Howl, prowl, smowl - outfits for hunting and avenging

I'm feeling feisty. I like that word - agitated, prickly, energetic. So I dropped myself into a spinning tunnel of love and flowers and intrigue and lightning wearing my Emma Peel/Avengers outfit, which I bought when I was shopping with Suzanne during her visit to Vancouver. Shopping with her always brings out my inner Zoolander. She put a photo on her Instagram when I tried it on - HERE.

This is wool, rear zip, vintage, and clearly groovy, made by Gordi of Montreal. With the cooler morning weather I could finally wear it. I definitely need a soundtrack when I go on top secret spy missions in this outfit. The colour defies digitization. Contrary to what you see here, this is a screaming, SCREEEEAMING, orangy-red.

The next photo was taken in the anteroom of our squash court.

Below is the photo I put on Instagram. I use my finger as a gun, a noodly one. The only thing I could stop with that would be, uh, candy floss. But I think the world would be a better place if suddenly every gun turned into a noodle and every bullet turned into candy floss. We would become a pasta-loving planet high in carbs and sugar with a huge number of wealthy dentists. And I'd make my millions opening a tomato sauce factory.

I got lots of fun Zoolander poses. Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap - that's what happens when you're a high-action heroine.

And carrying on the theme below... In fact I wore this sexay number a few days before that first one. Guh - could you even imagine a garment so deluxe in your wildest dreams? Again, "SOUNDTRAACK!!" I scream like screamy Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers. Another outfit designed for pouncing.

Pao, author of the blog Project Minima, gave me this piece of divinity at the blogger meetup in Vancouver last summer. It was sewn by her mother many years ago and I am honored to carry on her spirit through style.

While I was on my inspiration walk wearing this, a driver on a busy street screeched to a stop at the curb to shout, "THAT IS THE BEST OUTFIT I'VE EVER SEEN!" Bwahaha. Of course I launched into the story of Pao and her mum and the blogger meetup while cars pulled around her.

This vintage extravaganza consists of a jersey front-zip onepiece with a matching button-up quilted overskirt. A big rhinestone is nested in the center of each button. Note the golden silky lining and the matching quilted tie belt. So utterly fabulous.

I'll link something here up with Patti at Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style, and Catherine at #iwillwearwhatilike, Not Dressed as Lamb.

This outfit brought out my scowl/smile, known as a smowl, rhymes with howl and prowl. I was imagining a roar. Don't forget, I was alone in a parking lot making these faces for my tripod, but mere meters away from a busy sidewalk - proof of how professionally aloof I am to the seething reality around me. It's is a special skill, yesh.

This post is tardy. I am tardy. Pffft. Can't be helped. (smowl)

Usually when people express interest in my style, at the end of a conversation I might shove a crumpled bit of napkin with my blog addressed scratched into it with a blotty pen. Sooo professional. So I finally ordered real cards. Now my life will be perfect.

I've photographed other outfits since my last post too, which you can see on Instagram HERE. You don't have to join IG to look. And you can search for things that interest you, e.g., paisleypants. When you click a photo, it pops up bigger. Also, if you sign up with Instagram, you will be able to comment, and you don't need a cell phone to do that. So that's a little FYI. I'd put them here but this post would be too long.

I hope you're all having a stellar life at the moment! If not, HANG ON!!! I'll send Emma ASAP with her noodle gun and candy floss maker. If only life were so easy...

Vintage Swimsuit Edition

Why is this woman laughing? Because she grew a bust overnight by way of a vintage Jantzen swimsuit, size 14, with built-in vertical-wired cups and Reebok sock fillers. Yes, my new favourite swimsuit, care of Pao of Project Minima and her mother who used to wear it, from the clothing swap at our recent blogger meetup. Oh thank you, Pao!! I feel like a schtar! "Oh daarling, that's faaaabulous." 

The features of the suit that I love most are the zip up the back and the leg openings that don't choke my thighs, not to mention that it's, gulp, super-fecking-amazing in general. There's a button missing on the left side, but nobody looks at the boobal area anyway. [Edit: As Pao pointed out in the comments, there's only supposed to be one button - it's designed that way. And now I love it even more!]

I'm feeling fierce here, channeling Swindon. My reading glasses are, of course, for reading a steamy paperback novel whilst reclining on my lounger and sipping a strawberry margarita poolside at the Beverly Hills Hilton. Right, Anne?

I'm employing the Sheila stair pose. My angle should be a bit more acute to achieve maximum results. I have yet to master the Corey hand (details on that HERE, Sheila Ephemera's blog).

I heard that exchange in a coffee shop a few months ago. Her reply was serious, no camp or sarcasm at all. I've always wondered how my life would be different if I were a person like that.

Switching drinks. "Who took my champagne? My yacht is waiting. Cannes is waiting!" I did a mini shoot in the morning with flat hair, above, but this suit demanded something more dynamic so I did a shoot last night with sproinged hair and flatforms. Love that plateau of hair, although I'm not sure what to make of the foothills on my chest.

Smoke and mirrors and wires and socks, my friends, although I would say I am more comfortable in this swimsuit than the one I wear now. The fabric is not too squeezy and I can move without bits creeping up my buttoxil area. Faaaabulous wire definition. 

And guess what? I did wear the suit out already. Last night. At 11pm. I locked myself in the concrete box so I had to go down to the sidewalk and ring O to let me in. And guess what? O didn't answer. He was playing with a new machine. No problem. I figured I could hang out in the dark deserted park in my swimsuit with my camera. GAAAA! I called again. Thankfully he heard and beeped me in; otherwise, these photos would have been much, much more interesting.

That's me when I got home, sweaty-faced because I was just a touch PANICKING!! HEEELP!!! I'll never forget my keys again. Maybe. 

I'm enjoying reading the wrap-up posts from the blogger meetup. Thanks again for coming! Life is getting back to routine and I am recommencing my blogger rounds bit by bit. Everyone who didn't come has been so patient. Mwah!!! Missed you. I have to see what you've been up to!! 

My Stylish Thoughts and Birthday Bash at Sheila's

In case you missed the addition to my last post: I am featured in an interview in Imogen Lamport's Stylish Thoughts column on her dynamic blog Inside Out Style. If you want to know more about me, "Yesh, shecrets of the schtars!!" have a look. Imogen has had some life changes lately, well worth the read, and while she knows the style rules, she also believes in breaking them. Thanks, Imogen. I feel honoured to be in your lineup!

Now for more business: Sheila's Party!!

Happy Birthday, Sheila!! What a lovely party. Yes, it's Sheila of Ephemera's Birthday Party and I have dressed up special for it. I like these photos so I'm surprised I didn't wreck enhance them. I look a bit like a coconut.

If you'll notice, that's the same bottle clutched in my hand as at your party in 2012, here. It has been entombed in my fridge all this time because it tastes like crap and it's non-alcoholic, at least it WAS non-alcoholic before fermentation... I suppose I don't chuck it because I need something to serve my guests - bwa-ha-ha!!! - and go out of my head at your party.

I'm wearing my thrifted ruffled blouse, because I know how much you like them, and I like to debut new pieces at your parties, in this case that would be the thrifted patchwork skirt, which needs a few repairs, but who will notice after I empty this magic juice into the punch bowl? And that's my old thrifted fringed jerkin. Oh, and a wide suede embroidered belt, old and thrifted.

I'm also hooking this post up to your Shoe Shine 12, Sheila, and to Mis Papelico's Share-in-Style: Favourite Print. My favourite prints change by the day, but at the moment this skirt has my favourite patchwork pattern with some spectacular time-warp prints on its stretchy polyester squares. The skirt is hand-made and very swirly. 

That's all, folks. Have a safe drive home - or why not sleep over with the gang? The key bowl is almost full. Hee-hee-hee.

PS: My fridge is very clean otherwise, honest. 

ALSO, Pao at Project Minima took Turnip Head to see David Bowie at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. She doesn't want to come home now...

Yellow Skirt Freak Show Update!! and more...

To expaond on the empaowering paowow of the 

latest Freakish Yellow Skirt adventure is 

near IMPAOSSIBLE.

renewal, rebellion!, reunion

reinvigorate, reconstitute, reconcile, rejoice 

reeth of life, family tree

days, oh days, of intense skirting around with 

targeted paower with 

 PAO of 

Project Minima

hand-shaking, skirt chasing, sketch-making, 

sew-saying

you must see the

magic in action

G O!   G O   N O W!!!

__________________________________________________________________

Pao was open for a little magic, and I think FYS, radiating with the love and creativity of all the incredible women who support the spirit of this travelling project, picked up as much new sparkle from Pao as it left behind over the few days she spent wearing the skirt among family, friends, and colleagues. Thanks, Pao, for joining the project. Pao has several wonderful posts on FYS, including some original art - make sure you see them all.

In other news...

The Middle-aged Kitteh T-shirt 

Giveaway Winner:

DRUMROLL Please: The winner is List Addict at Fur Earwig in Australia! Thanks everyone who joined. Your entry comments were priceless; I had a big laugh re-reading them while I was preparing those irritating little strips of paper for the draw. 

Speaking of giveaways...
Not long ago I won 50% off a pair of Firmoo glasses from a draw at Ariane's Style Sud-Est. They came in the mail just over a week ago and I LOVE them! Firmoo was true to their word - I got half price off everything. Living in Canada I'm always nervous that the shipping company will slam me with a $50 brokerage fee at the door. I added a slightly higher-index lens to slim the profile, but it was worth it. These are style F016.

And below, a peek at what I was wearing today. Maybe you have a good caption for it...?

Layers upon layers upon layers...all thrifted except the jeggings and socks.

• denim jeggings with TWO pairs of socks on top 
• insulated black booties 
• white crocheted dress 
• vintage lacy red slip showing through 
• long-sleeved pink shirt under the slip 
• DIY hacked up and embroidered white sweater 
• on top, a chopped off turtleneck done just before I went out the door because my neck was going to be cold. There was a little hole in the turtleneck anyway. Now I will "embroider" it. 
• shaggy green monster coat (not shown) 

It's been snowing like mad. While the snow is beautiful, I hope my favourite part of the water cycle - sublimation, the transformation of a solid directly into a gas - will kick in. Not likely. At some curbs this morning my whole foot was submerged in icy grey mush-water. But no leaks in my thrifted booties. Bwa-ha-ha! I am thankful for the little things, by golly.

Happy holidays. Happy non-holidays, too. In fact, happy normalcy. Well, maybe not REALLY normal, but whatever your particular resting smile-state happens to be: normally normal, freakishly normal, normally freakish... Time for caffeine. 

Also, thanks for the feedback about my banner-fiddling question. Good to know. 

DIY summer sandals into winter booties

I realized today that imagination and frivolity are often the mother of invention.

Two weeks ago, this was my mantra: "I gotta' get some geta!" Geta are Japanese traditional footwear which look a bit like a hunk of wood with little foot-sized platforms stuck on top. Of course I didn't want REAL geta; anything high and flat would do. (Pao brilliantly calls this style of footwear flatforms.) And the next day, there they were at a retailer marked down to $20 from $120. They were mine, and I stowed them away for spring.

Meanwhile, I had been planning a DIY to make little bootie slipcovers for my summer shoes so I can wear them in the winter. Why buy new boots if I can winterize what I already have? But this DIY has been lingering on my To Do list for over a year now. 

Then today [Monday] it snowed. As I was bundling up to go out, lamenting my lack of excellence in winter bootwear and my DIY slackness, I had an epiphany: I already have booties! - the kind you slip over cleats for road biking in the winter. They are battered but why not at least try them? In a couple of minutes my problem was solved. The booties fit perfectly over my sandals and, presto!, new winter boots. Or shoots? - shoe/boots.

Felt-lined, wind-proof, and waterproof, these booties kept my tootsies nice and warm, and the elevation of the shoes kept my feet out of puddles. Made by Sugoi, the covers have little velcro tabs that fasten together on the bottom of your cleats, but in this case, the tabs were perfectly aligned to nest between the heel and the step of my sandals. The fabric has a slight stretch and there is a rear zip, edged with reflective material, to conform to the shape of your shoes, although you can see that the booties stick out at the toe from my cycling shoes - the shape reminds me of a freighter. And who doesn't want feet like freighters?

I think this look, as is, black with yellow bits, is cool/urban/post-modern ironic?, but now that I know this method works and my feet will in fact stay warm, I'll paint these booties, or at the very least use them as patterns to continue my original DIY project, now wonderfully revived. Some thigh-highs are definitely in order. While I'm at it, maybe I'll colour my boring pants as well.

Of course I'm linking these up with Bella's Shoe Shine. These are my new LOVE shoe/boot/things. They are not very glittery but they do put a spring (in this case, a clop sound, rather like a horse) in my step, plus, my previous post already had sparkly shoe action. I look forward to seeing what the rest of you are wearing. You never know when frivolity and imagination will strike.

FREAKISH YELLOW SKIRT

Pao at Project Minima has been having her way with the Freakish Yellow Skirt. She is doing a multiple-wear challenge, which is still in progress, but already there has been a Sewing Rebellion! This is just an update - a proper post will appear after The Artist has realized her Magical Vision. Check out her story as it unfolds.

Kiss of the drunken spider woman

I'm not in space any more but the retro rocket is still firing - thanks to this gift from the fabulous PAO from Project Minima: vintage maxi knit dress with an enormous brown velvet bow, once worn by her mother. Clearly we know that PAO is exploding with style and artistic talent, but now we also know that she inherited some pretty awesome get-your-groove-on genes from her mum.

It's too bad I didn't have a champagne glass as an accessory when I went out today, as surely the elevationary effervescence from a raised glass of bubbly would have flown me and this magical dress to my coffee shop in very good time and in much better style than Mary Poppins with her priggish umbrella; I would just have to hang on to the stem of the glass very tightly and watch out for spills. This dress made me feel very '60s martini/champagne party and bewitching at the same time. 

After my photo session I remembered a photo I had seen of Sonia Braga in her Spider Woman role from the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. Our poses are similar but I think for my own good I'll end all comparisons there! Her web is very Alexander McQueen, don't you think?

My walk home was challenging: Step step step POSE. Step step step POSE. Sometimes you've just got to flaunt it; I'm glad I didn't pull a muscle from the exertion. "Here she comes, A-walkin' down the street, She gets the funniest looks from, Everyone she meets..." (Lyrics from the Monkees)

Details of the outfit:

• knit maxi dress, by Paul Stanley, New York, gift from the magnificent PAO
• maxi white nylon slip, thrifted (it came with my maxi sequin dress here)
• animal print shoes, Dolce and Gabbana, thrifted
• pantyhose(!), retail
• wooden matryoshka*, retail, Lee Valley Tools, refashioned by me, hardware by O

Accessory-wise I made do with the all-knowing-eye teacup carrier that I made from a wooden matryoshka - colour on one side (above), black and white on the other (below). The following photo also gives you a better idea of the fabric. The geometric pattern is a dark chocolate brown on ivory and there are textural horizontal lines throughout the fabric as well. I really needed the slip. (*edit: I learnt the correct word is matryoshka or matrushka, not babushka as originally posted)

So a huge thanks and hugs to PAO for making my magical journey possible today!! I couldn't have done it without you. This is my new absolute favourite dress!! 

My outfits often remind me of animals, plants, and even, in this case, a female spider. Do you make comparisons like that about your outfits? Curious. I hope you are enjoying your magical journeys in your fabulous frocks and slacks and what have you's. Breathe, breathe, breathe, aaaah.

(When I say today in this post, I mean yesterday; I wrote this up last night.)