Bring on the hounds, and Hat Attack 29

Did I the mention the post-gala party? (what gala? see here) The wild frickin' partying all frickin' night long?!! Boozing on dregs, semi-nude prancing on linen-topped tables, catwalk histrionics with dirty cutlery aids, drunken Chicken Dance-ing down gold-foiled halls hung with dour portraits of past presidents, Carol Burnett-style yodelling in the men's bathroom, giggly Hide & Seek with security, and boisterous kitchen raids for more dessert. Did I mention that?

No? Maybe because in reality I staggered home early in exhaustion and slept, collated my photos, and got a cold three days later like a respectable middle-aged tween. Such a wuss!! One tablespoon of wine these days and I'm out. But I can dream, can't I? - if that kind of drunken debauchery still counts as a dream...

I was feeling better today so it was time to call in the hounds. Yes, nothing like double-dose houndsteeth for extra bite and snarl - that's good medicine. But no more muzzling with my facemask - that phase of my cold is past, thank goodness. I try to mask up to keep my germs to myself, plus the mask is like a little security blankie for my face. I put a photo of me in one of my masks on Instagram here. 

And it's time to join Judith's 29th Hat Attack at Style Crone - I can't miss it. I made sure to wear this lovely thrifted indigo felt beret. I used to wear it all the time and it felt good jamming it down over my ears again today. It still fits! - I was worried because of the massive head bloat I got from all your generous comments about the fashion show. (Thank you, by the way!)

I don't like the gloves with this, but, hey, it was cold. And the belt is sticking out - drats. My PA is fired!! The coat is a high-end cashmere-wool blend from My Sister's Closet, $5 rack; the Italian slip-on leather booties are from there too, so pointy the toes turn up. And thrifted houndstooth Steve Madden stretch ankle-zip pants, O's real rockstar button down from Tokyo days, and my magic loupe from O.

I'm linking these hungry hounds up to Patti's fabulous Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style, where she's serving up ice cream cake. Woo-hoo!! That's something to party about.

Speaking of O, he made me another ruby and stainless steel ring with a tension mount. It's the third in a set of three rings made from chunks of stainless steel, each with increasing difficulty to make. The first one is here, the second is here, and this one.

This beauty really, really glows like an LED when the light hits it, there is so little contact between the stone and the mount with a very narrow band, which lets in even more light. Also, because the stone has such an elevated setting, sometimes I get an intense red reflection on my finger underneath. Again, he has polished the steel to a black finish.

I was excited so I had to show you. You'll see this ring frequently in my photos in the future.

I'm still coming down from the high of the fashion show. I obsess about all the things I could have done better. Live and learn. But I found out that I love styling other people, which I wasn't sure I would enjoy. Good to know.

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Finally,
I must mention my great thanks to Still Weird Zine for featuring me in "10 Fashion Bloggers Who are Keeping it Weird." Yesss. I am honoured to wear the weirdness banner, especially in such august company. Cool blog full of music, arts, and weirdness. Hurrah! Have a look.

And Sally at Already Pretty gave me a fantastic shout-out on her Lovely Links on Nov. 20 for my patterny outfit that refused to go wrong, here. Thank you, Sally!

I hope you are all well and dressing every day like you're on the catwalk. Yee haw!!

When a good deal is bad

I bought this maxi tunic/beach cover-up on deep discount at Topshop in their summer apparel sale, and wearing it today I kept thinking about how "factory," how mass-produced it felt compared to most of my clothes.  

The fabric is filmy in an irritating modern way and snagged from previous try-ons by strangers. I can imagine this garment falling apart in a short time. That's not what I want to think about/feel when I'm wearing something. Under the cover-up I'm wearing my jeans and a white tank.

Lesson: Try to resist the magpie allure of flashy discounted clothing at fast fashion retailers. It's not worth the investment pocket-wise or mind-wise. 

I know you're tired of hearing it, but the meet-up is on my mind. I feel pressure to look good, make my city look good, and be a good hostess. Usually when I feel like this, I take a deep breath and... 

Surrender to the chaos. 

If I still had a big studio, you would see paint flying. There's nothing I can do or make that will be good enough to meet my own expectations, let alone those of the people coming, so I shall try to meet none. Such a relief. In doing so, I shall gain the peace of mind required to look good, make my city look good, and...You get the drift.

It's an endless vicious cycle!

Other random thoughts:

Bird girl with rat-on-her-head. 

I sometimes see a woman downtown with a rat that is always on her head. 

She often feeds it from her own mouth. 

This is how I looked on a day I wore my gold sequin top. 

I wore the sequins with a colourful striped blouse, untucked, my houndstooth 

Steve Madden stretch pants, and my mustard shag coat and running shoes.

It's a short post but I needed to say a big hello! I have been strenuously practising the art of non-obligation blogging lately as part of chaos mode (and work mode). Commenting has been random and fleeting. Regular programming will resume after the meetup. Until then, breathe...

And I must thank Sally at Already Pretty for the shout-out on her weekly Lovely Links of July 10 for my post on compliments that go bad. It's always an honour to be included in her eclectic lineup.

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.

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. )

Two birds in the hair. What are they worth?

Yup. 

That's what I wore.

Except for the birds

nesting on my head.

You can't see the clothes 

very well -

the reflection of the camera

flash in the mirror distorted the image

just a bit...

...whereas these trifling snaps have more definition.

The trousers in the second sketch up there are

in the last photo below, huge palazzo entities.

You could fit a small village in them.

And middle, my white linen, rich-boy Hampton's pants.

And top photo, my lovely floral jumpsuit.

I'm linking this mess up to Patti's Visible Monday party.

You can see I've been hanging about the park already

for serious pre-conditioning, just like the pros do.

Not Dead Yet Style, yup. 

And a big thank you to 

Sally at Already Pretty for linking to me and my 

upcycled jacket on her 

Friday's Lovely Links, Jul. 18.

A Dark Horse

Yesterday I needed to wear something heavy, not warm, just heavy, don't ask me why. And it needed to be black, the more black the better. This is what I found. I threw on the shawl at the last minute.

Clearly I am a moth, I mean a phoenix, I mean a totem pole, I mean Sherlotta Holmes tramping through the woods, looking for toxic plants and clues, speaking of which, I could have saved myself the trouble just bottling a drop of Miz Bagg's drool, but where's the fun in that?

There are abazillion layers here - yes, this was very heavy. I moved silently, wraith-like, down the sidewalk. Turning around, I could see the fabric billowing still in slow motion behind me, life at five frames per second. Maybe that's why I wanted to wear heavy clothes - to crank it down a notch. I avoided traffic lights because, like a super-tanker, I would have needed a block to gear down to a full stop. (Would you like more metaphors and similes?)

NEWS FLASH
I've heard it firsthand that the Sherlotta, cowboy/First Nations, moth, opium den vibe is going to THEE hot trend for spring - you heard it here first.  Special thanks to Valastasia Bugheroff at Muse Fondue for letting me use her den for inspiration - more about that in a future post.

Wearing:

black gauzy maxi dress, thrifted

under the dress

black knee socks and heavy black jeggings

black cami and black long-sleeved top

over the dress

upcycled black wispy tunic with ribbon ties, as vintage as I am, retail

black patterned sleeveless maxi vest, thrifted

vintage black haori (short kimono-type thing), thrifted

silk Orientalesque shawl, $5 thrifted, yay!

Miu Miu boots, thrifted

above the dress

vintage black felt fur fedora, thrifted

I bought the haori in '85 and it was already vintage then. And I looove this black fedora. Usually I would have slapped a beret on my head for this but it felt too, hm, just too predictable, you know what I mean?

I'm linking this up to Judith's Hat Attack #7 at Style Crone.

I'm linking this up to Sacramento's Share-in-Style: Gothic  at Mis Papelicos. The prompt makes me think of secret science labs in castle basements and foggy midnight alleyways in London.  

I'm linking to Anne's 52-Pick-Me-Up: Short Over Long at Spy Girl.

Below is what I wore today, February 1. It is one of the happiest outfits I have worn in a while - I could feel the smiles blooming all around me as I tiptoed past. Happy Year of the Horse. Neigh.

Wearing

• Kimono-style robe, not silk, $8 thrifted, yay!
• long flowy skirt, thrifted
• glitter booties, crapily-made, mega-discount retail
• black sequin top, thifted
• black turtleneck, thrifted
• ...and other assorted layers-on-layers-on layers for warmth.

Finally, regarding my previous Lena Dunham post, I am traumatized that nobody offered me $60,000 to see my original unretouched photos! As part of my recovery process, I am posting them here for free. 

Have a great weekend all. And thanks to Sally at Already Pretty for the shout-out on my Dunham post. My stats are stunned by the exercise.