Almost famous, maybe. It's astounding.

Are you lookin' at me? - said in a De Niro voice from Taxi Driver

This is what I wore on Tuesday, but what I wore MONDAY was waaay more fun and high impact, and while I didn't get it on my camera (oops), it involved a vintage fringed leather vest, my DIY rockstar pants, and Miu Miu thrifted boots. Outta' my way! Where's my driver!? Where's my studio!? Who said lard!?

A man actually chased me down the block wondering who I am (really). No, he wasn't a police officer or from animal control. At least he wasn't wondering who he was either. Eyes popped, jaws dropped, children dropped their lollies and I picked them up and took them. But no photos. 

I need to think of a few snappy film noir come-back lines: "Yeah, mister, ain't cha' never seen no starry-eyed doe with tic-tac-toe painted on her fanny before?" here

Back to Tuesday. That turquoise top up there is Bob Mackie, 100% silk, $12 "as is" because the person pricing it in the thrift shop mistook the random white streaks (barely visible) for a botched wash job. Worn with: thrifted navy side-zip capris, frump shoes, colourful socks, gifted lava pendant (close up here), DIY preying mantis pendant (close-up here), vintage sunglasses, magic loupe from O. Thrifted coat.

This is MY CiTY. 

April 7, 2015. Vancouver, BC: The view on my daily patrol through the streets. Georgia St. heading eastbound near Burrard St. Roger that big buddy, everything A-OK. If you're coming to the July blogger meetup, you'll see this view too, although the cherry blossoms will be gone. The stately building is Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, one of the old architectural gems left standing downtown.

Below, the painted lines on the road and even the shadows seemed to point to these two beautiful women chatting quietly at the intersection of Robson/Burrard. A second later they were swallowed up by a hoard of pedestrians. The Blue Horizon Hotel is on Robson St., just a couple of blocks from here.

That's all. Thanks for the freakish yellow skirt suggestions! 

And now, guess what? It's official:

Bag and a Beret 

is one of the 

:: 7 BEST BLOGS BY OLDER WOMEN ::

At least Nicole Kliest at WhoWhatWear thinks so. So hurrah! Party time. Where's my fermented apple juice...? I thank Nicole here because I needed to be on Facebook, which I'm not, to comment on the actual post.

The article is called: 

Style Wise: The 7 Best Blogs by Older Women 

STYLE TIPS | 04.06.15 by Nicole Kliest 

The others on the list are: Accidental Icon, Le Lettre d'Ines, Not Dead Yet Style, Not Dressed as Lamb, Style Crone, Une Femme D'Un Certain Age. Gulp. What a huge honour it is to be included among these formidable women. If you're a new follower, hello! And thanks, Patti (Not Dead Yet Style), for including a photo of me taken by Nalidsa Sukprasent on your Facebook page. 

Today's outfit, Wednesday: thrifted maxi robe, which I drastically downsized, but it still has 90 buttons! Previously worn here unresized. I had a wonderful chat with a man who commented on my style today. Hi! in case you stop by. He has worn black pants and a white shirt for years and years, today as well, but he certainly has an arresting personality.

(If I smile, it will spoil the bad-assery of the shades.)

Hoping you're all having a stellar week!

Successful meh wear

This is a meh outfit. Had it not been for the positive feedback I got when I wore it out, I would not have posted these photos. Why is it that when I sometimes wear things that don't seem to sit right, I meet so many cool people? Could it be that the dampened spirit that a meh outfit causes (or reflects) makes me more approachable by blunting my invisible prickly exterior? Nah.

I won't wear this again though, no matter the response it gets; simply, it bugs me. And I certainly won't wear that red number from a previous post again. Hideous! I like the separates but not together - I HAD to wear it 'cause I knew what was good for me, Missy. It was like putting a huge flaw in a satisfying painting.

Wearing:

• Metalicus wool-blend tunic/dress
• mustard tights
• Geisha socks
• frump shoes
• brown wool cape
• red wool beret
• brown leather gloves
• black DIY cropped mohair sweater 
• magic loupe
• vintage sunglasses

Only the sunglasses, beret, and a long-sleeved under-top, not visible, were thrifted. Everything else was sample sale or discount bin.

I think I'm going through a style transition. I'm picking things out of my closet and wearing them because, why not? Sometimes I feel like I'm rolling around in a clothes pile like a slobbering dog in dirty autumn leaves and throwing on whatever sticks, which I enjoy, but maybe now that I have explored such an undefined breadth of clothing expression, I'm looking for what's next. Of course I can't imagine a life without dressing up, but I wonder how I will define that... Ah. Enough navel-gazing...

I'm linking up with freshly-New-Yorked Patti at her fabulous Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style. I'll see you there. Hugs, all.
Do you ever punish yourself with clothing?

Hat Attack 4

Ack ack, HAT ATTACK! Hello, Judith and fellow hat-wearers over at Style Crone.

'Tis I in an elfie shot with my lovely beret, one of my signature hats, this one in dark indigo wool, thrifted. I used to wear my berets firmly planted over my ears which I considered startling appendages best hidden. Now that I am more comfortable with berets and ears, I simply perch my beret like zat, jauntily on my head.

The simple beret is a tidy little lid that keeps your brains fresh and seals in your goodness. Plus, people in Vancouver at least always think you're from France if you wear one. (If I wore a green helmet would they think I'm from Mars? Um, that's a rhetorical question...)

This photo makes me look like an insect. But you know what they say - it's always better to look like an arthropod than a gastropod, such as a snail. My hair is slightly blue from the shampoo I use (on purpose). The platinum is barely holding on but my natural silver is proving good backup.

I'm also wearing my: patterned coat, thrifted; pink scarf, a hand-me-over gift from lovely Sharron, and; out-of-frame black tights and frump shoes. I've previously posted a very similar look here: My Familiar Outdoor Wear. This was the perfect snappy outfit for dodging the usual cast of ghouls, zombies, witches and pirates on my sojourn downtown for a mightily satisfying chin wag with Sandra (Lens is More) over a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee and sneaky eats from the counter treat bowl.

Let's embrace noble November as a very special month satisfyingly wedged between October and December and third among the Magnificent Four "ber" months. Why isn't it Januber, Februmber, Marmber, Apber, etc.? So much easier don't you think? Have you got special plans this month, I wonder? DO TELL!

Vintage wool dress for mystery

Today I wore one of my favourite odd dresses, a heavy wool garment with little gold studlettes, graduated in size, on the sleeves and front pocket, and a flared skirt. The dress was three or four sizes too big when I thrifted it, so in standard slacker fashion I simply sewed up the side seams to fit and lowered the shoulder seams at the top. Although this is a frequent go-to item for evening music recitals, I also enjoy it for daytime wear as well. There is a mysterious air about this garment which brings to mind the classic holiday-season movie Bell, Book and Candle in which Kim Novak, a witch, falls for a mortal, James Stewart.

Walking down the sidewalk I felt so deliciously witchy in the rain shadows that I was sure that if I turned around quickly, boo!, I would catch a dozen black cats (named Pyewacket) frozen in stride, amber eyes blazing. I always liked Kim Novak far better as a witch than as a mortal. I wonder if the street lights flared and burned out in a trail behind me.

Details of this ensemble:

• vintage dress, thrifted
• black tights, retail
• medium-heeled shoes (aka frump shoes), retail
• magic loupe, O made it for me
• magic pendant, O made it for me
• fingerless gloves, upcycled from Canadian Tire automotive store
• beret, thrifted
• seafoam cotton skirt underneath as a petticoat, thrifted

Below is a closeup of the dress fabric with the studs, and this is the tool-box bag I carried today, which came with a tool O ordered. Isn't it divine? I shall customize it at some point but I was content with the plain exterior today.

Happy Visible Monday! This week I'm able to make it over to Patti's place at Not Dead Yet Style. I missed you all last week... Time to catch up. Do your clothes put you in a mood or does your mood put you in your clothes?

Also, regarding my last post for Vogoff magazine, I greatly dislike ageism, and yet I defined this faux magazine's audience as women +40. Big mistake! I know so many wonderful bloggers who are under 40 and the world would not be complete without you. So if any of you want to contribute to Vogoff, I heartily welcome your suggestions.

PS

AND - I am very excited and flattered to be featured in an interview (here) posted by 

Sylvia on her amazing blog, 40+ Style (TM). 

The piece is called: 

"How to be more creative with your outfits: Style lessons from Melanie." 

Thank you! 

Sylvia is the kind of woman who could put on a scratchy potato sack and make it look cool and breezy in Singapore heat. If you haven't see Sylvia's style yet, do go have a look!

Maxi dress across the universe

Such a huge job for such a wee maxi dress - transporting me across the universe - all for the low, low price of $4.99 at local fabric mecca Dessew.

The dress is a new old stock garment made of jersey knit fabric so the plasticization effect that often occurs with old polyester is not quite as deliciously cringeworthy as it would be with a heavier-weight fabric. The triad of blue, striped middle, and bottom are cleverly sewn into unified magnificence. I love the shoulder pads in this too, which is odd because it's one of the first items to go when I buy a period piece. 

Obviously I am continuing the space theme I started a couple of posts ago. I carried my gold bag out again to protect from cosmic rays, but I think in this dress I am impervious to meteor showers, cosmic rays, and other such space matters - except Dr. Spock.

Details of the outfit:

• new old stock maxi dress, fabric shop Dressew
• long-sleeved black T under short-sleeved dress
• black tights, retail
• Frump heels, retail
• universe, free for all

It looks like I'm falling from one world into another and orange energy is spewing out of my head. I sometimes feel like the expression on my face. 

I didn't retouch these photos except to crop them - I simply curled onto my painting's surface on the floor under my camera, which was balanced (precariously!) on its tripod jammed into the painting rack. I don't have a remote so running back and forth with the timer was challenging - especially when the shot demanded absolute repose in the galaxy enveloping me.

Below is an excerpt of lyrics from the Beatles song Across the Universe:

Images of broken light

Which dance before me like a million eyes

They call me on and on across the universe

Thoughts meander like a restless wind 

Inside a letter box 

They tumble blindly as they make their way

Across the universe

I did that painting a few years ago. It's big, and until now I never much cared for its galactic imagery; now I love it. If you've got art you are not fond of, try putting it on the floor and rolling around on it - and photographing the process. I guarantee you'll feel differently about it afterwards...

Gorgeous Patti is hosting her magnificent Visible Monday again. Of course Monday's there are great, but her blog is welcoming any day of the week: Not Dead Yet Style.

PS - If you couldn't watch my band's (Just Bad Enough) debut "music" video on your system, I've put it on YouTube. Fabulous Miss Simmonds commented already because I gave her a sneak peek, but sadly I took down the original (and her comment - so sorry!) because I reposted it with better quality. So if you haven't seen it yet and want to question my taste even more, go have a look. Watch out for Language.

Coming out of the clochet

Today I did something different. Usually I grab things in my closet pell-mell to create an ensemble that reflects an overall mood, giving equal weight to all parts. Today I chose a signature piece, an accessory, which singlehandedly seemed to embody everything I was feeling, and then constructed my outfit around it. I'm speaking here of my felt cloche with the flower. Poor little thing was buried in the closet.

This one little hat said it all: I wanted to partially shield myself during my walk (still in recovery mode) and I wanted to feel romantically 1920s. The colour palette is quiet, but my cloche demanded it be so. The jacket has convenient velcro tabs for closures on the front and the shift has a freighter neck, much wider than a boat neck, which is concealed by the jacket.

Details of the outfit:

• cloche, new decades ago from Sears(?)
• shimmery green jacket, thrifted, Value Village
• moss-grey shift, new years ago from Eatons closing-out sale, downsized 4 sizes
• black tights, "Frump" shoes, The Bay
• magic teacup carrier with heirloom teacup inside; I made the carrier, O did the hardware
• hand-me-over black vinyl bag that holds all my pencil crayons, sketchbooks, etc.
• Shar Pei wool sweater

I'm still recovering but managed a brief, low-intensity game of squash today. It felt good to MOVE!

And finally - 

Ms. Helga recently posted a brilliant photo essay of her drunken escapades under a tree. I immediately thought of this painting I did, although Helga was much more visually exciting than the waitress in this piece.

Title: "Becky had had trouble sleeping lately; she finally realized that it wasn't the coffee keeping her awake but something much more sinister." Acrylic on canvas paper, 18" x 24"

Have a great weekend everyone!