Old Things: Me, My Clothes and My Outfits

I'm not sure if I'm feeling nostalgic because it's my birthday week or if I'm gravitating to older things in my wardrobe because I too am getting to be an older thing. Either way this past week, I've been dressing in some wardrobe veterans. I've updated them with some new accessories, but these are some items that have been in my closet for quite a while now.

Also there seems to be a recurring "3s" theme. I'm in my third decade, I'm leaving the age of 33 and here I am this past week in three outfits inspired by three different decades:


1950s

Oldie but Goodie: Vintage Blue and White Dress: Somewhere in Toronto. Had it for so long I don't remember where I bought it.
New Favourite: Vintage Peep Toe Shoes: Tree and Kimball Market
Tan belt: H&M

1960s

Oldie but Goodie: Turquoise Necklace: J.Crew
New Favourite: Vintage Navy and White Max Mara Fringed Mod Shoes: Thrifted
Orange Dress: DVF
Navy Cardigan: H&M

1970s

Oldies but Goodies: Vintage Jean Jacket and Vintage Floral dress: Jean Jacket: Kensington Market, Toronto. Dress: Mintage, Vancouver
New Favourite: Vintage Parrot Scarf: Borrowed from the shop. See here.
Brown woven belt: Club Monaco
Sunglasses: BCBG
Gold Sandals: Sam and Libby

Hats Off (or on) To Vintage

For the past few months, I've been growing out my cropped hair and to help get me through the in-between-style-stage, I've been wearing lots of hats and head scarves.

Here are some recent outfits featuring vintage hats and scarves:

Vintage Surf Green Wool Fedora: St. George's Woollen Mills Ltd. Thrifted in Victoria.
Surf Green Blouse: Bedo
Navy Blue Wide Leg Trousers: Habitual
Hot Pink Belt: J.Crew

Vintage Watercolour and Navy Striped Scarf: Lanvin, Paris. Thrifted in Vancouver. Possibly making it's way into the shop, but I may have fallen too much in love with it to post.
Vintage Yellow Tweed Coat: Thrifted more than 10 years ago in Victoria.
Blue Tunic Blouse: Uniqlo
Rolled jeans: Banana Republic
Vintage Tawny and Tan Oxfords: Thrifted in Vancouver. Borrowed from the shop. See here.

Vintage Red Wool Fedora: Vintage Halston. From Wildfell Hall Vintage shop on Etsy.
Vintage Black Leather Trench Coat: From Cabaret Vintage in Toronto more than seven years ago.
Vintage Sheer Black Paisley Blouse: Handmade by my Mom in the 1970s.
Wide Leg Jeans: Banana Republic
Dark Grey Boots: J.Crew

Vintage Corduroy Fedora: Gift from my brother-in-law. Believe it was thrifted somewhere on Vancouver Island.
Vintage Plaid Trench Coat: From Bungalow Vintage in Toronto, bought more than five years ago.

Stripes: Stripped Down

I love stripes. Always have. I remember one of my favourite gymnastics bodysuits (yes I was a competitive gymnast), was a full length unitard (yikes) that was black in the back, light surf green in the front with a cream racing stripe running down each side. Essentially three giant stripes made up my suit.

At a party we hosted in Toronto a few years ago, a girl came who I didn't know well and who had never been to our place before. I remember her saying "boy you like stripes." I hadn't given it too much thought, but then I looked around our apartment and saw we had a striped duvet cover, a striped shower curtain, a striped couch and I was wearing a striped dress. I think I may have even bought striped paper plates for the party.


Here's an outfit that I wore the other day. Here I mix stripes. Mixing patterns and prints can be a mildly intimidating process. This is about a 0.5 on the difficulty scale of mixing patterns as I keep the print and the colour the same and I'm only mixing two items. The only thing that I change up is the scale of the stripe. (Note: that even the background in the photo is kind of striped)

For some serious print/ pattern mixing check out the Glamourai blog. Man does she have some crazy good style, she also is an expert pattern/ print mixer.

My Outfit
Striped 80s T-shirt Dress: deLuxe Junk Co.
Wide Black Belt: Thrifted
Striped Wool Scarf: Club Monaco
Leather Jacket: Mackage

These Could "Be Yours" To Wear For Your "Be Mine"

Valentine's Day picks from the shop...

This abstract rose and hexagon print dress would be a perfect outfit for a semi-casual dinner and drinks date. Pair with heeled boots and a blazer. Maybe during dinner, let one of the buttons fall open.



Take your pick for red skirts. One to go dancing. One to show off your curves. And one that seductively unbuttons up the side.







Going for a nice walk outside on the big romantic "hallmark" holiday? If you live in a milder climate (like here in Vancouver), this honeysuckle cape will have your honey guessing what's underneath.



For the follower who likes to walk on the wild side...something animal print might be more up your alley.

Animal Print Shoes



Animal Print Hat



Check out page 1 of the shop for more Valentine's Day inspirations.

Spring Ready to Wear (by me please)

I really wanted to do this post in the fall, when the Spring Ready To Wear collections were showing, but alas October through December got away from me. And yes, I’m aware Pre-Fall 2011 collections are now showing. But I actually think it is a good time to post some spring fashion- nothing like escaping the January blahs and dreary weather by looking at gorgeous spring/summer clothing.

While I've never been a slave to labels or crazy for Fashion Weeks etc, I was pretty smitten with many of the Spring 2011 collections. All those pretty dresses flouncing down the runways- how could I not take notice?! Here are some of my favourites.

Luxurious and Exotic at YSL

Image Courtesy of Style.com

Perfect Minimalism at Chloe

Image Courtesy of Style.com

Graphic Crispness at Celine

Image Courtesy of Style.com

HUGE swoon over everything at Jonathan Saunders

Image Courtesy of Style.com

Delicious Prints and Colours at Prada

Image Courtesy of Style.com

My Kind of Colour Palette at Fendi

Image Courtesy of Style.com

Be Seen in Green

I don't really document my outfits very often, but I do enjoy looking at other people's daily outfit blogs as they give me some inspiration. But last week, I had the opportunity to cover ECO Fashion Week for the Vancouver Observer and I felt it was fitting to share one of my outfits.

This is what I wore to the opening party. Since I don't have much eco-friendly fashion in my wardrobe (or so I thought), I decided to wear head to toe vintage. Turns out that I actually have quite the environmentally-friendly wardrobe as vintage is very eco chic.

I really did go head to toe vintage:



Coat: I bought this yellow, tweed, satin-lined, bracelet sleeve coat 11 years ago at a Value Village in Victoria. I knew back then that it was a fantastic find and it was only $19. I think that it may very well be my favourite vintage piece I've ever owned.

Dress: I got this indigo button up 40s style union worker dress on my first trip to Portland with my vintage partner in crime, Amy. I had the sleeves shortened and the skirt hemmed. I bought eight other dresses on that trip.

Shoes: I found these plaid peep toe 80s Stuart Weitzman heels on Etsy from She Hearts Vintage

Earrings: I just found these flower shaped clip-ons a couple of weeks ago at a church thrift sale.

Black slip: My mom's from the 80s. I told you I was head to toe!

Here are my three stories for the Vancouver Observer:

Eco-fashion gets a makeover
Green is chic
Gorgeous Garments

Leggings Are Not Pants

Nuff said...


Photo courtesy of the Facebook group "Leggings Are Not Pants." Become a fan here.