Mod, With Purple Legs

It was dark this morning, so you get the lights on the stairs. 

 Still digging into the not-yet-worn stuff that I have accumulated over the last few shopping trips. I'm reeling in my spending a bit lately (just a bit!) following our travel and birthday celebrations, plus it's good for me to play with the stuff I've got!

• Jacket - Club Monaco, thrifted; last seen here in August over a very patterned dress
• Top - Club Monaco, consignment; purchased here for $16.98
• Skirt - J. Crew, thrifted; last worn here in August when I had the blues
• Shoes - Room 502 Entrance, Fluevog; last seen here in January with a rockin' vest
• Coat (below) - Only, thrifted; last seen here earlier this month over pink and purple

The unworn item here is this blue top - it's a sleeveless, slightly swing-top shape, and is nice and long, and it replaces my last blue top (too shiny, but I liked the ruffles).

 I wasn't terribly inspired when I created this outfit but I liked how everything went together without fully being matchy. My coworker said, "You look very mod."

Interlude: Apologies to the lady who passed me on the way to work and I think said, "Sheila! I read your blog!" but I was in a coffee-needing haze with earphones in and went, "unnhhhhh" and kept going. Of course, she could have been waving at someone behind me, or warning me to look out for the construction crane (in which case, thank you). But if you're reading this, give me a big wave and say "hi" really loudly next time.

Ahem.

 I wear this light jacket as outerwear more than as an actual outfit piece, so it was nice to give it a proper outing. It has beautiful bell sleeves (and pockets!).

It was sunny and crisp today, so I chose to go with the sleeveless coat. Take that, Autumn!

 I took the gloves off partway to work - too hot!

• Beret - consignment
• Scarf - blogger gift, many years ago
• Gloves - Danier Leather

The stuff:

 I admit, I swagger like Prince when I wear these. They have the same kind of feel as cowboy boots - they just ooze attitude. And yes, so comfy!

Silver bling:

I missed the perfect opportunity to wear my Star Trek communicator badge! Dang! It would have been fabulous on the jacket. Next time!

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

Baby Blue and Dotty for Gold

Baby blue is one of those colours I thought I "couldn't" wear. It's not like I'm going to explode if I wear it - why was I so anti-pastel for so long?

 Hey, baby, that's some blue. And dots. Lots of dots.

• Sweater - Badgley Mischka, thrifted; purchased here for $9.95
• White shirt - no label, thrifted; last worn here in September under a strapless dress
• Skirt - Orenzo, vintage 80s, thrifted; last seen here in December 2016 with green and gold accents
• Shoes - H London; first worn here a few weeks ago with a ballet skirt and a spooky sweater
• Coat (below) - Danier Leather, thrifted; last worn here in April, over an orange dress that I shipped to Anna

 The goal here was to wear this new-to-me sweater that I bought back in July. It has a high-low hem and flares out slightly at the bottom, and not wanting to expose my belly, I decided to wear just a plain white shirt under it.

Then I could really jazz things up on the bottom half!

 Sheer gold-dotted swooshy 80s skirt? Yes, please, me me me!

I probably have 4-5 pairs of shoes that would have gone with this, but once I looked at those gold dots, only these boots would do.

I think they help skew the outfit more modern. 

Outerwear - I still chortle over only paying $12.00 for this Made in Canada leather jacket. It would have sold for well over $300 new. 

Adding my skull scarf because it's October, duh!

• Scarf - Metrowear, San Francisco, 2006

The stuff:

 These booties were even better this time - so soft - especially since I discovered that I can slip them off and on without having to deal with buckles. I hate buckles! Well, I like how they look, but I dislike dealing with the fiddly things.

Gold bling:

More dots! It's like I planned it.

• Necklace - Nygard, consignment
• Earrings - Burnt Curve, gift from Mom, first wear
• Amber ring - c. 1998
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Floral, Reds and Yellow Leather

It took me a good four hours today to go from mumbling to actually interacting with people at work. 

 Good thing the rest of me was loud - this is a lot of colour for a Monday!

• Jacket - Paparazzi, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in April over blue
• Blouse - Jacob, consignment; purchased here in September for $19.98
• Skirt - Firenze, vintage 80s, thrifted; purchased here for $26.95
• Shoes - Marc; last worn here in March with black velvet pants

 Despite all the colour, and the leather skirt, this is a pretty sedate outfit for me. I love the jacket - so much embroidery!

First wearing of the white crossover blouse (I have a baby blue cami under it in case of gaping; did not gape, I'm happy to report) and the lemon-metallic leather skirt.

 I can't do this shade of yellow near my face (very bad) but I can sure wear it as a skirt. And doesn't it go nicely with my jacket?

It was warm enough not to need an extra layer, so I just threw on this glove/scarf set.

 I was completely grossed out to discover moth-holes and moth-poop all over it, so I chucked the whole set and am now washing all my scarves. I should really do that at the end of the winter instead of just not opening that storage bin until the following fall!

• Scarf/gloves - thrifted

The stuff:

 I liked the bright red shoes with the darker red cow-hair of the belt. These are such awesome shoes - I had a couple of coworkers ask me if they were new, but nope, I've had them for almost exactly four years - I first wore them here for my birthday in 2013.

Bling-bling:

 I tried to wear all the colours, really!

• Belt - Gap, consignment
• Earrings - thrifted
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

Cheers, to my dear blog-friends, Ally at Shybiker, and Anna of Anna's Island Style - they sent me presents!

 The motorcycle card is from Ally, and Anna sent me a lovely postcard from Tresco, and a beautiful necklace.

It's made of pencil crayons.

It has a delightful smell of just-sharpened pencils. What lovely surprises to get in the mail on the same day - thank you both so much!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Leather Lunch, and Ladies in Leather for the Theatre

It's been a nice quiet weekend, and as soon as I'm done here, I'm off for some couch-time and football-watching. 

On Saturday morning, both L and I slept in, so we had to rush a bit to head down to Floyd's Diner for a late lunch. I needed an easy outfit for a rainy day.

 Leather! This is one of my three leather dresses - this fifty-year-old will wear what she wants. Leather is not for the faint of heart.

Linking up to "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style!

• Blouse - Ralph Lauren, consignment; last worn here in February with turquoise fringed suede
• Dress - Danier, vintage 90s, thrifted; last seen here in January with a fluffy sweater
• Boots - BCBG Max Azria; last worn here in February with gold wings
• Coat (below) - Danier Leather; last seen here (3rd outfit) on my birthday weekend with the picador skirt

This style of slip dress is back in fashion now - my 15-year-old niece wore a dress like this to my birthday party! How things come around!  I refer to this as my Buffy dress, since this style was last big when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was airing back in the late 90s. Mine is a butter-soft leather...and it's really short, so I always wear tights with it.

 I should have pulled down the back of the blouse before I took this pic, oops! I always tuck my shirts into my tights to keep them in place.

Bundled up for the rain! We had to turn around and retrieve our umbrellas for the walk to town.

 Wearing my new-to-me toque and scarf for the first time. I put the matching gloves into the donate pile, as they are set up as "texting gloves" and are not suitable for me (since I don't have a phone).

• Toque/scarf - Calvin Klein, thrifted for $10.95 for the set
• Gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff:

 I put some non-slip thingies on the soles of my boots, but of course, they didn't have time to fully adhere to the boots, and got mushed in the rain. I'll buy another set and try again.

• Earrings - Lazy Susan's
• Spider ring (not shown) - gift from Mom & Dad, c. 1986
• Snake ring (not shown) - BC Museum Gift Shop, c. 1986

We raced home after lunch, just in time for Mom to arrive. Time to go to the Belfry Theatre's production of "Onegin", a musical based on Pushkin's poem and Tchaikovsky's opera. Link here to the Belfry's description, and here to the local paper's rave review.

 For a rainy evening, some more leather was in order! This lovely pewter metallic skirt is a long-time favourite in my wardrobe.

• Beaded sweater - Adrienne Vittadini, vintage 80s, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in December 2015 for the theatre in my pink Muppet skirt
• Skirt - BCBG Max Azria, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in September 2016 to see Spamalot (again, theatre with Mom!)
• Shoes - Half Truth Veda, Fluevog; last seen here in September with many red flowers
• Coat (below) - Danier Leather; last worn above

 I've worn this top/bottom combo before, the first time I wore this sweater (the day I thrifted it for $8.00), here in September 2013. I wore the sweater backwards this time - not as much ink showing.

I had many compliments on the top from the theatre-going crowd.

"I pose like the Woman."

 And since the production had some stellar Russian-inspired outfits (embroidered dresses, coats and boots), I fit right in!

I wore black wool gloves with a fur rosette.

 Showing off my new earrings - I finally have a pair of hematite ones to match all my jewelry!

Outerwear - same as above, sans toque.

"I'm your best accessory."

It was really pouring most of the afternoon/evening. Mom and I both carried umbrellas.

The stuff:

 My metal purse was the source of much curiosity. Good shoes for walking in the rain to and from the theatre. I really couldn't go fancy.

• Purse - gift from Megan Mae
• Gloves - thrifted

Black bling:

 All my black stuff - it is October, after all!

• Necklace - Mom's (from Skidegate, Alaska)
• Bracelet - thrifted
• Earrings - gift from Mom
• Chain cuff - thrifted
• Spider ring - gift from Mom & Dad, c. 1986
• Snake ring - BC Museum gift shop, c. 1986

Mom looked fabulous, so we had to do the mother-daughter shot.

 Posing the same, ha!

And I definitely get my love of drama (and leather!) from my mom, who is rocking this look in her early 70s.

 I bought her that beautiful Nygard leather jacket in the WIN Warehouse thrift store (I bought her the skirt on consignment several years ago). Rock on, Mom! You look awesome!

I got my birthday presents from Mom, and yes, one of them was the hematite earrings.

 My usual shopping gift card will come in handy soon! And look at those lovely bronze carved wood earrings - so pretty! I love the jigsaw box too!

We had a blast at the show - they gave out vodka shots, which Mom and I sipped at during the first act.

 We got into the spirit(s)!

The actor who played the main character in the musical was so familiar to me...

Then I remembered: Alessandro Juliani (link) was Felix Gaeta in Battlestar Galactica! How cool!

Seen any celebrities lately?

Casual Friday: Velvet and Loafers, and a Cat Chat

Made it to the weekend! Phew! I didn't feel like making much of an effort today, as I decorated the office for Hallowe'en. 

 Wearing this new-to-me velvet top for the first time, but I'll be wearing it again soon!

• Jacket - CABi, consignment; last seen here (4th outfit) in June for a casual weekend look
• Top - Beechers Brook, thrifted; purchased here for $2.00
• Jeans - Levi Strauss, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) earlier this month to see The New Pornographers in concert
• Loafers - Sperry, thrifted; last seen here in March for International Women's Day
• Coat (below) - Zara, gift from Dominique

 It was very dark and gloomy this morning, so I experimented with my photos by aiming the task light on the desk (where my camera sits for my timer pictures) at me. A little too bright!

At least you can see everything! I love this cotton jacket, but it did not work over the velvet top - the two fabrics fought all day.

 I love my jeans - so fabulously stretchy. Again, the light is too bright there.

I was all chill like this all day. I aimed the light up at the ceiling this time and it worked much better. Hurray, we will have decently-lit photos all winter!

 Yeah, just chillin'.

I wore my new-to-me coat for the first time today - look how fabulous it is!

 I love it!

• Scarf - Danier, thrifted for $6.95, first wear
• Gloves - Parkhurst

These pictures were taken a few minutes ago after work - it got sunny out in the afternoon, and I took the jacket off in the office. So here's the top without.

"Woman, cover yourself." 

 I love the nice shape of the top. I'll be wearing it again next week to meet up with my old boss from Fairweather (where we both worked, back in 1999-2000). We both owned this top, both in black/grey, I think. Mine was, anyway. I know she'll get a kick out of it. I'll dress it up more.

I loved the look of outrage on Vizzini's face.

"You could at least feed me."

 L was sitting at the computer, trying to get him to look at the camera while I timed these pics.

"Hello, Vizzini, I see you there."

 He is the funniest cat we have ever had.

"Curses, the Man made me look!"

 The stuff:

 Oh, good golly, I adore these shoes. Apparently, preppy is in, according to the cool kids, and these are right in that pocket. These are very comfortable and have a good grip on the soles.

Silver bling:

I thought it appropriate to wear my spider and snake rings.

• Earrings - Lazy Susan's
• Spider ring - gift from Mom & Dad, c. 1986
• Snake ring - BC Museum Gift Shop, c. 1986

I've got a fairly quiet weekend ahead, but will be back on Sunday for the wrap-up. Have a good one!

Blue, Olive and a Double Blouse

As I often do, I saved a funky outfit for my Thursday WW meeting, but it was my daytime colleagues who literally gasped at this outfit. That took me aback, as I really didn't think this would ring people's bells. 

 My total score of a blouse is featured, layered over another new-to-me blouse. And I have a fin.

• Digital print beaded blouse - Dries Van Noten,thrifted; purchased here on the weekend for $4.00
• Underneath blouse - H&M, thrifted; purchased here for $6.95
• Skirt - TKStyle, thrifted; last seen here in December 2016
• Shoes - Marc Jacob, thrifted; first worn here with Etro in August
• Leather trenchcoat (below) - vintage 70s, thrifted; last seen here a few days ago

 I layered the cream blouse under the Dries cotton top for coverage and warmth - I do love a good layering top. This Dries Van Noten top was fabulous to wear, but it may be more of a warm weather piece...although I do have a blue cashmere turtleneck that would be fabulous under it!

Showing off the fin on my skirt. This skirt is really thick but very comfy.

 I liked how the olive green went with the creams and olives in the top's pattern.

Long and lean - I am liking this layered look (and I'm alliterating all over the place!). I'm again not focusing on the waist, but letting the clothes do the talkin'.

 Seriously, those shoes were so perfect with the outfit! They are the best out of my 95 pairs, I'm sure!

Outerwear. The rain has calmed down to just a drizzle, so I risked just wearing a fur toque. I was in luck - it only rained when I wasn't outside.

 And I remembered my lovely silk scarf this time. Go, me!

• Toque - Danier Leather
• Silk scarf - Story of Shanghai, thrifted for $14.95, first wear
• Gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff:

 These shoes were lovely again. They give me pleasure just to look at them.

Blue and black bling:

Some old, some new.

• Onyx/silver ring - Mexico, c. 1984, gift from Mom & Dad
• Earrings - the Cobbler
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes