Snow Day

We got some real snow on the weekend, though it was short lived. After shoveling duties on Sunday morning I went for a nice walk around my neighborhood on the way to get groceries. Somehow with the white snow as a background, the usual colours looked more interesting than usual. Does that apply to clothing? Hmm...

Back lanes are so much more interesting for walking. I love checking out people's back yards and gardens and the stuff they leave out for scroungers. I could have been the proud new owner of two doors, a fridge ("works"), multiple chairs, a kids picnic table, several mattresses and a hideous love-seat. I'm sure there's a reality show about back-lane pickers.

This little guy (or gal) braved the elements for a little affection. So sweet. I wonder if my cranky cat secretly gives love to strangers that walk by. You would never think it, but it would be just like her to give it up to strangers and deny us.

lost art

I wrote a good old-fashioned letter this week, and it was so satisfying. Writing letters falls into the category of things that I know I should do, I enjoy doing, but I don't do. I used to write lots of letters, long ones, but it sort of tapered off with the rise of email, the lack of people to write to, and the lack of letters received in return. The letter I wrote this week was written on plain old notebook paper, but I was thinking about when I wrote letters when I was a kid (mostly thank-you's to my grandparents). I always had some cute writing paper with kittens or birdies in the corner. I perused Etsy for some slightly more mature options... In general, cuteness still rules.

I like the ones above - by a designer in Victoria.

wind chill

Cold and sunny... is this a step towards spring or a step back to winter? I don't know, but I'm happy that it's not snowing, and that the days are getting longer. When I was little I thought that meant that time was actually stretching out, like each hour and each minute would feel longer. But I understand now.


When I was on the bus coming home, I changed out of my high heels and into my runners. A minute or two later the guy beside me got up and moved to another seat. Was I being offensive? Is that bad behaviour for a public setting? I can't think of any other reason he might have moved, as he moved from a prime seat to a lesser one, but I was totally discrete about it: no stinky feel and I did it all basically under the seat and out of sight. I think he was horrified, even though I have the cutest feet ever.

Assorted Sweets

No unifying theme here, just a collection of pretty images that have been hanging out in a folder waiting to be called up. Lacey, fluttery, quirky, springy. I keep being attracted to white things, but I never wear white things. I did pick up a white blouse at the clothing swap, so maybe this spring will be a fresh start with white.

Natural Light

I've had this fig-leaf silk stashed away for probably seven years, and I was always too scared to cut it because I love it so much and didn't want to regret a hasty decision. Finally, the right pattern at the right time, and I even have some left over. I like it paired with the dark purple for some contrast, and it just happened to match this skirt exactly, which doesn't happen often.

Department of Redundancy Department

Do we really need

Jason Sudeikis...

and

Ed Helms?

I feel like there's a little too much overlap.

Can anyone actually pinpoint who's in what movie?

re-bobbed

The thing about short hair is that you really notice and inch or so of new growth. With long hair I could easily let it grow a couple of inches without even noticing, but after a couple of months of my new do, it was obviously time for a little maintenance. Feels good; fresh.

I love this blouse. I've had it for almost ten years. It's made by Allison Wonderland, where I did my internship in school. She got the fabric in Japan and it's so cheery and sweet. The blouse has survived many a closet cull, as it was too small for a time, but I couldn't part with it. I'd surely be missing it if I had.

Speaking of culling, I think we've got a little clothing swap planned for this weekend. I've got three overflowing boxing in my room that need a good home, and I'd be satisfied if I didn't come back with anything new, but what are the chances of that?

fashion weak

In this crazy internet world of instant fashion coverage, I'm a little bit nostalgic for the old days. Remember when it took months to find out what had transpired at a fashion week? There would be a little coverage in newspapers, then maybe some footage on Fashion Television, and finally a feature in Vogue magazine. During that time, not only would the year be edging closer to the actual season shown, editors would be distilling the essential looks and trends and deciding what deserved a valuable page in a magazine. This lead to a really cohesive feeling for a season, and a sense of trends building up then trickling down gradually through the fashion food chain.

Now fashion spins around so quickly, not only with the instant exposure online, but with all the pre-seasons and the constant release of new lookbooks. I find it dizzying and overwhelming, and so hard to settle into a season's essence. What's the fashion equivalent of not being able to see the forest for the trees? Mini-trends come and go so quickly that it's really not worth investing in anything of high quality, and because everything seems to be in style at once, I find nothing ever really looks fresh. It used to be that trends evolved slowly enough that it was as if your palette got cleansed, so when a designer came out with something new, it was really exciting. Imagine if, instead of military being coming "in" about every season and a half, we went without seeing an epaulet for three or four years... Wouldn't it really make headlines?

New York Fashion Week has just ending, and for anyone who cares, every designer and every look is available online. The factories overseas are already doing the knock-offs for H&M etc., and in a couple of weeks we'll be able to see the first looks showing up at the mall. I haven't really looked at much, except what I see on other blogs. Now that so many bloggers are covering fashion weeks, we're even more inundated with it. I feel like I'm suffering from overexposure. Am I the only one, or is anyone else feeling a fashion backlash in the air?

Neutrals

Yesterday's work outfit. Kind of a missy costume, but I was feeling it, especially the newly thrifted skirt, which I like to see as a late 1990's Prada print. I can't wait for bare-leg weather, though I guess that's going to mean shaving my legs. It's been what, five months? I keep hoping that one day I'll just look gone and it will be gone, like it will get the hint that it's not needed, or the friction from my pants will rub it off. No?

Blouse Envy

Still can't get enough...

Spinning

Today was one of those days where I felt like I spent way too much time running around looking for things that I couldn't find. Very frustrating. By lunchtime I felt like I needed a glass of wine! Usually I'm very organized, but there are things that are beyond my control. I got these shoes at the thrift store for five dollars and I love the black-on-black matte and shiny contrast. They're high enough that I wear flats when I'm just working in the workshop, and I think I put them on and took them off a couple of dozen times today!

the fading day

I had about fifteen minutes of actual daylight when I got home from work today - spring must be coming! I made this top a couple of years ago, but it's been languishing in the mend pile for ages. Of course, the mend took less than five minutes, and now it's back in rotation. I've been wondering about denim skirts for spring, but I hadn't figured out what looked right until Krista spotted this one at Value Village yesterday. Krista, if you're regretting passing on it, you can borrow it. I'm looking forward to wearing it with clogs when the aforementioned spring arrives.

New Shades

It's high time to implement some austerity measures on the home front. In my case that means no buying any new clothes, shoes, accessories. Thrifting is allowed, or I can sew it myself. I don't need anything! Of course, a little retail therapy is warranted after a hard week at work, so I found a loophole: makeup. I can't very well buy makeup at the thrift store, can I? Or make it? No. I'm going to work on getting in the habit of wearing lipstick more often. I like how it looks, and I just have to get over the mental block of thinking that it's somehow hard work, or high-maintenance. Yes, I have to bring it to work for touch ups, but that's not beyond my ability, surely.

The key is the right lipstick. Matte-y matte matte. I don't like shimmer or shine. And it's hard to find much selection in matte. I have a couple of good MAC shades, one from Joe Fresh, and I just bought a Sephora brand in kind of a bricky-berry, kind of like the bottom picture. We shall see... Last spring I hunted for a matte coral that I liked, but couldn't find one. It may just be that it's not a shade that suits me. The swatches in the middle pic below are Revlon: I might try the orange one.

glowy

I love these soft, springy pictures. This kind of theme pops up every so often in fashion editorials and it made me think about fashion's take on the simple, rural life, farming, and possibly religious sects. There's a funny irony in using the visual cues of simple living, purity and austerity to sell thousand dollar cashmere tops. I guess it goes to show that we don't need to look for any meaning in the images as long as they are pretty.

images from Vogue Germany, via fashiongonerogue

Look what I got!

I feel like I'm finally on my way to being legitimate fashion blogger - check out this scarf! I was lacking the excellent hand-made scarf, but here it is. My friend Marissa made it for me and it is so soft, and the perfect length, and the mustard yellow is divine. She knows me so well. It's helping me make peace with the gloomy weather.

It's been a lame week, other than the scarf. I've just been feeling blah and a little cranky, but I feel like that mood is starting to lift this evening. Karl made amazing chicken soup (hmm, chicken soup for my cranky soul?), and I'm looking forward to getting lots of sleep. I do have one lingering conundrum: I think my vitamins are making me puke. This happens with every brand of multi-vitamin I've tried except one. And I just bought a new bottle of them and I puked. Apparently I could be allergic to one of the zillions of things in the vitamin or the coating or the binder or, or... but I thought I had a brand that was OK. I hope it was just a random occurrence the other day, and I feel like I have to try again to be sure, but I'm really not looking forward to puking and having to go back to the pharmacy to ask for my money back. Anyway.

Love my scarf!!