Sveta's Blog

I always want to try Angie's ensembles on Fridays but usually my closet is lacking the main ingredients. The same thing happened today - out of three featured colors I had one only - citron. I don't have olive and cognac at all (although would love to add cognac at some point). The closest to cognac was darker chestnut of my Vaneli booties but it was too cold and snowy for them today. So pic 1 is my "poor man" interpretation - brown leather jacket and leopard belt to replace cognac and no olive :-(

pic 2 Vested interest
I think I am going vest crazy now! I decide to keep BR coated vest I asked you about here. I have ironed it with low iron through the clean cloth and it looks much better this way: I think it was just wrinkled from the packing. It also did not wrinkle from the day of wear which is a good thing.
I am slowlu falling in love with it and think it will be as useful wildcard as my grey gilet. The navy color is so beautiful and the sheen from the coating adds the depth to it. I would not buy it in a usual "utility color of olive or beige but this one feels "me" somehow. Tell me I ma crazy after all!
I am afraid my look was pretty dark that day. I paired the vest with LLBean shirt in green and nave plaid. It has some white in it but not as much as the red shirt (which is still in the laundry). I would wear white jeasn with this outfit but this was the time of the month when white jeans are not the best thing to wear :-( I hope that red booties made the outfit less somber.

pic 3
This was a challenging day. It was bitterly cold (-30C windchill in the morning) so I needed to dress warm but I had a dance lesson in the evening and was going straight from work so I needed a light outfit for it (too hot while dancing). This is what I came up with: sweatshirt worn over a dress.
In the evening I removed the sweatshirt for the lesson - problem solved.
I wore warm sheepskin lined boots that day and changed into booties at work.

pic 4  
Another cold day and shoe change at work. I felt like grey and yellow so her we go. I felt very cheerful all day wearing these loafers :-)

pic 5-6 Outfit inspired by Suz and Mary
 Suz's post on her orphan boots made me to wear mine that day - and a skirt. I so wanted to add a red skirt to my wardrobe but now when I have it I kid of struggling to put outfits together in which I feel fab. I think it is because of the style and the fit. It sits on my hips so tucking in is difficult. It also not tapered but more of a straight skirt. I tried to add this lilac sweater to it because I liked the lilac / red combination in Mary's outfit. I also layered a shirt to add some structure - and my dressy black boots with patterned charcoal tights (in solidarity with Suz's boots). I am not sure how I feel about the whole thing. I like lilac and red together but was this sweater too long and shapeless here?
Here is my week. Sorry the light is not the best even with the flash. I need to get working on my photography skills ASAP!
Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

These outfits are from the first week of January. As you can see I have repeated quite a few items there - why not!

pic 1 Cropped vest
I have finished knitting this chunky cropped vest (inspired by Angie's vest from Club Monaco) and promptly wore it the same day to a friend's birthday party with Gap BF shirt and Kut plaid jeans. Fun!

pic 2 "Skirted leggings"
Worn to work on January 2 - I did not feel like working that Friday at all so comfort was in order. I also tried to play with "skirted leggings" look from Angie's ensemble post and this Calvin Klein tunic and NYDJ ponte pants was the closest I could come up with from my closet.

pic 3 Cropped vest - again
That was another attempt for a cropped vest - this time to work. The shirt is shorter here - and I think I prefer this vest with a longer shirt (like in #1). It was snowing that morning so skinnies tucked into tall boots was a necessity.

pic 4 Moto meets culottes
Another work outfit. This time dark neutrals with a dose of cobalt to cheer me up - actually the same palette as in #2...hmmm, interesting! This is the first time I wore cullotes and boxy moto together - works?

pic 5 Boyfriending with Missoni 
I got this Missoni for Target tunic in 2011. I wore it a lot for a couple of years with skinnies and tall boots but last year it was mostly idle in the closet as I was not feeling tunic + skinnies outfits as much as before. This is my attempt to rejuvenate it and make it feel more current to me. Black turtleneck is layered under this sleeveless tunic with my long gilet on top. I thought of wearing my Madewell skinnies with this outfit but accidentally grabbed Paige BF jeans instead and did not realize this until I was out of the door. In the end it may have been a lucky mistake as BF jeans feel fresher with this look than skinnies would - or am I kidding myself?

As usual all comments and feedback are very much appreciated.
Thanks for looking and have a great week!

This Saturday was very busy for us but gave me 2 opportunities to dress  up in a single day - something not happening every day!

pic 1  This outfit was worn for my Mom's 71 birthday lunch celebration  in the restaurant. I suspected we may need to walk from the car so Blondo winter worthy boots were in order as we have a lot of snow right now. Dressy black boots prompted me to wear my cream culottes. Because of the black boots I want to bookend with a black turtleneck and added a Danier white leather jacket to lighten the black. For such a graphic white and black look this striped clutch felt just right!

pic 2 In the evening I had a company New Year celebration to go to. I asked YLF advice here because I could not decide on the accessories. This is what I went with in the end: BCBG mixed media blazer, Club Monaco lace tank, Express cigarette pants, JRenee silver pumps and the same clutch.
I wish I had more occasions to dress up on the weekends but it does feel tiring to have 2 parties to go to in one day!
Thanks for looking and have a great week!
 

Help! I am leaving for a company party in 40 min and canot decide which shoes and clutch to use. Wearing black cigarette pants, white lace tank and BCBG leather sleeve jacket.
1. gold clutch + pearl bone slingbacks
2. black/white striped clutch + silver pumps
3. black/white striped clutch + black d'Orsay flats
Thanks a lot!!!!

Not that I am shopping or anything   :-) but I am quite curious about 2 items.
#1 These loafers from Ros Hommerson. I am trying to expand my low heel shoe collection and loafers are on the list. You are all tired to hear about how insanely hard it is to find stylish and comfortable shoes in my size which are shipped in Canada...
What do you think of those? Frumpy or fab? Also if fab - which color: red or nude?
#2 Angie, you  recommended these Maddie pants so I need to pay attention. They come in Tall which is a bonus! Angie, do you think the cut can work for my not rectangular body? If so - which color? Navy is easy neutral but purple sounds fun...although I am not sure how easy it would be to fit into my style...
Thanks!

I have no utility clothing in my wardrobe and was never really attracted to them for my style. However when I spotted this coated military vest on BR website somehow it attracted me enough to order it.
It came today and I am surprised myself how much I like it. The color is a dark navy bordering on ink, there is some crinkle texture to it as well so it is not flat. It also has a hidden tie so you can change the style from loose (like in my pictures) to waist defined (like in the stock picture).
I have never had coated clothing before so I was not sure if I like it but I do. It does not have that plastic feel to it I was afraid of. The inside is indigo cotton so nice to the skin. Flap pockets on the chest do not bother me as I have no chest to speak of and they even add some substance there :-)
And at last (but not the least at all)  - the length, the length!
What I am not sure about is how it will fit into my style. Did I tell you I have never had utility and military clothing at all? Is it too casual for me? Does it fit the Urban Prince persona (I hope I still live in that domain)?
Even on sale it was not very cheap (for me anyway) so I would not want to get an orphan. Is this my first wild card of 2015 or am I losing my sanity here?

pics 1-3 - open, pics 4-6 - closed.

And if the verdict is to keep - what about the size? Is this the right size for me or should I size up to Large?
Thanks in advance for your help!

I am catching up with WIW posts which I neglected during the holidays.
This is the last batch and looking at it I realized that it is a good illustration why I am benched on the "Team Dark or Team Light Neutrals" :-)

pic 1 Volume on volume
OK, I am sure this is not everybody's cup of tea (definitely not my Mom's) and not universally flattering but I hope it is just flattering enough for me! Lilac and cream together make me happy and fluid sweater together with culottes adds a right amount of movement. This cognac boots are long due to a replacement (the quality was not great to start from) but so far I did not find any substitute yet :-(

pic 2  Vesting around
I just cannot get enough of this vest (or gilet). This definitely was one of the best purchases of 2014 - one of those "landscape changers"! If I can find them I would like to add more long gilets (and jackets) to my wardrobe, they are really useful in winter!

pic 3 Red for the last day of the year
I am a bit over tunics over skinnies tucked into tall boots but still like  this tunic which my hubby selected for me on one of our vacations. The color makes me happy. It is not wool so not very warm therefore I layered a merino wool t-neck under it for warmth.

pic 4 Formal Gala outfit goes trendy
For a New Year Eve my hubby and I went to a music hall for a dinner and dance with  live music (it was a lot of fun). At first I thought to wear exactly the same outfit as for a Christmas Dance Gala. However at the last moment I decided that this venue is less formal and tweaked the outfit a bit. The lace jumpsuit and my dancing shoes were  the same but a topper, clutch and earrings were different. It may be a bit OTT with the lace top and snakeskin panel on the leather jacket but I hope that the same color (black) helped to minimize it. Also introducing my latest pet  - textured light gold clutch - bought on the same day at Danier of course! Love the soft texture of the leather (almost like suede but without fuzz) and subtle gold sparkle. It is really funny that I am not a bag lady at all and have hard time to fall in love with bags - and the last purchase of 2014 was a bag!

 Whew, I am done with WIWs for 2014 - even if a week too late!
Enjoy the rest of your week and hopefully you are spared from the snowstorm we have right now!

We live 2 hours from Toronto. My hubby and I used to go there from time to time: visit friends, for a specific event (like visiting an art exhibit or Aquarium), for YLF gatherings (OK, that would be myself only :-) )...However we suddenly realized that after living that close to Toronto for 16 years we do not know it as a city at all! It is really weird but it looks like we did not plan to explore it because it is so close and we can drive there for one day we did not really consider it as a vacation spot. Over the years we saw more of Chicago, Washington, Boston and Montreal than we ever saw of Toronto. Heck, it appears I know Paris and Lisbon much better than this great city which is almost in our backyard!
So when I learned that our son ( who moved to Toronto last fall) is going for a week to New York I decided that we can stay in his downtown apartment for a couple of days and do some  exploring this Christmas holiday season - and so we did! 
We had a blast and those 48 hours we spent in Toronto felt like much longer time to us. The weather really cooperated too  - it was above freezing, no snow and no rain - more that Canadians can hope for in the end of December!

 This is what we did and what I wore :-) :
 pic 1 - Friday afternoon
This outfit was worn on the drive from London to Toronto, then a sushi lunch with our son before he had to go to an airport and then on the walk through the waterfront and downtown area. My purple London Fog trench was worn over this outfit and was warm enough for that mild December afternoon.
pic 2 - Friday night
In the evening we had a lovely dinner with my former co-worker in a  nice Thai restaurant and then took a Go train (another new to us Toronto experience) to meet our other friends and went to a salsa dance club together. I wore my black man coat from Danier as it was much colder during the night.
pic 3 - Saturday morning and afternoon
This outfit was worn for 7 hour exploration walking tour.  It took us through downtown to the beautiful University of Toronto and then to the Bata Shoe museum. We liked it very much and spent about 2 hours there. I love shoes but I have never thought how important role they played in human history. The last exhibit we saw there was "Fashion Victims: The Pleasures and Perils of Dress in the 19th Century" which was really fascinating. Then we had a lovely lunch in the Annex and walked all way back to our old downtown apartment through a Kensigton Market and Chinatown.
pic 4 - Saturday night
In the evening we went to see a play in the Entertainment District - "The Heart of Robin Hood". It was quite fun and we had a good time. I wore my black wool coat on top of this outfit as the night was quite cold.
pic 5 - Sunday morning
On our last 0.5 day in Toronto we explored an old downtown, antique  market  at St Lawrence and the restored Distillery district which has brick paved streets, cool art galleries, shops and restaurants. It was a colder day so I wore my black wool coat again. We had a nice lunch at the Mexican restaurant in the Distillery district and then hot chocolate in the cafe there (mmm... hot chocolate with chili pepper - warms you up in a cinch on a cold winter day!) I wore this down vest instead of the coat on the drive home, It appeared to be a very useful addition to my wardrobe so far!

I think it was my first vacation trip when I packed so much variety in clothing for only 2 days and also the first one where I did not agonize over this selection when packing.

My hubby and I enjoyed our short vacation very much and decided that it was only first of our Toronto vacations - there definitely will be more to come! :-)
Thank you for looking and sharing my experience in Toronto - recapping it here is almost like experiencing it all over again!