I took a little break from embroidery over the last couple of weeks, which freed up some time for reading – hurray! And I read some fantastic books, which is always the best kind of refuge and solace when I’m starting to feel burned out.

• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. So, so, so good! Of course, I am late to the party so I cannot add more superlatives than have already been (rightfully) bestowed on the novel and its author. The story of Ifemelu and Obinze is engrossing in its own right, before even delving into the other layers of the book. I have a lot of thoughts on all of it, but I feel like I need to sit with them for a while before I try to write them down. Also, honestly? I don’t know if I have really anything more useful or interesting to say than to recommend that you read Americanah if you haven’t.
• Hangman’s Holiday and Lord Peter Views The Body, Dorothy L. Sayers. More short stories from the Golden Age of mystery. These made me appreciate Sayers’ writing more than her novels; they’re well-written and clever, and no longer than they need to be. Sometimes, mystery novels are too padded for their own good.
• The Blood of an Englishman, MC Beaton. I’ve been reading Beaton on and off for years and year, and I’m still not sure if I truly enjoy her writing. It’s very … abrupt and unemotional, may be the best way I can describe it. The Agatha Raisin stories in particular (of which this is the 25^th) always leave me questioning whether the author likes her creation, or women in general; though, to be honest, she’s usually pretty brutal on her male protagonists as well. Anyway, for all that, I keep reading her novels, and I always pick them up when I find them at the thrift store. I think it’s because I’ve been reading them for so long, that there is something oddly comforting about them. Kinda like reading the Murder, She Wrote novelizations.
• Eileen, Ottessa Moshfegh. I came across this book by chance on Amazon, was intrigued by the description, and bought it. Although it could not be more different from Americanah, I found it equally compelling. The plot itself is kinda meh, to be honest. But as a character study, it’s phenomenal. It’s rare to find a book which allows its heroine – and Eileen is the book’s almost sole focus, since every other character is almost irrelevant (and that includes Rebecca) — to be so hard to like. Unreliable female narrators are popular nowadays; unlikable ones, not so much. What I may have loved the most is that the older Eileen, narrating her younger self’s actions, does not try to excuse them or to make herself more palatable to the reader. If anything, the opposite; she goes out of her way to point out things that others might leave unsaid. In a way, the character reminded me of something that Samantha Irby wrote in her book, We Are Never Meeting In Real Life: we are all gross, and we make a lot of effort to hide that grossness from others (especially those whose love or admiration we desire). Eileen is the opposite of that; I wouldn’t say that she celebrates the kind of grossness that women are not usually permitted (by social conventions) to acknowledge, but she puts it forward as a matter of fact, and defies the reader to look away. Anyway, this is probably not a book for everyone, but if you want to meet a character you won’t soon forget, give Eileen a try.

The Happy Dress

There hasn’t been much cheer to go around lately, and the snap of brutally cold weather last week did not help matters. I’ve been working from home and generally avoiding being out of the house as much as possible, so my outfits are nothing to write about. Literally. That being said, on the increasingly rare occasions when I do go anywhere (like the office), I like to make an extra effort, weather be damned. Which is how I ended up wearing this beautiful Tory Burch dress on a -30 Celsius day. There is something about this print, and the cut of the dress, that puts a smile on my face. It’s such as happy-go-lucky kind of dress. Not twee, though; I think the black grounds it all, somehow.

Not pictured: the other 20 pounds of clothing I had to layer on top to be able to leave the house. I was still cold, but I managed the brief exposure to the elements without losing a finger or toe in the process. So consider this my F-U to winter, which can hurry up and leave any day now. Seriously.

Out of Doors

This, on the other hand, is what I wore out of actual doors one day last weekend – before the temperature took a nose dive. It was still really cold, though, so I layered a bunch of warm woolen things including my new-to-me alpaca wool Vince sweater — a steal at $8.50. I still haven’t been able to find a heavy-duty winter parka (ahem, Canada Goose, please and thank you) but the thrift gods have been generous in other ways so I can’t complain. Meanwhile, my MaxMara camel coat is still hanging on, 5 years later; bless its heart. Here are some other ways I’ve worn it with jeans:

Return Of An Old Favourite

Some of you may remember this Maeve skirt; I used to wear it a lot. I’ve kept it in my archive closet over the past year, and during a recent overhaul of said closet I decided to pull it out again. Can I make it work with my current aesthetic? It has two strikes against it: it’s a bold, colourful print (which, in and of itself, is not a dealbreaker even if my current wardrobe is more neutrals-heavy); and it’s a pencil skirt. It’s the latter that poses the greater challenge, since I’m still figuring out how to integrate that silhouette into my current outfits. Updating it with a new, non-traditionally cut blazer was my first attempt. I think it’s a perfectly nice outfit, but it’s not very much in line with what I like to wear these days. I will have to look for other ideas … For now, here are some other ways I’ve worn the same skirt:

January is over, hurrah! In fairness, I went into it expecting not to enjoy it, which is not a helpful frame of mind. But, as every year, I feel much better now that it’s over. The days are getting measurably longer again, February is a short month, and we are within sight of the end of the winter tunnel. Did I mention that we just booked a tropical vacation for March? Things are looking up.

But let’s look back for a moment:

The accent colours I chose for this January’s capsule were mustard/marigold and olive. Once again, there is pleasing cohesion to the outfit line-up. The palette overall is a bit on the muted side, but that is to be expected this time of year – though the marigold does brighten things up considerably. I love all the silhouttes and each individual outfit is at least an 8/10 for me; all good progress.

I will say that working from home 1-2 days a week helps a lot – not just my mood (I hate morning commutes in the winter), but also my outfit planning. While I like having a reason to dress up, it’s nice to be able to focus on getting a dozen really good outfits, rather than 16 or 18. I can spend a bit more time on each outfit, tweaking things that don’t work on a first try, so the end result is something I truly enjoy wearing. I mentioned this before but, for me, that’s such a big mood booster.

Because January was busy and stressful, I didn’t have as much time as before to think about February’s colour palette/theme; unfortunately, this is the most important step to a successful monthly capsule in my experience, so we shall see how next month’s outfit line-up turns out. But March is another story! I’m thinking “florals” will be the theme, and I hope you’re as excited as I am for the possibilities. Florals … for spring? I know, but aren’t you curious about how I’m gonna make it work with my current aesthetic? Me too, friends. Me too