I should start calling this series “I Made A Thing” because, let’s face, it’s mostly an excuse for me to show you my most recent craft projects. With that warning in mind, let’s proceed, shall we.

After finishing a slew of Xmas crafts for friends and family, I felt re-energized to tackle some personal projects. First up was a project I had been wanting to do for some time: a portrait/cartoon of Frida Kahlo.

I love Frida’s use of colour and abstract imagery in her art, and recently ordered a biography by Hayden Herrera to read up on her life. There are lots of examples of Frida-inspired embroidery online, and after much deliberation, I chose these two pictures as my inspiration:

I made a quick sketch that incorporated elements from both, and once I was happy with it, I traced it again with a Sharpie then copied it onto my muslin canvas.

I ended up incorporating a few touches of my own into my project; I decided to use scraps from an old thrifted skirt for Frida’s blouse, and a vintage earring (with the original clip back removed) as a brooch. I also bought some metallic gold-tone thread for the earrings, and used beads as accents there and on the flower crown. The eyes and hair were made from felt. The most nerve-wracking part was the eyebrows; it’s tricky to get them to be more or less symmetrical, and this was a pretty iconic pair of eyebrows to begin with. Still, they turned out ok.

As I was working on the piece, I came to be quite fond of the back/reverse side – still recognizably Frida, but in a cool, abstract way:

And here is the final result – it’s one of my favourite pieces, and one of the most fun to make.

I feel like I’m a roll with this portrait thing — and I tend to go through phases with my embroidery – so I’m currently looking for my next subject. Possible contenders include Anne of Green Gables or maybe Elizabeth I (can you tell I’m dying to work on a redhead?); another option is a portrait in the style of Tamara de Lempicka. If you’ve got suggestions, let me know in the comments.

If you read my previous post about my NYE outfit deliberations, then you probably won’t be surprised to read that I didn’t make my final decision until, literally, 2 hours before I had to leave for the party, and after trying on ALL of my special occasion dresses … some of the more than once. Luckily, I had my BFF there to help me. As it happens, my final choice was completely serendipitous, and it wouldn’t have happened had she not been there.

But I am getting ahead of myself a bit.

Per my previous post, the obvious front-runners for NYE were a sparkly Armani Collezione dress and a slinky Tadashi Shoji sheath dress. Both of these dresses were new (to me) and sufficiently fancy for the occasion; but for the various reasons I already touched on, neither stood out as the clear winner. By the time December 31st rolled around, I was almost decided on another dress – a Nicole Miller black and white red carpet-worthy number which I last wore at my previous firm’s 2016 Christmas party. It had a lot of advantages; it’s elegant and extremely figure-flattering, but also shockingly comfortable (no Spanx required). Food is a prominent feature of our NYE party, so the latter consideration was important. Still, I wasn’t 100% feeling the Nicole Miller dress.

At my BFF’s instigation, I started to try on every other possible option in my closet. I am talking Every. Single. Cocktail. Dress. I. Own. It was a fun exercise, but nothing jumped out as a better choice than the Nicole Miller. At some point, I walked into my bathroom to have a better look at an outfit in the mirror there (the lighting being brighter than in the bedroom) and my eyes fell on the bundle of clothes I had thrifted on Boxing Day and was in the process of cleaning.

“Jenni,” I said, “you gotta see this vintage Le Chateau dress I just found.”

We had been talking just the day before about aspirational brands of our youth – Le Chateau being one of them, back in the days when spending more than $20 on a dress was a real stretch, budget-wise.

“Yeah, ok,” she replied.

And that, my friends, is how it all started.

I put on the dress – or, more accurately, poured myself into it – and my BFF immediately loved it. “Serving some real 90s Versace glam” is what we eventually landed on, as far as the overall vibe of the dress. Looking into the mirror, I had to admit that it was definitely a very flattering (though not comfortable) dress. I had not thought of it as a possible option for NYE when I bought it because it struck me as being somewhat on the casual side (more for a date night than a dressed-up occasion) but I began to see the potential. I added a couple of gold-toned, blinged out necklaces as a further tribute to the Versace inspiration, and the Manolo Blahnik shoes I had planned to wear all along. The overall effect was undeniably good. I quickly steamed then (at home) dry-cleaned the dress, and I was set – with minutes to spare.

The only obvious drawback was the (unavoidable) need for Spanx, which made me hesitate for a moment. I hate Spanx with the fire of a thousand suns, especially when I’m planning to enjoy an evening of extensive dining. I tried to substitute some control-top nylons instead, but hated the way they looked with the peep-toe shoes. Beauty is pain, they say. So, I bit the bullet and wore the Spanx. By midnight, I felt like I was just about ready to turn back into a pumpkin, but it was worth it.

Here’s a closer look at my necklaces:

From inauspicious beginnings, this NYE story had a very happy ending, and an outfit that will no doubt be a favourite in years to come. I don’t know if and when I’ll be able to wear this dress again, but it was $12 well spent for the memories alone.

Goth Ballerina

I had been eyeing this Rick Owens dress at Swish boutique for a few months before I pulled the trigger. I hesitate to call it my Christmas gift to myself (because, ahem, there were a few splurges late last year), but it’s certainly a piece I am now very happy to call my own. The smoky grey silk is amazing – I feel like I’m wearing a storm cloud. Going by the label, this dress from the 2013 Island collection; I haven’t been able to find a runway photo, so I will have to use my imagination when it comes to styling it. It actually came as 2 pieces; there is a knit black slip dress, which I abandoned for this outfit. Instead, I layered the grey tunic over some recently thrifted Iris Setlakwe coated leggings, and – what else? – a black turtleneck. The velvet slippers are (thrifted) Nine West, and they seemed both festive and on-point with the whole ballerina vibe. I wore this outfit for an extended family-and-friends Christmas Eve party, and it hit the perfect balance of dressy and ultra comfortable.

Festive But Make It Dystopian Too

This was my outfit for Christmas dinner with my family. (My husband’s side celebrates in January.) I was still feeling the black/grey scheme from the previous evening, so I went with that again. I was feeling festive the whole time, I promise. Faux leather culottes might not seem like an obvious choice for the occasion, but this MSGM pair is surprisingly comfortable; the waist sits lower on me, which nicely accommodates my holiday indulgences. Did I mention that my dad is an amazing cook? He didn’t let us down this year, and neither did my outfit.

Repeated Favourite

A couple of my best friends decamped to our house to celebrate NYE with us, so on Sunday, we decided to do some bonding over an escape room and dinner. I wore my Rick Owens tunic again, this time over a heavenly Jones NY cashmere turtleneck (it was a cold day, and this thick cashmere is my go-to) and an Aritzia maxi skirt. For fun, I added a belt and one of my new Alexis Bittar necklaces (part of my Christmas gift from my husband). I think I prefer the volume of the tunic un-belted, but it never hurts to play around with silhouettes.

Leather & Plaid

I thrifted this faux leather Zara cropped top on Boxing Day and couldn’t wait to wear it. The plaid skirt – vaguely Vivienne Westwood-esque – seemed like an interesting pairing. Of course, a turtleneck was also involved, bringing the tally to 4-for-4. I did tell you that black turtlenecks are my comfort object, didn’t I? Looking back, the whole week of holiday outfits turned out to be its own little collection: