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

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

Snakes and Giraffes

Hopefully most of you had a nice Labour Day off?  Today's outfit was a what do I wear post-Labour Day outfit.  It was sunny and warm so I hauled out the snake skirt and this time teamed it with a s/s crewneck sweater.

The sweater was only $3 at the liquidator's, so I got it in navy too.  I actually had a black sweater on most of the day but had to remove it in the end when it got too hot.

I wanted to go with creamier tights, but I think they are in the wash, so went with black instead.

I had to change out my purse too, but did not have time to do a complete switch.  Luckily I have one of those change-the-outside-et-voila bags.

I've never seen these bags except for on ebay and in shows, but I'd love to have a few more of the shells.  It's so handy to be able to just change the outside of the bag.

This size I carry is the "giant" size - I forget the name.  I also have the original classic size which is smaller and daintier - more like the styles from the '50s.

Today I wore:

s/s red crewneck sweater ... no label

scarf ... joe fresh

snake print skirt ... george, altered by me

black textured tights ... dollar store

purse ... miche

shoes ... spain

This post is linked to:

• Two Thirty-Five Designs
• Ruby Tuesday  

Snake Purse Repair

The hand-me down snake purse from my mom has become my favourite. 

I have quite a few purses and usually try to use a different one every few days.  When I kept coming back to this one, it got me thinking why do I like it so much? What makes a great purse? 

Your must-haves for a purse might be different, but for me, I think a great purse should have the following characteristics:

• Size: a purse should be big, not briefcase big, but big enough to hold a duo-tang - I have lots of stuff I like to carry around with me.
• Have some outside pockets, with zippers or snaps so I can get at my transit pass, and access card without having to open the purse itself.
• Have a zip top closure - I don't like it when things can fall out.
• Have a few pockets on the inside - both zippered and non for pens, gum, candy and what have you
• Be a handbag - I like the practicality of a messenger style bag, but nothing beats the look of a handbag; ideally the handles should be long enough to slip over my shoulder when I have a coat on
• Be able to stand up to a few drops of rain - Lotusland is wet

So, when I damaged the snake purse during yesterday's fire drill, I was none too pleased:

Luckily the ripped piece was in the desk drawer, so I slipped it into my wallet for repair later.  I used that Weld-Bond non-toxic glue again. 

Here's the before:

And here's the after:

It's not perfect, but you have to look quite closely to see that it's been fixed! Not bad.

Snake Print and Fish

Aaaarrrrrrgh!  This is a bit of a rant post.

Have just spent half an hour talking to someone at the UPS call centre.  We were not home to receive a parcel yesterday and I called last night to have it delivered today between 9am and 4:30pm.  When it didn't come, I called at 5:15 and was assured by a nice lady that it had been put on the truck in the morning and should be arriving tonight before 7:30pm, and if not I could phone to have it delivered at a specific time.

I knew deliveries stop at 7pm, so called again when nothing came.  This time the call got routed to the Philippines and the CSR said there was a problem with my address.  I told him it was always the same driver and he knew our house.  Then he said the package never made it onto the truck that day - this was contrary to what the nice lady said earlier, so I asked if the item had been put on the truck in the morning how could it not be on the truck now?

So much discussion later: do we live in a house?  yes.  there is only one door.  the address is right on the front gate.  in big numbers.  - I was told someone would phone between 9am and 11am tomorrow!  I asked about the 2 day delivery since it was the 2nd day now and was told that it was delivered just I wasn't there to receive it.  How could it have been delivered if I don't have it yet ?!?

So long story short - if it doesn't come tomorrow, we won't get it until Tuesday.  Aaaarrrrrrgh!  I expect too much.

Today we had a lovely sushi lunch at work so I wore something with a bit of room for expansion - the altered by me snake print skirt.  My plan was to wear it with a big overtop but at the last minute I decided to go with a belt and t-shirt.

Just made it before the rain started full blast.

The belt came with the pair of jeans which got turned into a bag. It is actually quite blingey so I kept it for accessorizing.  I don't have a closeup, but I think you can click on the pic below to upsize 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.

 

Animal Prints

Today's outfit is a sweater set from way back, literally ages and ages ago - from when the kids were small.  It's a twinset which I like for these transitional not quite hot but not really cold days.  I had stopped wearing it for a while when leopard was no longer the mode.

The under-sweater has short sleeves so it's not overly hot. I doubled the animal print by adding a leopard scarf, here's a closeup:

And to complete the zoo theme, I carried a hand-me-down "snake" purse which I got from my Mom:

I think this is now one of my favourite bags for several reasons.  It is big, has lots of pockets for transit pass, keys, security card etc and is perfect for the rainy days we get here.  It is also a relatively neutral colour.

I'm linking to Patti's Visible Monday where you can see everyone else's outfits for today!