Tidy Kim Novak hair and a blogger meetup

My brain is finally coughing up that big social hairball built up during a whirlwind of activity these past couple of weeks, hence, my tardiness in posting.

And then, several days ago, another media opportunity came up (tba) so I decided I needed a bunch of new photos of springish looks taken in natural light. But there was a tight deadline. So in driving, freezing-cold rain, I trudged downtown in my shaggy muppet coat, lugging a heavy bag and fighting a weaselly umbrella. The afternoon was kind of like that game Whack-a-Mole as I scurried, frazzled, from one dry spot to another. I had fun in a push-my-limits way.

What I wore to the Press Preview

On March 8, I attended a Press Preview reception for Eco Fashion Week, Mar 31 - Apr 2, where I practised Extreme Hobnobbing. Armed with my bonafide business cards, as seen here, I was no longer a fish out of water like last year; I was more like a mud-skipper or other walking fish that fins its way across the mud, awkward, disheveled, and flapping about with bug eyes. Some kinds are alien invasive species. Yup.

Next is my friend Colleen at the Preview. She keeps me apprised of all the fashion events in the city and runs a great blog, Clothes Line Finds, with her daughter Anthea from Toronto. I take notes on her mingling expertise. What a fantastic outfit! Don't miss the glimpse of shoe.

I'm happy to say that I did not plant myself at the buffet table this time, aided instead by the centrepiece bowls of tasty designer potato chips on each bar table in the room. I'll soon write up EFW on my street style blog. But enough of that.

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The BEST thing that happened lately was a blogger meetup. Hurray!! 

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Look at those happy mugs, would ya? Sue, A Colourful Canvas, Suzanne Carillo, and moi (those choppers!). Suzanne came to town and we got two days of her all to ourselves. This photo was taken at Earls (where we ate at the big meetup a couple of summers ago). Suzanne instructed our handsome, young server to keep away our fans, and despite his professional demeanor, he told us he was a wreck inside with the thrill of meeting us. He got a good tip.

We shopped and talked and shopped and talked and ate and ate and ate, like what happens at all blogger meetups, except we didn't have goat yoga, which Sherry offered at her meetup in Phoenix. Just as well - there was merciless schlain (slushy rain) the whole time.

We all tried on these marvellous leather gold booties. Can you believe how fabulous they are? - I'm of course referring to the women, Suzanne in her vintage and Sue in her self-sewn dotted coat with buttons she also made.

On the first day of our meetup we converged at Talize Thrift store in Delta where we shopped until I dropped - you'll have to see the video, coming soon, to know I mean it. We didn't even get kicked out of the store for our boisterous behaviour. In fact, they gave us a discount. Woo hoo! Talize staff treated us like stars, having seen our previous videos, here and here. They were super friendly and accommodating.

I'll let you decide on your own whether Sue and Suzanne bought these outfits. It's kind of a no-brainer. I got a great haul too but my stuff is still bagged awaiting processing.

During our two days' together we also hit Used House of Vintage store, where Sue also shot some great iPhone footage of me and Suzanne goofing off, and the Hermes boutique, where we didn't goof off, a stationary store, Holt Renfrew, and The Room at The Bay for getting ideas - and keeping warm and dry. And we dined at Cactus Club. I swear, meeting blog friends is the best thing!

Edit: ALERT ALERT!!

SUZANNE put up her post on the meetup HERE. It's PERFECT. 

And it includes video from the vintage shop & Talize. You MUST SEE IT. Hahaha!!

Shameless, shameless

Suzanne flashes a bit of leg in the star dressing room at Used House of Vintage, the most glamourous vintage change room in town.

Edit: I put a new photo of Sue and Suzanne on my street style blog, here.

And below, my entire Press Preview outfit. I love it, especially with my tidy Kim Novak hairdo, all slicked back like that, my black eyeshadow, and Poe lipstick. I used my uni-suspender to hoist the waist of my fisherman pants and a kimono-fabric shoelace around my neck to secure my wallet holster. The day of this function was also terribly windy, cold, and wet, no surprise there, but my hair didn't budge. Hahaha.

All this rambling is what happens when I miss posting for a while. As I said, social hairballs - processing everything that's been going on takes time.

I'll link something up with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style, her Visible Monday party. I'm exhausted! I'll be the one snoozing on the lawn. And next weekend is another big meetup, which, by the way, I'm looking forward to.

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I just found out that the Marie Claire Brazil magazine article I was in is also online. 

You can see it HERE. 

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Please tell me I've covered everything now. Please. Heh. 

Oh yeah, I have also been obsessing over a series on Netflix called Velvet, about a couture ladies' department store (Velvet) in Madrid, Spain, in the late '50s, and the lives and forbidden love between one of the store's heirs and a seamstress/designer who boards in the store. Don't watch it! There are 54 episodes and each one is over an hour long. The fashion, the music, the language... Sigh.

Yellow Skirt Freak Show Update!! And bumping up your glam factor

If you find me doing DIY lipo, licking a champagne bottle, and eating buttons off my pyjamas thinking they're pills, I've been worshipping again at the altar of lifestyle gurus Patsy and Edina of Ab Fab. (read about them here)

I went to see their new movie, "Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie," two nights ago, which was very timely considering how lately I've been contemplating measures to glam up my life.

This is what I wore to the movie. I also had on my vintage gigantor red and mustard paisley palazzo pants.

Still from the movie review video. Barbara shot this part. Thanks, Barbara!

But more about the movie later...

Project Glamourization. Last week I read a magazine article about a woman who had a very long, impressive name and an expensive villa in Florence, disguised to look rustic. Hey, I thought, that could be me if I changed my name to (drum roll, please):

Melanie von Harumph de Schnackenloafer del Petunia

In the article, they wrote the full family name every single time. Well, I think that's a bit much - I'd definitely let them shorten my name to, say, HRH Mel after the first ten mentions at full length. Oooh, I feel more successful already.

Below, the seersuckiest seersucker you ever did see. Vintage. Home-sewn. With pockets. I wore this last week. Glam? Yes, I think so!

And my sky-high Steve Madden sandals go perfectly.

But I suspect it's not just the name. One needs to glamourize one's life in general. For example, why inhale air, which is so utterly boring, when you can sniff it? Also, now I drink my water from a cute little shot glass. I down several shots in the morning like a big-time bad-ass.

Shot glasses make hydration glamourous. 

Write that down!

But I'm afraid nothing I do can live up to the standards set by Patsy and Edina.

However, before I tell you more about Ab Fab, I have some breaking news!! Well, not so breaking now because I've been slacking on the blogger front, but -

Nearly breaking news!!!

The Freakish Yellow Skirt is back in ACTION, high-impact action, with Trina of Tea Time with Trina!

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Stompin' Dancin' Flower Pickin'

QUEEN and Bohemian

and Cow-woman - okay that sounds bad - Cowgirl to boot

a little Utah hooplah for the Freakish Yellow Skirt

on the Travelling Yellow Skirt Freak Show!

Madly Joyfully Twirling and Ducking 
In and  OUT & Up and On with

TRINA

TEA TIME WITH TRINA

   G o !   G O   N O W !!!   

I'm thrilled that Trina has joined the Yellow Skirt show. I was fortunate to meet her last summer and know that she must have packed a humongous helping of positive energy in FYS. Thank you, Trina, for joining and adding your magic to this curious garment.

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Now I'll tell you about Ab Fab...

Vancouver Barbara and I attended the Absolutely Fabulous movie together. We ended up in the bar at the Sylvia Hotel afterwards - how surprising!

I made a little movie review video with Barbara. I hope you like it.

MOVIE REVIEW 

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE

Special Guest: Vancouver Barbara (who also helped with filming)

I ran into lots of cool women at the theatre. In particular I was happy to see Frances of Materfamilias Writes seated near me. Her take on the movie is HERE. It turns out we are neighbours! Hurrah!

Frances was wearing a spectacular outfit featuring the silkiest oyster grey skirt with two daring slits right up the front which showed off her fantastic gams. Definitely NOT a wardrobe malfunction! She proved that you don't have to dress outrageously to be fabulous. She wore her new blue specs too. They look fantastic. (I also put this photo on my street style blog, here.)

Also there was Denice, whom I met at that swanky event when Shelley was in town, accompanied by two of her very stylish friends, Roxana and April (I hope I got their names right). And Colleen of the blog Clothes Line Finds, and Lynn and Diana, both of whom I know from My Sister's Closet. Colleen and Lynn are in the final scene in the video.

Below: Lynn, Colleen, and Barbara before the show. They look incredible! It's hard to see here but Lynn's sandals are paved with rhinestones. Barbara made that outfit - spectacular! And Colleen scored the glittery shawl from My Sister's Closet.

Finally, a BIG THANK YOU to Lynne Spreen, Any Shiny Thing - Life After 50 for mentioning Bag and a Beret in her post "Grief about Turning 50," here, as a source of style ideas over 50.

And, someone else has linked to this blog but I don't know who you are or where you come from but Thank you!! (unless you are sending people to ridicule me - you never know, right?) 

And to finish off this rambling post, one more shot of my seersucker. Mmm. I used to detest seersucker; now it is precious to me. Heh. That's a good view of my shoes.

Did you make it to the end? This is what happens when I miss posting for a week. Everything piles up. I hope you are all well. I have been on a blogger break and getting lots of farking done. Feels so good.

Stay cool, whether it's summer or winter. But I don't have to tell you that, do I?

Are you Ab Fab fans? I thought I would hate that movie because there were so many celebrity cameos in it, which I've found usually means the script sucks. How happy I was to be WRONG!!! Jennifer Saunders is a brilliant comedic writer. Lots of laughs. It turns out there was a character with a huuuge long name, which just proves my theory!

Oh, and because of Suzanne's comment I'm wondering what your long glamour names would be.

I'll link this up with stuff but, really, I can't think about that now. I'll add it later.

Yours Sincerely,
Ms. von Harumph de Schnackenloafer del Petunia


Edit: Okay, I'm back, ready to do some linking.
1) Patti at Visible Monday: Not Dead Yet Style
2) Catherine at #iwillwearwhatilike: Not Dressed as Lamb
Anne has a great linkup at SpyGirl - The Fashion Rosebud Linkup: "Write about a powerful memory from your youth, one that shaped your core, one in which fashion was involved." I love this prompt - maybe I can think of something later...