Blinded by the light

It's the power of gold spangles, my friends. This treasure cast so many reflections that my elevator became a private discotheque. When I stepped onto the sidewalk, the entire city lit up in sparkly madness.

The day I bought this top I entered my favourite thrift store determined not to find anything. After careful scrutiny of every corner I had achieved my targeted disappointment. But of course, like any good soldier of style, I had to do a second sweep - JUST TO MAKE SURE! On my way out, the glint caught my eye...

Details:

• gold sequin top, thrifted (same neck style as the sparkle catsuit of a couple posts ago)
• maxi floral silk skirt, Debbie Suchat sample, thrifted, last seen as spring skress HERE
• ankle boots, you've seen them all over the place, new long ago
• oversized mauve silk blouse, hand-me-over from time-sealed treasure chest
• magic loupe, O made it for me
• maxi cardi with convenient pockets located at knee height, sample sale, Metallicus 
• unseen: mustard tights and wild diamond-patterned socks, for a future post...
• toolbox handbag, not shown here but it was my bag du jour

Below is how I looked outside with my cardi against the chill and my street style camera.

When I wear this skirt the way it was designed, as an actual maxi skirt rather than as a skress, the waist settles around my hips so that the hem elegantly sweeps the floor, or sidewalk - not so elegant! So I rolled the waist to shorten the length, which worked for a while at least.

In this outfit I envision myself centre stage playing electric guitar for the song "Blinded by the Light" by Manfred Mann, never mind that I can't play electric guitar...



Does anyone know the REAL lyrics by heart?... If you do, you have my admiration. I hope you're having a week full of sparkle, real or imagined.

Oh dahlings, meet my little wittle Pucci jumpsuit

Oh dahlings, why, oh why, did I buy this $2,000 Pucci jumpsuit? Am I, as they say, fou?

But is my jumpsuit not jolie? Especially with my Miu Miu boots? In the above photo I am Puccicking in my foyer. And below I am Puccicking again at my back door. As you can see, I simply cannot let you inside - the mess is, as they say at my chateau in France, horrible.

Yes, jolly frigging right this piece is jolie. I paid 19 bucks for it at House of Vintage Fashion. Bwa-ha-ha! And it's not Pucci. Frankly, lacking a label I have no idea WHAT it is, and I don't caaaare. But I can tell you this: this polyester jumpsuit madness made me feel like far more than a paltry $2,000, especially on a rainy day.

Details of the outfit:

• vintage floral polyester jumpsuit, thrifted, House of Vintage Fashion, $19
• brown crackle leather Miu Miu boots, thrifted, Wildlife Thrift Store, $9
• quilted cotton biker jacket, sample sale, Metallicus, $20?
• indigo beret, thrifted, Community Thrift Store, $10?
• magic loupe pendant, O made it for me
• black wool turtleneck, thrifted, Value Village
• fingerless knit gloves, retail ($5?), Canadian Tire automotive store

The room above is in fact dark grey, but as soon as I walked in it turned white and multicoloured tongues unfurled from the walls to blow happy raspberries at me. I swear it's true. I was drenched in fruity wall spit! 

The couple on the balcony, overwhelmed by delirious contentment gazing at my Pucciesque explosion of floral goodness as I leapt past, immediately turned to stone. Even distracted birds were flying into the walls. That's the power of style, my friends. Yup, the power of style.

Sandra, bandmate and blogger of Lens is More, and I were at it again, combing downtown for photo ops and behaving rather badly. But we have no shame... 

Pay no attention to my moustache. Whatever you do, don't look at my moustache. That black thing, don't look at it - it's not there, the black moustache thing. Kidding aside, the bronze arm under my nose makes me feel like a true artiste like Dali and ready for a sneeze at a moment's notice. See Sandra's blog for a photo of her with a moustache - if she posted it... It was her idea.

Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck. 

So much architecture to climb, so little time today. We really ought to bring a step ladder on our next outing. 

I shall be linking this post to Patti's fantastic Visible Monday at her blog Not Dead Yet Style. I missed last week - bu hao. I look forward to seeing everyone there. I hope you've all had shameless weekends. 

Have you ever had someone mistake your vintage finds for designer label apparel? I'm sure many of you have, and I admit getting a laugh when the two are confused. If I really HAD paid $2,000 for this "Pucci" jumpsuit, most of you would think I'm mad. I considered trying to fool you but in the context of this blog, that would be almost impossible! But what if all my blog's "thrifted" finds were really new designer labels in disguise? Would you think less of me?

Finally, I have been LOOOVING everyone's twee-free tulle photos! Huge hugs to Sarah at Misfits Vintage for setting off this tulletarianism! See her Tutu and a Teacup Challenge if you want to join. Liberate your inner bitch ballerina. You'll feel better. Really.

Remedy for too much pattern

This dress had too much pattern for my liking so there was only one thing I could do: add more pattern. I desperately needed a distraction from the florals, and I found the solution in my lovely satin Oriental top with its own groovy motif. I added the little velvet tie belt to disrupt the red field on my torso and unify the overall flow. The pattern riot is then anchored by black shoes and Trusty Beret.

When I thrifted this dress for about a dollar it had big stiff ruffles lined with bright pink satin around the cuffs and hemline - hideously fun but seriously too hideous. I ripped them off immediately but kept them for future projects. This dress was obviously lovingly hand-made. The fabric is a polymorphoid blend, which is most probably water-resistant by the old feel of it.

Details of the outfit

• polymorphoid thrifted maxi dress, True Value Vintage (gone now), about a dollar
• red satin Oriental top, Wildlife Thrift Store
• stretch pointy heels, new some years ago
• black T underneath to shield myself from the rainproof fabric

This outfit looks much better in motion that it does static. As I kicked down the sidewalk this outfit seemed to say, "Howdy, howdy, would you like to join me for tea?" I wore this on Friday, July 6, just before summer descended at precisely 10:03 Saturday morning. 

And today I am happy to join everyone over at Patti's Visible Monday gathering. I look forward to seeing you there! Everyone always looks so brilliant. 

Other News

I gave my encore artist talk on Sunday at Baron Gallery and it went very well! The capacity audience was incredibly supportive so I felt very relaxed. An art critic also wrote a review of my work and my talk, which was published Friday in an online award-winning newspaper - it gave me a shock...and a huge grin! If you're interested, you can find it here. I wore my muu muu and beret, and of course Grushenka, my magic wand/pointer cast a lovely bubble of safety and goodness.

My bloomin' floral dress

Summer is here! Really - today is the first day that I could go on my inspiration walk without a jacket or cardigan, although tights are still comfortable at 18C (64.4F). I wore this cheongsam-style light cotton dress on May 25 and posted the sketch here. Today I opted for my dove-blue tights instead of the mustard tights in the sketch. I also think my black beret would have grounded this look better, but I didn't care - I was craving bright red on my head. I also like the analogous smack-down between the red beret and the pink top.

Details of the outfit:

• cheongsam-style cotton dress, Wildlife Thrift Store
• Dorothy shoes, Hush Puppies, Value Village
• dove-blue tights, sample sale
• red beret, Community Thrift Store
• pink top, sample sale

And below is what I wore to my artist talk at Baron Gallery last Saturday, minus the vest and the ankle boots, taken from my post of January 27. The day was rainy so I changed into my thrifted Dolce and Gabanna leopard-print shoes when I got indoors. While the severe pencil skirt and Grushenka, my magic wand, projected the image of a strict school teacher, my voice was much too twee to pull off that persona. Maybe next time, July 8...

My action painting workshop is on Saturday and I am fluttering around to prepare, so this is my last post till next week. See you soon!

I'm Flora, Not Fauna!

Several months ago patterns were anathema to me, but having seen the error of my ways, I am making up for lost time. I hope you like this feisty floral number with its little demure front and the Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robot pattern clash at the back. I remember that at one time in the '70s almost everyone had dresses with patterns similar to this, or at least in my neck of the woods. I'm wearing the vest backwards; the front of it has gold pinstriping on the black.

Details of the outfit:

• thrifty flora dress and thrifted vest worn backwards
• black tights and thrifted stretch, wedge-heel booties
• silky dark teal blouse courtesy of O

This outfit flows wonderfully - the vesty thing flutters when I walk. I also love the silhouette. I feel like a tree. I LOOK like a tree in the first photo. I hope you like it. 

I have achieved a 200% ROI (return on investment) on this dress if I value each wearing at $1. I bought it at a vintage shop going-out-of-business sale and it was $20 for everything you could stuff into a plastic bag. Based on that calculation, this dress cost me a buck; I did everything short of haul out my vacuum seal machine to get this baby in there. It had ruffles and ribbons on it, and I would have torn them off right there in the store if needed. Thankfully, it fit and my dignity is still intact.

Have a great weekend, everyone.