Life in a Black Dress, Red Boots, Blogger Shopping and Leia Blues

What a crazy month - so much going on, and then to be sick on top of that. But it is what it is, to be trite. Let's move on.

So...I stayed home from work on Tuesday and slept all day. However, I couldn't find coverage for my WW meeting, so I actually wore this exact outfit both on Tuesday night and on Wednesday back at work.

Wednesday morning

When life hands you lemons, wear a dress!

Thank you all for your good wishes - I am so exhausted, but hanging in there. It's a weird flu; no congestion or stuffiness, no sore throat, just utter tiredness and the urge to sleep.

This is my awesome shirtdress, last worn also with red, back here in August.

This is actually my picture from Tuesday night

I went pretty easy this time: just throw on every red accessory I own!

As is this one

I borrowed a pair of silver cufflinks from L, and wore a black half-slip for warmth (I have knee-high black socks on - still resisting tights!).

The red stuff:

Oh, my sweet beautiful red boots! I am so happy to have these back in my wardrobe, after the spring/summer off. Every time I wear them, they get broken in a little more. One day, they will be like buttah. I last wore them here in February without the ankle harnesses, with primary colours.

Dress (Talbot's, consignment), boots (Adrian Agnes, Fluevogs), belt/earrings (Plum), cuff (Rimanchik), ring (Oscar & Libby's).

After work, I met up with the Hostess of the Humble Bungalow, the lovely Leslie, for dinner and a shop at Value Village. We had good luck last time (zoiks, has it really been 2 years?), but I was the only one who came away with a couple of purchases. There were too many silly teens looking for Hallowe'en clothes at VV - so annoying.

Anyway, this skirt came home with me:

I adore the shape of it, and the blurry but bright colours - there is a little blue and purple in there too, so I'm excited to wear it (once it's gone in the wash). It is by Attention and was $7.99.

I had 3 pairs of shoes in my basket including a pair of Italian-leather orange pointy-toe pumps that I'm sure I will regret not buying (at least for a little while), but these were the ones that made the cut.

The colour is a faded teal - not grey (bad light in the den at 9pm last night) - and they are by Nine West. They are satin and a ruched sheer fabric (it kind of reminds me of nightgowns). I adore the little stubby heel. They were $14.99 and were easily the most comfy of all the shoes I could have purchased, so I'm glad I went with these.

I would have liked to have shopped for longer, but I had no energy after about 2 hours. Another time, Leslie!

Today, I had to wear the new shoes:

All shades of blue.

I love this jacket - it's the Leia Jacket by local maker Bonspiel aka Ellen (Etsy shop, linking 'cause I love). She mostly does leather work now (my business card holder is by her). I ran into her at the Vintage Expo last month and told her I had the jacket - apparently she only made a few of them, so I have a cool limited edition.

I last wore it in the March 2012 capsule (recap here), where I wore it twice (last time here). It's a bit tricky to style, as it needs a belt and it has that wide stand-up neckline.

The skirt is a rich navy blue with Swoosh Factor 11 - it's the Skirt I Re-bought. I bought it new when I first lost weight in 2007, then gave it to a friend who donated it to Big Brothers-Big Sisters, which is where our VV gets its clothing donations from. I spotted it a couple of years ago at VV and remembered how much I'd loved it and bought it again.

I last wore it here in February with pink velvet.

The stuff:

Navy obi belt and Wendy Brandes rings, naturally.

Jacket (Leia Jacket, Bonspiel, consignment), skirt (Tobias, thrifted), shoes (Nine West, thrifted), belt (local), rings (Wendy Brandes).

And now...off to the couch for some more rest. Ah...the weekend is nearly here. I know you are all anxiously awaiting my big Traveling Yellow Skirt appearance, but I have another busy weekend ahead. Stay tuned!

Satin, Silk Tweed...and Sick

The minutes are starting to count in the mornings. Only a couple of minutes make all the difference in the light outside now. Soon, I'll be a ghost again!

In all seriousness, at about 2pm this afternoon, it felt like a truck hit me. Sore throat, headache, flushed cheeks, then shivers. Yep, I'm sick. In a fit of pro-activity, I left my keys and a long list of things happening at work tomorrow with a coworker...in case I can't make it in. I've only taken a few sick days in nearly 3 years at this job - I'm one of those bad people who goes in anyway.

So, forgive me for posting and running, but my bed is calling.

Blouse: silky orange, oversized, love the colour. Buttoned up with big necklace (a very 1986 look, I recall - I should have a brooch on there too). Last wore it here in September with my leather pants and this same belt/buckle.

It's a good colour on me

 Skirt: part of a suit, rarely worn as a suit. Last wore it in March, here. It's silk tweed and very very soft.

Butt shot!

The stuff:

Poor sad, almost worn-out shoes, last worn with almost-Hermes here in September. I would like them in all the colours - all of them!

Shiny shiny

Groovy green necklace from the Vintage Expo (too...tired...to...link...), bought for $14.00. It's all second-hand, anyway.

Be not sick. Going to bed now.

Blouse (Mark, thrifted), skirt (Precis Petites), shoes (Hale Bob), belt (Shi Studio), buckle (Shi Studio, thrifted), necklace (second-hand), earrings (Lisner, vintage 60s, thrifted), ring (consignment).

Weekend Wrap-Up: Floral Friday, Art Gallery Hatted-ness, Yellow Skirt and Shoes

Happy weekend! I hope everyone's doing well. Me? I've been busy, so busy, but it's all fun stuff, so I really can't complain. However, there's a comfy couch and a football game calling me, so let's get this going. 

First up: Funky Florals.

I wasn't 100% happy with this outfit, although I liked it in theory. The pieces just didn't quite work for me in reality once they were all together. Live and learn!

The sweater is my new-to-me Wilfred merino wool one, thrifted last weekend (here).

The skirt is not a skirt - it's a dress! I last wore it in July 2010 here, but it's actually been living with a friend for the last couple of years. Like my other Hale Bob dress that I bought in NYC in 2007. I've only worn this dress 3 times total including this time (it was first seen here in June 2008), so I was hoping that layering it would give me more wear out of it. I still think that's an option, but maybe a fitted olive blazer would be better than this chunky sweater. Thoughts?

The tights are actually knee-highs. While I like them, they were too light and overwhelming with this outfit. Ah well.

The stuff:

My fabulous Wonders Ayers, last seen here earlier this month while I was having a plaid attack.

Pearly bling.

I had to wear the belt for my keys for work - I think the outfit might have worked better without it, but I hate wearing a lanyard around my neck when I have a necklace on. I don't wear my costume pearls much, but they're fun. I've had the two necklaces on the left (worn as bracelets here) since 1986.

Sweater (Wilfred, thrifted), dress (Hale Bob), shoes (Wonders Ayers, Fluevog), belt (Club Monaco), necklace/earrings (Aldo Accessories), necklaces (Eaton's, 1986).

I had a delightful surprise arrive in the mail on Friday - the Travelling Yellow Skirt! Go to that link to see all the amazing ways this skirt has been styled.

I like it with a side of cat:

Vizzini was VERY interested in the little bag that Margy had added. He tried to bite it.

Then he spotted the sequined rainbow that Megan put on it (from the Toronto Pride day - I knew that cat had good taste).

It's somehow appropriate that my furry boy is standing on the picture of Tamera's dear Diva

He really liked that rainbow, but I did keep him from biting it.

I also received the Travelling Yellow Cape to match. Although I didn't have the opportunity to do my photo shoot this weekend, I'll be doing it soon. I have the perfect "Sheila" look and venue planned!

Moving on, Friday night was the Urbanite event at the Art Gallery. I decided to class up my evening outfit after my slight schlumpy daytime one.

My newest Tierre Joline hat (purchased here at the Vintage Expo, and linking to Tierre's site because she's amazing).

I'm linking this outfit up to Patti's "Visible Monday" over at Not Dead Yet Style (Patti put a cat on it! love it!).

I kept the outfit all neutral, starting with Kim Cattrall's skirt from her Pink Tartan suit, last seen in the November 2012 capsule (recap here), where I wore it twice (this is the last time).

My satin ruffled blouse was the perfect top for this. I last wore it here in February with the given-away tiki skirt. The huge double-ruffled sleeves are a pain at work (they drag in the sink, in the coffee grounds, etc.), but were Drama at this artsy event.

The black leather Danier Couture jacket was just right layered over it - I didn't wear any outerwear to walk down to the Gallery, and I was able to stash my ticket, money, keys, ID and lipstick in the interior pockets.

Sweet tights, eh? They are by Trasparenze, one of my favourite brands.

The jacket zipped up tight. I last wore it here a couple of weeks ago with ribbons and paprika orange (apparently that's a trendy colour now - I'm so cutting edge, ha!).

The shoes are my Darjeeling Teapots, last seen here in September with my green ruffly Oscar.

The top half of this business:

To keep it from being too sweet or girly, I added the mixed metal rocker necklace - and because it's October, the snake and spider rings are in heavy rotation.

Bigass bling:

Good walkin' shoes.

I knotted the cord on this necklace just after I got it, to make it a better length on me.

I had so many comments on the hat - tons of people recognized it as one of Tierre's.

I can't wait to wear it again.

Jacket (Danier Couture, consignment), blouse (CAbi, consignment), skirt (Pink Tartan, consignment), tights (Trasparenze), shoes (Darjeeling Teapots, Fluevog, Fluemarket purchase), necklace (gift from Tina), spider ring (homegrown vintage, 80s, gift from Mom & Dad), snake ring (homegrown vintage, 1986).

Urbanite events are always so fun at the Gallery. As part of the exhibit, there was an interactive section, where you could choose images and have them made into a button.

I liked the observer looking at the art in this picture.

On Saturday, L and I went for lunch, and I lingered downtown for some shopping.

It's been cool and foggy for the last few days; my mother-in-law's visit was cancelled for this weekend due to all flights being grounded.

I've been having fun digging out some of my heavy winter gear, but wearing a slip and socks instead of tights. This wonderful velvet blazer was last seen on the Friday before our crazy 70s party earlier this month (here, warning: me in a blonde wig!) - that was the last wear of these boots as well.

That massive black skirt is suede - it weighs about 8 pounds. I last wore it here back in March (2nd outfit) with denim and leopard. I love that it has pockets.

I walked around downtown, went to visit my new tattoo artist (my next one is booked!), and spent some of the birthday money I got from my mother-in-law. I think she would like these, don't you?

Nom nom nom, yellow and tweed shoes! These are by Poetic Licence (I adore their shoes), and while they are made in China, it was gift money, so I don't feel too bad (I bought them at She She Shoes*, which is a locally-owned business). *linking 'cause I love

My wonderful girlfriends gave me a gift certificate to Adore*, a locally-owned jewelry store that specializes in locally-made pieces. *linking 'cause I love

I found this amazing leather and steel cuff:

What is extra-awesome?

Adjustable pegs for my little wrists! This is by Rimanchik.

I also bought this silver knot ring, and the mid-finger silver disc ring.

I also bought a pair of bamboo earrings, but I forgot to take a picture of them.

I stopped in at my favourite hat store, Roberta's Hats* for my annual new pair of fingerless gloves. I've been shopping there since they opened in 1992 - nearly all of my hats (except for Tierre's) are from there. *linking 'cause I love

They are by Parkhurst and are made in Canada - 100% wool, and only $14.95!

On Saturday night, L, my mom and I went for dinner. Had to dress up!

And I had to wear my new shoes!

This is basically a repeat outfit from July - I even wore it with yellow shoes again!

I last wore this Betsey Johnson corset top and this brown satin blouse then, but I'm getting a lot of wear out of this fabulous steampunk-y skirt. It was last seen here a week ago with denim and floral ruffles.

I love the structure of the back of it.

I wore my olive suede coat and my new mustard gloves for the evening chill.

After dinner, L and I strolled down to the local pub to celebrate our friend Zeb's birthday. I considered changing, but I was starting to get tired!

The stuff:

The shoes were fine for walking about 6 blocks to and from the pub. Hurray for comfy shoes!

Big brassy bling:

And those are the new earrings I got at Adore. They are light as a feather, and are made of silver and bamboo wood.

All of my jewelry there is either second-hand or locally made. Love it.

Blouse (Esprit), corset top (Betsey Johnson, 90s, thrifted), skirt (Orwell, thrifted), shoes (Poetic Licence), brass cuff (Midzo, thrifted), spoon cuff (About Tine), spinner ring (Twang & Pearl), ring (POLY), earrings (Adore).

L looked very snazzy, so I took his picture too.

He's always so dapper.

And...here we are at Sunday, and I couldn't be bothered to wear make-up to get groceries.

I did make a small effort to wear something decent, though.

My rust sweater is layered over my Smoking Lily top (it's now around-the-house wear, so not linking to past wears anymore). I last wore the sweater here last weekend (last outfit) - that's the last wear for these boots too.

The skirt is my washable Skotts Suede one, last seen in the November 2012 capsule (recap here), where I wore it three times. This is the last outfit. The skirt really is washable, in fact, it's being washed right now, as I spilled leftover cannelloni on it.

I wish Vizzini would find my silver ear-cuff again - it went missing for the second time a few months ago.

Sweater (Coldwater Creek, thrifted), top (Smoking Lily), skirt (Skotts Suede, thrifted), boots (Miz Mooz), belt (Shi Studio), buckle (She She Shoes), earrings (Adore Jewelry).

Speaking of our little monster, I caught this action shot this morning:

"What is this magical clear barrier that keeps this rogue leaf from my clutches?"

I hope everyone had a great weekend!