Layers of Blue

It was seriously cold in our office today, so good thing I had tons of layers.  I felt a bit lazy so wore my black cords.

I don't wear pants much anymore - most of my "dress" pants need to be shortened so I can wear them without heels and you can see what the non-dress pants look like above.

I wore 3 layers of clothing over a tank but it wasn't enough. My original thought was to wear this sans scarf like so:

But then in the end thought it would look a bit weird, so ended up adding the scarf.

today i wore:

tanktop ... old navy

mock turtle ... ?

keyhole t-shirt ... segments

zip cardigan ... rino rossi

scarf ... ?

cords ... calvin klein jeans

shoes ... docs

Black is Black

Our family's plan is to watch one movie each weekend during the summer holidays and as expected with 3 males in the family we have seen Spiderman and Avengers. Last night we went to see Dark Knight Rises; if you like Batman movies, I thought this one was pretty good - Anne Hathaway is great as Catwoman. So I was still in a dark frame of mind and since it was a miserable rainy day, I thought something black would be in order.

This is the MNG top from the mercadillo in Spain worn with a turtleneck underneath and my basic knit skirt (Kenneth Cole) and my Docs.  I like this type of pullover semi-tunic tops and Big J does too.  Don't have to worry about belt buckles, ties or buttons.  Just a basic rainy day look.

For Visible Monday, and Monday Mingle I blinged it up with these accessories; they are from a liquidator's - but I think the necklace is Avon of all things.

They feel dressy and I'm never sure if I'm overdoing it.  But I like them, they look like stuff from another time don't they? 

Darks

It's still wet and soggy here in Lotusland; it just doesn't feel like summer is on its way, it doesn't even feel like spring.

A dark day called for dark clothes so I paired another mercadillo find with Costco staples.  The mercadillo is great, can't wait to go back - got so much stuff there.

This is actually a summer item, but I wore a turtle-neck under it for warmth.  It turned out to be slightly muggy, so probably could've gotten away with a tee underneath.

Since it poured with rain in the morning, I wore my Docs again.  Hope it gets sunny again soon.  The rain does keep the plants nice and green though doesn't it?

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).

A Purple Sort of Day

When I was little, one of my favourite books was Harold and the Purple Crayon. Harold was a little boy who went around drawing what he needed in his own world - all with a purple crayon.

I always thought of purple as a regal colour - not sure why because it's blue that is called "royal".

So today I felt rather purple and wore this:

I went against my natural inclination for black and teamed it with a charcoal grey skirt.  This grey skirt has a thrifty story behind it.  I bought it at Costco at full price, but did not take off the tags.  Then, a few weeks later it got reduced to almost 50%, I still had the receipt, so I bought another one and returned the original!

The original plan was to go with a red short sleeved top under the sweater, but I nixed that for long sleeves and wore a red belt instead. 

I never would've thought red and purple would go, but it looks okay doesn't it?. 

Skirts Don't Scratch

After yesterday's fiasco with the jeans, I decided to wear a long floaty skirt since it was a nice sunny day.  This was a much better idea - it was even easier to move about.

I am really a closet bohême at heart and like to think that I would probably wear more of this sort of thing if the weather was better and if I didn't have to work.

I mixed more dollar store bracelets (the two beaded ones):

with my multi-colour beaded watch and some religious bracelets:

Also wore my Mary Jane style Docs:

All this to go for a dim-sum brunch:

It was actually quite yummy - not overly salty for once which is better for my blood pressure.

Snip Those Plastic Rings and Ties

I always cut those plastic 6-pack rings before recycling them so that they don't accidentally get caught around the neck of a bird or animal, should they for some reason not make it to the recycling plant.  Newspapers and magazines also come bundled in a plastic tie, albeit a much bigger one.

Today when out for a walk, one of those plastic ties for bundles of newspapers crossed my path.

I was walking quite quickly when all of a sudden ... face-plant!  I tripped by entangling my feet in a plastic tie.

Luckily, I broke my fall with knees and the heels of my hands before landing on my teeth and cheek! 

So I spent half of the day looking like this. As you can see, there is nothing broken and I escaped with a scraped knee, sore teeth and some bruises.

I wore the skirt I altered back in January - it fits nicely and is very comfy.  It looked to be a rainy day, so I wore my knee-high Docs also.

I also wore excellent tights that I got in Spain from a shop called Calcedonia.  They are triple-stitched and have a nice wide band across the tummy so they don't bind.

Unfortunately, the fall completely wrecked them:

I didn't bother to buy new ones, just pulled the torn ones right over the dressing.  I wonder if there is some way to salvage them?  Hmm ...

A Thrifty Monday

Today's post was going to be a Refashion post, but what with making and eating dinner etc it is now a bit late to do any sewing ... I did get some more stuff from my favourite notions store and hope to have something to post soon.

So instead, onto my thrifty outfit.  We were at Costco again on Sunday.  They have good basic clothes (think jeans, t-shirts, jackets) at relatively low prices: jeans start at $19, t-shirts at $9 and jackets around $29.  They are usually not made from cheapy materials.

There was a long-sleeved Ellen Tracy t-shirt for $9.99 in a nice neutral taupe  colour and when I got to the cash desk it was only $2.50 !!!

It being Monday and thus cold in the office, I layered the t-shirt over a polo, and wore my Apologies Mr Miyake vest under a Ports Int'l sweater.

I matched it with a Sears skirt that was another deal from last summer.  It was $40, marked down lots of times to finally $7.99 and then I got 50% off, so $4.  The skirt is one of those tube waist things which I love.  It's become my "skirt to wear instead of jeans" and I have it in lots of basic colours.

Here's the outfit:

The visible-ness of course are the Docs.  These are the super-high ones from the other day and they always attract a lot of attention for some reason. 

The sweater I like because it has an interesting pocket detail:

2 Pockets !

My New Boots

I envy women who can wear high heels. There are so many great shoes that get bypassed in the stores due to their (for me) extreme heel height.

My highest wearable heel is about 2 inches, and even then only if I won't be on my feet much. So, I lean towards boots, usually Doc Martens and Spanish riding/walking boots.

Here are my newest boots. Bought them down south, so saved a bit on the price. They are knee-high and have a zip down the side for easy off-on.

These boots aren't for everyone - my kids hate them.  But Big J likes them, they are super comfy and amazingly warm.

I'm glad Agyness Deyn made Docs popular again. Aren't you?

Booting Up

Well, it's Fashion Friday again and since it is still cold and wet out, I thought a post about boots would be in order.

For me, boots are the almost ideal footwear.  Boots can be dressed up or down and you can wear them with pants, skirts or dresses.  They come in different styles and shaft heights.  They protect you from water on rainy days and the cold on freezy or breezy days.

Here are some coveted ones on my wish list:

This one is from the Valverde Boot company in Spain.

Spanish boots are extremely well made, usually by hand and the leather wears very well.  The riding and walking boots are super comfortable, and they look great with longer skirts. I've always had compliments on mine, and now that Kate Middleton has made them in vogue, I am definitely considering getting more.

The only problem with Spanish boots is that they are made for Spanish women who have no calf to speak of.  So quite often, the tall boots are not wide enough in the calf.

I'm also a Dr Martens fan and have several pairs of shoes and boots.  This one is the Sanrio boot, it's super-cute. 

Like many asian women, I'm a big Hello Kitty fan.  These are probably not that useful wardrobe wise though, so this might just be an admire-from-afar item.

The last pair which is my favourite are by Chie Mihara:

They look sort of Victorian, but modern.  I envision wearing them with a longish flippy-hemmed skirt and fitted jacket.

What Weightloss?

Well, it's Wednesday again (update: okay, all day I thought it was Wednesday, that's what happens when you take time off work) and not much to report.  I have been successful in doing more exercise.  I'm watching old X-Files episodes now while doing the elliptical trainer.  I'm hoping with the resolution thing that maybe it'll pull me along until Spring Break.

So today was another cold and extremely rainy day. I wore lots of layers:

I don't usually wear much mustard, but liked this jacket because it's very retro and 80s looking even though I just got it new last year.  I love the super-long sleeves which have those thumb-holes.  And the colours create a nice diamond-hourglass pattern at the waist which I hope is slimming.

Unfortunately the shoes are not the same.  I keep 3 or 4 pairs of shoes at work in various colours for days when I wear rain boots, and I wore Docs today.  I don't have a pic, but found the exact same shoes (in worse condition) on the web:

You can't really tell in the picture, but the jacket has a super-high collar which I never wear buttoned up.  Since I wear it open all the time, it looks weird:

So right when I got home, I did a mini refashion and re-sewed the buttons so that you can see them when the collar is undone. 

Flapping Tongues

I'm not sure if this is considered a refashion or not but I've definitely altered these:  I have a lovely pair of Doc Martens Airware boots which I got while on holidays in Idaho a few years ago.  They are the cracklin half boot:

Doc Martens are my absolutely favourite shoe. They are a must-take when travelling - they are so comfy.  I didn't notice at the time I bought this pair, but the right boot had an overly flapping tongue.  

A Wagging Tongue

The leather was a tiny bit softer and it wasn't as stiff as normal.  This caused the tongue to flop over when I wore the boots untied (which is how I usually wear them).  Not so bad under a pair of jeans, but I didn't like how it looked with a skirt or shorts.

So, my favourite notions store to the rescue.  They have piles of leather pieces which though not quite as cheap as a few years ago, are still reasonable.  I was looking for a pink piece, but all the pink ones were huge and cost big bucks ($8.99 or more).  I finally found this purple piece for $1.99:

First thing I did was "measure" the tongue by tracing its outline onto the leather:

Then I cut it out

Then, using the same glue as from the Swag Bag refashion, I glued both the leather flap and the tongue:

Then it was just a matter of slapping the two pieces together, and pressing it down a bit.

Check out those chocolates in the background!

I liked it so much, I did the other boot too:

Too bad I didn't do this sooner before the flowers rubbed off the floppy tongue!