Safety wear for the stylish woman

We were walking in tandem, me on one side of the fence, the construction guy on the other. He looked over and said, "That could be a safety vest."

I replied, "Yes, it is!"

Well, technically it's a life jacket so I get double the protection of a mere vest.

This paillette jacket protects me from psychic debris. Whew. There is so much of it around!

With my construction gear I'm wearing my rockstar pants, which are thrifted low-riders that I upcycled with Sharpie markers and acrylic paint, featured several times on Bag'n'B. They were noticed by Paul Stanley of the band KISS the first time I wore them. I was in a shoe store and oblivious to his presence, but my friend Sandra of standard.deviations clued me in later. I'm bummed that I didn't get the chance to ask him for pointers on how to wear platform boots with aplomb and his favourite makeup remover. I love that guy!

And I'm wearing my upcycled T-shirt, "I am my own brand," which I would change to "I am NOT a brand" if I were to do it again. Those are my super-duper discounted Topshop platform sandals.

Below I'm raising my arms to the universe. I was in the concrete studio but I digitally edited myself into a photo I took of the beach the other day.

Schlep schlep schelp schelp seems to be the little cartoon sound of my feet as they release from the hard reality suction of the concrete sidewalk. Each step schlep. How tiresome. This is also why safety gear is a top priority. One must never get sucked in by hardness!

Other protective construction pieces I wore recently.

That outfit features a vintage dress with a tulip hem. It's a fairly substantial brocade fabric, fully lined, too big and heavy for a dress, so I snipped it up the front and turned it into a coat. The sparkly owl pendant is from Patti of Not Dead Yet Style.

And I almost always go out with one of my parasols from Lily-Lark.

Below are my "safety" glasses, which I got from Vint & York in New York. They make me feel like a psychiatrist with panache and a love of the arts. Don't ask me why. Sandra, standard.deviations, thrifted that Maison Martin Margiela for H&M wool darted jacket. Sweeeet. Ever grateful to her.

And of course, I also wore this:

And then when I get home I unwind with Kitty.

Those are the highlights of my week, my friends. Remember: Always suit up. Always protect yourself from those harmful rays of negativity.

I'm linking up to Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday and Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb for #iwillwearwhatilike.

What do you use for safety gear?!

I'm still HERE!

They came. We saw. We conquered.

Who? Suzanne, Sue, Sherry, Patti, and me.
Where? Vancouver, BC.
When? June 1 to 3.

And conquered what exactly? Limitations, I suppose.

It was a rare weekend of connection, a time to join with like-minded women, all of us eager to lift ourselves above the quotidian, to dream big, dig deep, reach high.

Of course there was good food, great shopping, laughter - lots and lots of laughter - but I think it was the talking, really getting to the heart of things that matter to each of us, that will stay with me most. I can definitely say that the feeling of empowerment I got from the weekend has come in handy in the days since then.

This is a rather sober summing-up so far, so I have included the following arty video I put together with clips from our time together.

We have photos, photos, and photos! And instead of duplicating them here, pop over to Suzanne's blog where she has done two stellar wrap-up posts: Strike a Pose Blogger Style - Blogger Meet Up 2018 and Breakfast at Tiffany's Prom Do Over. [Edit: Sherry of Petite Over 40 also made a stellar post, HERE, "Blogger Meet-Up Proves Vancouver's Got Talent." You have to check out the video she made too!]

It wasn't until after our meetup that I realized we had played like champion 12-year-olds. Vamp in alleys? Sure. Mock wedding in Talize thrift store in Delta? Why not? Recreate prom and Breakfast at Tiffany in the streets and fancy hotel lobbies? Yep. March together in purple sequin band uniforms at House of Vintage thrift store? Oh, definitely. Sigh.

I like to think that if I had had a daughter, she would have said, "Whoa, Mum, can you organize my next pyjama party?" Hahaha.

So all this happened in early June.

Below are some outfits I have worn since then.

The above vest-y jacket is from Suzanne.

What else?

On April 27, I was in the Irish Examiner newspaper, which I forgot to mention before. The article, "Over 50s slaying it on Instagram," is HERE. I love the photo they used. Heh.

I had a post all planned out long before this one but then that GDPR thing hit the web. The penalties for non-compliance are formidable: 1) Up to €10 million or 2% annual global turnover – whichever is higher. Okay, I can only dream that 2% of my annual global turnover is more than €10 million. The whole exercise made me feel irrelevant. And oh so tired. So I ended up taking an unplanned blogger holiday. Plus I needed a break anyway.

I'm more rested now. But about GDPR, I have a privacy policy almost ready. But please know that if you want to unsubscribe to my email posts, just click the link at the bottom of the email from Bag and a Beret.

One last thing. I was interviewed by Margaret Manning of Sixty and Me a couple of days ago. We did four little episodes. The first two are open.

Fashion After 50 *SHOCKER*! Should We Borrow From Men's Style?

Fashion After 50: The Search for Funky Treasures

It was fun. It was a lot of work too because I like show-and-tell style, but, as usual, I wasn't organized enough to show you 70 percent of what I had ready. Hahaha.

That's it for now. Big hugs to all of you. If you have come back to read this, thank you! And thanks for your patience.

I'll link up to Patti at Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb for #iwillwearwhatilike.