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.

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.