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...

My debut as a fashion show stylist! What they wore.

I styled a fashion show! Can you believe it? At a gala Wednesday night at posh Terminal City Club, Vancouver. The crowd went wild, cheering and applauding. Seriously.  Bwahaha! My Sister's Closet (MSC), a social enterprise run by Battered Women's Support Services, invited me to do the gig as part of BWSS's yearly fundraising gala.

I had a blast and I met the best people you could hope to know. Everyone involved was a volunteer and put out more than 100 percent. I almost burst with happiness at the stellar performance of the show team. You should have seen the models' beaming faces when they came off the runway. If I can dress people to make them that happy, then, hell yeah, my mission has just begun.

Above I am with holy-moly style conspirator Su Bennett, a long-time MSC volunteer and a veteran of MSC fashion shows. I couldn't have done this show without her. She was not only generous with her time, encyclopedic knowledge of clothes, and advice, but she also has a wild style eye; we finish each other's style sentences. Thank you, Su. It's a privilege to know you.

The Clothes

Everything was secondhand from My Sister's Closet stock, which is primarily donated quality mainstream brands and designer labels, what I call "normal" clothing (heh), with enough runaway vintage and oddities to make life interesting. I scout there regularly for far-out pieces.

The Models

There were six models in all shapes, sizes, and ages, most without experience. I tried to dress them as whole people wearing cool clothes, not as clothing displays, keeping in mind the show's theme, Breaking the Stereotypes. Five women, two looks each; one man, three looks. They walked their own walk, oh yes.

I snapped all the photos I could between freaking out and checking on everything. With low light, no flash, and limited time, these are the best I could do. MSC had a photographer who probably captured better shots from the runway.

THE LOOKS

STELLA

She was hesitant to wear the left look but loved it most of all in the end. Such a cool woman.

Left: red sleeveless dress with rampant accordion pleats, oversized men's orange Nike workout top, oversized orange knit sweater nipped in at the back with a mitten clip, filmy polka-dot scarf, yarn-worm scarf, beads, cool tie shoes. Right: leopard print stretch pants, leopard print sweater, inside-out jacket, leopard print scarf, green faux-leather cargo bag, studded belt, brown leather booties, Stella's own ring.

IMREET

I wanted ultra-wide hair so there was lots of spraying and teasing. I even requested that the hairstylist put little pony tails on the sides of her head for extra pouf. You know me: when I say big, I mean BIG.

Left: halter top chiffon maxi dress, midi embroidered Moroccan vest, jewel-toned sparkly vest, black designer silky jacket with thready bits, felt hat, bangles, black cowboy boots. (The sparkly vest was supposed to be worn over the coat. I knew something looked a bit too normal. I kick myself! Lesson learned.) Right: cashmere blend red/black track suit, over-the-knee heeled boots, ultra-wide burgundy faux fur collar carried as a bold swingy accent.

ANGEL

Two days before the show we were told that the hairstylists couldn't come!? Panicking that I'd have to do hair, I went to Dollarama and bought two large glittery bell-shaped Christmas ornaments. One of them is buried in Angel's towering hair below. In the end we were lucky to get some awesome hair specialists, but the bells gave us shortcut lift-off. My hair concept was Dr. Seuss with a fashiony edge.

Left: purple pencil skirt with front zipper pocket, men's checked button down, men's tie, patterned tank top, glasses on a blue chain, briefcase, and Angel's own charcoal tights and black boots. Right: red/black/white handkerchief-hem tunic, black leggings with faux-leather diamond pattern on the sides, black sparkly flats, red heart pendant. Angel made the gorgeous earrings and sells her jewellery at MSC.

LYNN

I love how the woman with the pink in her hair is also the one in the most tailored outfit. But how she can rock a mini-dress too. WOW! Wish I had better pics.

Left: Prada sleeveless front-zip dress, designer zip jacket with sticky-out shoulder detail, jewels, black pumps. Right: mini red tank dress with keyhole back, fuchsia cami peeking out around the neck, red nubbly-fabric designer coat, big round red dangly earrings, opaque very purple tights, black booties, silver twisty bracelet. 

MARC

When Marc came for his fitting he pointed at the faux fur coat on the rack, broke into a grin, and said, "I could rock that!" And did he ever. Love this guy!

Left: women's oversized pants held up with unisuspender, men's velour snake-print button-down, women's black faux fur coat, big honkin' pendant, bracelets, and Marc's own red and black striped socks and tie boots. Right: women's midi tartan skirt hacked to knee length (Su customized it with an uneven thready hem and fantastic hangy swishy bits), women's designer drop-crotch knit track pants, men's vertical-striped brown vest, white button down, men's tweedy patterned jacket, red bow tie, leather/cotton super-wide belt. There was no time to turn up the cuffs. Another lesson learned...

Marc had a third look too - a Christian Dior suit. I didn't get a passable photo - the change was too quick.

FLORINDA

Florinda also had tower hair. You could see bits of gold bell glittering inside. Very cool effect. Too bad she didn't ding. Heh. Florinda has more photos of the event on her Facebook here, where you'll see she is a real pageant queen.

Left: men's hugely oversized jeans cinched with a men's tie, men's flannel shirt tied at the front, men's sweater as scarf, striped socks, insanely high platform Melissa sandals with tassels and psychedelic colours on the heels. Right: fitted coat with embroidery details, intertwined scarves, black shiny boots.

MY SISTER'S CLOSET

Left: Samantha, Manager of thrift boutique My Sister's Closet - she is the woman who initially invited me to guest-style the show. I thank her and BWSS from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity. Middle: Tracy Richardson, Professional Stylist and Consultant - she has decades of experience styling celebrities for TV and film. She oversaw the fabulous hair/makeup team of Susanna and Jennifer, and Sarah on makeup. And then yours truly. 

[Edit: Gaaa, I forgot to mention Dianna Drahanchuk, a pro in the fashion business and another volunteer at MSC, who provided invaluable support getting the models prepped for their walk on site. Given her experience, her presence alone was a huge comfort!]

The obligatory bathroom selfie taken at Terminal City Club.

While I planned to wear a gown to go on stage, I didn't have time to change and went out in my working clothes: vintage top made in Hong Kong, stretch flower bell bottoms, and platform farked boots - my lucky boots, also shown here. Full outfit seen on Florinda's Facebook here. Later I changed into my backup gown below. The first one disintegrated. Heh.

The Pose. Pao of projectminima gave me this vintage dress by Paul Stanley of New York, not the KISS Paul Stanley, heh, although I almost met him once when I was wearing my rockstar pants. This is a dress her mother used to wear, and although she has passed over, her style keeps on going. You may have seen this dress before - I have worn it as daywear here and here. Thank you, Pao!

So that's where my head has been at lately. It's been a whirlwind week for me. Thanks, everyone, for the help. And thanks to my friends for your support. You are all stellar. Hurrah!

Time for a nap. And chips, and chocolate. And black and white movies. And grand sighs of contentment. A cat would make it complete but I don't have one. 

How has your week been?

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EDIT: I also linked my Instagram photo of this gala dress to Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike Christmas Party Dress linkup on her blog Not Dressed as Lamb.