To keep myself entertained during these trying times, one of the things I started was a feature on my IG account called Sequin Sunday. As the name suggests, every Sunday I put together an outfit featuring a piece of clothing with sequins. It was a nice way to reunite with clothes from my wardrobe that are not getting much wear these days, and exercise some wishful thinking – planning outfits for social occasions that, in the short term at least, don’t exist anymore.

Weekend Brunch

This top is a navy velvet (!) sweatshirt embroidered with iridescent (!) sequins(!) in a floral pattern. It’s a lot and, yet, because of the style it can be dressed down. I mean, you will never blend into the crowd with this top, but worn with casual pants it can read as “casual fancy”. At least in my books … but you guys know that I lean “extra” when it comes to clothes. I loved the way the iridescent colours of the top paired with the marigold yellow of the pants. Dark navy as a grounding neutral is perfect here.

Date Night

Ok, so even at the best of times, my date nights are probably not exciting enough to justify this skirt. Speaking of extra … this is EXTRA AF. I tried to “tone it down” with a very traditional, menswear-cut cashmere sweater. The contrast pleased me greatly. Adding the OTK slouchy boots probably doesn’t help pare back on the extra-ness, but they are undeniably cool. Maybe I just need to gather my courage and just go for it, next time the opportunity comes along.

Dinner Party

I definitely don’t attend dinner parties that are fancy enough for this outfit, but let’s imagine me as a “lady who lunches”. She would wear this outfit SOMEwhere, possibly to a gallery opening or something equally fab. I was originally going to pair this sequin-embroidered wrap jacket with jeans or something super casual (juxtaposition FTW) but I am glad that I leaned all the way into the Ralph-Lauren-80s-safari-look instead. Then again, I probably have been reading too many back issues of Vogue lately.

Black Tie Gala

This is the point where I went ALL IN. This vintage skirt is technically beaded not sequined, but I included it in the line-up anyway. It’s too stunning not to. I wanted to pair with an equally statement piece, so I pulled a Sharon-Stone-at-the-Oscars move (that reference is probably way too old for some of you, sorry) and went with a button-down shirt. But instead of using a men’s shirt, I used a Yohji Yamamoto asymmetrical shirt that I bought from a fellow thrifter on IG (in the Before Times). The construction is out of this world, and you will have to take my word for it, sadly, since I can’t photograph black garments for sh*t. I added my trusty Greta Constantine x Danier belt as a finishing piece, along with some sparkly dangly thrifted earrings. I felt ready for my close-up!

40th Birthday Party

This was not a hypothetical. This was what I had planned to wear this year for my 40th birthday party. I don’t usually throw parties, but I was going to make an exception because, well, milestone. Now, who knows? My birthday is not until August which might as well be 2 years away at the rate life seems to be moving these days. Maybe we will all be partying in the streets come August. But I somehow doubt it. I’m sure I will get to wear this dress at some point – it would be a crying shame otherwise – but probably not as originally planned. So I’m glad that I got the chance to wear it, even for a short while, now.

I hope this week and new post find you well. I feel like I am stuck in some kind of bizarre Groundhog Day scenario, but the calendar assures me that it’s mid-April. The snow on the ground outside belies that fact but – ahh – springtime in Edmonton is always a confusing time. But let’s talk about something fun instead. One of the main reasons I still have (most of) my wits about me these days is my art. I will never not feel pretentious saying “my art” but I am trying to be better about not trivializing what I make (and its importance to my well-being) simply because it’s not Art-with-a-capital-A; yarn art, in particular, doesn’t get nearly enough respect, in large part I suspect because it’s not something that old white dudes are likely to make. Anywaaaaay. My art.

More so than ever before, I have poured all my spare time into making things. Keeping my hands busy is a huge stress release for me, and being “in the flow” – whether through painting or crafting – is an escape. I am also hoping that some of it will rub off on my kids, i.e. having them see me engaged in creative pursuits (as opposed to glued to my phone for news updates) will make them more likely to do the same. So far, it seems to be working moderately well. Colouring books, paint-by-sticker books, homemade comic books, and playdoh seem to be the front-running favourites. But I digress. Here’s what I’ve been working on.

Faces of the Zodiac series

I’ve talked about this before, but I have only added one more painting to this series: Sagittarius.

I know I say this about all of them, but this might just be my favourite. I am very pleased with how it turned out. I love the shadows on her face, and her eyes in particular. She looks especially nice in chiaroscuro:

That being said, I felt my creative intuition pulling me in a different direction. Enter …

Major Arcana series

I have been wanting to work more with colour again (one of the reasons I went back to embroidery as well, see below) which is probably a psychological response to stress. Colour lifts up my spirits. I started a couple of pieces thinking I would be doing some kind of landscape or abstract picture, and then somehow went off on a wild tangent. I mean, I went from this:

To this:

I haven’t done any decoupage in YEARS. Since the late 2000s, probably, because even then I was a luddite who didn’t understand Pinterest and still made “mood board” notebooks like it was still 1995. Anyway, I liked the “organized chaos” vibe of throwing random fashion magazine cut-outs at an acrylic painting so I went all in. Decided this was perfect for a project I had been wanting to do for a while – a series inspired by the Major Arcana of tarot. The above piece is The Fool.

And this is The High Priestess, one of my favourite cards:

And here is The World:

If anyone is interested in how I make these, let me know and I’ll throw up a quick post.

Embroidery Stuff

As I mentioned above, I have also gone back to embroidery in a major way. Here, too, I wanted to stick with colourful, somewhat abstract designs as well as some of my favourite motifs. Such as my abstract floral doodles:

Inspired by that, I did a series of hoops:

This is the kind of thing that makes me so happy just looking at it.

This had an unexpected “under the sea” vibe – very Ursula the sea witch.

This one ended up reminded me a bit of Klimt’s flowers.

I also went back to another favourite motif: the evil eye.

With rainbows, of course.

Stay safe, friends. Till next time!

Over the past year, I have done a fair bit of work from home (WFH) – often one or even two days a week. Although I enjoy having in-person contact with my colleagues and co-workers, the majority of my work can be done remotely even under normal circumstances. Obviously, we now live in not-normal circumstances and working from home is a necessity and a huge privilege. Doing it 100% of the time has taken a little adjustment, but I was probably more prepared than most.

One thing that has changed is my approach to getting dressed “for work”. In the past, working from home meant wearing my pyjamas or lounge wear all day long; apart from the significant commuting time savings, this was one of the biggest perks of WFH. Now that it’s the rule, not the exception, I had to adjust. Spending day after day in sweats no longer feels like a treat, but the opposite. I miss my regular clothes.

Obviously, getting dressed in the same way I would for the office wasn’t quite the answer either. For example, blazers are fun as a style statement, but they’re not a necessity at home – especially as I don’t have video conferences. Skirts also feel, for now, a bit “de trop” (too much); that may change as time goes on and I start really missing my favourites.

The key word, of course, is comfort. Even more so than at the regular office, I want to feel comfortable at my home office. I’m going to share some of the things that have been working for me, WFH style wise, but please don’t take them as tips. Now more than ever, I am a firm believer that you should wear W(ever)TF you want, especially when working from home. Ballgown, sweatpants, and everything in between.

Leggings

I mean, yah – no surprise here. Leggings are comfortable and warm. You can also pair them with almost anything and make it look (a) intentional (they’re pant-like after all), and (b) like you made an effort. Even if the effort was, in reality, minuscule. Graphic sweatshirts, sweaters, button-down shirts, tops of every description, and yes, even dresses.

Graphic Prints

You guys know how much I love black, but I find myself drawn towards the colourful end of my closet lately. Maybe it has to do with the psychology of isolation. My rainbow sweaters always cheer me up; ditto for some of my colourful floral prints. Even monochrome prints, provided they’re bold enough, can be a pick me up.

But Above All, Comfort

I find myself looking at my clothes with new eyes and one over-riding question: how comfortable is that? Stretchy dress? Super comfortable. Tencel-blend culotte-like pants? Practically pyjamas. Jumpsuit? Even better. (And the upside of working from home is that I don’t have to worry about the usual impracticalities of jumpsuits.)

In the beginning, I didn’t bother much with accessories (and I never wear shoes indoors – the ones above are just for the photos); but as time went on, I began to ask myself: why not? Just like bright colours, accessories cheer me up. I’ve been mostly sticking with earrings, and the occasional necklace; because I wash my hands approximately eleventy thousand times a day, I’ve stopped wearing rings and bracelets altogether for the time being. I don’t wear my accessories to show them off; I wear them because they’re beautiful to me, and wearing them feels like a nice little luxury. Sometimes they match my outfit, sometimes they don’t. But they always put a smile on my face.