New York and Arizona on a budget

OMG OMG - I'm in NEW YORK!!!
Yup, who made it to NYFW?

OMG OMG - I'm in ARIZONA!!! 

Yup, who made it to  
The 40+ Blogger Meetup in Phoenix,
hosted by Sherry of 
Petite over 40?

Puh, NOT ME and NOT ME!!

I'm so bummed that I missed yoga with goats, which hostess Sherry, in a stroke of genius, included on the itinerary in Phoenix. Diane of Fashion on the Fourth Floor demonstrates great goat yoga style in the photo below. Bwahahaha!

Diane of blog Fashion on the Fourth Floor.

Diane has more photos HERE on her Instagram. I figure I could get my partner O to stand on my back, even though he lacks the requisite cloven hoof. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't relieve himself or eat my clothes or hair while he's up there, but that's part of the excitement, isn't it? Not to mention the sound effects I'd be missing out on with a real goat. At home, I'd just be yelling, "Ow! Ow! Get off me!" O: "But you said..." M: "I don't CARE WHAT I SAID! This is one of my stupidest ideas ever!"

Yup. At the moment, what I cannot manage with world travel I compensate for with photo editing. The backgrounds are from copyright-free/non-attribution photo stock, which I normally avoid - I'd much rather USE MY OWN PHOTOS! which I take when I GO TO THESE PLACES in real 3D life. But this was a self-pity emergency.

So I've been feeling surly, rankled, perturbed, and cranky - which meant I had to do full-on Party Face this week two days in a row [see previous post on Party Face]. It's a recent record. Below, example of eyeliner Day One.

Yes, a classic Mel photo illustrating my black eyeliner and black satin corset, both of which are COMPLETELY obscured here. And as a sop for not being able to have a goat or O stand on my back, I have put a rhinoceros on my arm. I feel much better now. Bet you didn't get that in Arizona, did ya? Did ya? Bwahahaha!

Below, eyeliner Day Two, which includes cosmetic leftovers from Day One, so handy, but a bit messier because I was more pissed off. I wore my thrifted Armani suit to give the brand name an uncomfortable squeeze. I like the designer-with-gutter look a lot. On my lips is Kat Von D's "Poe" lipstick on top of YSL No. 208.

Wearing an outfit like this makes me walk like a predator, yes, for skulking around the grocery store, where I went shopping. But cripes, my cool stealth walk was hideously ruined by a useless broken shopping cart with whirly wheels which I had to drag across the floor. I wanted to shout: Look out! I'm heading to the dairy aisle now! It's only neighbourly to give advance warning, right? They saw my hair and eyeliner and hid in bulk foods.

In summary, in terms of clear, full-on outfit photos, this post is a big FAIL, except the first double exposures, which show the Day Two Armani suit with my vintage men's overcoat. To see the full corset outfit of Day One, sorry, you have to go to my Instagram. Really - my apologies. I get tired of seeing myself all the frickin' time.

But now? Today? As I write this I am a vision of serenity even without the goat. My hair too has gone all namasty. Really, I'm not a menace. And no shoppers were harmed in dairy. What a week! And about the blog title, "New York and Arizona on a budget," basically my advice is: don't go. How it pains me to say it. Breathe. Breathe. Find a goat...

I'm linking up to Patti @ Not Dead Yet Style, Visible Monday, and Catherine @ Not Dressed as Lamb, #iwillwearwhatilike.

_____________________________________________________________________

And a Huge Warm Welcome! to my new subscribers. So happy to see you!
I'll have to put on the kettle - or roll out the bar cart. Yes. 

Corset as daytime wear for limp spirits

I drew on the extraordinarily rigid structure of this wonderful corset to prop up my limp spirits today. There is no room for sagging or slouching in this marvel of sartorial engineering. I don't lace it up tightly for waist-cinching; wearing its boning to fit my existing frame provides quite enough spiritual support.

Forget Maid Marian - feeling like Robin Hood is infinitely more empowering. My cross-slung camera feels like a quiver; one misstep and I'd have to shoot you, but only if you were fabulously dressed.

Details:

• Voller corset, made in England, retail many, many years ago
• long black T (you can see it under the corset), retail
• airship pendant, new from Little Lamp Sculpture on Etsy, my friend Monique 
• ivory silk blouse with mother-of-pearl heart buttons, retail, Tokyo many, many years ago
• black stretch riding pants, sample sale (usually worn as jeggings with a tunic)
• stretch wedge-heel boots, thrifted
• fingerless gloves, retail
• "had-it-up-to-here" attitude, my very own

I wore this corset with a similar pairing on Christmas Day. I also wore it here. The blouse was worn here.

This last photo reminds me of a time tunnel. Funny how a shift from colour to black and white takes me from Sherwood Forest to the world of sci-fi.

I lament that this outfit is all black and white. How much more fun it would be to wear a similar ensemble in rainbow colours, but you work with what you've got at the moment. 

At +50 some might question the age-appropriateness of this attire. I'm afraid in my current mood I would have to refer those people to my expletive-laden music video. Sorry to be so abrupt but Robin brings out a feisty shooting-apples-off-your-head non-chalance. 

Would you/have you ever worn a corset for daytime wear? Do you have one?

Also, thank you for your kind comments on my last post. Now that I am recovering from my drunken Spider Woman hangover, as Pao so astutely pointed out, I see the wisdom of your words. It also helps that my cleaning is finished.

Now excuse me while I go find my merry man (that would be O) to drink grog (coffee) and feast (exploding garden salad).

PS. This post was written Wed and posted today, I like to marinate for a night.