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

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

Tube UnFolded

Usually we have motivational speakers or business leaders at our employee meetings; today we had an improv comic.  It was just the thing to cheer us up. He had us in fits of laughter.  Afterwards, we had a socializer - normally I don't attend, but as we are wrapping up business, I decided to give it a try.  Good idea - there were wonderful appies and we all traded job-hunting tips. 

I tried something new with my tube-waist skirt today.  Normally I wear it folded over but today I pulled the tube waist all the way up and did not cover it up. 

I wore it with my ruffly tank over top  and it almost looks like a dress. 

I've been wearing low heels for a while now - being a little hesitant to try a higher heel due to the bone thing. 

So, today it was the Spanish army boots.  They are really great boots for wet weather.  You can step in a puddle and they'll keep your feet dry.  Even the tongue is connected to the boot so there are no actual  openings except at the top.

today i wore:

t-shirt ... ?

ruffly tank ... hamilton

cardigan ... foglie rosse

tube waist skirt ... jessica

cable tights ... dollar store

spanish army boots

Velvet Rose Motif

Do you ever get the urge to wear something but the weather is not quite right and then it sticks in your mind until you actually wear it?  So it was with today's top.  I've been wanting to wear it for a while. 

The picture is not very good - must be our misty weather - but the top is a rose motif on that velvety fabric which I think is back in vogue.  The camera just does not do it justice - it's an interesting top which reflects the light and looks different under different lighting conditions.

Behind me, you see a thrifty re-purpose of an old leather couch.  It was a good buy to begin with - only $300 new.  It used to have arms and a back and was our downstairs family room couch.  We've had it for about 10 years and it was starting to annoy us so now it is reborn as a divan for outside; the dogs like it a lot.  I wonder if the wood can be covered with something or maybe even just painted.  I saved the leather from the back and arms - my hope is to be able to make something with it.

today i wore:

velvet rose motif top ... mecca

black skirt ... kenneth cole

ruffle jacket ... jessica

cable tights ... dollar store

shoes ... from payless

Snakes and Ruffles

I had no idea what to wear today, but wanted to wear non-black tights since it's been so warm.

In the end I had to resort to panty-hose because the tights were in the wash.  Microfibre has spoiled me, I'm no longer accustomed to the saggy-ness of panty-hose.  I like the sheerness though.

I've been wanting to wear this bracelet for a while - It's from Big J and is leather strips with silver beads.  It doesn't really go, but sometimes a girl can't wait.

We were all just told in a department meeting that we would be getting our layoff notices on October 1st.  No-one was surprised.  Our department has dwindled from a high of 45 staff down to today's 16 as people find jobs elsewhere.  Others are sticking around for the severance package.  At least we got DQ ice-cream at the department meeting.

Today I wore:

black tuxedo tank ... old navy

black ruffle t-shirt ... joe fresh

snake print skirt ... george

panty-hose ... secret

snake cardigan ... jones ny?

maryjanes ... from spain

leather/silver bracelet ... Big J

Black, Cream and Zebras

So after reading Patti of Not Dead Yet Style's Agonizers post yesterday, I decided who cares that everyone is going hoseless - I am more comfortable with hose.  I hauled out the nylons I bought that hot day of the thick tights.  I think I was the only one on the train in hosiery - everyone was bare-legged - except the men of course  :D

It's surprising what a thin layer of nylon will do in preventing friction.  I was much more comfortable and less self-conscious too.  Thank-you Patti for that wonderful post.

I really didn't know what to wear today so just went with a basic black and cream colour palette.  A ruffle tee and cream cardi over my pull on skirt.  I tossed a scarf over a necklace and was done.

The scarf is another one from the defunct True Value Vintage.  It has teeny tiny Fortuny pleats and a wild black and white print with mustard coloured zebras!

There was another pleated scarf in the store that same day in blue tones which I didn't buy and then when I went back the next day it was gone !  She who hesitates is lost.

The scarf was wound tighter around the neck during the day, but on the way home I undid it for some air.

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?

What's In a Name?

Have you ever thought about how (or if) your name affects your personality, your character or your outlook on life? 

I was observing today that a majority of the women in positions of authority in my department have names which start with a K sound!  Whether the name starts with a C or a K, the sound is the hard explosive K.  (Caitlin vs Cynthia) Very strange.  

So I started thinking,  do our names affect how we interact with others?  Are Barbies, Suzies and Vickys friendlier or more fun than Barbaras, Susans and Victorias?  Are the Decimas and Perseidas of the world destined to be statisticians or research scientists?  

What do you think?  Do you think your name has made you what you are?

Big J thinks I usually dress conservatively and sometimes a little weirdly, and I wonder if it's because my name is more serious and not as common?   I hope today's outfit is just conservative and not weird.

After yesterday's fiasco, even though it was a sunshiney day, I wore long-sleeves and a good thing too - it was still quite cold.  This is the altered skirt again. The shirt is a bit big on me, but it was a gift and it has some nice lol-embroidery around the neck.