Pix-Elated

I was inspired by yesterday's weather -- a rare clear, bright, snowy day on the west coast! And today, I have an outing. Very tiny (6). In a friend's home. All are triple vaxxed except me (I'm still waiting for my 3rd shot). 

Wearing old Club Monaco silvery sweater with a blue top underneath, blue BR slim wide legs, silver Blondo booties, silver earrings and jewellery. It's still a struggle to get enough light here for photos. 

I'll wear my blue puffer and my pewter bag when I leave the house! 

Happy New Year to all, and may it be a better year than 2021. 

Every now and again, J. Crew does a brilliant wool pant. I have their culotte from maybe 5 years ago? And last year they made these red plaid pants -- lined, and so warm. I don't wear them a ton, but in December and January, they are a slam dunk. 

I'm off on the ferry to Vancouver today for a few days of appointments and meetings and maybe some shopping. It's bitter cold and colder on the boat so I have heattech under my cotton turtleneck. But the pants will keep me warm!

Bonus -- the red sparkly scarf (you probably can't see the sparkles) is a gift from a lovely YLF secret santa some years back. I still love it! 

And the Blundstones will be my footwear for the trip -- waterproof, versatile, comfortable, and stable. 

Remember the plaid taffeta skirt? As predicted, it's become an occasion workhorse. I've worn it multiple times since purchasing. 

1. First time, no photo, alas, but with sneakers and a tee and denim jacket -- a live reading with some dancing involved!  Items in Finds. Trust me, it worked! That was early in September, when the weather was still warm enough for such an outfit. 

2. Worn for an onstage performance. Skirt, sequin top, military jacket, pointed toe booties. 

3. To a wedding! Masked in this photo (natch) but I wore with J. Crew brocade top, a black tuxedo jacket, statement necklace, dressy pumps. Loved this. 

4. At home for Chanukah with my friend Lorna, with a thrifted cashmere sweater from years ago. Look at Lorna's awesome plaid culottes and stompy boots! 

I've been spotty on the forum of late because the last month has been a whirlwind. I had a number of promotional engagements for my book in late August and September (mostly Zoom, but several in person) and then, on the first day of classes, I was asked to teach two courses at UVic. In person, on campus. It turns out, I'll be teaching there all year because I've already been asked to fill in for another course next semester. 

It's been a long time since I went to the office on a regular basis! (I'm on campus three days a week). It's been a long time since I've been anywhere, really, due to COVID. A few discoveries: 

1. I wear a topper every day, usually a jacket. Yay for jackets! My jackets are getting used again! 
2. I really, really, really want an replacement/ upgrade for my black watch suit, which I wear casually, as shown. It's not in great shape but I still adore it and want a similar option (with shorter jacket, as here).
3. I need a major refresh to my knitwear capsule. In particular, I need to upgrade/ replace a few essential knit tops. (See my other post). 
4. I wear more clothes. I mean, that's pretty obvious, right? But it's true! I wear gym wear, regular clothes, and I also find, more than ever, I want to wear loungewear when I get home. (I don't exactly have a dedicated loungewear capsule. I have crossover gear/ PJ items, mostly, with one or two dedicated lounge pieces.) 

Nothing is new here, so I haven't posted Finds. Everything is older, mostly up to six or seven years older. My clothes last me a long time! That's another revelation -- how much of my wardrobe is on the older side. I may need some updates to denim as well as new knitwear and a new suit. 

For my one and only public live book event, I wore the Kate Hewko skirt. This is a minor variation on the outfit I wore to my private launch: booties instead of white sneakers; knit military jacket instead of denim jacket; sparkly tank underneath instead of simple blue wrap top; sparkly earrings. 

I wish I could say this event was a triumph, but one of the readers went half an hour over her allotted time. Argh. And we had to sit to read (no sharing mics) so that was a bit uncomfortable. Still, what a privilege to be out in an actual theatre! And I really enjoyed meeting the musician and one of the other readers. :) 

Lighting still not great -- I'm doing my best with the new portable mirror but it was rainy today, so...I need to figure out a solution! It's so odd but in this spacious house there is absolutely no appropriate place to put a full length mirror that is not interfered with by the light! 

Ok. I still don't have my new mirror, but I do have a new phone with a much better camera that makes better adjustments for the light. Yippee! More photo participation soon! 

I have not bought much this year, but I did buy this linen shirt from M&S earlier in the spring and it's been a real wardrobe hero this summer. Wearing with my old CoH Elsa jeans, which I still love, despite or maybe because of their lower rise. Honestly, this is not the most flattering cut to my short-legged self but it is the most comfortable. 

New Yucatan 2 sandals from Ecco, bought on ultra sale. I have the (much higher quality) Yucatan originals for hiking and on my commuter bike (with flat pedals, don't worry!) and decided I liked the fun colour of these enough to justify, since I can wear them on my suburban walks that take me into light trails as well as on the bike, or bring them on those trips where you don't get space to take a lot of shoes but need something a bit rugged, a bit fun. (Some of my other sandals are not secure enough for that). With the lug sole trend, they fit in. 

I also got, and love, the Ecco runners. These fit my Superfeet green insoles and are going to be great walking shoes for fall and then again in spring. Also bought on substantial discount during a flash sale. I find these a bit narrower in the instep and forefoot than some Ecco shoes and that is helpful to my medium volume foot. 

This colour is "hibiscus" and it works perfectly with the shirt. Speaking of which, when I wore this the other day, a hummingbird literally tried to land on me! It was very exciting! 

Nothing's new here, everything's old, and that's ok with me. 

Not the best photo but best I could get. I am on a short trip to the mainland for the first time since October!! Yippee! But the weather is hot and dressing needs to be easy. 

Earrings: Nickel and Suede 
Top: Zara
Skirt: One of the famous tube skirts
Sandals: Sorel, the newest thing here at a year old (and barely worn due to pandemic.) 

Mr. Suz got his second shot! To celebrate, we went out for dinner for the first time in about a year. BC is slowly reopening. Yippee!

It felt amazing to put on REAL CLOTHES for a change and to be out in the world!! Social distancing and masking remain in effect because it will be some weeks before most of us are double vaxxed. The rollout feels slow compared to elsewhere,  but on the positive side, it is very organized, everyone is super kind, and uptake across the province is extremely high. 

Nothing new and nothing fancy here, but I did get a compliment from a complete stranger on the dress. :) 

Said dress is several years old from NAS (waving to Angie, my dress twin). 
The jacket is a consignment find from Paul Smith -- I love it so much. 
Bag is Rebecca Minkoff, aged to a fine patina, LOL. 
Shoes are Earth or some comfort brand. They went the distance; I walked a ways in them. 
Earrings are from Comrags, by a Coast Salish artist, and part of the proceeds benefit an Indigenous resurgence fund. 

I got my hair cut last week. This is my second cut with this stylist. He went shorter this time and more textured. With the right product I can get it to stand up in some fun ways. I think it will be good for summer. 

Bonus shots of Victoria Harbour, which was beautiful and quiet tonight. 

I saw the post before I got dressed, so here's my mashup of #1 and #4. 

The top is a portion of my mother's Land's End twinset, the one I bought her and that looked so gorgeous on her. I saved it after she died and wear it quite regularly, especially this part. But I need to juxtapose it with something less sweet -- hence the denim jacket with distressing. 

Jacket is one of my first purchases on YLF. Still going strong. Shoulder fit is neat and it is cropped but it is not at all tight. 

The skirt is from Comrags. It's hard to tell, but there are stripes of pink, purple and lighter blue/grey in the navy background. The style is interesting -- it has stitched down but asymetrical and wonky pleats. It's just slightly "off-kilter" -- a person not looking carefully might not notice. 

Anyway. A little pattern mix for the fluidly tailored set today. :) 

Definitely nothing fancy! But since I wore this yesterday and Janet has just reviewed the GAP gauze dress, let me review the shirts. 

I got 2, a pink and a white. I thought they'd be good to keep the sun off in the garden when weeding. 

• The gauze is multi-layered so quite thick and not see-through. You can wear without a cami. 
• Soft. Can probably go without ironing if you are not a super-polished dresser and could certainly be packed and used for a beach cover up.
• Fit is typical GAP -- on the large side, but I took my usual size. 
• Cut is neat at shoulder and loose all the way down.  
• Cotton, so it is cool -- but because of the layers, perhaps not cool enough for the hottest, stickiest days. 
• Hem is hi-lo, a bit shorter in front. 
• Popover style with gathers at the yoke, but it buttons all the way down..
• Feels a bit "romantic."