Sleuthy in the garbage room atelier

CALLING ALL UNITS: Be on the lookout for 

Shadowy Woman in a Shadowy Cat Bar

I woke up in a dark underground bar surrounded by drunken cats, a passed out bartender, and a dog head on the wall. I can't be sure, but I seem to remember some bad poetry too. Am I dreaming?

This definitely called for a head-to-toe black-ops shoot in the garbage room atelier.

Under cover in tuxedo pants that someone before me paid lots of money for, a $5 top, and a thrifted wool beret. What's on my feet? you ask. BWAhahaha!!!!!!

You know my green shagariffic boots? It doesn't matter, suffice to say I have acquired an identical pair in black for waaay more cheap, thrifted, $30. My undercover exposed black-socked toes were chilly but it was a small sacrifice for feeling slinky sleuthy. Except for the shaggy texture, these boots are a tad boring, so I have Plans for them. [Edit: I'm linking these boots up with Sheila's Shoe Shine 18 at her blog Ephemera]

Also, it's nearing the end of the year so I sketched this this morning on my inspiration walk. I'm - 

                  T  A  K  I  N  G      S  T  O  C  K               

H  A  P  P  Y     N  E  W     Y  E  A  R     

YOU GORGEOUS CREATURES, plus you're smart too, and funny, and creative, and have generous hearts.

Just moving like a fool in the garbage hall. Same 'ole, same 'ole.

I'm linking up to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Shtyle, even though I'm under cover. I'll deputize you all and give you a badge too.

Say hello to Planet Blog

Last week I experienced a startling big bang on the constellation known as my Ass - the appearance of a new spongy planet, which I have affectionately named "Blog." I welcome and cherish this bundle of joy in its celestial cradle. How better to commemorate a gorgefest on calamari, fries, a three-cheese frittata, and cheesecake while lunching with two stellar blogger friends, Sue of A Colourful Canvas: Stitch, Style, Smile and Suzanne of Suzanne Carillo: Style, Smiles and Stories? (Send me 20 bucks and I'll name an Ass planet after you and send you an official certificate. Makes a perfect Christmas gift.)

Suzanne is puckering up to kiss my planet! The change room in this shop is an old bank vault. Sue and I decided not to lock Suzanne in. Lady Madonna Thrift Shop on Homer near Pender.

We spent a whirlwind afternoon/early evening of feasting, laughing, shopping, chatting, sipping, and scheming, with me trying to hog the limelight the whole time, and guest appearances by Miz Bagg. Overall I suppose I came across as Brenda Blethyn playing the obnoxious mother in the movie Little Voice, which would make Suzanne the suave strip bar owner, Ray Say, played by Michael Caine, and Sue the schtar herself, Little Voice, in the scenes of her belting out show tunes on the classed-up stripper stage. I was in a snap happy mood, whipping my camera about like a rude gesture, each flash like a little slap.

Suzanne and I had to talk Sue out of this dress.  We had to rip it from her hands. Poor dear. (You know I'm kidding, right? In fact, I ordered her to hold it up for the photo. ) See her polka-dot pants? Love.

There was so much eyeball-rolling and violent laughter I'm surprised we didn't sprain our heads, although I certainly had a mighty social hangover the next day. Meeting a blogger in person is like meeting a celebrity, as you may know, and I was struck immediately when I met Sue how her face seemed to shine with light. When I met Suzanne I was transfixed by her dramatic hair and contralto voice. And while they were both dressed fabulously, their wit, smarts, and generous hearts reduced their bodily wrappings to mere bits of fabric. The looks hook but the personality sustains.

Check out those pearly whites, blue/green eyes, and those amazeballs eyelashes, not to mention the fiery hair. This is Community Thrift Store on Carrall St. I also took Jean of Dross into Gold here and Sheila of Ephemera and L. 

We exchanged prezzies, which included a super-fun hand-made T-shirt, hand-made pin/clip, and card from Suzanne. And, well, Sue, she gave me a brilliant card and the landing site for the next deep space explorer mentioned earlier. I'll wear both your gifts with pride and love long into the future. (To be fair, 10% of all Ass planet certificate sales will go to Sue, okay 15%.)

I love this photo! Sue holding her gift from Suzanne and wearing a scarf I gave her. See what I mean about the light?

We didn't have much luck thrifting – price and selection at the shops within walking distance in downtown Vancouver can usually be beat elsewhere. I only manage what I get through perseverance and an eagle eye on the sale racks. I did, however, snafu a beautiful greenie maxi vest thing I'd had my eye on in Lady Madonna for two years now (yes, that kind of determination). As we were leaving, the owner said, Make me an offer, and with Sue and Suzanne enveloping the shop in a cloud of love and "you better give the dame a deal if ya' knows what's good for ya'" vibe, it was mine for almost half price. 

The gang! I was smiling for sure but my smiles always look forced in group photos. We shut down this cafe, last ones out. Jean, we came here during your visit too.

I usually don't do Christmas, but this year I had a hankering for a party, and I got one with these two amazing women. I conveniently left my Cindy Lou Who self at home to take full advantage. Thank you so much, Sue and Suzanne, for including me in your plans.

T-shirt hand-made for me special by Suzanne, based on my earlier post, Do I dress to piss them off? Suzanne has  lots of cool original stuff on Etsy HERE. Her wildly popular Badass Blogger T-shirt is HERE. 

I hope you're all well, taking care of yourselves and letting stuff that doesn't really matter float off to where it belongs, just not on my Ass. Mwah. 

She stole his heart

   It's not often I see two people in love – I mean sparking and crackling with love, the kind where even if an army of biting red ants were devouring the coffee shop and people around them, they wouldn't budge, so lost are they in each other's laughter. The bugs could just as well be unicorns and fairy dust. That kind of love. I saw it the other day between a road construction sign woman and a man in a hard hat, both over 50 I'm guessing, during my morning café break. I floated in that slipstream of positive energy for, oh, at least an hour.
   I did the painting sketches below some years ago:"She stole his heart," which I thought fit nicely with the love theme, and Shoe Store Madonna which fits with the SHOP NOW! theme this time of year. The businesswoman shields her face with her briefcase as she walks by the shoe emporium sale and the vision of the Madonna left by washing liquid residue on the window. Are you resisting?!!! I know most of you are not. Well done. Carry on. 

I'm linking up to Patti at Visible Monday on her blog Not Dead Yet Style. Save me a place. I'm running late. I'm wearing nothing vintage, but lots of thrifted loot. I'll show you how I style that zebra coat properly in a future post, but on this particular day I was feeling prim and prissy and delightfully flip. The coiled fist says it all. 

My first LinkUp Party

I just swallowed a bird.

If I speak, little yellow feathers might float out of my mouth. If I were polite, I'd wear a mask. (hiccup)

Split, splat, split splat. the sound. of boots. on wet. sidewalks. Halt! 

Excuse me, sir, which way to the Left Bank? "What? Madame, why you just turn left. But you cannot go to zee Left Bank like zat. Although you are wearing a jolie beret, you must wear all black to go there." Oh. Which way to the Right Bank then? "Oh, non, non, non! You turn right here, but you cannot go there. Are you fou? You must wear black there aussi!" Okay, how about straight ahead? "Oh, grande imbecile, Madame! Why, that is the Seine river. No turning. But there is no shopping or cafes there, only leetle fishes." Fine. 

I turned into the wind, positioned my umbrella just right and flew to London for lunch with Vivienne Westwood instead. Such a jaunty petite outfit. Perfect for zee rain yesterday. Next time I'll wear black. 

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MY LINKUP PARTY!

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Originally I was going to post only photos of Miz Bagg showcasing every conceivable angle of her outfit and her magnificent self - nose holes, ear lobes, elbows, knees, toe hair(!) - and then breathlessly proclaim how Miz Bagg, that biatch, had scandalously hijacked my first LinkUp Party!! Unbelievable! And Shelley of Forest City Fashionista was going to send me a photo of herself as it would appear in the last linkup window, the only blogger to break through Miz Bagg's stronghold before the LinkUp Party closed.

Yes, that would have been a great sight gag, but it felt too easy, too trite for the mood I was in once I started the project, so I ended up with these photos, which include two intentional Bagg characters, but mostly different states of me that reflect how I'm feeling, the weather, what leapt out at me from the closet, something I've made, an experiment, a critique, a letting go through clothes and imagination that makes life bearable.

The dialogue was just filler I typed up to check the layout and was never intended for final use, but then I decided I liked that raw quality after all. (The original was much more raw than what's here, influenced by other projects I'm working on.) I like the juxtaposition of the colourful sense of myself I feel in these images in the context of a catty Fashion Police-type commentary, both somewhat unreal and real at the same time.

I like the top middle photo, the pink electric-head-girl cycling socks that I used to wear cycling, now worn with my granny shoes. And below, what I wore today, Sunday.

Caught in the headlights of Santa's sleigh. The parade was today - I wouldn't have known it if it were not for the really weird vibe on the street and the thousands of people everywhere, and, well, the parade itself. The weather was fine, 11C (52F), so there was a great turnout. Wearing: DIY scribble jacket and DIY embroidered-eye jeans, merino wool turtleneck that I wore to the Hamptons, with underlayering as well.

Have you recently read about the man swallowed by an anaconda for reality TV? Frankly, I don't know what the kerfuffle is all about. As you read in VOGOFF in December 2012, here, Miz Bagg ordered that her assistant be partially swallowed by the Mighty Python to research the magical skin rejuvenating effects of its digestive juices. Of course, she was retracted just in time. No word on the juice. Or that assistant.

How are you, lovelies? Having a good December? Brace, brace, brace, there's more to come. Ho ho ho. Mwah. [Edit: I'm linking up to Anne's SpyGirl: 52 Pick-me-up, Crazy Legs, and Mis Papelicos, Share-in-Style.]

Word Verification...
PS - Pao just asked in the comments, what's up with all the auto-robot thing on comments lately? I've noticed this too. My word verification is definitely OFF, but Blogger has decided to turn it on. I think I encounter it on everyone's blog lately.

Does anyone know what's up with this? I thought it might be a gentle "push" from Google to join Google Plus....? Whatever it is, it's annoying. I'm not a verified human?! Okay, well, sometimes I do feel like a robot, but I still run on chocolate, coffee, and fresh bakery buns.

Who is that masked woman?!

Mask up, my friends!! 

If only one single, solitary post in Bag and a Beret 

were to go viral (hehe), 

I would hope it's this one.

10 Reasons to Wear a Face Mask When You Feel Like Crap

1. Wearing a mask conceals a red chapped nose.
2. Wearing a mask provides a shield you can hide behind when you're not feeling your best, like a little face blankie.
3. Wearing a mask means you don't have to bother with makeup on the bottom half of your face. Men, you don't have to shave.
4. Wearing a mask can be stylish, sort of, if you customize it (see below).
5. Wearing a mask masks bad breath so you can eat lots of super-stinky food without worry.
6. Wearing a mask will help keep your hands away from your nose and mouth, which may reduce the spread of germs on surfaces like doorknobs and stair rails. 
7. Wearing a mask will free your hands up for other vital tasks such as playing with the remote control or pushing the button for room service or (if you're really sick) blogging.
8. Wearing a mask will reduce your exposure to new germy airborne bits that might make your condition even more miserable.
9. Wearing a mask warns others that you are not feeling your best so please be gentle and don't be surprised if you bite their heads off or fall asleep at your desk if that's not something you normally do.
10. Wearing a mask is cool - it shows you care about the people around you. 

I'm hooking up to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style because a mask is pretty visible. I've worn all these clothes this week except the mask because I don't, touch wood, have a cold at the moment. See you there. I don't mind at all if you want to swipe the sidebar image.

Also, thank you, Sally of Already Pretty, for the mention in your Lovely Links on Friday. It's a great honour to be included in your eclectic lineup, which also includes a very funny video of west coasters eating Minnesotan food.

[Edit] Aha, I knew I was forgetting something - Sacramento's Share-in-Style: Black and White at Mis Papelicos. And this time I almost fit the theme.

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Below explains in part why I put up this post: 

[I posted this then took it down and now I'm posting it again, only because I can.]

Hack hack hack. The whole café seemed to peek and wince at Ms. Hacker every time she coughed with violence, except her friend who was oblivious to the direct wet hits on her face. When I realized with mild alarm that I was seated directly downwind and there were no more free tables indoors, I gathered up my coffee and journal with exaggerated calm, like a child in a school fire drill, and relocated to the patio, no big deal – it was only about 5C (41F), and although my coffee was no longer hot, if I sketched faster than usual with grand flourishes the exertions might help keep me warm.

I had just settled in when Ms. Hacker and her friend stumbled outside too. As they brushed past my table, she sniffled and smiled at me. I smiled back – I knew she was suffering. She had a kind face. And then she coughed straight into my naked eyes with gale force. I felt the rush of wind and light spray, which is lovely at the seaside but not as foul weather from her infectious phlegmy inner shores. She didn't even blink; I did, furiously.

Do I dress to piss them off?

Yes, DEFINITELY, I sometimes dress not to rejoice in the unbearable beauty of a blue sky, fluffy clouds, pwitty flowers, blah, blah...drooling now, belch, fart, but merely to piss people off. YES! Shameful. Sinful! How can I write such blasphemy in a forum that CELEBRATES style? Take this example: If I'm forced to go to Banker Town, I'll violently yank my tutu and orange platforms outta' the closet damned quick for a little Piss Off Therapy. The verklemptitude I feel in that environment, I can't help but want to smack everyone I meet with tulle. Of course this is not about them, it's about me, and of course I don't piss anybody off - I give myself too much credit.

So, as weapons go, a tutu carries as much punch as, well, tulle, but being double-bound, double-loud in my style does makes me feel protected. It's my childish scream into the clockwork street - I AM NOT YOU! DON'T MAKE ME!! And ironically, while I may dress in a flurrious grumble, I usually wind up smiling and having as good a time in Banker Town as I do anywhere else, just don't make me hang out there unless I'm meeting my investment adviser over champers to discuss my new billion-dollar contract. That's sure to bring on quadruple tulle action with new triple-high platforms, mm-hmm.

This is not an outfit of anger. This is just an outfit. Full-on regular. But I feel like a rock and roll photographer with my camera and shoulder-slung bag. I wore this on my inspiration walk. Temperatures are dropping so I broke out the muppet roadkill coat, thrifted. My hair is light violet now too, due to the shampoo I'm using.

"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you." 

Stuck In the Middle by Stealers Wheel. I'm the guy eating spaghetti. Groovtastic!!! You gotta' watch. (Actually, I'm stuck in the middle with me.) [Edit: The clip I originally posted has be removed, so I put up this one.

Do you ever start to feel an Invasion of the Body Snatchers moment when you're the odd style out? Do you ever dress to piss someone off? It's stupid of me to do it but the childishness pleases me immensely. I don't have to grow up ever anyway. Have a great week, everyone! Keep on freaking out (in a good way, of course).

I missed Patti's Visible Monday this week at Not Dead Yet Style, but I still see you. And if you haven't yet, check out Linda's incredible styling of the Freakish Yellow Skirt and her photo gallery at Op Shop Mama. Can't. Miss. It. That's all.

PS - Okay, I'm linking up to Share-in-Style: Shoes at Mis Papelicos. You can't see my thrifted crackle leather Miu Miu boots very well in that outfit shot but there are some AWESOME shoes in the YouTube clip.

Yellow Skirt Freak Show Update!!

flOwErS   e x pl o d i n g   spewing

BuRSTiNG YELLOW Bright LiGHT

the freAAkish yellow skIrt shivers

with joy in s'miracle of LIFE

from One to Two TWO

happiest warm clouds & sunSHINE to

ethereal   beauty

Linda at

Op Shop Mama

== teeny little feetsies and fingers curl ==

the fuzzy soft of new wee 
Stan

in mama's loving arms.

welcome to the world

G O !   G O  N O W ! ! !

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This is new territory for the Travelling Yellow Skirt Freak Show... Despite my best efforts, I feel that Beauty Pageant Moment, which I usually make fun of at every opportunity, when I see Linda in these photos. That's love and joy right there, folks. How cool is it that the skirt was along for part of the ride. Love and hugs to your whole family. How you managed to fit this skirt into your wild ride I'll never know, but I'm glad you did. XO. Linda also includes a mini photo gallery of everyone who has worn the skirt to date.

Man pants and hat attack

Fake Flamenco in man pants at the power station.

STARTLED ROOSTER. i'm having such a good hair day with this ruffled mess nesting on my head I'm squawking my way over to Judith at Style Crone for her latest hat fight, i mean hat attack #16. bring it on, birds. too bad I didn't get a good frontal shot. oh well.

next. piling it high and deep. you can't tell one piece from another. all thrifted.

Aya of Couturgatory wore the Turnip Head on her Twitter. Her own head was refusing public appearances that day. Thanks, Aya! Turnip Head has handed in her resignation to go sing in a nightclub. 

too much perfection to comprehend here, hip-slung man pants with sailor/mime front flap. these pants are from Jesus, his monogram is inside the waistband, hand-made, but the number of buttons is troubling because this flap is the only way in and out. very heavy black linen. i'm in a phase-shift to black & white, with colour bombs in between, obviously. my tux blouse, unironed, as were my thoughts today. i wore my black velvet opera coat on top. i would have worn my black olive oyle army boots with this instead of my shiny brown buckle slip-ons if i had the energy to reach the top shelf. all thrifted of course. and dark red lipstick.

Also, if you missed it, check out Skye's Tacky Manifesto on her blog My Kingdom for a Hat. She writes: "I am Fashion's worst and loudest nightmare, because I refuse to flatter my body at the expense of my soul." Well said. 

MY NEXT POST WILL FEATURE A FREAKISH YELLOW SKIRT UPDATE!

The photos that busted out

If I make my blog photos BIGGER, surely they must be better. Surely I am VISIBLE now. Look out guys at Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style because I'll be HOGGING the WHOLE PLACE with my HUUUGE photos and BIG FACE.
BIGGER equals BETTER. HUUUGER, HUUUGEST...
Of course you can see me, hear me, smell me if I am moving, loud, bright, and you've caught me just after a mug of strong coffee. B&W works too if it's huuuge. How unutterably annoying it is to see these unprofessional, pixelated photos leaching obnoxiously past the margins into my carefully groomed sidebar.
But this does raise an issue - I've been thinking of w-i-d-e-n-ing my margins. gasp. Seriously.
BAM! BAMM BAMMM!! 
I like the sense of s-p-a-c-e I feel on blogs with a wider margin. Maybe some of YOU have wide margins. GASP!

[Miracle Secrets: Add Inches to Your Margins Overnight and Eat Anything you Like!]

My hair up there reminds me of those newspaper cornstalks we used to make in primary school - just pull for instant vertical extensions. I stretched the image of course; the unadulterated version is the same, minus the head sprout. I don't like the facial expression, but thatsa why I lika, all those little dewlaps doing downward dogs. Wearing DIY bagged-out jeans with eyes on knees, sweeping velvet opera coat, black Olive Oyle army boots (not seen), and some other stuff, forget, not worth it... As long as you can SEE me and SMELL me and WATCH me MOVE in general. [Don't sing that song in your head, you know, the one by The Who that goes, See me, feel me, touch me, heal me...]

THANK YOUS:

Thank you, Sally, of Already Pretty for linking to my post "Trouble posting my face" on your Lovely Links on Friday. That woke up my stats for sure. You can always find a smorgasbord of food for the brain, bod, and soul over there. 

Thanks to Gorgeous Rebecca Harasym of Winnipeg Style for the Vedette Shapewear piece I won in her giveaway a while ago. ALERT: She is giving away a piece every month. Entry is international and the latest deadline is Oct. 26. I'm not showing my faaaabulous piece here (love it!) because it's, well, it's an undie. Normally I'd wear it on the outside but it's not appropriate for this school-marm blog, even though it's pearlescent beige. Or wait till I've finished my drink (see previous post). Rebecca has AWESOME style - I MEAN IT!

FINALLY, thank you, everyone, for your very generous and kind comments on my interview over at Imogen's Inside Out Style blog, her column Stylish Thoughts. It's too funny that just when you think people must be bored by you, opportunities come around and people show up at your door with big smiles. Well, here's big hugs BACK!!!

Have a great week!! I'm knee-deep in words so won't be skipping about quite so much, but you'll be on my mind. (NO NO! Especially don't sing that song by Willie Nelson in your head... Don't DOOONT'T. Relax, don't do it... Gaaa. )

My Stylish Thoughts and Birthday Bash at Sheila's

In case you missed the addition to my last post: I am featured in an interview in Imogen Lamport's Stylish Thoughts column on her dynamic blog Inside Out Style. If you want to know more about me, "Yesh, shecrets of the schtars!!" have a look. Imogen has had some life changes lately, well worth the read, and while she knows the style rules, she also believes in breaking them. Thanks, Imogen. I feel honoured to be in your lineup!

Now for more business: Sheila's Party!!

Happy Birthday, Sheila!! What a lovely party. Yes, it's Sheila of Ephemera's Birthday Party and I have dressed up special for it. I like these photos so I'm surprised I didn't wreck enhance them. I look a bit like a coconut.

If you'll notice, that's the same bottle clutched in my hand as at your party in 2012, here. It has been entombed in my fridge all this time because it tastes like crap and it's non-alcoholic, at least it WAS non-alcoholic before fermentation... I suppose I don't chuck it because I need something to serve my guests - bwa-ha-ha!!! - and go out of my head at your party.

I'm wearing my thrifted ruffled blouse, because I know how much you like them, and I like to debut new pieces at your parties, in this case that would be the thrifted patchwork skirt, which needs a few repairs, but who will notice after I empty this magic juice into the punch bowl? And that's my old thrifted fringed jerkin. Oh, and a wide suede embroidered belt, old and thrifted.

I'm also hooking this post up to your Shoe Shine 12, Sheila, and to Mis Papelico's Share-in-Style: Favourite Print. My favourite prints change by the day, but at the moment this skirt has my favourite patchwork pattern with some spectacular time-warp prints on its stretchy polyester squares. The skirt is hand-made and very swirly. 

That's all, folks. Have a safe drive home - or why not sleep over with the gang? The key bowl is almost full. Hee-hee-hee.

PS: My fridge is very clean otherwise, honest. 

ALSO, Pao at Project Minima took Turnip Head to see David Bowie at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. She doesn't want to come home now...

Trouble posting my face

Edit Update: (Mon. Oct 13, Miz Bagg HQ) I am featured in an interview HERE on Imogen Lamport's "Stylish Thoughts" column in her dynamic blog Inside Out Style. If you want to know more about me, "Yesh, secrets of the schtars!!" have a look. Imogen has had some life changes lately, well worth the read, and she believes in breaking style rules.

This is my face when I wake up (minus lipstick and eyeliner).

All thrifted except the tights: shiny satin summery dress with attached lemony underskirt, pink tulle petticoat, yellow zig-zag coat, red beret, D&G pony shoes, striped delicate cotton T, and magic loupe and toolbox hand bag from O. 

I have trouble posting my face lately; I have trouble posting any photo I like lately. If I like it too much I must defile it somehow, say, by dropping in a different background or a fake head or both. I guess that's my reaction to seeing Everybody Everywhere turning into models, especially kids who are adept at striking a pose-and-grimace within photo target range. 

Do you ever think your outfit or photo is too settled, too nicey nice, too model-wannabe, so you just want to wreck it up? Of course it's hard to get away from when the goal of an outfit post is to show people what you're wearing, but still, the desire to bust out is always just under the surface. The thing that usually creates harmony in what I wear is that little something that's "off." What's off in this outfit? It's not the pattern mixing but the red of the beret being repelled by the reds in my shirt. Brrr! (frisson of delight)

Maybe I need props... Or a cat head and a sideways background.

All thrifted except the tights: Karen Millen dress, floral linen coat with satiny lining, D&G pony shoes, vintage sunglasses. This is what I wore the day before, same tights (laundered between wears) and shoes. What's off in this outfit? The hemline - too short! I liked the selfie I took, hence the cat head and sideways backdrop. So, have you wrecked any good photos lately? Or bad photos? 

Do you favour beauty or the beast?

the post with the spaceheads and guy theme

SPOOKY-GIRL-ME DOLL

My big head on a spooky rebel girl sketch I made this summer.

Speaking of big heads, below is a cartoon I drew in 2011. I've known lots of people like Big Head Guy; in fact, I've had planets revolving around my own head from time to time as well.

Keeping with the guy theme, those are man shoes, my first attempt at velvet painting - well, my backing has a very soft nap like velvet but it's probably upholstery fabric - painted a couple of years ago, acrylic, 3' x 4', and forgotten about it until I stumbled across this photo. Now the piece is rolled up. It's odd how something that was so energy-focused during its creation can be easily forgotten.

AND MORE ON THE GUY THEME:

My friend, Corey Hamm, won Best Classical Recording of the Year at the 2014 Western Canadian Music Awards on October 5. How cool is that? His CD is The People United Will Never Be Defeated! composed by Frederic Rzewski. It is on sale at Redshift Records, CDBaby, iTunes, Bandcamp, and from him personally. His Facebook page is here. Congratulations, Corey! 

Corey has been on this blog before here when I photographed him at rehearsals with the Vancouver Symphony with Maestro Bramwell Tovey and composer Jordan Nobles.

Thaaat's better. It's so nice to take off my mask once in a while and let my real face breathe.

Below are the shots before I took off my mask. Not so very different really.

What I wore today:

Blogger won't let me upload the photo of this outfit on me, so you'll have to make do with this one of the detailing. [Edit: I tried again and got my photo up below.] It's is a vintage maxi robe/coat lined in mint green light linen, which I belted high over my jean jeggings, high-heel Miu Miu boots, and oversized Jimi Hendrix T-shirt. There was a cool Beatles-in-India feel to this, and although I didn't feel the full vibe myself, this was one of those outfits where the beauty is more in the eye of the beholder. Who knows why.

This is a long post. Whew. I hope you're all having a great week. 

Leftovers? Surely not.

I've been trolling my stash of photos from style parkouring with Sandra, Lens is More. Hundreds. Each one brings back a laugh. I farked a bit with a few; this is a sample. Sandra and I haven't been out lately but that doesn't mean we're finished.

That's the bathing cap I use for real in the first photo, worn with Sandra's sunglasses And the plastic-blend blanket I'm wearing in the third photo is one I actually wrapped around me one rainy, nasty winter afternoon when I had car trouble and hadn't brought a coat. I got many compliments on it. Attitude my friends, whipping it about like I planned it. The leaves stuck on it were artful. No joke: that's what fashion is, pulling something off that would otherwise look like an emergency car-trunk blanket that's seen one picnic too many. I admit, I liked wearing it - it felt cozy - so the faking part was easy.

And the last photo is Sandra with her self-made armlets, my Miz Bagg hat, and a major red lipstick experiment. Love it. The alley mattress shot was taken on the day I did my post about squeaking under a gibbous moon. Except for the mattress photo, these pics were all taken with the June 2013 VOGOFF in mind but they didn't make the cut. So. many. photos. I hate to waste them. Plus, we had a blast taking them - why bother otherwise?

I'm linking this up with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday. These photos count because that IS my real bathing cap and I actually wore the coat, maybe not this week, but I do in real life. See you there?