Birthday Girl

Just before my birthday, I thrifted this Zero+Maria Cornejo dress and it seemed like a sign. Ever since I read The Cool Factor by Andrea Linnett, I have been mildly obsessed with this designer; I never thought I’d find a piece here in Edmonton, but find this one I did. I love the silhouette and the print, and it’s such a great, breezy dress. I simply had to wear it for my birthday. I think it looked awesome paired with my old (p)leather jacket but, truth be told, the jacket came off almost as soon as we left the house. It was supposed to be a cool, rainy day … except it wasn’t. It was hot AF. Thanks, weather forecast.

Long over Lean

This used to be a thing and, darn it, it is still a thing as far as I am concerned. This Rachel Roy dress is too short to be worn alone for my comfort level, so I wore it over my Madewell raw hem jeans which somehow work with every tunic-like thing I’ve ever thrown over them. Honestly, they’re magic. On this occasion, the jacket was actually a functional addition; it was supposed to be a warm day but … you know what the plot twist is gonna be, right?

This is my second pair of thrifted Barbara Barbieri sandals, and it’s even better than the first (seen in the picture above). The grommet details are cool, and the leather somehow did not require any breaking-in period – a feat considering we are talking about strappy sandals. Also, like my other pair, this one has a chunky, square heel (about 3 inches) which makes them as comfortable as heeled shoes can get. Seeing as how I am moving into my “orthopedic shoe” phase of life (sad but true), this is a nice bonus.

Summer Vibes

This was the top that nobody wanted. I tried selling it on IG earlier this year, then on consignment, and no dice. By the time I got it back, summer was finally here, and I had thrifted this Floreat skirt in the meantime. I thought: why not give this pairing a try? A boxy, cropped top + a high-waisted, full skirt sounds like a plausible combo, right? It’s a slightly “off” pairing, which is my sartorial calling card these days. I added gold accessories to the white and blue colour palette as a kind of an ode to summer (because it shines like the sun, see?) … ah, just kidding. I’m pretentious, but not that pretentious. I just like that weird, snake-like necklace a lot, and apparently I also enjoy torturing my feel with 5 inch heels from time to time. Makes me feel alive, or something.

I also added green resin earrings for a slightly unexpected twist – blue and green, ooh – and because I just got these in the mail and I have zero patience when it comes to pretty things.

Vacation Casual

I’m throwing this outfit into the round-up not because it’s inherently interesting, but because it’s a good representation of what I wear when I’m in “parent mode, vacation edition”. Comfy jeans, a lightweight top, sun hat, flats. Actually, these shoes are low wedges but you get the drift. I was excited to thrift these Eileen Fisher sandals for under $10 in like-new condition because they are very menocore in style – just my cup of tea. Unfortunately, they’re a bit too small for me so they’ll be going to my mom, but I may have to start hunting for EF shoes on eBay next.

A New Riff

I’ve always worn this skirt with a tucked-in top. I mean, that’s what you do with pencil skirts, right? It’s a silhouette that works well with my body shape, but feels a bit “boring” now. Maybe “predictable” is a better word? Pencil skirt fans out there, don’t @ me. This Bailey44 top is also a bit of a one-noter; the combination of color-blocking and trapeze shape doesn’t do much for its versatility – you pretty much have to treat it almost like a tunic. I was pondering what else I could do with it, when a light bulb went off and I put these two pieces together. I think it works? The volume of the top plays off the volume of the skirt in an interesting way … to me at least.

Also, can we talk about this J. Crew necklace for a moment? I first spotted this years ago on Lisa from the blog/IG Respect the Shoes, and fell in love with it on the spot. I had no luck hunting it on eBay (not at a reasonable price, anyway), and gave up after a while. Out of the blue, a few weeks ago, I found it at my local Goodwill. It’s in great condition, only missing a little ribbon that used to be attached to the pendants. The coincidence just blows my mind. As if I needed more reasons to be devoted to thrifting …

Metallic Monochrome

I love a subtle metallic. I don’t love brown, but the redemptive qualities of a bit of shimmer are surprising. This outfit was anything but blah. It was definitely comfortable, on the other hand. Linen culottes and a relaxed knit sweater are a great combo for our maybe-summer-maybe-fall weather. It’s been basically September here since May, which I kinda love. As much as I love hot weather when I travel, I think my ideal everyday temperature is somewhere around 25 Celsius – warm enough for bare legs, cool enough to add a cute jacket for aesthetic appeal. I like layers, what can I say. Speaking of which, though not pictured here, I wore my trusty (faux) leather jacket with this outfit on my commute to work, and it was the perfect final touch.

Blast from the Past

This Gap skirt is almost 20 years old. It’s the closest thing I’ve personally purchased new that might qualify as “vintage”. I wrote about it in my last post, but suffice it to say that my reasons for hanging on to it all these years are mostly sentimental. Writing that post made me want to pull out the skirt from storage and give it another whirl. A handkerchief hem skirt is not the easiest thing to style – and it’s not really my current style – but I went ahead and treated it just as another maxi skirt. With a loose sweater and some simple metallic accessories, it’s not half bad.

A couple of words about my cuff bracelet. It was a $4 find at Value Village, and it’s a bronze piece signed “Al Smith”. It looks to be from the 70s and 80s. I haven’t found out much more yet, but I am fascinated by the history of objects I find when I’m thrifting, so I love little “mysteries” like this.

Punk Butterfly

There is nothing “punk” about this outfit, per se, but butterflies on a leather jacket are butterflies with an attitude, you know? Anyway, I enjoyed this outfit a lot. I call this my “Adventurer feels sassy today” jacket, which is all you need to know about my general mood when I’m wearing it. The brand is Aqua, which I think sells at Bloomingdale, or Nordstrom, or Saks; it originally retailed for $500, but I got mine for a fraction of the price from Jenn (Life Preloved) who thrifted it brand new. I’m pretty inured to the amazing things that people donate, and coming across pieces like this still boggles my mind. Not that I am anything but grateful for it.

Is long over slim – or whatever fashion peeps call throwing a tunic over pants – still a thing? Because I am pretending it is. In my defence, there is no other way of wearing this Wilfred tunic/vest because of those enormous side slits. I’m not mad about it; I’m feeling sassy, remember? These Madewell jeans are also on point, what with the raw hem that drives my mom batty. (Between these jeans and my distressed ones, she’s convinced that I am not capable of picking out normal pants. Sorry not sorry, Mom!) Say it with me: sssssssassy!

Slouchy Chic

My friends and I had a debate about what BDE means when it comes to style. To me, this is a BDE outfit – and I say that fully cognizant that I, myself, have no BDE whatsoever. Whatever BDE means in terms of personal energy, when it comes to clothes, it boils down to one thing for me: a “give no f**ks” attitude. A height of sartorial BDE would be wearing a literal potato sack down the red carpet. Or, you know, a swan wrapped around your neck. To digress further, Iris Apfel seems like a good example of someone who has sartorial BDE separate and apart from any other personal qualities; in contrast, I think someone like Tilda Swinton has sartorial and personal BDE.

Back to this outfit. Obviously, it does not belong in the same paragraph as any mention of Iris or Tilda, but I do think it nicely illustrates my current mood. A slouchy blazer paired with a sack-like dress and sensibly heeled shoes (Chie Mihara, thrifted, heck yeah!) is not an outfit designed to attract the validation of external attention. It’s designed for maximum wearability, and also to please my inner love of drapey silhouettes. This may not quite be Man Repeller territory, but it’s not too far off. And speaking of which, Man Repeller has a name for this: menocore.

Boho Chic, Again

The upside of taking the kids to Galaxyland in West Edmonton Mall is that I can make a side-trip to Anthropologie. (The downside should be apparent to anyone who’s been to Galaxyland on the weekend. It’s a zoo.) I rarely visit the store, which is probably best for my wallet. It’s not even the clothes that get me nowadays, but the housewares and the accessories. Like this chunky stone necklace. It’s a little bit Wilma Flintstone, a little bit “third grader’s art project” (which we all know is right up in my wheelhouse), and I fell in love with it in approximately 1.5 seconds. Lucky for my wallet, it was my husband and my anniversary weekend, and he was in a gift-y mood. Which is a good thing, because how cute does this necklace look with my Floreat muumuu? So cute.

Bonus Outfit

Throwing this one in because I really liked how it turned out. I call this “soft normcore”, which is to say it’s a basic “mom uniform” (chinos and sweater because July in Edmonton means temps in the mid 50s) in a pretty pastel/neutral colour scheme. I added my new favourite necklace because (a) why not; and (b) seriously, why not get a little fancy on a Sunday morning errand run.