Just Another Workday Jacket

Sometimes sales do produce a coveted item available in my size (or, in the case of an item that has no sizes, like a bag, just a coveted item).  That happened today.  And it made for the perfect ending to a rather busy week (or the perfect beginning to what I hope will be a more or less normal next week).

The Black Eyelet Lace Dress

It isn't that I didn't like what I wore today.  It was alright.  But I really would have preferred to have worn one of the two new linen dresses that I bought yesterday, because I am so excited about them.  I am sure that I have said this before, but it bears repeating:  There is nothing that I love more, for Summer dressing, than the loose fitting linen dress.  It is always fun to scout out interesting ones, like the one that I wore on Saturday.  Or the two that I bought yesterday.  Certain obligations kept me from wearing one of my two new linen dresses today, but, hopefully, fingers crossed, I will get the opportunity to wear one sooner rather than later.

The Chariots Of Fire Sweatshirt

Old sweatshirt, old t-shirt, old hightops, old newsboy cap.  So comfortable, so comforting.  And, I can see the attraction of wearing shorts every day during the Summer.

The Dusty Rose Faux Leather Biker Vest

It's neat that rough and tough clothes, like leather biker jackets and vests, are available in colours and not just in black.  Without a doubt, I love these clothes in black, but a dusty rose biker vest sure made for a nice change.  And it provided another opportunity to wear my rose quartz necklace, a beloved piece at the moment (not to mention a soft version of the heavy duty silver chain that might be worn with a black biker vest).

Odile's Dress

When I bought the dress that I wore today, in the depths of Winter, white, off-white, cream, ecru (you name it) lace dresses were all the rage for Spring/Summer.  On seeing the dress on the rack, the first comment to my friend, with whom I was shopping, was that it was too bad that the dress didn't come in cream or white, but that, oh well, I would try it on just the same.  My friend and I theorized that, perhaps, the dress had come in cream or white, but that given the buzz around white, off-white, cream, ecru (you name it) lace dresses for Spring/Summer, the store had sold out of them.  Obviously, I ended up buying the dress in black.  I never did find out whether the dress had ever come in cream or white.  At some point, I did see it in blue, but I never saw it in cream or white.  So no Odette's dress.  Only Odile's dress.

The Union Jack Tote Bag

Yesterday, as I was on my way home from yoga practice, I passed by a parking lot in which had popped up a Top Shop.  It reminded me of my trip to NYC in May.  On my first afternoon in NYC, I went to Top Shop.  I have no access to a "bricks and mortar" Top Shop where I live, so I was excited to be able to check one out.  I bought a few things at Top Shop, including the union jack tote bag that I carried today.    I have never been a big tote bag person.  A few weeks before my trip to NYC, however, I started craving one.  When I saw the union jack tote bag in the Top Shop, I knew that it would satisfy my tote bag craving.  It definitely has ... and then some.  I can't believe that I haven't featured the tote bag on this blog yet, because I pretty much haven't been able to put it down since I got it.  I didn't stop by the pop-up Top Shop yesterday.  Two blocks past the parking lot where it was located, I realized that it was because I didn't want anything to take away any of my good memories from my trip to NYC and to the bricks and mortar Top Shop there.

The Kaleidoscope Of Colour Dress

Today, on my way to the neighbourhood HMV, I stopped by Anthropologie.  After falling in love with about a half dozen full price items (mostly dresses, but also some blouses and jackets), all of which I was determined to not buy, I made my way to the sales section.  There, in the dresses section, I spied one green dress, an old item (probably dating back a couple of months), that I had thought about buying when it first went on sale but had ultimately decided against doing so, thinking that I wouldn't really like it on me.  It has a scoop neck and I don't really like scoop necks on me.  This one green dress was in one of the two sizes that I usually try on and I thought that the price was right.  So I tried it on.  It fit and, after pondering the scoop neck issue for a bit, I decided that I should get the dress.  Now, when I decided to the try the green dress on, I had thought that it cost $59.95.  While standing in line to purchase the dress, I noticed that I had misread the price.  The price tag actually read $89.95.  All of a sudden, I started to get nervous about that scoop neck.  I wasn't quite sure that I wanted to spend ninety bucks to start experimenting with my comfort level with scoop necks.  Yet I felt like I had committed to buying the dress and now had to follow through.  After a few more minutes of feeling nervous, a cash freed up.  Imagine my surprise when the clerk scanned the barcode and it turned out that the dress had been marked down to $9.95!  Wow!  I remained composed on the outside, of course, but, inside, I was jumping and dancing and woo-hooing all over the store!

P.S. I wore this kaleidoscope of colour dress on Saturday.  Someone remarked that I was the "picture of Summer".  Thank you!

The Two Faces Dress

The alteration saga continues.  On Sunday, I decided that I would hem what I thought would be the more difficult of two dresses to hem.  What made me think this was that the dress is made of yards of slippery polyester fabric.  The other dress has considerably less fabric and is made of cotton fabric.  Some three to four hours later (I hem by hand, having no sewing machine), I realized that the hem that I thought would work didn't and that I would have to re-hem.  I was, to say the least, not a happy camper at all!  It took every ounce of self control that I could muster to keep myself from pitching the dress and calling it quits.  No, instead of pitching the dress, I calmly set it aside for another day, telling myself that it would be worth it in the end.  I definitely have no talent (or skill or anything) for altering clothing

P.S. This is the second appearance on this blog of the dress that I wore today.  A different hat and different footwear accompanied it today, and I was very pleased with the result.  It's amazing what a difference different footwear and a different hat can make.  Or, maybe, it's the tights-less legs.

The T-Shirt Sweater

The sweater that I wore today is a very recent purchase from H+M.  What I like most about it is that it looks like an oversized t-shirt but it isn't.  I first saw the sweater in purple.  Then I saw it in cream.  Then I saw it in black.  Which means that I did it again:  I bought "one in every colour".  This makes the second time in less than a month that I reverted to this old habit of mine of buying "one in every colour" (the other time was with the Belladonna skirt from Madewell).  I console myself with these facts:  Fact number one:  These t-shirt sweaters were not expensive.  Fact number two:  I will likely wear these t-shirt sweaters a lot.  (I already have an idea for the purple one, which will finally let me wear a dress that I love but have had a hard time figuring out how to wear.  I also have another idea for the cream one.)  Fact number two:  When I had the opportunity on Sunday to buy "one in every colour" of a Hawaiian print shirt, I consciously declined.

The Chambray Sack Dress

Remember how some time ago I said that it seemed that I was so "into" chambray and denim dresses that I just couldn't stop buying them?  That was way back when it was Winter.  Since then, I think that I have only worn two of those "new" chambray/denim dresses -- most of them weren't warm enough for Winter weather.  Today I wore another one.  I knew when I was considering buying the dress that I wore today that it was, more or less, a sack dress, meaning it might not be considered by some to be flattering.  But, truth be told, that was its appeal.  That and the leather lace belt it came with.  I loved (and love) that little detail.

The Scorching Sunshine Dress

Lately, I am finding that I am such a scatterbrain.  Take this morning, for instance.  I awoke, got up, got dressed and left home for my usual breakfast haunt before work, feeling pretty good about what I had elected to wear.  While I was having breakfast, browsing through some blogs, as I am wont to do during breakfast, something in one of the blogs reminded me of a pair of shoes that I have.  (Or used to have.  Did I take them to the charity shop during one of my impulsive closet cleanings?  I made a mental note to check on this when I got home that evening.  First appearance of me the scatterbrain.)  Thinking of these shoes immediately made me think of this particular dress that I have (not the one that I wore today).  (Yes, I really do have this dress.  In my mind, I can see exactly where it is in my bedroom.)  Then ... OMG!  I was supposed to wear that dress today!  I remember thinking of wearing it today as I was drifing off to sleep last night, thinking how much more perfect it would be than the dress that I did end up wearing today, which I had also planned on wearing today, but that was before I thought of the other dress.  Second appearance of the scatterbrain.  Anyone know of any remedies for a scattered brain?

The Dolman Sleeve Top

The knee-length pleated skirt that I wore on Tuesday and the accordion pleated long skirt and the dolman sleeve top that I wore yesterday all came from the same place.  (Some of the clothes that I wore last week -- the lace top dress and the blouse and petticoat that I wore underneath the dress -- also came from this place.)  It is a place that I have been aware of for some time now.  However, until last year, I had never really shopped at this place.  Its marketing always made me think that its clothing was not for me and what I think of as my demure and modest sense of style.  Yesterday morning, as I was getting dressed, I thought how funny it is that clothing that isn't marketed as being worn in a demure and modest way is being worn in a demure and modest way.  I love it that the same clothing can be worn in diametrically opposed ways.

The Grey Mary Janes

Today's outfit almost didn't make it out of the house.  While I had bought the skirt (some time ago now -- more on that later) with the intention of wearing it with the blouse, when I eventually brought the two together, I didn't immediately like the result.  However, when I added the grey jacket to the mix, and then the copper pin, and finally the grey mary janes, things started to look up.  I pulled it all together yesterday, when I was trying to wind down.  Given how frenetic things were at the time, I am surprised that something good came out of that time.  But it did, and I am glad.

The Extremely Long Tie

It was a long day on Sunday, full of activities: yoga, shopping, a ballet and a "girls' night out".  By the time I got home, I was tired.  And, unfortunately, wired.  As I write this post, in the wee hours of Monday morning, I am still trying to unwind.  Maybe because I was wired as I thought about this, reflecting on the outfit that I chose to wear for my activity filled Sunday, I thought that I should start "dressing up" a bit more for some of the things that I do, going to the ballet being one example of these things.  I don't mean that I should don a ball gown or anything like that.  I mean that I should wear something nicer than a regular weekend outfit and maybe something a bit more "daring" (or "rebellious" or just plain old "dressed up") than what I would wear during the week.  I don't know.  Maybe I will feel differently when I have settled down.  Or, maybe it's something to think about.

The Black Belladonna Skirt

Well, here it is: the Belladonna skirt from Madewell.  This one is ... obviously ... black.  If you are thinking, "Does that mean there is another one," the answer would be, "Yes".  After a long period of time of not indulging in the habit of buying two or more of the same, I bought the Belladonna skirt in black and grey.  I am very glad that I did because I can say, without a doubt, that it is fabulous.  I felt fabulous moving around in it.  I am really getting into this tshirt dressing thing.

The Summertime Plaid Shirt

Today I went back to my "old" quiet self, wearing blue (mostly in the form of denim) with a hint of black.  While I may have been "quiet" in dress today, I was (and am) anything but quiet in mood.  In fact, I was (and am) excited.  Last week, I took a leap of faith and ordered my very first TBA dress.  The leap of faith was in believing that it would make its way to me, as the shipper of the dress -- not residing in the country in which I reside -- disclaimed all responsibility for customs and duties and the like.  I have never before ordered from a place (outside of my country of residence) that doesn't look after customs and duties and the like.  In any event, the dress arrived ... yesterday ... sort of.  By "sort of", I mean that it is sitting at the post office waiting for me to come by and claim it by paying the requisite duties.  I plan on doing this tomorrow.  I am soooo excited to get it.  I have lusted after this dress ever since I first saw it.  In addition to the TBA dress arriving, my Madewell package also arrived, causing even more excitement in my household.  I was excited to get Madewell's Belladonna skirt.  But, never having ordered from Madewell before, I was concerned about getting the right size.  I was thrilled to discover that I got the right size ... and that the skirt was exactly what Madewell says about it -- "incredibly soft and easy-to-wear."  I am really looking forward to wearing it and turning it into my "secret wardrobe weapon".  I hope everyone has a great weekend!