Look! Free Coffee

Today I was an observer for my workplace's candidate interview process.  To ensure fairness - that all applicants are treated equally, I sat in on the interviews.  This is a month-long process; I can see how it can get very gruelling asking the same questions over and over.  

I have on my usual workplace "uniform": skirt, top, jacket.  I went for total black and white which I think is one of my winter stand-by colour combinations (the other is brown).

The jacket is a casual faux suede with eye-catching white stitching and gold buttons.  It's also a very dark black.

It was rainy and since I also had some client meetings, I didn't want to wear my army boots, so went with Franco Sarto double-zip booties.  Whoever invented the double-zip shoe - kudos.  Soo easy to put on.

And why do I have such a silly grin?

Well, our coffee supplier decided to toss out their packaged coffee today - yes, toss out.  They were introducing a new seasonal blend, so out with the old, in with the new.  Such a waste.

I stepped in and volunteered to take it home.  There was quite a bit so I sent round a note for co-workers to help themselves.  Even so, there was a lot leftover -- quite the haul for a thrifty person like me!

today i wore:

flower shirt ... jacob

scarf ... ?

jacket ... st john

skirt ... jessica

tights ... dollar store

booties ... franco sarto

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

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

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

Basic Black with Colour

Today's outfit consists of mainly basic black.  I had a lot of meetings and you can never tell with meeting rooms whether it's going to be too cold or too hot.

Better to be prepared for either situation.  The solution of course was lots of layers.  I wanted something that I could sit in all day but be able to easily adjust the temperature by removing a jacket if need be.

I did not actually wear the boots all day.  I switched at work to my Monk shoes - there's a photo in this post.

I'm not sure if I like this a-line style of skirt; it seems to require something other than a jacket on top - perhaps something more feminine.

In the end, it looked a little too tame, so I added my multi-colour paisley scarf.  There was quite a mixture of textures and patterns by the time it was all put together.

today i wore:

flower shirt ... jacob

pullover ... george

scarf ... ?

jacket ... lady hathaway

skirt ... della spiga

shoes (not shown) ... docs

School-Marm

It's down to about 8 degrees (43 Fahrenheit or 281 Kelvin) in the mornings now, which means more layers. 

Today's outfit felt very school-marmish - perhaps because of the button up collar and scarf.

I've been wanting to wear burgundy for a while, but it just hasn't felt like autumn.  But now that our temperatures are low, I decided to go for it - sunny days or not.

This sweater is from at least 5 years ago, when absolutely no-one wore burgundy.  But I've always liked the colour, so actually have lots of stuff that I can use again, now that it's in vogue.  It actually looks like a purply colour in the pictures, but that's just the camera.

I wore it over a shirt which has velcro closures - can anything be sillier?  Great for super-heroes who need a quick costume change, but absolutely useless for women who want their blouses to stay done up throughout the day.

Today I wore:

velcro shirt ... zara woman

sweater ... old navy

scarf ... ??

skirt ... kenneth cole

jacket ... jessica

tights ... cK

shoes ... ??

It's Official

So it's official; we are all laid off, effective March 31, 2013.  They held meeting after meeting today with all the managers and employees.  It was a little anti-climactic; no histrionics, no agitated employees, nothing to indicate that over 100 people are losing their livelihood.

I had intended to wear something memorable for today - but in the end decided that warmth and comfort would be more important, and so instead reached for an old stand-by.

I have a funny feeling I've worn this exact outfit before but couldn't find it in the posts - time to fix my labels.  So perhaps that's why I reached for it again - in times of upheaval, we cling to the tried and true.

One good thing though is that at least due to a refashion of sorts, the buttons are now on the top of the collar instead of sewn on the other side.

I also had on a sparkly t-shirt which you can barely see:

What better way to handle the layoff blues than some retail therapy?  More on that in another post.  Did you know that Canadians spend about $300 / month  on impulse purchases?  That's over $3000 / year.  If you started saving that $300 at twenty, in ten years, by age thirty you could have a sizeable downpayment on a house!

Today I wore:

t-shirt ... kenneth cole

jacket ... sasta

skirt ... kenneth cole

scarf ... fabric remnant

tights ... dollar store

shoes ... payless

  

All this for $50 !

Yes, that's right.  Today's outfit cost $50. Retail.

Most weekends, I'll wear jeans, a top and a scarf; but, this weekend, a bunch of us were going for a surprise birthday lunch for a co-worker who has been off work due to illness.  So needless to say, I didn't want to look like a slob.  It being Saturday, I still wore jeans of course.

We went to Kingsway Sushi which is part of the Top Gun restaurant group.  As expected for a large group and all-you-can-eat, many of the tasty items which we ordered never arrived.  I think what may have happened is that since we had 2 tables, the food went to the other table.  I distinctly heard people at the other table say "What is this? ..."

My new invisible step stool ...

But, conversation was flowing and we had a good mix of family and friends at our table.  There was lots of yummy stuff which I had never tried before like teriyaki chicken roll, something crunchy and yummy inside sushi rice and wrapped with salmon, oyster motoyaki (oyster baked in a sinfully delicious, very rich egglike sauce), and all sorts of cooked and uncooked foods.

We topped it all off with mango pudding and birthday cake.  These photos were taken after, thus the stuffed look.

So back to my outfit of $50.  It's true, retail prices, everything bought on sale.

Today, I wore:

shortie jacket ... jessica ... $8 at sears

necktie ... ? ... $1 at dollar store

collared tee ... ? ... $3 at a liquidators

ruffle tanks ... hamilton ... $9 at winners

jeans ... kenneth cole ... $14 at costco

shoes ... reflexan laufkomfort ... $14 at army & navy

Here's a closeup of the shoes:

I really like the colour - goes great with jeans.  And they are a clog, slip-on style which I love for pants.

Ruffle, Lace and Stripes

Ugh.  We went to Costco after work to pick up milk - the chocolate milk is almost $2 less than at our local super-market.  To avoid a huge bill we have recently been buying only if something is a staple or on sale.  So today we got cereal and chicken, both on sale. 

The ugh part is that there were all sorts of food demos - I tried deli cuts on bread, havarti cheese, barbecue sauce on a chunk of hot dog, kettle corn, bear paw cookies etc etc.  By the time we were done I was sampled out, and in no mood for dinner.

Why don't they ever have sliced watermelon, or blueberries to sample?

Today's outfit is my New Year's skirt with a multi-fabric lace top, my witchy tights and a ruffle jacket.  I am not sure about the tights - a solid colour would've probably been better.

The scarf was a gwp - one year I was buying a long coat and my mom took me to a little store downtown.  They had exactly the coat I was looking for (I still wear it to this day) and when we bought it, my mom asked if there was a gift with purchase and lo and behold I was allowed to pick out a scarf!

Today I wore:

tuxedo tank ... old navy

lace top ... merona

skirt ... della spiga

tights ... CK?

shoes ... privo?

jacket ... tradition

scarf ... ? gift with purchase

A Khaki Sort of Day

Apologies to everyone - I've been so busy that blogging has been moved to the back burner.  But today is Visible Monday!

What have I been up to?  Well, last Monday, I attended another council meeting; Wednesday I went to get a bone scan and at home, we are trying unsuccessfully to get the house in order after moving the older son downstairs.

We have some wonderful late summer weather - it was a nice 23 C degrees - any more than that and it tends to get sticky and unpleasant.

Today's outfit is my usual look, but sans scarf - it's my "work" look - a skirt, top and jacket.  Although it's sunny out, I'm starting to think autumn and wore darker tights.

I quite like this colour - it's sable and I think it would go well with all that burgundy that we are supposed to be seeing for fall.

The thrifty item from this outfit is the ruffled tank which I found at the Dollar Store.  Just the thing to wear under open v-necks.

I am still quite happy with the comfy, easy-on tube-waist skirts, although I am more comfortable with a jacket worn over top.

Today I wore:

ruffled tank ... dollar store

vneck sheer print blouse ... cleo

dark green suedey zip jacket ... tradition

tube waist skirt ... jessica

sable tights ... secret

shoes ... privo by clarks

Today's post links to:

• Monday Mingle
• Watch What I'm Wearing

Coral Overload

This is another skirt which I've wanted to wear for a while; it's from the Sears Outlet. Unfortunately, I don't remember the price - I should write these things down - it was probably about $7 since I don't like to pay more than $9 for a skirt.

I hadn't planned to wear a jacket, but it seemed like it might be cold and the only thing that matched was the one from the swanky lunch.


By fluke, I hauled out my French squares top and the colour went quite well and then I added the polka dot scarf.

I wasn't sure what with the jacket being so suit-like and the skirt being so floral and un-suit-like, but there were lots of colours and textures; here's a closeup:

The skirt is nice because it has flippy walking pleats in the front which add a bit of swing and swoosh.

And it is certainly visible; Big J said he could see me from the top of the escalator when he picked me up from the station.

Today's post is linked to:

• Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style
• Monday Mingle at Glamamom
• Watch What I'm Wearing 

A Scarf-Free Day

It being a short week due to the stat holiday, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out NOT wearing a scarf.

After reading Patti of Not Dead Yet Style's posts on 80's and 90's fashion, I was inspired to haul out an old blouse from that time period (80's methinks) for today's outfit. 

I've always liked this blouse and could never bring myself to donate it.  It's a double-breasted blouse with tucks in a lovely colour combination of charcoal, black and red.  The print almost looks cartoony.  And it has nice covered buttons.

I was trying to not wear a scarf today and instead did a mish-mash of necklaces at the neck.  I think it looks okay.

I wore it with my New Year's skirt, the grey jacket from Sears, and the same shoes from the swanky lunch.  The shoes are actually Naturalizers! I know right?  lol-shoes.  They are from the N5 line which are supposed to be contoured to the natural shape of a woman's foot making them more comfy I suppose.  

They are part of the haul from the A+N Shoe Sale that happens once a year.  I am not one for outrageous heels or super fancy shoes, but people have gotten $800 shoes there for 19.99.  I think these ones are only about $90 normally.

I found a video featuring Jacqui Cohen (of A+N) talking about the sale from last year and you can see some of the fabulous shoes that are available.  This year, they had 100,000 pairs of designer shoes!

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.