December 2016 – Page 7 – Blue Collar Red Lipstick

07
Dec
2016

In Wonderland

categories: Awesome red, Favourite things, Love at first sight, style, Thrifting

I know I am by no means unique in this, but I have been low-key obsessed with Alice in Wonderland for many years. I am not precisely sure why. When I was little, it was my fiercest wish to have long, blonde hair; paired with my fondness for Alice’s sartorial choices (that blue dress is on point, is all I’m saying) and admiration for her undefatigable curiosity, perhaps that explains the obsession. Perhaps not. That is actually neither here nor there; the point is that I was instantly sold on this dress because the brand label said Allison Wonderland.

To be fair, the dress itsef is aces.

I blazered up for work (as you can see), but I’m going to post a bazillion blazer-less photos because this dress is worth admiring. It fits like a dream, which is actually a fairly tall order when you consider its silhouette; scratch that. It doesn’t just fit like a dream, it flatters like a dream too. I assure you, I’m not wasp-waisted. This dress makes it look like I am, while at the same time being insanely comfortable to wear. It’s practically magic!

i call it ... the optical illusion dress — i call it … the optical illusion dress

I almost feel guilty telling you that I paid a whopping $8 for this dress … but well, I am anyway. Edmonton peeps, this is what your thrift scene has to offer — get out there and check it out, you won’t regret it. In this case, I got a beautiful, made-in-Canada dress … and I discovered a new designer, Allison Smith (the woman behind Allison Wonderland and sister brand Pillar — thanks, Google!) According to her website, her clothes are made in Vancouver in collaboration with local small businesses, and the (retail) price points are very reasonable for “slow fashion”. Based on how much I love this dress, I plan to keep an eye on her IG for future collections.

every angle is a good angle in this dress

06
Dec
2016

What I Wore: November 2016

categories: style

Can you guys believe that the year is almost over? Let’s face it, nobody is going to be sad to see the end of 2016 (worst year ever, yes?) but it’s still surprising how quickly it seems to have gone by. I think this has been the first year when I found myself thinking, “I need time to slow down”. My kids are now 3 and 5, which are amazing ages, and I want to hold on to their preciousness with all my might, even though I know it’s futile. That saying, “the days are long, but the years are short?” I lived the first part of that when the kids were babies (and, boy, were the days ever long then), and now I’m starting to realize the truth of the second part.

Enough mushiness, let’s get to the outfits:

I played along with Nicole‘s Minimalist Closet Game this past month, and it was a lot of fun. Not only because it helped me de-clutter my closet (working on a post about that), but because I loved seeing all the participants’ interpretation of the daily prompts. It made me think that doing an IG remixing challenge would be a lot of fun too. Anyone interested in playing along?

As for the rest of the year, my non-work goals are to survive the planning of my office Christmas Party (less than a week away, eek!) and to finish the edits on A Temporary Engagement. Most of my Christmas shopping is done, and we are not planning to host any major get-togethers at our house, so the holidays should be pleasantly low-key and relaxing (work gods willing!). A nice way to end a troublesome year — and welcome a hopefully much more promising one.

05
Dec
2016

Winter Is Coming

categories: Uncategorized

Blazer, Cartonnier (thrifted); top, Deletta (thrifted); skirt, Boss (thrifted); bag, Gucci

… but in the meantime, I will continue to dress like it’s fall. Because when it’s late, late November and the temperatures are just starting to dip below freezing, you take advantage of it. All the advantage. The Starks would approve, I’m sure.

This outfit is very fall-inspired, what with the colour scheme and the cozy layers. I’ve been meaning to wear this Deletta top for ages, and I’m glad that I finally did. The wrap neckline required a small tweak to make it office-appropriate; I pinned the flaps together just below the keyhole so that they would not gape when I bent down – easy peasy. As for the bottom half, I deployed my usual trick for keeping tops securely tucked into skirts: nylons. I know nylons are a divisive topic among office-dwellers (judging from reactions to the last post in which I talked about them, and from commentary on sites like Corporette), but I am firmly in the “nylons every day” camp. At this point, I think they transcend the issue of professionalism; for me, there are practical reasons for wearing them (such as the aforementioned “trick”) although I’m perfectly willing to concede it’s a YMMV situation.

Moving on, I’m wearing my ubiquitous Cartonnier blazer because why not, and a very old Boss skirt I thrifted back in 2012 or so. It’s one of the pieces I periodically question, but haven’t taken the plunge to purge. I’m kinda bored with the print, but not enough to let it go; having invested some money in getting the skirt tailored after I lost weight, I feel like I need to hang on to it a bit longer than I would otherwise. First world problems, y’all.

Month: December 2016