Friday, a little delayed

Ok, I've been pretty good so far posting promptly before midnight every day. Whether or not people notice is beyond me, but that's what I aim for.

However, last night, instead of skating, we made our way to the Big Band Social at SUDS in support of the Brandon University Music Students (yes, BUMS). Since I just got home, you'll have to be happy with posting before noon.

During the day, I felt like a hockey player. I was in about 27 million layers, and it gave me a wide look, and the shirt just reminded me of the stripes on a jersey. Oh well, it's still in theme. Green sweater, black hooded shirt, white v-neck shirt, and cords. These cords are officially too big on me. Apparently I've lost that much weight since September. Strangely, almost everything else still fits. Hmm...

Anyway, we had intended on skating (hense the layers) but the weather was too cold, so that morphed into the big band dance, which elicited the need to sneak into my house (apparently not as quietly as I had believed) and pick out an outfit is as little time as possible. I think I rocked the look. The dress is a little Marilyn Monroe for the 40s, but the skirt is fabulous when I spin. The fishnets and rounded toe shoes are a little more time appropriate. The bun took a slightly modern twist on the side, though failed to stay as I intended it. Oh well. The only pic I have of me head to toe features my friend Jill, who also attended in a fabulous outfit... in fact, I think I like hers better than mine for the occaission. She's in a black pencil skirt, a polka dotted tank, and some awesome thrift store find oxford pumps. I am jealous. Oh, and we're both still following this weeks theme - any guesses?

Takin' in easy / Closet Clean Out #1

It's Thursday. I had work and meetings all day. And a new necklace. So sticking with the theme, I wore my jeans, some boots, a black sweater and my new beaded necklace and not quite matching bracelet. The bracelet is too big (naturally) and didn't last much past getting to class this morning.

And being as this is my 50th post, I have to go through my closet and weed out some items I haven't' worn or haven't liked.

Item #1
White hooded sweater - handed down from my sister
It just didn't do anything for me. The fit and shape weren't ideal. The colour was neither white nor offwhite, and either way washed me out, and it just felt stiff in all the wrong places, and loose in all the wrong places. And the hood just didn't work for me.

Item #2
Cream sweater - purchased back in the day from Ricki's
It's starting to show it's age, and the wrists have discoloured from years of note taking. The collar doesn't sit right, and the colour isn't ideal. Hmm - getting the point that offwhite isn't my friend. I have a feeling I'll retrieve this, but for now, it's off to the "give away" box.

Item #3
Navy Sweater - American Eagle
This sweater was a Christmas gift from someone who has since passed away. As such, it's been awkwardly dodging the self-help box. However, I haven't worn it since I last retrieved it, it fit better before I lost the chocolate-shop-job-weight. I am half tempted, however, to just unravel it... I do like the lightly flecked yarn.

Item #4, 5, 6
Three shirts, mostly used for layering. One is a blue half faux wrap, one is a skin coloured (thus pointless) tan shirt (actually bought to wear under my "Paper-bag Princess Costume" so headed to my tickle trunk), and a purple short sleeved shirt that's too short.

As well, I have a couple things that are just barely hanging on, and so will be revisted in another 25-50 posts.

Item A - grey dress pants
They're uber comfortable, and look it. Never good for an office setting. However, I have hope they can be made appropriate with the right pairings.

Item B - Green V-neck sweater
It was a standby for years. In fact, I wore it for the "Casual sitting'" of my first university grad pics. However, it's starting to fade, is a little short, and it seems wrong to have more than 2 green sweaters in rotation.

Item C - black button up shirt
I'm not sure whether I was in a bad mood, or what, but after I salvaged this from the self-help box, I just couldn't make it work the one day I planned to wear it. Thus, I haven't worn it since.

And yes, I do realize that this would actually make a passable outfit together. But of course, I want better than passable. Not that I always achieve it, but better than passable would be nice.

Cuz I had a bad day

Today sucked. Hardcore. It was like everything that could go wrong in the last 24 hours did. I realized at work that in 2 months time, every thing that makes my life as busy as it is will be over, and while I know I"ll fill it back up, I fear it being empty. Kind of like losing almost everything that defines me. From then on, any little or big thing set me off as if it were the death of a dear friend, and all I wanted to do was to curl up in bed and be hugged. Unfortunately, after that happened, and I made my way home, I was far too lazy to do a better job photographing my outfits than I had tried to do at work.

Continuing on with theme week day #3, we had a black and white patterned pant that tends to read as grey, my red wrap top (which didn't get to make it's way into the last theme week) and, of course, becuase I live in an icebox, a black hoodie.

I had my awesome black and white strappy shoes on, too, but they didn't make it into the photographs.

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But on a different note, today is Ash Wednesday, marking the first day of Lent, and like Cat, I'm making a Lenten habit of types. I am going to try to not buy any clothes for the next 40 days (and not wussing out by allowing stuff on Sundays). I will however accept presents of clothing. Anyone interested?

I think I wear jeans too often

I switched around outfits mid-week, and I'm very confused. Of course, that could be due to the fact that it's an insanely stressful week, and I'm an emotional rollarcoaster.

So to brave the rides of the amusement park of my brain, I am wearing many many layers to try to stay warm. I realize that a mere month ago, we were around -36, plus a windchill, and now we're around -13, but for some reason I can't warm up. And when I get cold my ears hurt.

So I had my jeans, a cotton jacket, a hoodie, and a t-shirt on. I am also debuting my Walmart necklace for less than a $1, but worth even more in terms of fun. And it reminds me of the type of necklaces my friend Becky wears, and days with Becky were always filled with sunshine!!

Oh, and no idea what's going on with my head in this picture.

And yes, I do recognize that I'm sounding very rambly and crazy.

Just not feeling it

I tried today. I had a great outfit planned. Super cute spring-y skirt. Fun little spring brooch. And then I woke up. Late. And cold.

So the outfit bombed, in my opinion.

Oh, but this is the start of theme week.

Birthday Rock

I've been feeling really conservative lately with my clothes. It's been a lot of cardigans and safe choices. In fact, I've really wanted to just spend a full day in lounge-related clothing. I did spend most of the day in pajamas, in bed, reading my book for class. However, it was Erica's birthday, and that demanded leaving the house.

And of course, since Erica looks like she stepped out of a magazine anytime she walks down the street, I couldn't just bring myself to throw on jeans and a t-shirt. After consulting Jill as to her fashion choices, I decided to follow the theme inspired by her rock t-shirt.

I layered black and grey shirts, added a scarf, some skinny jeans and boots. The scarf turned into a shawl when the night got cold, gotta love dual purposefulness.

A little bit off

I'm feeling a little bit off today. In fact, I feel so off that the tilted picture actually makes me feel normal.

I'm in my brown argyle cardigan (with the coral stripe, which is just a little bit off the orange cami) and my trouser jeans.

Back to work

Sorry for the lack of outfits for the last couple days. I did look cute, but I was in Winnipeg, away from my tripod.

Today, I was back at work, in black dress pants, a blue sweater and my pinstripe vest.

Tonight, it's off to Scott's for a belated Valentine's Day. I was too lazy to do a good job of wrapping his present (a pair of jeans, and a season of both Futurama and Buffy... which really turns into presents for me). Instead, I tied a bow around my neck, cuz I'm all the present he needs!

Oh, and I've done some thinking about this blog... While people seem to enjoy it, there always seems to be some judgement / mockery involved... Thoughts?

Oh - and I got my ring back today... yeah!!

Conservative school girl

I picked up the strapless, red plaid dress for under $10 at Winners this weekend. Given that it's wool, lined and American Eagle, I couldn't give it up. However, it is strapless and a little on the short side, so I was hesitant to wear it to work.

However, not being able to think of a better place to wear it, I decided that I could make it a little less risque with some layering and some tights.

However, it started to feel too school girl, so I made some modifications. Well, it seems that perhaps I went a little too far in removing the school girl. While the dress was a hit, a co-worker did comment "Wow, that's an awfully conservative outfit for you!".

I guess next time I can show a bit more skin in it!

Valentine's Day Outfit

I wasn't going to see Scott today - he worked the closing shift, and so we decided they mis-interpretted the date when flipping around the calendar, and Valentine's was actually supposed to be the 19th.

However, when i woke up and saw all the happy status love messages on Facebook, I got sad, and so Scott and I went out for brunch. Despite the fact I knew it would be cold, I put on tights and skirt. I haven't worn this skirt in a very long time - after student teaching in Brandon it became more and more common to run into former students when I was out and about, and so shorter skirts were relegated to the back of my closet (because I can't bare to give anything up). But now that I've ruled out teaching anytime in the immediate future, I feel I can pull them out again.

Of course, now I'm 25, and not 23, and so I feel tights are an essential part of the outfit. I have a love hate relation with the purple tights. I like them matched with the purple and pink sweater.

I hate weather

I just got in the door, and am quite tired, so I won't go into too much detail.

The outfit was supposed to be classier, with some awesome pointed toe stiletto boots, and my trouser jeans, which would have suited a day of press conferences with the premier and gallery openings much better, however, it's a skating rink here, so I opted for my comfy jeans and winter boots. Orange wrap and brown cami are pretty simple, and since I couldn't find the right clip this morning, I had boring hair.

Tomorrow will be even simpler, because copy editing doesn't desire any fashion. Ugh. Bane of my existence.

Bargain Post

I love this outfit because I believe the most expensive part of it would be the pantyhose, and I believe I paid less than $10 for those.

The white shirt is a Winner's find, and despite the fact that this summer it was getting a touch small, looking at the pics, and how it sat all day, it's actually big on me now.

The vest is from Ricki's, where I got it massively on sale in my days of being extra poor. My mother commented "That's not you, that's your sister! You'll never wear it". I don't think she envisioned it's future as a vest, and not a tank.

The shoes are from Walmart. I bought them 2 or 3 years ago, and I don't think I've worn them since the day I discovered they are like puppies on a freshly waxed floor. I was hesitant to wear them with a skirt, becuase of the ankle strap, but they didn't shorten my legs near the way I expected them too.

And finally the shirt is the latest find at the Thrift Store. For $4, I got this trumpet skirt by Jacob. It's cotton, so I've discovered it creases like you wouldn't believe, so it might be better for those gallery openings than my desk job, but it added more colour than the tan skirt I'd planned on wearing. Or perhaps it was simply because kept adjusting the white shirt all day, and everything would always just sit weird after that.

Oh, and the pantyhose? Calvin Klein.

Wubber Boots

It's day two of this strange strange weather, and as such, I had to revise my not so weather friendly argyle shoe inspired outfit for a piece of footwear a little more waterproof. Of course, the most natural choice are my fake leather (probably mostly rubber) boots. Add a boot leg pair of jeans, and I was ready for the day... from the bottom down. On top - I'm not so impressed with the picture because the pink cami underneath isn't showing through as well as I think it does in person, so I look rather blah in the picture, but none the less, a white hooded sweater under a brown jacket.

I look rather blah in general, ignoring the clothes. It was a long day. My postmodern class was 2 1/2 hours instead of the usual 1 1/2 to accomodate the movie we were watching. I had a midterm this afternoon, and I'm gearing up for a 3 hour class tonight. I am definitely looking forward to getting some sleep tonight.

Spring

This morning it looked like the world couldn't tell whether it was winter or spring. It was raining, and there were lots of puddles, but my car was covered in a thick layer of ice. Winter boots to work, it was, then!

I had planned this outfit, and was very happy with it because it seemed to match the weather - I wasn't really sure if it was spring or winter either! It has a dark palate (the black vest and the black skirt with black boots), but it had some elements of spring (the green stripe shirt, the vines running up the leg of the black pantyhose).

I love the pantyhose - they were a mere $3 or something like that, and it shows. I had a couple holes before I even got to work. However, I love the visual interest it adds, just popping out between my skirt and boots. (Please note, the slit, in both pictures, is higher than usual. The skirt it big, which actually causes it to ride up, especially when I'm jumping over things to get into the picture before the timer goes).

And on the sad news front - the ring that I raved about on Saturday ended up back at the jewelry store that night. It was much much too big for me, and ended up falling off. And that was after it had been sized. Sigh... another 10 days of no ring for me :(

Something more important than clothes!

I'm wearing jeans, a blue sweater, a tank top underneath and my striped scarf. Brown boots when I go outside.

And now that I've got that out of the way, I can feature my new favorite piece of jewelry.

It's a saphire ring with diamond chip side stones on white gold, available at Ben Moss Jewelers for far more than Scott should be allowed to spend on me.

It's a little big, I think, either that, or I'm just not used to wearing a ring that actually contains real gem stones and gold. But anyway, I"m all distracted by it today.

Ben Moss did get new boxes - they feel cheaper. I like the lines of them though.

Museum Day

I spent the afternoon padding mannequins. This involved spending 4 hours in a cold building with a couple retired women with sewing needles. This meant that I needed lots of layers, and nothing as short as yesterday's outfit.

Jeans were a must. I layered a long sleeve black v neck under my pink wrap shirt. Of course, a white hoodie jacket finished it all off.

And look, by the end of the day, I had spent so much time with one mannequin (affectionately known as #109), that we ended up dressing in teh same colour pallette! (Mannequin is wearing a pink tank top, and a black hoodie jacket)

Winter Fest

Despite the fact that today is the first day of winter festival, it's surprisingly tepid outside. So tepid that the extra 10 minutes I spent in bed trying to find a way to wear my new sweater dress and red tights, while still being warm enough to venture about the city all evening.

I'm wearing some brand spankin' new red tights that I bought last night, when I dragged Scott to Walmart inspite of my promises that we'd have a good, relaxing date night.

I'm also wearing a new sweater dress that I picked up for almost less than the tights at Giant Tiger... I'm starting to think (despite the lack of tighsts there, grumble) that the store GRRRReat!

I threw on a maroon shirt underneath that actually matches better in real life than in pictures. The dress has a pretty hole details, so it was necessary.

Of course, I had to wear some boots, which make my legs seem less long, given the fact that the skirt is really shirt. Ok, I'll admit, it's billed as a "Sweater - tunic" in the Giant Tiger ads.

IN any event, I really like the outfit, because it's uber comfortable, and the thickness of the tights seems to make the skirt ok... and if not, hell, I'm only 25 once!

Cardigan week?

I put on my cardigan today and thought "Wait a minute... I've been doing a lot of jacket / cardigan layering.

And sure enough, I looked at the rest of the week, and in fact it did have more cardigans.

So off I went to buy some new tights (I HATED the ones I was wearing today, they will be destroyed with scissors when I can find the time to find my floor to find the scissors needed), and revised my tomorrow outfit.

But today, I wore black tights, my tweed embroidered skirt, two camis - a polka dot one over a white one, and my GAP pink merino wool cardigan.

And this picture was from when I had energy. And didn't have a headache... silly Scott dropping my head on tiled floor... ok... silly Cara for making him play games with my chair.

Youthful Vigor?

Today was my first midterm of the winter term. I knew it would be a doozy of one because the prof and I don't agree about.... ya, we just don't agree. In order to reverse this psychological discomfort, I'd dress super comfortably. There's nothing I hate more than too tight pants, awkward sitting shirts, or hair in my face as I'm trying to postulate on the subversion of authority and the distrust of grand narratives in postmodern works, specifically in those which are historical metafiction.

Thus, I got the slightly more juvenile look I have today. I've got my "Sideshow Bob" hair going on (I woke myself up last night, rocking back and forth and chanting the criteria for postmodern literature, and thus needed something like Simpsons to lull me back to sleep, rather unsuccessfully I might add, as it is surprisingly postmodern at 4 in the morning). I threw my black jean jacket (which I can do up again, apparently) over a longer red sweater, my darkwash straightleg jeans, and my imitation red converse sneakers (not pictured).

The inspiration for the clothing part of my outfit came from the sneakers. A friend's boyfriend has Converse Allstars, and it reminded me I had these ones. So Adam, if you're reading (ha!), thanks!

PS - just looked at the pics, and I've decided the shoes make the outfit - too bad they're too wet on the bottom to wear inside

Michelle Obama day - one day early

I love my Tuesdays, in terms of clothes. It's one of the few days where I know exactly where I'm going ot be all day - class. As such, I don't need to bring a change of clothes in a bag with me (note: bought a new bag, in which I can't wait to try to lug around my clothes). I get to be a student ALL DAY!

So when I discovered that Thrifty Muse was creating a Michelle Obama Wardrobe Challenge for Tuesday, February 3rd, I was a little upset. I had always wanted to get into a challenge, but always seemed to get to them too late. This one, I had ample time for, however, it still wasn't going to work.

In any event, I decided that instead of forsaking my fabulous Tuesday of student wear for emulating the First Lady (ok, I admit, I'm not the biggest fan of the challenge, but it's a challenge none the less), I would just do it one day early, when I had to go to work anyway. So what do we women in government positions wear?

I started with the obligatory black cardigan. Of course, the pants, black with a blue pinstripe, were on my list of "hey, I want to wear these soon", so they stepped in. I wanted a more jeweltone cami, but I loved the look of this one with the beaded necklace.

I did have on a belt, and I did have the cardigan more open, but it just made my feel hip-y today. Don't know what's up with that. While it's not necessarily Obama's style, it follows what seems to be her style of thought: wear what works for your body.

And I did try to find a broach that would work for the outfit. Value Village just didn't have anything :(