Pix-Elated

The last time I was at Butchart Gardens, the pandemic was in full swing and I could wander its pathways almost entirely alone.  It was glorious! 

Yesterday, I met friends there for high tea and while our tea was delicious and very fresh and it was fun to sit in the old house, which was closed during the pandemic, the gardens were packed with tourists taking selfies at almost every opportunity! Consequently, I didn't get many good photos. There is supposed to be one of me and my friend (taken by her husband) but he hasn't forwarded it. Photo now of the tea and me and my friend! Notice how our outfits were colour coordinated. We did not plan on that. But we do wear very similar colours, despite our different complexions, and these colours suit us both equally, I think. 

Nothing new here except the jeans are a this year purchase and they confirm the good sense in Angie's advice to consider current or trendy bottoms. 

Despite the crowds, it was a beautiful day and the dahlias were stunning! 

It promises to be a rare mostly sunny and cool day here in my part
 of the Pacific Northwest and I'm on my way to Vancouver for some medical appointments (not serious) and a much needed haircut -- it has been 3 months and I have been hacking at myself with nail scissors! Time to bring out the seldom worn but deeply loved Rag and Bone coat vest! Everything here is from 1 year (the boots) to 11 years old, and I love it all. 

Last year I edited a terrific book of personal essays called A Life in Pieces. The author was a long-time academic in Alberta. The book is deft, witty, surprising, and at times profound. Sadly, my client died of cancer before the official release date. Her husband invited me to read in her stead last night at the launch. 

It was a lovely event, held in a local pub's private back room, with good friends of hers, including another author launching her own book about the female Vikings.   We read, talked, ate and drank, and reminisced. 

It was coolish and raining when I left the house, so in addition to my raincoat, I wore the Dries van Noten linen/cotton tartan pants, oxfords, an ancient cotton knit shell from J. Crew, and a knit military jacket. The other author also wore navy blue, so we were a match! 

Nothing new here, but I felt very comfortable and relaxed in these pieces. It's amazing how one quiet statement piece, like the Dries trousers, can make everything else feel right. 

As the days get shorter (sob!) and the mornings dawn a bit cooler (at least where I live), I'm thinking about what worked and what didn't, this summer. It was a strange season for me. Some typical favourites barely saw the light of day (white shorts, I am looking at you), and some wildcards became workhorses. 

To wit: orange Cole Haan sandals. These are comfy, versatile, and work well with my blues. I never wear orange because it looks horrid on me, but even at 5'4", my feet are pretty far from my face. :) I wore these for some portion of almost every day. A+

However, the Zara top I bought to wear with them was less successful. I was hoping to replace my much-beloved blue gingham cotton voile Loft top, which I wore on repeat for nearly a decade of summers. This top is the same fabric and also patterned (to disguise the sheerness of voile) so it should have been a summer slam dunk, right? Hmmm. Not so much. Don't get me wrong. I wore it. It is more yellow than in the photo and therefore less flattering on me, but that wasn't the main problem. The main problem is that unlike my old gingham top, it is a fitted shirt -- which means it is not as cool and airy as my old blouse. Hence, much less wearable. C-

What was a hit was my very boxy blue Everlane cotton top. LOVE this and have worn it a ton. Simple, oversized, minimalist -- I feel almost as cool and stylish as Irina, wearing this. :) It works with all my shorts and cropped pants. A+ (and if they had any other colours left, I'd be duplicating, but they don't.) 

Slightly less successful but not unsuccessful -- the striped Everlane soft cotton shirt. It's truly soft, doesn't wrinkle a lot, and  is nicely sun protective. But due to the short length and lightweight fabric, it doesn't drape quite as well. B+

My other footwear purchase was also something of a middling success. I love the look of these Mary Janes and they are super fun with various outfits. And comfy for short trips when I am mostly driving or on the bike. But they are too flat for real comfort, for me -- definitely not walking shoes. Which, given my lifestyle, means I didn't wear them a lot. I will probably get some use of them in September and again in May, next year. A for fun factor and looks, C for real comfort.  (sigh)

How about you? Did you have surprise MVPs this season (fall/ winter if you are in the opposite hemisphere)? Did you have any mistakes or flops? To what do you attribute their success or lack thereof?

Hmmm. Let's take a guess....    :) 

Mr. Suz and I have been married for 25 years. (We've been together for 34.). His older kids got us a gift certificate to our favourite restaurant in Victoria and we splashed out. And then came home to a beautiful note from our younger child (who was the reason we got married in the first place) and a beautiful handmade, heartfelt gift. So all in all, it was a very special occasion with lots of happy tears. 

Photos are not so great, but best I can do with my lighting. I wore my silver Rails top. Silver bracelets, ring, and watch strap. Silver shoes. And a silver bag. There was also a denm jacket involved for AC but I only wore it for the last 10 minutes and the drive home. Also wore my navy Zara skirt -- it was really fab to wear and I loved it! Except it's slippery, so my napkin kept sliding off my lap, LOL. 

So -- silver and blue. 

Following on Janet's and Chris's posts, I'd already made an order to Zara for a blue eyelet top to try. Here it is, along with the barrel leg jeans in Ecru that I also ordered.

The top is all cotton, a bright sky blue, and slightly cropped. It can be worn untucked or tucked, though untucked is probably the intention. The sleeves are full length with a sewn narrow band -- I am wearing them pushed up, which is how I would wear IRL.

I like it a lot. My sole hesitation is the puff sleeve, which is a bit femme for my style as a rule. But I think I'm ok with it. :) I am also keeping the jeans. They are a nice lightweight cotton, just cropped enough for ankle length on me, and easy to wear. They are not true white, but near-white ecru. 

Wildcards! Star recently posted about wild cards and items waiting in the wings. My wild card waitlisted (until hot weather) item is a sandal in neon orange (!!!) from Cole Haan.

I'd been looking for a bright sandal for about 4 years, no joke -- ideally in red or fuchsia. But none to be found. Orange is one of my most unwearable colours, but on my feet? Why not? It works with blue and white, right? These are comfy and exactly the kind of style I was after, and were on super sale --  so I decided to keep. 

But what, apart from blue and white (which is basically my whole summer closet) to wear them with? 

How about a little scarf in orange and ecru? Is this a nutty idea? 

Oh, and how about a cotton voile top? It looked a lot more cream in the stock photo -- IRL it is more yellow. Maybe too yellow. But talk about a wild card for me -- orange and yellow!! 

Have I truly gone wild and lost my mind? 

To be clear: the jeans are a keep, the blue top is most likely a keep, and the other items are maybes. Would love your thoughts! 

 

Hi, all! (Please ignore if colour talk is not of interest -- I blather on a bit here!) 

As many of you know, before I joined YLF, I had my colours analyzed according to the seasonal method. The verdict was true or cool summer, with some head scratching by the analyst, who switched out certain colours for some of bright spring's, and took away some of summer's softer hues. 

I wasn’t too worried about that. I’d gone into it without many expectations. I saw it as a staring point. A basis for some general guidelines as I rebuilt my wardrobe. Because I already knew, essentially, what worked for me and what didn’t.

I’d always looked my best in anything in the blue and fuchsia family, up to and including a true red. The analysis confirmed it. Fab!

Still, it was a puzzle.

Back then, my hair was (highlighted) dark blonde with some ashy or charcoal undertones. Eventually, my hair turned grey, and I was even lighter toned, all over. Sometimes I wondered if I might be a “light summer” who’d been mis-typed.

But I look like dishwater in most washed out pastels.

In fact, with silver hair, I look better in brighter versions of “my” colours. Also in pure white. And — a first — neon yellow. YES!! I’ve decided I actually look surprisingly good in the silly high-vis safety vest I wear to bike in!!

What to make of all this?

After Sal’s recent analysis, and during my recent illness, I started down the internet rabbit hole with this question, and quite by chance I came upon a colour analysis system that does not depend on seasons, is much simpler than many, and makes better intuitive sense to me.

The person who seems to have devised it is less poetic (and also less rigid) than some of the other colour analysts out there, but she is charmingly authentic, and more inclusive than many. She looks at real women, not celebrities. She analyses women of all races and various skin tones..She looks at women of different ages. And especially if you have grey hair, I think you might find her discussion interesting and possibly helpful.

She works using colour theory alone — looking at 3 key elements — a person’s chroma (bright vs soft), their contrast, and whether or not they are warm or cool. By her system, I type myself as “bright, cool, light” — and this makes SO much sense to me! “Light” here would mean mid-tone (for the most part) as opposed to pastels. “Bright” does not equal “winter’s” extreme brights, again, for the most part — but does include brighter, clearer versions of “summer’s” typical colours. And cool is self-explanatory — undertones should be on the cool to neutral side, not warm.

Is it going to change anything? No. I have already (mostly) been buying and wearing my best colours, though there are some I don't like as well and others I seldom see at retail in items that otherwise fit my style, so I don't tend to wear, which must be true of us all. But this gives me a clearer explanation of why some things work and some don’t. And it’s also encouraged me to continue to experiment with brights that I may not have tried.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about your own colour conundrums and solutions! 

As some of you know,  the beautiful Janet's been on Vancouver Island for a photography trip, and having met her once in Boston a decade ago, I couldn't give up the chance of meeting her again. But it almost didn't happen, because I've been sick with some dread virus since we came home from the UK. Today, her last day in the area, is the first day I felt confident I wouldn't be contagious. So we got together for a lovely breakfast and a fast catch-up! 

Of course, we were both wearing our blues. :)  Please forgive my helmet hair (came on the bike) and shirt in disarray and wonky background. It wasn't the most selfie-friendly spot but it was a great place to sit and talk. 

Janet, thanks for making the time and safe travels home. I can't wait to see your photos! 

This trip I was very much focused on spendiing meaningful time with Mr. Suz, so shopping was not a priority. I didn't buy anything for myself. But I did enjoy window shopping and people-watching! I didn't photograph anybody on the street, but I did take snaps in stores and of shop windows. First, here's my impression of what people were wearing: 

• Sneakers. Sneakers. Sneakers. No surprise there. I did see some sandals on the hot days -- mostly Birkenstock type or other flatforms. I think I only saw a couple of pairs of heels, and those were boots. Even in the financial district, quite a few people wore fashion sneakers with their suits. 

• Raincoats. Again, no surprise. This was London, after all! And it's been an unusually wet year. Mostly I noticed trenches, but anoraks and utility coats were popular as well.

• Light wash wide leg full-length denim. Mostly on younger women. 

• The skirt of the year -- mid-axi or maxi denim skirts with slits. Also mostly on younger women. 

• Slouchy looks in jackets -- some blazers, some bombers. Quite oversized. 

• On the hot days -- maxi dresses in white, off-white, or large-scale florals. Again, on the younger women. Some dresses were off the shoulder.  Some were dragging on the ground and I worried they'd get caught in the escalators at the tube! But I remember doing  many silly things for fashion in my own youth. :) 

In the shops -- most stores were exhibiting high summer wear: lightweight linens and floral dresses. I wasn't really tempted by anything because it is quite easy for me to get this sort of thing in North America.
 
# 1. Window of a shop I would have liked to have gone into. Interesting sculptural shapes to the clothes. Heavy linens. Small boutique I think near Covent Garden. 

# 2-3. In the National Portrait Gallery -- Vivian Westwood. The first photo is a portrait in her garden; the second shows her surrounded by a new generation of artists, designers, and rebels. 

#4 I went into Selfridges to browse. Such a beautiful store. This display of cashmere wowed me with the quality and the prices, which I won't even begin to quote. 

#5. I loved this Erdem suit. But again, look at the price! Even on sale....https://erdem.com/products/sin....._r1j7_muwc

#6 The orange suit and the beautiful floral skirt also caught my eye. https://erdem.com/collections/.....s-trousers

#7 And the gorgeous party dresses! 

#8. Snapped a selfie while in one of the in-store shops. Curve jeans. 

#9. I loved the Alexander McQueen display -- right up my alley. 

#10 The fab orange suit made me think of Angie -- Stella McCartney.

# 11 Issey Miyake. I saw lots and lots of green in evidence, along with orange, in almost all the shops. 

#12 The jumpsuit also made me think of Angie. It would look terrific on her, no? 

#13  The majestic entrance to the store. 

#14-15. Moving on to John Lewis. Scottie bags for JAileen.  :) 

#16-17.  Colourful hat display. 

#18.  I kind of loved this colour blocked dress. Any of those hats might have worked with it! 

#19.  A book that some of us might enjoy. I know I'm going to hunt down a copy! As an undergrad I wrote an essay about Virginia Woolf's attitudes toward clothes. 

#20-22 Mr. Suz examining the beautiful wares at Japan House in Kensington, and some more of their displays. 

Here's the full collection of what I brought.

I'll report on some other fashion moments from the trip and what I saw others wearing in a separate post. But let me start with my own outfits.

First, I took a lot -- a medium-large suitcase which I checked. In the event, I wore almost all the clothes. Things I did not wear, I did not wear because the weather wasn't suitable. But it might have turned out differently, i.e. we might have had more days of heat and sun and fewer days of drizzle (or downpour) and/or cool sun. Had the weather flipped that way, I'd have worn all the things I didn't wear this time. :)

On repeat:

• The raincoat. (Worn 8 of the 10 days.)
• The Wit and Wisdom wide legs. (Best travelling pants ever. And I also wore them several times during the trip.)
• The Everlane Curve jean. Wore them multiple times. 
• The Paul Smith blazer.
• The oxfords and sneakers.
• The scarves.
• All the bags. (Brought 3! and used them all.)

What I didn't end up wearing:

• The red Mary Janes. The weather was too wet and cool most days.
• The skirt. Ditto to above. I had planned to wear my skirt and brocade top for Mr. Suz's birthday dinner -- but in the event it was cool and pouring, so I ended up switching to the cool weather alternative of wide legs, silver top, military jacket. 
• The brocade top.
• The floral cotton top. 
• The denim shirt. 

I wore everything else at least once, and most things more than once, because I often changed during the day. I could have done with fewer items, yes. But I was not sorry to have the options. I didn't get many outfit pics but did try for a few. 

Thanks, all, for your thoughts on packing ahead of time. I felt perfectly prepared for any weather eventuality and was happy in everything I wore.