nd outfit) in December 2020
• Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog; last worn here in September with matching McQueen

Check out the massive shoulder pads - SO early 90s! 

This entire dress is covered in handsewn sequins - can you imagine how much time that would have taken to do?

I love the design - it's also built to be worn with a regular bra, which is a treat. 

"Drunk people mean dropped food..."

I love the geometric pattern. I wore this for one of our Saturday night Zoom calls last year, but my friends only saw it from the mid-chest up (with a brief few-second model of it on a fuzzy camera). 

"They won't see me sneaking in..."

Yvonne thought the green circle on my boob looked like an olive. I loved wearing this sparkly dress and it was fabulous for partying - I felt like a star. 

The stuff: 

The same shoes, just in a different material. I love this deep cobalt. 

I didn't bother changing my bling radically. Why make it difficult?

L wore a blast of colour. I accidentally took a picture while getting ready for our pose, and kind of liked it. The cardboard Star Wars Stormtrooper (which I've had for over 20 years) is saying, "Stop! This isn't the room you're looking for!" and is used to keep folks out of this room during parties so that we don't disturb our neighbour. It doesn't work - I always make forays into my closet, and I showed off my Tattoo Jacket to everyone as well. 

L is wearing a lovely blue blazer, a new-to-him white and yellow/orange shirt (picked up a Rich Rags a few weeks back), and his vintage Versace trousers. The shoes are Fluevog. 

And there I am! 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, my friends! Thanks so much for dropping by!