Testing, Testing ... One, Two

Today was day two of three days of purple/plum outfits.  Here is how it went:  Yesterday, I was happy.    Today, I was decidedly less happy.  I felt trapped, constrained, boxed in.  I wasn't entirely comfortable in my second skin, which seemed to affect how I felt in my own skin.  Here is what I think will happen tomorrow:  I will want to break out of the box.  I will abandon any notion of wearing a purple/plum outfit.  Or, my self-discipline will kick in and I will force myself to wear a purple/plum outfit (even though it wasn't dictated that I wear purple/plum outfits on three consecutive days).  I will end up feeling miserable at the end of the day.  I suppose that I could call the endeavour off, but I feel that I committed to it and must now see it through, for better or worse.

coat: H&M, old
scarf: ?
gloves: ?
sweater: Gap, old
skirt: H&M, old
belt (not showing): ?
tights: Mondor
boots: Frye (from Get Outside)

Testing, Testing ... One

coat: H&M, old

beret: ?

scarf: H&M, old

gloves: ?

shirt: Gap, old

jumper: from an off-price store, old

sweater: Gap, old

tights:?

boots: Hunter

pin: ?

purse: Nine West, old

I am testing out an idea for a project that came to me a couple of days ago.  I am not ready to reveal the idea (or project) just yet, but I will do so by the end of the week, regardless of whether the test is successful and I decide to go ahead with the project.

In the meantime, I have planned three days of purple/plum outfits.  Today is day one.  I don't know if I will wear purple/plum outfits on three consecutive days or if I will space the three days out.  Since I usually dress based on what I feel like wearing, I cannot guarantee that I will feel like wearing purple/plum outfits on each of three consecutive days.  But, I am aiming for three days, consecutive or otherwise.  One down, two to go!

A couple of points about today's purple/plum outfit.  First, there is probably as much turquoise in the outfit as there is purple, so I could have called it a turquoise outfit.  But I am calling it a purple/plum outfit.  Second, had it not been raining today, I would have worn a different pair of boots -- the Fluevog boots that I am wearing in the photo below -- the colour of which would have picked up on the colour of the buttons on the sweater (which, sadly, isn't apparent in the photo).

I am looking forward to tomorrow.  I wonder what I will end up wearing.

socks: ?

boots: Fluevog

One in Every Colour

On Thursday and Friday, I wore the same sweater, but in different colours.  Today, I am wearing the famous (at least on this blog) Fluevog Calamity boots, although in natural leather rather than the black leather in which they have hitherto been seen.  You may have also noticed that the blouse I was wearing yesterday I have worn before, but, again, in a different colour (yesterday, in purple, previously, in red).  I am pointing all this out to highlight one of my tendencies, which is to buy the same article of clothing, or the same accessory, in all the colours it comes in that I like.  I am not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.  I seem to recall reading in a fashion magazine some time ago the advice that if you like something (or maybe it was if something looks good on you or suits you), you should buy it in a variety of colours.  Of course, this is no answer to the question of whether buying one in every colour is a good thing or a bad thing.  In any event, I have been trying to break this habit, sadly, without much success to date.  The dress that I am wearing today is a very recent purchase.  I liked the style so much that I bought it, not only in denim, but also in a lilac large gingham fabric.  Of course, to my credit (or so I will argue), I didn't buy it in every colour and fabric that it came in.

coat: Old Navy, old
beret: ?
scarf: H&M, old
gloves: ?
dress: Pure by Alfred Sung for Zellers
sweater: Zara, last season
tights: ?
boots: Fluevog
pin: ?

Staying Cheerful

It seems rather tedious to always be talking about the weather, but since the weather is a rather big factor in clothing choices (it certainly is for me), talking about the weather when discussing daily outfits can't be helped.  Last week, when it turned warm and sunny, I was happy, because an end to the months of bundling up was in sight.  But, I also knew that it was too soon to expect that we wouldn't be seeing more days of cold and greyness.  And, sure enough, the cold and greyness came this weekend and continued through to today.  I was thinking today how strange it is that my tolerance of unchanging weather (from Winter to Spring), when I am expecting it to change, comes and goes.  Usually I just deal with it, but every once in awhile, I just can't stand it anymore.  It's strange because if I had to choose between a Fall/Winter wardrobe and a Spring/Summer wardrobe, I would definitely opt for the former.  I also like the feeling of being embraced by warmth when I come inside on a chilly Fall day or a cold Winter day.  So, why, when we are transitioning from Winter to Spring, do I sometimes have these feelings of not being able to live through another cold  and grey day.  Here's what I think:  I simply tire of wearing my heavy coats.  Everything else I can tolerate: the sweaters, the wools, the tweeds, the tights, the boots, the gloves, the scarves, the hats.  But, the coats, they just seem to sap me of all my positivity. Could it be because while I can mix up what's beneath the coat, so as to keep myself stimulated, excited and entertained by a variety of outfits, I am limited in this respect when it comes to coats?  Maybe next Fall/Winter I will have to figure out a way to make the coats work so that I can stay cheerful to the actual very last day of Winter!

coat: Gap, old

blouse: Gap, old

sweater: JCrew, old

skirt: Gap, old

tights: H&M, old

socks: ?

boots: Tretorn, last season (from Capezio)

pin: ?

She Means Business

Today was another one of those days at work when activities called for formal business attire.  I have been looking forward to photographing today's outfit since it was first conceived, about a month ago.  I have been wondering whether I would like the outfit as much on me photographed as I liked it on me just looking in the mirror.   I do!  The  first version of this outfit was different from the final version.  The first version included a long wrap skirt and a long jacket.  The long wrap skirt was discarded and replaced by a pencil skirt (miraculously, I remembered that I have a couple of black pencil skirts), principally because I didn't think that a long wrap skirt would work so well in wet, sloppy weather.  The jacket was discarded because, when I tried it on, the lapels wouldn't lay flat.  If I am going to be honest, at that point, I thought that the outfit was toast, but, for some reason, I just couldn't give up on it.  So, I checked my collection of jackets, and there it was, the "answer jacket".  It's strange how sometimes I give up on outfits, in the midst of their construction, and, other times, I don't.  I have already said how I dislike experiencing angst in putting outfits together.  Maybe, whether I give up on an outfit or not depends on my level of angst tolerance on any particular day

shirt: H&M, mens, last season
sweater: Zara, last season
jacket: H&M, old
skirt: Zara, old
leggings: Gap, old
socks: ?
boots: Fluevog
tie: Gap, last season
pin: Trove

The First Day of Spring, The Last Blast of Winter

According to The Weather Network, yesterday (Saturday) was the first day of Spring.  So, to mark the occasion, I thought that I would post some of my outfits from Fall/Winter 2009 that haven't seen the light of this blog (although they have seen the light of day).  A few of my favourite outfits are included in this set.  It seems somehow fitting to be looking at Winter clothes again, because, after a week of mild and sunny weather, it turned cold and grey again this weekend.  On Saturday, I definitely under-dressed for my comfort level.  I had to rush home and that made me cranky.  I don't like rushing!  And, I don't like being cranky!

coat: Canada Goose, old

hat: HBC, old

gloves: Gap, old

dress: The Embellished Room

sweater: Gap, mens

leggings: Lululemon

socks:  LLBean

boots: LLBean

pin: ?

(PS: I lived in this coat this Winter when the temperature was in the minus mid-teens celsius.)

coat: HBC, old

beret: ?

mitts: Gap, old

shirt: H&M, mens

grey sweater: Zara

black sweater: H&M, mens

skirt: H&M, old

leggings: Gap, old

socks: LLBean

boots: LLBean

pin: Trove

coat: HBC, old

beret: ?

mitts: Gap, old

shirt: H&M, mens

sweater: LLBean, mens

vest: LLBean, mens

skirt: RW&Co, old

tights: H&M, old

boots: Fluevog

pin: ?

coat: H&M, old

scarf: H&M

mitts: Old Navy

shirt: TNT

vest: H&M, old

sweater: H&M, old

skirt: H&M, old

leggings: Lululemon, old

socks: LLBean

boots: Hunter

pin: ?

coat: Gap, old

beret: ?

scarf: H&M

gloves: ?

shirt: Gap

sweater: Mendocino

vest: The Embellished Room

skirt: Gap

leggings: Lululemon, old

boots: Bogs

suspenders: H&M, old

pin: ?

Shades of Grey (and Green)

rain coat: LLBean, mens

scarf: H&M

gloves: H&M

shirt: TNT

grey sweater: Zara

green sweater: Preloved

skirt: H&M, old

leggings: Lululemon, old

socks: ?

boots: Hunter

pin: Trove

There are a few things that I love about the styles that I was writing about yesterday that I neglected to mention.  One of these is gingham shirts; another, is rain ponchos; a third, is the colour canoe green (can a colour have a better name?).  Today, the rains arrived (saying that it's raining in this way sounds so much more romantic I think).  So, I took the opportunity to wear two of my favourite things: my canoe green wellies and my canoe green oversize rain coat.  There is nothing better on a rainy day, assuming that you can't stay indoors curled up with a good book, than not having to carry an umbrella, instead, feeling the rain hitting you, and being able to jump in puddles!  (My life was definitely transformed when I was introduced to 19th century English literature, in particular, romantic and gothic literature.)

Acceptance and Moving On

jacket: Eddie Bauer, old

beret: American Apparel

shirt: Gap, old

sweater: Gap, old

skirt: H&M, old

tights: ?

belt: H&M, old

boots: Fluevog, old

I have reached the point of accepting that for the next little while I probably won't be 100 percent satisfied with what I choose to wear.  It seems that, notwithstanding all the years that I have been dressing myself, I have yet to master transition weather dressing (this despite the fact that I appear to be able to layer clothing with, what I think is, some degree of success, and that layering, so they say, is supposed to be the be all and end all of transition weather dressing).  So, forgive me if, throughout this difficult period of time, I say absolutely nothing about my daily outfits.

An Old-ie But a Good-ie (or Jacket Required)

coat: ?

scarf: H&M

beret: ?

gloves: Holt Renfrew, old

suit: H&M, old

sweater: H&M, old

tights: ?

boots: Fluevog, old

Sometimes my work activities call for more formal business-like attire.  By this I mean that, at the very least, a jacket must be worn, at the most, a suit is required.  Today was one of those days.  So, I dug deep in my closet and came out with an old favourite.  Suffice it to say that, if I have to dress business-like, I am certainly going to try to push the envelope as far as possible, for the field in which I work.