Yellow Skirt Freak Show Update!! and great walls

When you can't decide what colour or pattern to wear, of course you wear them all.

And below, just so you don't think I've gone all soft and happy and positive - the look I throw on 1) if I sense some style-rule 'tude coming my way, my withering regal glare or 2) to convince gawkers in the surrounding highrises that I know exactly what I'm doing in the alley. Bwhahaha! 

Who needs Mr. Bean when you've got me bungling around with my bag and the tripod and my alcohol spray, flappy pants, and my remote, and that stupid thing there, and, geez, what is that?, my purse, thinking all the while, DON'T LET IT TOUCH THE GROUND!! Oof, arf, ack - it's my distinctive cry.

Oh yes, everything under control here. Yes-sireedy-deedy (no meaning there, Greetje).

Wearing: hip-slung oversized palazzo pants from Used House of Vintage, top from Value Village long ago, corset belt from I-forget-where, shoes from the reject sale pile at Topshop a couple of years ago, earrings from My Sister's Closet. I tucked in the top and decided I also needed the belt.

I have lots of photos but, puh, enough of that. NEXT!!! she screamed (like that screamy Frau Farbissina in Austin Powers. You can see her true magic here). But first -

Breaking News

The Travelling Yellow Skirt Freak Show continues.

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Never has the 
Freakish Yellow Skirt

.

blown so much HOT AIR

She RISES to New HEIGHTS of 
Fa-byuu-luss FREAKINGNESS!!

Buoyed by elan and grace and great gobs of elegance

She breaks fresh wind

* S  a l  l y *
.

SarsaparillaSal

(click blog name to link)

with sunshine from Umbi

you will truly be AMAZED!!! (for real)

G O ! !   G O   N O W ! ! ! !

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I knew Sally was a madly-skilled sewist and stylist with a wonderful sense of humour, but this FYS project blew me away. Hahaha! You must see her post here, well, all her posts - so worth it. Soon she'll also put up a "Making of the Yellow Skirt" post as well. You'll see why.

Thanks, Sally!! And thanks also to your artistic director, photographer, the villa custodians, and of course your gifted son, Umbi. Your joyful styling made my day! The skirt is now winging its way to the USA.

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Refreshed from that interlude, are you? You must be ready for NEXT OUTFIT!!

Yes, a little off center, cut off, with a crooked horizon. Just like my life. My superb thrifted vintage jumpsuit from Used House of Vintage, which features a persnickety rear metal zip, worn with my vintage leather belt and thrifted Miu Miu boots. Earrings from My Sister's Closet. Hair from my head.

Another quickie blankie photo with a scrap piece of black fleece as a backdrop and disinfected soles.

And one more photo for the road because I have it and I like it and I risked my humility once again to take it in a new location. It seems everywhere I turn these days I run into another great wall. Oof.

That's all from here. I have been a failure at visiting everyone. I'll try to catch up.

I'll link this up to:
Patti at Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style
Catherine at #iwillwearwhatilike, Not Dressed as Lamb
Anne at 52 Pick-me-up: Ivory/Rejection, heh, SpyGirl.

Have a great week.
I love that yellow skirt.

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.