YYZ: Ain’t That A Kick In The Head

Just found out that my little “sister” did not get her visa to visit me from Ecuador. I am heartbroken. We have not seen each other in 16 years, not since I left Ecuador after living with her family for a year. I love her to bits and was so thrilled that she was going to come and visit (she was registered to take a French course with GEOS in Montréal before coming to spend a few weeks with me here).

I am outraged that, after all the hospitality and kindness and love Ecuadorians showed me during my time there, my government will not even allow them to come and visit.

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LHR: Like a Prayer

Before Christmas, I told you about the fact I finally took the plunge and bought a Style:Shake dress.  I don’t think I realized it was quite so nun-like before I bought it. However, as you can see, it DEFINITELY has a Maria feel.

Sister Act

Drinking from the Chalice

Not Quite a Cross

What I wore?
Dress: Gray and Black Cotton Dress, Style:Shake
Tights: Gray (UniQlo) and Honeycomb Fishnet (can’t remember)
Shoes: Red,
Necklace: Vintage Red Pendant (my Nana’s)
Earrings: Red Ruby Earrings (my Nana’s)

And now for a gratuitous Sound of Music Video Clip:

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LHR: Saturday Woolies

Earlier this week, I had told J that we were going to go to Borough Market. He was thrilled. He loves Borough Market. I think it is the thought of pork pies that draws him to this crazy overly-busy and rather touristy market on a Saturday. (don’t get me wrong, I love it too). However, the reason I told J we’d go to Borough market was because it was close to Bermondsey Street where both the Fabric and Textile Museum is housed AND a United Nude store. Jackpot!

I chose to wear a comfy wool – head to toe – ensemble. As is rather obvious from the photo, this isn’t going to win the cutting edge award. Rather it will be up there with comfy and cosy from a different time. Yet, it was perfect for the day ahead.

Who/What's Sanderson? That's what I said too.

It turned out that the Fashion and Textile Museum only ever has one show on at a time. So, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t a fashion exhibit. However, I enjoyed our time there just the same. This exhibit was 150 years of Sanderson.

Who’s Sanderson? That’s exactly what I said. Turns out Sanderson helped bring chintz to the UK. Sanderson started first as a wallpaper company (importing them from France), slowly to expand to paint and fabric. Their designs are classic British decor. If  you do visit the exhibit, I would suggest going upstairs and watching the short video first (we didn’t). After watching it, it made the rest of the exhibit come together. If you’re familiar with Sanderson, just jump right in.

While the show wasn’t really about fashion, luckily there was a very good gift shop – packed filled with great fashion books and some jewellery.  As usual, I couldn’t walk away without a few little purchases. I picked up a few bracelets and a necklace made from rubber bands. Here they are.

New Purchases

my new rubber necklace

What I wore?
Trousers: Light Blue wool by Elspeth Gibson (from 2000 – clearly dated)
Shirt: White V-necked Tee
Cardigan: Gray 3/4 length sleeves by New Scotland (seen here)
Ring: One-of-a-kind Matchstick Ring created by Elizabete Ludvik
Shoes: Gray Flowered Converse

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YYZ: Grace Note

I FINALLY saw The September Issue this past week. I am glad I got to watch it at home, as I could pause and rewind and really savour the gorgeousness.

Grace Coddington is nothing short of a genius. In fact, as far as I am concerned, she is the most compelling part of a very compelling documentary.  Anna Wintour struck me as being very sad; she works so hard, she is incredibly good at her job (the best, I’d say), but does not seem at all happy and even admits to feeling angry all the time.  Actually, besides being gobsmacked at how much power Anna and VOGUE have in the fashion industry, from couture right on down to The Gap and Mango, I was most struck by the fact that everyone who works at the magazine, surrounded by so much beauty and craftsmanship, seems to be unhappy, stressed out and unable to enjoy the incredible beauty and art of their subject matter and their creations. Even Grace, who clearly creates true art, is sad, angry and dispirited because she has to fight so hard to have her work included in a publication whose success hinges on its commercial saleability, rather than on the integrity of its artistic vision.

Even if you are not into “fashion” or have never picked up a copy of VOGUE and wouldn’t know Anna Wintour from Nuclear Winter (famously, one of her nicknames), I recommend this film– it is a fascinating glimpse into a world-wide empire and the incredibly driven, talented and powerful people at its heart.

Some of you could wait until you are visiting me to watch it, as I plan to fit a copy of the DVD into my budget! 🙂

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YYZ: Metal Queen

I dunno why, but I remembered this very old  suede skirt and thought, “Why not?”

The boots, the belt, the necklace– it all just seemed to fit together in a “heavy metal” sorta way. All in all, I think it is sort of an out-of-date look and the belt is not ideal with this particular skirt’s waist detail (it has no waistband, just a facing), but I was just not feelin’ the whole “getting dressed for work” thing today.

I apologize for this truly awful photo. No way to avoid the graininess, given the location and time of day, it seems.

Skirt: Danier
Turtleneck: H&M
Belt: No idea, but probably Winners
Necklace: Metal Pointu’s, gift from Grama

I like the Flintstones-y asymmetrical hem on this skirt, but I’m not that excited about the outfit.

Meh.

Here’s a giggle for you, though:

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YYZ: True

True confession time:

My wardrobe storage situation is OUT. OF. CONTROL.
I need to sort, to purge, to re-organize.
I kid you not: stuff is just piled in everywhere, stuffed into the closet any which way. Hangers are laden with more than one item (one of my pet peeves!), making it impossible for me to see what the bottom-most layer actually is.
I have dry-cleaning hanging in the office because I am too disheartened to try to find proper hangers for it and then try to cram it into the overstuffed nightmare that is my pokey little closet.
All of this causes me to feel anxious and stressed-out.
Up until today, I could counteract the anxiety by thinking about the crowning achievement of my March Break: organizing our linen closet. And labeling all the shelves with my label-maker. (Geek.) I have, however, reached the breaking point; drastic purging must occur. Soon.

Anyway, what does any of this have to do with what I wore today? Well, I had forgotten about this dress almost entirely, as it was shoved and smushed in the rear of my closet (don’t ask– the shape of my closet is highly impractical) and, in much the same way Columbus “discovered” America, yesterday I stumbled upon this dress that had been there all along.

I considered not wearing it today, as I do wear it a lot in the spring with bare legs and summery shoes, but then I just could not come up with any other option as I pondered the daily, “WTF am I gonna wear?!” question.  Because I haven’t worn it in so long, I sort of feel fresh and new in it.
I suppose that is the upside of living in Closet Purgatory: new “discoveries” abound!

Dress* & Belt: Winners
Shoes: Report
Bracelet: gift from Mum

Hilariously, I thought I had had some kind of inspired breakthrough in choosing these shoes (they were a last-minute substitution for a pair that just didn’t work with the dress), but I see that, not only have I worn this very outfit before, I (accurately) deemed it “Snore Pie with Yawn Sauce” the last time I sported it. This time, at least I have a cute  bracelet to spice it up a bit!

*Sadly, the cute flamenco ruffle detail on the dress does not show up in my very bad photos…

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YYZ: Birds of a Feather

Hélas, I did not wear this to work today. But, boy, I sure do wish I had!

Except that I would likely have looked like a barnyard chicken/feather duster hybrid in it…
Best to leave high glamour to this lady, as we have seen before.

(Photo credit.)

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YYZ: Wipe Out

Upon arrival at school today, I celebrated the beginning of a Tuesday morning by wiping out.
In front of students.
Oh, yeah.

See, due to their hem-length, these trousers can only be worn with very high shoes. Since there is no snow, I decided to wear my shoes from the time I left the house.*
Bad  idea.
Here is why:

Rainy day
Very slick shoe soles
Freshly polished hardwood floors
+ Sudden, unexpected burst of gravity
YYZ lands (very nearly) on her nose

The three students (naturally, none of them was MINE, so the poor dears felt like they couldn’t laugh at me, even though I had a good guffaw at myself) who had the grave misfortune to witness the entire, awkward, slow-motion skid-into-face-plant debacle were very kind and solicitous, even though they were clearly thinking,
“What a total loser that old lady is! Boy, are we glad we are not old and prone to wipe-outs!”**

Oh, well, at least I had my groovy pleather jacket to console me.

Jacket: H&M
Silk Cami: Joe Fresh
Trousers: Theory
Dangerously Slippery Shoes: Jessica Simpson
Locket: Gift. That is all I remember– I can’t remember from whom, alas.

*(Normally, I drive in flats/boots and switch to heels at work, thereby saving my shoes from the ravages of weather and my feet from the ravages of my footwear.)

** All I could think was, “DID I RIP MY THEORY TROUSERS??!!! DID I???!!!!”
No, thank the Gods of Fancy Pants.
I did, however, pull a muscle in my shoulder as I tried to prevent disaster befalling my trousers.
Totally worth it.

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YYZ: Hot Legs

Hot PINK legs, that is.

Needed some cheery colour on a cold, dreary, dark Monday of back-to-work dressing.

Dress: Femme de Carriere
Cuff & Earrings: H&M
Shoes: 9 West
Tights: Betsey Johnson

In further (and far more interesting!) news, thanks to LHR’s man, J, for sending me into a spiral of acquisitive lust:

How am I going to get my hands on these?
I want ALL FOUR!
Also: Joan even has her little gold pencil!

(Let’s just say, if my Barbies had had Don Draper around, instead of the pitiful Ken specimen I own(ed), there is no way they would have been nearly as productive as they were!)

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LHR: Two Tone Tessie

J suggested the title and it made me laugh. So, I went with it.

I tried to add a bit more colour by first pairing the top, tights and shoes with this gray pencil skirt. But, it really didn’t look very good. So, I went with the stand-in black skirt. In order not to only wear black, I threw on the vintage beaded collar to add a splash of non-colour to the top end of this outfit.

Black on Black on Black

Witchy Witch Shoes

Shoes by Laura J

Vintage Collar (worn as a necklace)

What I wore: (starting from the bottom)
Shoes: Black and Cream Patent by Laura J (new to my collection)
Tights: Black patterned bought at my local dry cleaner
Skirt: Preen (bought with YYZ in Toronto). Sadly, it’s looking a bit worn on the bum. Need to think about a re-dye
Shirt: Ribboned Empire Short-Sleeved Blouse by Next
Necklace: Vintage Beaded Collar (not sure where I got it – probably gramma or Aunt Ruth)

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