WIW - stripes, dots and swirls in the heat wave!

This was a short work week after a long Victoria Day weekend and it was getting hotter and hotter as the week progressed. I find this transition form cool sprig to hot summer very hard especially when it feels that spring weather evaporates overnight. We have a lower than average water level for 4 month and lawns are as yellow as they usually in August. We desperately need some rain!
Anyway back to my outfits:
pic #1
This was a day when it was still cool in the morning so I wanted to wear my emerald riding jacket while I still can.
Jacket - my mom's creation
white / navy striped tank - H&M
Canyon flares - Paige via Rack
Ron Hommerson patent black open toe pumps
Red Chromia bag

pic #2
After my experiment with denim shirt and a dressy skirt last week which was not very successful I wanted to try this shirt with another skirt - this time knee length polka dot flare. I have added my faux pearl necklace and liked how these bog baubles mirrored the skirt's dots.
denim shirt - Anthro
polka dot skirt - Jessica Howard via cosignment
3-strand faux large pearl necklace - Winners
nude Fidjis form Nordstrom

pic #3
It was a business casual day at work and pretty hot one and I decided on a roomy silk tunic. I wanted to wear my cream slingbacks and added a white studded belt to bookend them. Alas, I think it was not PPL with these shoes. I really need to get my 4 pairs of wide hem trousers and jeans and try them with all my footwear to determine which to wear with which...
Teal silk tunic - Le Chateau
Express Editor trousers
white studded belt - Winners ( 6 years old)
cream / silver snake slingbacks - Ros Hommerson.

pic 4/5
It was a casual and very hot day so I debuted my new printed pencil skirt. It is thin stretchy cotton so it is perfect for hot weather. Also it is quite high waisted - actually the waist is higher in the front that in the back. So here is some pattern mixing.
Does it work with flat oxfords? My legs and ankles are on the thick side and I always worry they look stumpy in high vamp shoes and skirts...
black/white patterned pencil skirt - Winners
white / navy striped tank - H&M
CK cropped denim jacket - Winners
Hush Puppies yellow / white oxfords
teal tote - Winners

Bonus shot - I got a sun hat today. My last year hat is fabric and black on top so it faded quite a bit. I am on SYC until NAS but I considered this is gear, not clothing - right?:-) Does it look silly with my short hair?

This was my week - thanks for looking and as always I appreciate all comments and suggestions!

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WIW - the rest of my week

Here are 3 more outfits from last week which I wanted to post separately:
pic#1
How do you dress for those days when it is 5C in the morning and 26C during the day - and you walk to work? I find this weather really challenging in this regard.
Gap striped boatneck top
Express Editor trousers
Danier leather jacket
Chromia red satchel
black and golden-yellow silk scarf from Paris street vendor
David Tate animal print booties
pic #2
Another work day - trying to give my charcoal sheath a couple of more outings before I retire it:
Jessica charcoal sheath - thrifted
White/black striped sweater and white/black polka dot scarf - Winners
Hue leggings - The Bay
Hush Puppies yellow / white oxfords

pic #3
I wore this on Sunday to see Cirque du Soleil. It was very hot when we walked there but cooled down in the evening:
Ellen Tracy silk sequin dress - via consignment
ON white denim jacket
Clarks raspberry gladiators
Black and white striped patent clutch - small boutique find

I hoped for either relaxing or productive in household chores day off today but there was another emergency at work and I had to work from home last night and this morning..so no outfits for today! :-(

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WIW with a casual weekend look (special order:-))

I will do a couple of WIW posts this week so they do not get overcrowded.
pic #1
Running errands on Sunday - my casual look. I am on a self-imposed SYC until NAS and it started last week.However I have spent a TON of money this Sunday wardrobe related but not breaking SYC. Anyone want to guess what I spent the money on? OK, I confess: I BOUGHT A NEW WASHER!!!!!!!!! My old 15+ year activator washer was so bad I washed half of my clothes by hand and used delicate cycle in the washer for everything in a hope it will not damage laundry as much this way. It took me more than a year to geta new washer because I was daunted with the abundance of choices but it is all behind me now. I HAVE A NEW WASHER!!!! well, I will have it when they deliver it in 2 weeks :-)
Back to the outfit - ON white denim jacket, old bootcut cutoffs (pre-YLF not-PPL ones), studded black tank from Winners -and the debut of my new Hush Puppies white and yellow oxfords!

pic #2
I have decided to wear this outfit a night before Angie posted her lace skirt post. My mom tapered this skirt a bit and said it cannot e tapered more without taking sides in higher on the hip so we left it at it. It is also pretty narrow to walk in as is so more tapering may make it uncomfortable.
I have paired it with Anthro denim shirt belted to imitate peplum (kind of :0) and teal Born flats. My mom said that she does not like this shirt and skirt together but she does not like denim with anything dressy as a rule. Do you think it worked?

pic #3
I was able to take one picture only before my battery died so not the best shot. Paige Hidden Hills bootcuts and Trouve flat oxfords from Nordstrom, animal print Bellatrix blouse from Rack, black Costa Blanca sleeveless jacket (thrifted)

pic #4
Another wavelength with Angie's posts from this week: decided to wear this skirt and denim jacket in the evening - an found Angie's post with the same formula in the morning. I had a choice of a dark wash and white denim jackets and faded medium blue denim blazer - and Angie's post made me select the medium blue one. It was also my son's birthday so we went to a dinner and movie after work. He selected to see Avengers and I was surprised that I quite enjoyed this movie: I am usually not a fan of action superhero movies but this one was quite good.
polka dot skirt and TH denim blazer via consignment; Trotters metallic patterned grey low wedges, black AT sleeveless top, red Chromia bag.

This was the first part of my week - and thanks for looking! As usually any comments and suggestions are very welcome.

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2 year anniversary and some musings...

It has been 2 years since I found YLF in May of 2010 - seems like ages ago! I was hooked immediately on Angie's down to earth posts on style and fashion and I think I read the majority of blog archives in a week. I still remember that sense of discovery that you can have fun with fashion at any age and size - that was a completely new idea for me but oh how compelling!
Then came more specific realizations:
- I can wear skinnies even though I am not a slim rectangle;
- I can wear hems a couple of inches above the knee and it still looks age appropriate - it was something I have not done since my early 20s
- I can surrender the waist and not look like a sack of potatoes if I get all details right
Every day I was discovering more and more treasures on the blog:
- brilliant MOTG formulas;
- recipes how to wear a particular style in a flattering and current way
- body type guidelines...
Boy, I never knew that it is possible to have fun with fashion for the first time in your life when you are of a mature age over 40s. It was so exciting!
And then I discovered the forum...
It was unbelievable...
I was an outsider still but I felt the attraction right away. Of course it was great to get feedback on the outfits. Of course it was great to get an advice on keep or return purchases...but most of all this form felt so warm, friendly and welcoming. Just reading through posts (I was still a lurker in the first couple of weeks) I could feel real friendship between some of the members - and they spanned the globe! This all was so cool and fascinating that I was able to overcome my shyness pretty quickly and began to participate. Right away I felt a warm welcome from Angie and forum members, it was very encouraging and led to posting my first WIW and K|R posts - and the rest is history.
So here I am 2 years later and this forum is still a pretty big part of my life. I have been to several gatherings and met quite a few forum members in Canada and US. That was really an ultimate YLF experience: meet people for the first time and feel like you know them for ages, feel completely comfortable in their company. It is amazing how one can open up with problems, thoughts, ideas and find support here - maybe more so that in our "real" life. This is a truly unique online community and it takes a warm heart and energy of Angie and technical brilliance and hard work from Greg to keep it growing and thriving. Thank you so much - you truly enriched my life for the past 2 years!
I am posting some pictures from my 2 year YLF archives: my WIW for each half a year on YLF. I am definitely more confident in how I dress and how I look and how I feel now and I have an immense fun with fashion! I have not realized myself this difference in my style until I looked at these pictures together...
I guess I am rambling here and maybe not making a lot of sense but I just wanted to celebrate my anniversary with my YLF friends.
Cheers!

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WIW - my "almost" no denim week

After reading Aida's WIW on no denim week I realized that I had "almost" no denim week too and not by design. Out of the whole week I wore jeans once - today and if my 2 pairs of trousers were not in the wash - who knows, it may have been the whole week...

Day 1
This is my new BB shirt I complained about yesterday. It is very fitted and does not need any taking in in the bust and back which is a rare occurrence for me.
Trousers -Express from Chicago meet (fitted on me by Angie!)
BB fine stripe shirt
Black sleeveless AT top worn as a vest
Gibson grey knit riding jacket from Nordstrom
Nude Fidjis
Sparkly spider pendant - gift from Russia

Day 2
I don't remember why I decided to wear this dress this day - maybe wanted to give it a few more outings before it is too warm for it?
Striped mod dress - my mom
Emerald green shirt - Winners
Hue wide waistband leggings (insanely comfortable!)
Born teal ballet flats from Nordstrom

Day 3
Another outing of my new BB shirt and a debut of my new midi skirt I consigned a couple of weeks ago. My mom told me that the whole outfit reminded her of a fashion from her youth (late 50s - early 60s) and because she wore that then it feels old fashioned to her. Well, I was not around yet at that time so it is fresh enough for me :-) I think I am really coming around to flared skirts because I quite liked this outfit.
Skirt - Spanner via consignment
BB shirt
Danier brown leather blazer
Red patent pumps - Me Too
Grey diamond pattern hose from The Bay
What I am not sure about is this weathered belt with this outfit. I wanted to ground this pretty lady-like look with something unexpected - do you think it is out of place here?

Day 4
I am on a midi roll! It cooled down this day so I wanted to wear my new animal print booties and I wanted to pair them with midi skirt for a long time.
Donna Morgan cranberry dress from Nordstrom
Navy and white striped scarf - Winners
Davide Tate animal booties
Patterned nude Hue hose
Danier leather jacket for outdoors

Day 5
This is where I have broken my unintentional non-denim streak.
Paige Canyon Flares from N.Rack
Emerald green riding jacket - my mom
White and black striped sweater - Winners
Trotters metallic grey tweed-like low wedges

Here was my week - any suggestions and comments are very welcome!
Have a great weekend and a happy Mother's Day!

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WIW, W(hat) I D(id) and W(hat) I B(ought) over this weekend!

I have posted 4 outfits in the Picture Perfect Challenge threads last week so here is the remainder of the week:
pic 1 - wore to work on Friday because I was feeling quite casual that day. I really like this charcoal relaxed sheath dress I thrifted 2 summers ago but there are 2 things which make it less perfect for me. It is too short to wear with tights to work so I always have to pair it with leggings or leans. Secondly the armholes are a bit too high which is not very comfortable when I wear this dress over a shirt. Also it begins to look a bit tired and past its prime so I think I am ready to retire it. I think I got a great CPW from $5 dress; however I like the style so much that I am thinking to ask my mom to recreate it with a longer length and lower armholes.

This weekend we made a trip to Niagara region and met there with our friends from Toronto for some wine tasting, night waterfall watching, a theater performance and a general catching up on things. We could not wish for a better weather for this weekend and had a great time. I also used this as an opportunity for some dressing up :-)
pic 2 - red jeans and pattern mix. This black tunic shirt is not very comfortable to layer under anything with sleeves as it has 3/4 sleeves. I used safety pins to keep them in place :-)
pic 3 - wore my polka dot dress to the theater. Isn't it funny how my hubby and I picked matching white and black polka dot outfits - completely unintentional I must say: I have not seen what he packed for himself. Even the color of our shoes matched - isn't it funny?
I also got a couple of things in a little shop there: this black and white striped clutch in pic 3. I didn't have a small bag for going out - my all bags are practical -and was not really looking for one but this bag caught my eye in the store. I liked the shape and the pattern and the fact that it is a glossy patent - in other words it spoke to me in the store which bags don't do too often. I bought it, moved my keys, lipstick and credit card into it from my practical cross body bag I was wearing at the moment, made a quick trip to my car to drop off my old bag and used this new one for the rest of the day - because I am on a Team Wear and also because it was so much fun against this dress! I also bought these earrings (pic 4) - again not practical at all because I won't wear them to work (too long!) and I don't have too many dressy occasions for them - but who cares? I guess I was not in a practical mood that day!:-) As you can see I wore them right away too because that was one of those rare occasions and I could not miss it :-)

It was interesting to see some trendy pattern mixing in the theater crowd. This older gentleman surely won a prize - look at the stripe and polka dot mix: fun!

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