That Paisley Shirt Again

Do you like to match your clothes to your bag?  I certainly do; so today was another brown day so as not to have to change my purse.

I think all the items in today's outfit have been seen before.  I have on my Wanko jacket again.

It has become a favourite; it's a knit jacket, so is curve hugging and the best part is that it fits easily under my coats.

I also wore that paisley shirt from Spain over a reddish/burgundy t-shirt.

It was quite cold yesterday so today I wore a longer skirt and my big-mistake tights. 

You can't see them because I also wore knee-high socks over them but here is a pic:  They are from the dollar store - can you tell? 

Actually, I think the dollar store got them at a liquidator's or something because the price stickers were stuck on (instead of printed on) and the tights had a manufacturer's name and address.

Surely this was a production line mistake?  Why would they make tights with a mismatched print?  and a big seam down the side of the leg?

I'm glad they only cost $1 and not the suggested retail price of $15 which was on the package.  Now I'll know to check the pattern before buying.

today i wore:

reddish t-shirt ... old navy

paisley shirt ... ? ... mercadillo, spain

brown jacket ... wanko

long skirt ... london fog

tights ... dollar store

knee highs ... secret

booties ... pera mela

Floppy Snake

Finally we have some non-rainy weather so I decided to wear something other than army boots.  It was also flu shot day, so I needed something with roll-uppable sleeves.

This jacket has an interesting texture and print - its sort of snake-like, but is glittery too and catches the light with movement perfect for Visible Monday. 

I like the jacket's casual comfy roominess - great for layering other items underneath.  And it is quite soft - almost a faux suede.

I teamed it with a turtleneck tunic and a floppy sleeved print blouse.

I am thinking of adding small buttons with a loop to this blouse so it stays in place under jackets. It is on my refashion, mend, sewing to-do list, which seems to just grow and grow.

The shoes are a bit hard to see, but they are the 3 button slipon booties from Franco Sarto.

The other item in this outfit is this wonderful purse:

The photo really does not do it justice. It's a wonderful rich brown colour with tones of burgundy - I just had to use it today.  The bag was super-cheap and some of the zipper pulls still had those little plastic protector thingys on them!

today i wore:

jacket ... ?

turtleneck ... joe fresh

blouse ... beechers brook

skirt ... reitmans

tights ... zellers

shoes ... franco sarto

bag ... la diva for town shoes

Tapestry Handbag

I was rushing home from convention and for some reason, as soon as I got home I changed out of my clothes, so today's post is going to be a bag post.

As you know, I'm a tapestry bag addict and am always on the look out for a cute bag.

I found this one the other day - it has beautiful brown tones and is a small hand-bag size. 

The name all over the bag is Diverso Italy - I think it is one of those names which manufacturers use for a designer sound.

The bottom is protected with a liner, and it's quite roomy for a small purse.

It even has one of those credit card pockets, but I prefer to use a wallet.  There are lots of zip pockets, so it can hold keys, transit pass etc without everything getting all jumbled up.

I've already used it once - it's so cute.  and it was such a good deal that I was smiling the whole time.

Wanko ?!?

Today is Take Your Kid to Work day, so my younger son accompanied me to work.  The company arranged some activities and then for part of the day he followed or job-shadowed me.

I wore this WANKO jacket - don't you just love the name?  But mostly open for most of the day.

What does my son think of my work?  Boring.


I missed yesterday's post due to being super busy but here are some pics:

As you can see, I'm trying out Melanie's "bra" look - it was purely by accident as I wanted to wear the tube skirt up - to avoid the thickness around the waist.

Again, apologies for the photos - but at least I (just now) think I've figured out why - we'll know tomorrow.

today i wore:

pyramid top ... fancy lady

scarf ... ?

jacket ... wanko

skirt ... reitmans

bamboo tights ... ?

yesterday i wore:

t-shirt ... joe fresh

"bra top" ... mango

tube skirt ... jessica

drapey cardigan ... lsw

tights ... dollar store

Little Old Lady Vest

I've had this vest for yonks but am always hesitant to wear it because it looks like something a little old lady would wear.  But, I love the subtle colour variations and just hate having something in the closet which sits there so hauled it out for today.

It seems to look less little old lady like with a skirt and this time I wore it with brown, so that might be the trick.

I had lots of layers and even wore a sweater-jacket over the whole thing, but our unseasonably warm weather allowed me to go sweater-less the whole day.

It's also been a while since I put my hair up (it's been in a ponytail for weeks), so today I switched back; it feels better - no hair on the neck.

today i wore:

shirt ... ann taylor

l/s tee ... kenneth cole

vest ... nygard

scarf ... tentazioni

skirt ... reitmans

bamboo tights ... ??

booties ... from spain

The F-Shirt

As you know, we've been having problems with our hvac at work.  It's been way colder than usual all week.  I was going to be in the office the whole day, so wore pants again.  And layers.

I wore another pair of non-dress pants; tights are just a bit on the cool side.  And I've been wanting to wear my "F-Shirt" since I got it months ago.

 
I don't really like this look - as you can see it looks sloppy when it's all opened up, likely because of the combination of shirt-tail and frilly scarf.  Good thing it was too cold to remove the jacket.

It's not my usual colour combination, but the print caught my eye.  They sort of look like Fs don't they?

Although now that I see it close up, it looks like someone raising an arm up in front of the face.

The shoes too are lined and even have a fuzzy tongue, not that the top of the foot needs warmth.

The good news is that we think the heating may be fixed so tomorrow I'm going to try a skirt again.

today i wore:

f-shirt ... pantman

cardigan ... george

scarf ... dollar store

utility jacket ... denver hayes

brown pants ... nine & company

shoes ... pera mela

Too Hot in a Bad Way

It thundered and lightning'd last night and rain fell.  Big J had to rush out in the middle of the night to put all our patio furniture back under cover.  So no wonder this morning when it looked a bit grey out that I wore something for cooler weather.  BIG. MISTAKE.

It was way too hot.  I did have a tank on under the sweater; it's a sequined one which I mainly use for interest at the neckline area:

The office is air conditioned but when I went out at lunch it was so hot in the tights that I went and bought some pantyhose.  But when I got back to the cool climes of the office, I didn't bother changing.

These shoes are the culprits for some of my footwear being the wrong size.  When I bought them, I went 1/2 a size up due to the pointyness of the toe.  Then the size just stuck in my mind and I bought more shoes which turned out too floppy. Now I don't bother with the size and just go by fit.

The photos are done in the "rustic" grape area again for the shade.  Rustic in this case means old and in need of paint!  We actually have kiwi too and it looks like the plants are finally going to bear fruit - they say it takes 9 years after you plant them to get fruit.

It's Monday! so this post is linking to:

• Visible Monday
• Monday Mingle

Big Brown Multi Scarf

It looked like a grey day.  It looked like it would rain.  It looked cold.  But no.  I had waaaay too much clothing on today: tank top, t-shirt, long-sleeve, scarf, jacket AND a coat.  It was hot.

The scarf is my new (not really new, just never seen on the blog before) thrifty item.  It was normally $20 but I got it for $4.  There was a blue one too, which looked like it would go great with denim, but I got the brown.  It's one of those prints that is often called "multi".  It is really just a big piece of fabric frayed a bit on the ends.  But I like it.  It's light and goes with a lot of stuff, and it's big.

I sometimes wonder why I wear scarves so much.  Is it a crutch?  Is it like Linus' security blanket?  Could I step out of my comfort zone and go for a week without wearing a scarf?  Hmmm.  I feel a personal challenge coming up ....

These Boots are Made for Walking

Since it's still autumn here in Lotusland, I am still in fall colours.  Today's outfit is made for walking.  I had clients to see off-site so wanted to wear something comfy for travel.  What better than a jacket, flippy skirt and booties?

The jacket is super-old, yet I notice it has that faux fur which is still (I hope) fairly current.  I was feeling lazy, so just put on the same scarf from the other day which I've worn a lot already - whenever I'm wearing brown or similar colours.  This scarf was actually my Mom's suggestion and it has become a go-to item.

These are my favourite non-Doc boots.  They are peregrine or pilgrimage boots from Spain.  This is the traditional style which is for hot climes. (vs the rainy season boots from the Welsh Cape post.)

I've had them for years. They are hand-made and I had to eventually put topy soles on them so as not to wear out the stitching.  Having a wood heel they make that nice tok-tok sound. 

 
They are well worn and comfy. Don't they remind you of movies like The Magnificent Seven or Once Upon a Time in the West?

 
The strap criss-crosses in the front and they have the typical Spanish detailing in the back.

Fourth Outfit

My Fourth outfit was a flea market find.  The mercadillo in Spain has all sorts of items: new, old, liquidations, damaged etc.  This particular item was new, but as winter was already over when I was there, it was marked down to €5. 

I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a dress or a tunic, but I felt more comfortable wearing it as a tunic.  It was still a bit cold, so I wore a long-sleeved brown t-shirt under it. 

Most of my long-sleeved tees are from Costco - you get 2 Kenneth Cole tees for about $9.  They are nice and thin, stretchy and come in all sorts of colours.

I just checked the price of the lower-shaft Docs here and they are slightly more than the price I paid for my knee-high ones, so I'm doing a little happy dance (inside my head).