Special going-out pyjamas and vintage hat

Canada Day needed me downtown ASAP so I sprang into action.

Red! Red! I must have red, the colours of our flag. Swoosh swoosh swoosh - I ploughed my way through the closet. Nuthin'. So I went to the other closet. Swoosh swoosh swoosh. Zilch. So I went to another closet - no hangers in this one.

And aaaa (sound of angels), there it was. My soft, quality-cotton, red-and-white "pyjama" set, well, it was sold as a pyjama set even though each piece is by a different label. I think it could easily be leisure wear or, yes, Canada-Day wear.

I carefully applied red and silver glitter eyeshadow under my brows, on account of the flag issue, and towered up my hair. Then, when I was about to put on my Converse sneakers I remembered I should bring a scarf to protect my neck from the sun.

Back to the closet. Rummage rummage. And RRRrrrr! (sound of hard brakes) What's this?! My vintage hat, my long-lost vintage hat.

At the Orient Express station. "Porter, oh porter, can you please take my bags? But leave the phone. I need to call my manicurist and Jean-Jacques, captain of my gorgeous yacht." 

Tower hair be damned. You're goin' down! And on went the hat.

And be gone, sneakers! Quickly I strapped on my geta-style sandals and wide black belt, then the crown, this majestic chapeau. Thankfully, there were not high winds today - this hat's perch is rather precarious. There is a small elastic to help with hold though.

And the finishing touch was this wonderful teacup carrier I made a few years ago from a wooden matryoshka. O created custom brass hardware to twist the top securely onto the bottom, and for the inside I sewed a satiny red pouch to cushion my family heirloom teacup. Sometimes I use this carrier as a handbag.

A generous smudge of sunscreen on my nose, vintage sunglasses, camera. Done!

Hmm, shall I buy the paisley Dior gown or the black vinyl Chanel hot pants? Everything is so complicated. "Please, garçon, can you bring me another Russian mule?" 

Frankly, I had more fun getting ready to go out than actually going out. It was so crowded and hot at the main area of festivities that I was forced to shuffle. Shuffle?!! In a divine hat?! And my wondrous pyjama set? Don't be preposterous! 

COMMERCIAL BREAK 

just like real entertainment. 

I made a 10 sec video on how I do my tower hair. Skip it if you've seen it on Instagram. It's the same one. This was not sponsored, pffft. 

Back to regular programming - now that you're all stocked up on chips...

For daily wear I'll probably give the red eyeshadow a pass; it was simply a noble gesture. On any other day it would look like I haven't slept in a year or I've been in a barroom brawl with Suzanne fighting over her latest vintage finds. (Of course she wins but I grab some loot while she fist-bumps her fans, see HERE.)

One good thing was that Vancouver Convention Centre was open to the public. I could live in that room, except for the vacuuming and changing light bulbs problem. This is the biggest ballroom in the place with stunning views across Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver.

And below, a little more drama. Because it's fun.

Canada is 150 years old now as a country. That's not very old. And the US has its big Independence Day coming up on July 4, so the city is still hoppin' with revellers. Me? I'm just workin' and readin' (fiction, The Woman on the Orient Express, great cover) and sketchin' - and planning, always planning. And I met up with Vancouver Barbara this week too. See her on IG.

That's all. I have other photos but, really, you have been so patient with my overloaded posts lately I thought you deserve a break. I sometimes post outfit photos on my Instagram, ones that I can't fit into a blog post. If you're interested you can have a peek HERE.

I'll link up to Patti and Catherine again, at Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style, and #iwillwearwhatilike, Not Dressed as Lamb. AND I'm happy to be joining Judith at Style Crone for her Hat Attack #48. FINALLY, I'm wearing a hat. Cheers!

This post has been brought to you by the mischievous, often missing, letter G at the end of "ing."

Thanks for stoppin' by! Where have your clothes taken you recently?

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Edit: I almost totally forgot. I am in Silver Magazine, based in the U.K., an article called "The 50plus fashionistas." They put a huge photo of me with the headline. Heh. I look so serious but only because I am an extremely serious person. See it HERE.

That's all. I swear. I tried to keep this post short but look what I've done. I just keep dribbling.