Blue Collar Red Lipstick

04
Apr
2017

Cropped Lengths

categories: style

Sweatshirt, J. Crew; top, J. Crew factory; pants, Club Monaco; shoes, Manolo Blahnik (via eBay); bag, YSL (via eBay)

I’ve been enjoying this culottes moment I’m having, even though it poses its challenges. Balancing all that volume at the bottom, while accommodating a high waist, can be tricky. My go-to solution has been a variety of slim, tucked-in tops … and then I remembered my cropped J. Crew sweatshirt. You know the one. If you’ve ever searched for it on eBay, you probably came across my face because I somehow became one of the top Google image search results for “J Crew dutch floral”. So I feel like we have history, this sweatshirt and I. I haven’t worn it in recent months because — funnily enough — I was having trouble balancing its cropped length in outfits. So you can say that this pairing was the answer to a couple of different style dilemmas. Kismet.

I added the jewelled collar blouse to “fancy up” the sweatshirt for the office, and it worked passably well. To keep the outfit from going into “overloaded” territory, I stuck with neutral shoes; in this case, my neutral was a dark burgundy that almost matches the colour of the pants. I forced myself to switch bags, from the Coach tote that has become my de facto everyday bag to my beloved but neglected YSL. It hurts me to say it, but I kinda missed the Coach. It’s just so darn functional! And, unfortunate monogram print aside, the camel colour is so, so versatile. I’ve come to love it a ridiculous amount. I mean, I’m talking about it and it’s not even part of this outfit. Oops.

03
Apr
2017

Ballet Night

categories: Social events, style

Dress, Vanessa Bruno (via consignment); jacket, Joe Fresh (thrifted); shoes, Sam Edelman (thrifted); turtleneck, Club Monaco; bag, MbMJ (via eBay)

Ahh, spring: the great unshackling from the grip of my winter footwear and outerwear. It’s a game changer, folks. I can wear cute outfits to places other than work again! Like, say, the ballet. It’s hard to dress fancy when you have to take into account boots and/or a big coat; conversely, it’s much easier when you can wear a pair of heels and let your actual outfit shine. In fact, this was the perfect opportunity to finally wear the Vanessa Bruno dress I got from Mine & Yours in Vancouver a year ago. It’s whimsical in an unexpected way, which seemed a good fit for Alice in Wonderland (the aforementioned ballet). The hairband was a given, in the circumstances. Sparkly nails also seemed fitting somehow, although technically, sparkly nails need no excuse.

I added my trusty leather jacket instead of a dressier coat because I liked the juxtaposition with the elegant dress. This jacket is really good at juxtapositions. I never thought I could become so devoted to a casual topper, but here we are. Although I am loath to dictate must-have closet items — being a firm believer that there is no one-size-fits-all answer — I would strongly encourage everyone to consider a leather jacket. It doesn’t even have to be real leather; mine isn’t, but looks great anyway. Actually, I love mine so much, I nearly bought a back-up when I recently came across a similar jacket (also by Joe Fresh) at Red Pony. Cue the sad trombone: it was the wrong size. Thankfully, my current version shows no signs of wear yet, so I am sure I can get a few more years out of it before the need for a replacement becomes critical. However, much like denim jackets, leather jackets are tricky — they’re not all created equal, and fit can make or break the right jacket. Which is to say: if you find your magical unicorn, don’t hesitate to take it home, immediately.

P.S. The ballet was great. This was my second year getting season tickets, and I have loved the experience so far. I am a hardcore home-body, so it was nice to have the extra push to get out of the house once in a while, and the Alberta Ballet has never disappointed. I’m excited for next season … maybe I’ll see you there.

31
Mar
2017

What I Read: Netflix Edition

categories: Books

My reading has fallen off a steep cliff thanks to Netflix. Yup, I have finally crawled out from under my rock and joined the 21st century. I have been resisting Netflix for years because “I don’t have time to commit to TV shows anymore” but, hello, it’s Netflix. I get it now, people, I get it. I have been binge-watching a bunch of murder mystery series, including Poirot, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (love the series even more than the books and am obsessed with it but MY GOD KISS HER ALREADY, JACK ROBINSON!!!) and Broadchurch. Highly recommend the latter, by the way. David Tennant is my second-favourite Doctor, and Olivia Colman is fantastic. The season 1 finale delivered a real gut punch.

Anyway, reading. Haven’t done much of it, though I have continued to add to my reading list thanks to thrifting. Hopefully I will have more to report next time. I did manage to breeze through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I loved. If you couldn’t tell from these recaps, I don’t read a lot of non-genre/literary fiction so this was a nice change of pace. I struggle with literary fiction because I have weird, picky tastes. I don’t like reading things that are too depressing, or too sappy, or too fluffy. I prefer action or humour or mystery, though nothing too violent or graphic. I tend not to take risks with fiction novels because I’m afraid I could end up with something like, say, Atonement on my hands. I hated that book with a passion. It is a beautifully written book, but the story made me so angry. It damn broke my heart. Like, ugly-cry broke my heart. Feelings, ugh. No thanks.

Anywaaaaay, GLaPPS (I’m not typing that out again, sorry) is none of things I hate, and many of the things I love. Epistolary novels have been my jam ever since I read Les Liaisons Dangereuses. This one was well executed and heart-warming in a bittersweet, non-sappy way. The various characters’ voices came through very clearly in their letters, and they were all believably lovable. There was a bit of mystery, a bit of will-they-won’t-they romantic suspense, and was somehow joyfully lighthearted despite the fact that the pivotal part of the story deals with the Nazi occupation of Guernsey. The authors have a deft touch that stopped it from becoming an entirely different, much darker book.

If you guys have (literary) fiction recc’s for me — keeping in mind my weird tastes — please share them in the comments. Also, thoughts: I’m debating tracking down a copy of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels … should I?

Moving on, a few cool articles. First up, for the personal finance voyeur in us all (what, just me?) this Refinery29 money diary from a 27-year old single woman making $230K is worth a (longish) read. The reactions from the commentariat (some critical, some supportive) are interesting as well because they reveal a lot about how different people view money (and others’ financial choices). Bottom line: on the internet, people will judge the hell out of whatever you do, no holds barred — probably because money is still such a taboo subject in real life. For what it’s worth, my main reaction in reading the diary was surprise that the author wasn’t working much longer hours, based on her location and industry (NYC, finance). I may have read too many biglaw horror stories from my American counterparts.

Speaking of taboos, check out this article about why women are “not allowed” to age. As I inch ever closer to my 40s, while moving up in my career, I struggle with this more and more. As a professional woman, you want to look wise and experienced — but can you look old? There is SO MUCH tied up in this question, I don’t even know where to begin. It probably deserves its own post, but I have had no epiphanies, and have no real answers, and so the most I can do is ask you all to commiserate with me that It. Is. Freaking. Hard. To. Figure. All. This. Out.

Lastly, this article about feelings which are untranslatable in the English language was fascinating. As a non-native English speaker, I have often pondered how our experience is shaped by the words available to us in whatever language we speak. Needless to say, I loved learning about the feelings which other cultures have decided are important enough to be named. Sehnsucht, saudade, and natsukashii describe, like, 75% of my Sunday mood. (Sunday is the worst day for feeling blue for no reason, amirite?) I was surprised to see that no one has come up with a name for the “mean reds” … although I guess Capote probably nailed it with those two words.