Wedding #2

The last weekend of "Official Summer" (ie: pre-move to Regina), we packed up and headed into Winnipeg for one of Scott's friend's weddings. Of course, despite not being in the wedding part - something I thought would bring reprieve of the multitude of wedding events - we were invited to the rehearsal dinner.

Ding ding ding! Off went the "Formal Attire" Alarm. And thus I set out trying to figure out, weeks in advance, what to wear, so as to not pack it in the "Regina Bound" luggage, but rather the "Winnipeg Bound" luggage. After ignoring everyone's vote, I settled on the black strapless dress with pearl and flower necklace I designed myself, heading towards the cocktail chic look of the Mad Men era.

Of course, the day before we're set to leave, Scott receives word that the event is "pretty casual".

So of course, the brown dress from Old Navy / Erica is my best option - still nice, but with a more casual vibe. Add some trappy sandals, and we're good to go!.

Then as we arrive at the location, I quickly realize this is an outdoor barbecue - so switch up the strappy stillettos for lace-up gladiators, and add an army jacket (all of which happen to be in the car), and I suited the atmosphere perfectly - slightly eclectic, but definitely casual.

For the wedding, I did pull a more Marilyn Monroe in Seven Year Itch look with my halter silver and black striped dress, and peep toe heels.

Babydoll

Scott called me "Babydoll" for a very brief period of time because we discovered that he used to call his ex-girlfriend that. Awkward!

In any event, if yesterday was elf day, today was doll day

Dress - Joe (from Erica)
Shoes - Giant Tiger
Belt - Chinese Laundry

It's going to be a busy few days. Tomorrow is my last day of work, and then I'm heading into Winnipeg for a rehearsal dinner, followed by the wedding on Saturday, some family stuff on Sunday, and then the big move Monday / Tuesday. The internet in my new place isn't hooked up until Wednesday (though I do live in a hot spot, so I'll have some access), however, I'm back "home" on Friday, back into Winnipeg on Saturday, and probably won't be into any form of schedule until the 9th or 10th - posting may be regular or may be sporadic, I don't know, but I'll try to take pics of my outfits - and my new place!

Elfin

I packed all my clothes last night, so getting dressed these next couple days will be an interesting experiment, as I am only allowed to wear clothes which I can easily access. This morning I was impressed with my outfit because it seemed to go together so nicely.

And then I walked passed a mirror at work and thought: "Gee, I look like an elf". While this distressed me for a couple of minutes, I soon decided elves must rock. So I embraced it.

Shirt: Value Village / Stitches
Cami: Rickis
Capris: Rickis
Shoes: Shoe Warehouse

And don't forget to vote in yesterday's post! The boyfriend is resisting dressing up two days in a row, and is planning on verifying the dress code tomorrow, so I may disregard the voting process, I just like feedback! Not to mention the current contender in my mind is actually an outfit that takes the black strapless dress, and goes all Mad Men with it.

Poll

All right, I've got 6 outfit options for this weekend when we go to an "Informal Pre-Wedding Gathering" more traditionally called the rehearsal dinner.

Here's the issue: the couple is very fashionably ecclectic: you know, the type where the guy has the avant-garde facial hair, she's got the daring outfit. As such, I don't forsee their rehearsal dinner being all that fancy, but rather funky.


Please note that 3 looks like this: without the jacket, in case it is a more formal dinner.

Getting into the Gap

As a Manitoban, I'm genetically predisposed to hate Saskatchewaners* (aka Gappers). As such, it was with great duress that I agreed to attend grad school in The Gap (aka Saskatchewan). Of course, as soon as Scott and I announced our intentions to relocate to friends, family and co-workers, the jokes started.

Well, this Sunday was Scott's birthday. Since I was planning a surprise Ferris Bueller's Day Off themed car rally, I needed to pick up a costume for him. While at Value Village I happened upon a pair of cowboy boots that fit like a glove for $20. I couldn't help myself, I had to have them. Screw whomever would make the connection to me having cowboy boots and moving to a "hick" province...

I wasn't quite willing to let Scott know that I was crossing over to the dark side, so I remained mum about it.

That night, before the party, we went over to his parents place for a birthday supper. Amongst his presents was nothing other than a Roughrider's shirt (Saskatchewan CFL football team). Of course, I didn't have much choice but to admit to my recent purchase, and now that we have the boots and the shirt, we are now officially one step closer to being Gappers.

Alas.

In any event, they weren't near as painful as I had expected. I survived the day, and I believe with a different insole, they might actually be the most comfortable pair of boots that I own.

Plus, they seemed to funk up this "house dress" quite nicely.

*Please note: The only difference between someone in Manitoba and someone in Saskatchewan is the colour of their license plate.

Emo Rain Day

There are some pants I just put on and feel a little bit like I'm in a costume. These pants make me feel that. They have just a little bit of an emo flare to them, so I naturally had to pair them with some black sneakers and a hoodie. Perhaps a little more casual than I'd like, but so comfy on the rainy day like today!

And the sneakers are so new, I just like to stare at them!

Shirt - Smart Set
Pant - Smart Set
Hoodie - Bootlegger
Shoes - Giant Tiger

Neutrals with Pop

I was far too lazy this morning to come up with something that said "Thank you for giving me a loan" or "Screw you for not giving me a loan" as well as "Look at me, I'm getting insurance" and "ROAD TRIP" and have a colour lesson in with it, so I went with the easy one: Neutrals with Pop.

Clothing - Smart Set
Shoes - Payless
Necklace & Earrings - Rickis

It turns out the banking stuff was done by phone (one more hurdle to jump, I think. And hope. And pray.), and I had lots of time before having to head out of town to pick up insurance (stupid provincial regulations), so I got to change.

In any event, I'm home now, and have about 85 pictures to show for the trip... this is just a small selection of photos

Analogous

I tried to do the triad, but one colour always stood out incorrectly. Instead, I went with the analogous look. It's slightly closer to a split, as it's more of a yellow-green and a blue-green, but I've decided to call it blue-green and green for the sake of the experiment.

The jacket was integral to the "I'm responsible, so give me a loan" look I needed for the bank, and the trouser jeans made it more casual for work.

Jacket - Rickis
Jeans - Smart Set
Shirt - Rickis
Vest - Smart Set
Boots - Aldo

Complementary or Two-Thirds

I'm a new follower of Academichic, but I figured since I was heading out to grad school, now was as good of a time as any to learn what I could be wearing! What swayed me over to the bright side was their colour wheel experiments. Since I was all washed out in black and white / Sepia yesterday, I decide this was the week I'd hit all four of their major colour lessons, starting with Complementary colours or using 2 out of 3 colours in a triad.

Of course, I can't make a decision (or an outfit) to save my life, so I ended up with, er, both.

The green in the jacket and the red in the belt are complementary.

The blue in the jacket and the red in the belt, when combined with yellow, are a triad.

So I shot a little high it seems, but I'm ok with that.

Jacket - Value Village
Shirt - Bootlegger
Pants - Rickis
Shoes - Chinese Laundry

Black and White or Sepia?

It seemed like one of those days where colour just seems faded. Perhaps it was due to the fact that we've now had rain for 3 days straight after only having about 4 days reprieve. In any event, I've decided to play with colour this week, and thus, I decided to take my cue from the weather, and drain some colour from my look.

Of course, much like the issue of photography, there is always the question of: "Black & White or Sepia?", to which I answered "both" by pairing black and brown with white, all pulled in together by the black and brown scarf.

Of course, the antique-y theme of the outfit (not that any of the clothes are all that vintage) was only echoed further by the antique chair, and the Norman Rockwell prints. Ah yes, having the house ot myself, as my own personal photography studio.

White wrap sweater - Rickis
Cami - Dynamite
Cords - Bootlegger (Value Village)
Scarf - Value Village

And in case you were dreadfully disappointed in my lack of blogging for the last few days, I've been up at Scott's parents cabin, where, despite the rain, I did manage to go for my first kayak adventure - and never tipped!

Dress codes

I overheard a conversation at work today discussing dress codes for an upcoming event, and one person was describing it as “business” and the other person agreed “yes, business casual”, not realizing they were two entirely different terms.

This is the type of situation that causes me, an admitted dress code nazi, to want to go on a mad rant about the degradation of business and business casual dress codes within many office buildings.

And of course, since I’m at the bottom of ladder of authority in the office, there is little I can do to affect change.

I also recognize that individual office culture will dictate the terms of a dress code, whether explicitly or not, and would never provide a hard and fast list of what should and shouldn’t be worn in any office (excluding mine – I’d love if they would let me get on my soap box, since I have ideas not only on what the dress code should be, but how to gently transition away from the culture of crocs, shorts, and t-shirts).However, I find it greatly disconcerting that despite working in the same job, in the same department for the same company, my office dress code will change drastically when I make my upcoming move.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m looking forward to the challenges that I’ll face trying to retrain myself to reach for the tweeds, the pumps and the freshly pressed shirts in the new location (and trying to transition from work to school in less than an hour one day a week).However, I don’t believe that the simple fact that I’ve moved 350 km shouldn’t make the difference between an outfit being a little overdressed any day of the week at Office A to being a little underdressed for casual Friday at Office B.

Today’s outfit (a classic example of being overdressed at Office A and underdressed at Office B) Jeans skirt – Smart Set (Value Village)
Shirt – Giant Tiger
Cardigan – Garage
Shoes – Giant Tiger
(est. value of outfit:$25-30)

And yes, the pictures suck these days, I just haven't had the time to take a good one, because I have bigger things on my plate, like moving, and family stuff, and, most annoyingly, a few weird bites that are causing bruising and hives... hmm... that can't be good.

Processing

All right - too much wine last night created some apathy in dressing this morning. That's n ot to say that I just picked clothes willy-nilly - I had a purpose. Besides wearing something that was comfortable for that whole "I would rather be dead than be at work" feeling, I was also testing something. After years of freezing in my cubicle, I convinced the building manager to shut off the vents directly aimed at me (I swear, it was a conspiracy!!) since I physically couldn't move with any more layers on.

And hey, today was the first time in 4 years that I've been comfortable - temperature-wise!

And really, the effects of the night before dissipated before I even went for my morning coffee break.

Shirt - Smart Set
Sweater - Smart Set
Capris - Rickis
Shoes - Shoe Warehouse
Belt - Steve Madden (Winners)

Dotty

Today's outfit failed to impress - interestingly, it didn't impress the last time either. Interestingly, I didn't notice it was the same outfit until I got home. I didn't end up wearing the shoes all day, either, becuase damn, they hurt. They may end up in the "not coming with me when i move" pile.

The colour palette is boring.

The shirt is annoying.

And the entire outfit was too cold for the office.

Capris - Garbage
Shirt - Winners
Shoes - Walmart

However, it's 31 degrees, and I'm about to head to a friend's patio to have a few drinks. So I'm in a much more comfortable outfit!

Capris - Stitches
Shirt - Suzy Shier
Shoes - Etnies (Cab Clothing)

The joy of cotton dresses!

I woke up this morning not feeling well. I was questioning how well I was feeling when I went to bed last night, but figured that I'd sleep it off.

So this morning I threw on a cotton dress, because it feels like pajamas. Of course, the belt disappeared part way through the day, becuase I couldn't handle anything touching my stomach.

I started feeling better as the day progressed, so the dress was then handy for the breeziness of it in the beginning of our heat wave.

It was also endlessly comfortable as I started to pack for my upcoming move.

And to be perfectly honest, I'm probably going to wear it to bed tonight.

As for the belt - still the perfect place for my brownie dues!

Dress: Bluenotes
Belt: Ardene

Road Trip #2

It wasn't quite as early of a morning as yesterday, but before the sun reached too far overhead, we were back into the car to visit my grandparents in Winnipeg.

I've been trying to work skirts into my casual wear, so I went with that in mind when I dug through my closet. I still think I was a might overdressed for most of the day (rummaging around in their basement for hidden treasures for my new apartment - scored 2 candlesticks), but we did end up going out for supper, and I think that's when the outfit worked best.

I did also score some scarves and another necklace (and, of course, books!!), but those will be detailed another day.

Today's feature is the shoes! I got my gladiators at the end of May, and basically lived in them until we went camping at the end of July. However, whilst camping, I wasn't wearing them properly, and lost one of the straps / buckles. Initially heartbroken, I quickly found a solution, which I failed to execute until today (mostly because I have enough shoes that I really don't need this pair, I just loved them). I placed ribbon where the strap should have been and now lace them around my ankles. I was a little upset when I bought them that they didn't extend further up the ankle, and now they do. While the ribbon still needs work, I think I'm rather happy!

Skirt: Ricki's
Shirt: Smart Set
Jacket: Value Village
Cookoo clock necklace: Grandma E.
Shoes: Shoe Warehouse
Ribbon: My sister's wedding

Road Trip #1

This morning, I woke up at my usual time, and left my house at the usual time, and since it was Saturday, and not a usual work day, I went west instead of east - to check out my very own, no roommate included, apartment.

It went kind of like this outfit - not quite what I was hoping for.

The major problem was seeing the apartment for what it will be, rather than for what it is. The current tenants were in the process of packing, and owned two small dogs, so I was constantly tripping over things. While it wasn't a disappointment, per se, I definitely needed my dad and his credit card to pick me up. While I'd love to say I maxed it out on clothes, I did the financially and practically responsible thing, and bought a new bed. Despite the fact it was "Daddy's credit card", I do feel like a big girl now - I upgraded from my 1970s twin bed (SO TINY!!) to a pillow top queen (SO PLUSH!).

Of course, along with the bed came this sticky-note with the amount that I will eventually have to pay back. Hopefully it's interest free!

Shirt - Rickis
Jeans - Joe
Jacket - Smart Set
Scarf - Ardene

(And yes, I do plan on wearing this jacket until it's thread-bear)

Feels like fall

It's rainy, and according to the paper of the nearest large centre, we've just come off the longest stretch without rain since early July - 3 days. I'm seriously missing the heat of prairie summers. I didn't realize how much summer I had missed until I looked at what I was wearing, and it looked like fall.

And this is the type of outfit you'll see me in frequently this fall as I transition into grad school mode. Then again, maybe not - I got a mixed reaction from this outfit. That's right. A mixed reaction. Singular. The comment I got was "Oh my god, you look so good even when you dress so sloppy". Yup - there are just some co-workers that I love.

I'll admit, my hair isn't fabulous (rain and my hair just don't seem to get along), but come on! I thought I looked pretty pulled together - especially with the jacket and the purse! I know I should just brush it off, since it was from someone wearing an oversized golf shirt, cut off jeans, socks and sandals, has the social skills of a 4 year old, and very definitely meant to say "casual" instead of "sloppy".

But anyway, said person agreed with me on this one thing: this necklace rocks. I got it for a whole 25 cents at Value Village. Other than needing to add some felt to the back to keep my skin from getting scratched up, I love it.

Cami - Rickis
Sweater - Smart Set
Jeans - Joe (Superstore)
Shoes - Nike
Jacket - Value Village (Smart Set)
Belt - Steve Madden (Winners)
Purse - Levis (Winners)
Necklace - Value Village

Brown, birds and belts

Today was a special blog day. Not only have I doubled my "followers", and expanded my geolocation hits to Panama (which I will hopefully look up on a map soon, because my sense of geography is always off), but it's the debut of two pieces to this outfit.

You've seen the capris, the shoes, and the shirt, and I"m sure you've already figured out that one of them is the belt. I was out looking for accessories for a wedding, when I happened upon Ardene and it's 3 for $15 deal. Two pieces were practical - as practical as a necklace and shawl could be for a wedding - so the third was simply fun. When I saw this belt, I knew I had to have it. Not only was I looking for another wide belt (or obi - what is really the difference??), but this just appealed to my memories of being in Brownies as a child, with my change purse on my brown and orange belt.

Strolling along memory lane brings me to the necklace. This is a necklace that my grandmother gave to me when I went for a visit back in spring. I feel horrible that I haven't had a chance to wear it before now, but it needed a big debut. My grandmother can't remember for sure, but she thinks that she got this from a close friend of hers that travelled extensively. She thinks it's from her trip to Sweden or Switzerland (the confusion is from my brain and not hers on that one).

Capris: Rickis
Shirt: Bootlegger (from Jill's give aways)
Belt: Ardene
Sandals: Zellers
Necklace: Grandma!

Drill Sargent

I love this jacket. The picture doesn't do it justice - there is all kinds of detail to it.

It was another morning of "I don't know what to wear" so I reached into Kimberly's inspiration calendar and went with pinstripe pants.

And yes, I'm trying to be a drill sargent in the picture with my military inspired jacket.

Jacket: Value Village (Smart Set, originally)
Pin stripe pants: Smart Set
Shirt: Smart Set
Ballet flats

What colour are your pants?

Facebook is filled with quizzes like "What Queen are you?" or "How many kids will you have". I'm thinking of starting a new one: What colour are my pants?

After getting these from my sister in the spring, they've stayed in my dresser for the sole reason that I couldn't quite decide what colour they were - were they brown with a brown pinstripe or grey with a brown pinstripe? Of course, both being neutrals, either combination would work with a number of my shirts. I chose this one because it matched the nailpolish I used for the wedding (which, of course, shows huge signs of wear in this picture, because I chew at it... bad Cara).

However, my concern was the shoes. In order to enable my brain to go to sleep, I decided to opt for a tan canvas sneaker last night, but ultimately decided on a gold moccasin type shoe this morning.

Either grey with brown or brown with brown, I'm not convinced the shoes worked.

Decide for yourself: grey or brown?

Pants: Express
Shirt: Garage
Jacket: Rickis
Shoes: Payless

Wedding #1

This summer, I knew I'd have one wedding to go to. However, as time crept on, it easily tripled, and considering that this is my summer of no spending my "new dress for every wedding" tradition had to fail.

There were multiple reasons I was dreading this wedding - a post - break-up encounter with an ex, having to go back to the home town, and figuring out what to wear. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to be invited (as weddings of high school friends are getting more and more exclusive over the years), but the invitation was very vague: "invite you to celebrate their marriage with an afternoon party". What kind of dress code does that invoke?

So I took the question to a pro - Kimberly of Fab Finds Under $50, who openly accepts reader questions. She came up with two fabulous outfits:



Of course, the only thing stopping me from re-creating the outfits exactly was the whole not spending a crap load of money. I did find an awesome blue dress like in the second picture that I do very much want, but even at a steal at $25, I knew that would blow my accessory budget - the only thing I'm allowed to buy for weddings. Also, I showed up and a friend had that dress on, so it's a good thing I didn't. However, I did love the blue and green from the first picture, so that was my inspiration

I pretty much recreated the outfit for Scott, but created a few other options for him and told him to choose what he felt comfortable in.

Cara:
Green dress - Smart Set (2005)
Silver shoes - Aldo (2007)
Shawl - Ardene (2009)
Necklace - Ardene (2009)
Earrings - WalMart (2009)

Scott
Black Pants - Tip Top (2009)
Shirt - Joe (Superstore) 2009
Loafers - Aldo (2008)

While we didn't "go" as well as I had hoped (as he didn't choose the outfit I had pretty much recreated the outfit from the first picture out of stuff he had - good job Kimberly!!!), we definitely looked good - albeit a little too fancy for the occaission it turned out.

Oh well, I think we both felt we looked good, and that's all that matters!

Thanks, Kimberly! Don't worry - I think I can do the next two on my own!

Not So Summery

I was folding laundry when I came up with this outfit. I was still in my pajamas, and despite going upstairs for some lunch a couple hours earlier, I didn't quite realize that it was strangely (though traditionally seasonal) sunny and not cold.

In any event, I was dressed and out the door to do some errands before I realized my error. However, I was content with the outfit as our evening transitioned in to drinks and dessert as the last time with the group.

And when I took the picture, I had just returned from a very bad shopping experience. Sigh, good thing the second trip this evening was better!! (See tomorrow's post)

Jacket - Value Village
Shirt - Smart Set
Jeans - Bootlegger
Shoes - Giant Tiger