Turn Towards The Light

We could all use more light right now, literally, and figuratively.  January has been especially grey and rainy here, and we haven't seen sunshine for over two weeks.  And then of course, there are the daily updates from Washington that threaten to bury us in a dark sludge of hate, lies and ignorance.  This post is as light-hearted and non-political as I could muster -  a documentation of what I wore to work on a regular week (albeit a short one, as I took Friday off) with colourful backgrounds, fun clothing, and a sense of humour.

Monday...

 

I started the week with one of my favourite colour combinations of pink and black.  The blouse is from Blue Pepper Vintage, and I found the floofy (and rather see-through) tulle skirt at a Goodwill Thrift Store last weekend.  I had a photo of me looking at the camera, but I rather liked how my hair looks from this angle.

Tuesday...

I really liked this outfit - the colours make me feel good, and it was very warm and cozy.   The sweatshirt is one of the few great pieces of clothing I've found at Winners, the skirt came from a consignment store, and the fleece-lined leggings are from Talize.   I always feel more comfortable goofing around with poses when my friend Heather takes my photo (she took this one, and Thursday's).  When I have to ask a co-worker to take my photo I try not to take up much of their time, which means no horsing around. 

Wednesday...

Wednesday's outfit combined some of my favourite pieces into an odd, but satisfying mishmash of patterns.  The dress was found at Talize some time ago, and could be worn with black tights, heels, and a black jacket in a more conservative work environment.  However, since I can pretty much wear what I want to work, I layered it over Hello Kitty leggings and a long-sleeved t-shirt.  The ruffled neck piece is from Raggedy Rags, and it seems to look good over almost anything.  Looking at the photo, I think the boots look too big and clunky with the outfit, but some experiments are more successful than others.

Thursday...

For the last outfit of my work week, some strangely shaped pants from From Mars were combined with a vintage Haori from the Manhattan Vintage Show.  The necklace is made from a piece of vintage belly dancer's belt (the belt was vintage, not the Belly Dancer) and came from The Sentimentalist.

Looking at these outfits, one could draw several conclusions:
1)  I like the colour black, often worn with pink or gray
2)  Most of my wardrobe is purchased secondhand
3) I like clothing with dramatic, or unusual shapes
4) I don't take myself, or my clothing, too seriously

And they would be right, on all counts

I Love New York(ers)

Yep, it was darn cold here the last few days (windchill of -20 degrees celsius) so I was able to break out the faux fur that was too warm to wear last year.  The massive 80's shoulders are part of the reason I loved the coat in the first place.  It was definitely warm enough, but when I got out of Heather's car I discovered that it was shedding like crazy, and her passenger seat looked like a large white dog had been sitting there.  I know that real fur will start to shed as it dries out but I didn't realize that faux fur will shed too.  Anyone else have that experience?

Not much worth reporting on has happened here lately, and so I'm going to go alllllll the way back to the end of October, when I was in New York, as there are lots of things you haven't seen yet...

Some of the people (and critters) I spent time with....

This is the sweet, 13 year old, blind-in-one-eye, cat named Bowie that kept me company in my AirBnB.  His owner said Bowie had never paid as much attention to any of their previous guests as he did to me (which I took as a compliment) and he was always waiting outside my bedroom door when I opened it in the morning so we could have cuddles.  He didn't bother my allergies, and is the primary reason I started to seriously consider getting a cat of my own.

a real New York pigeon - looking a bit rough around the edges, but a badass nonetheless

As much as I love the energy and culture of New York city,  it's the people who make it my favourite place to visit.  New York embraces all manner of personalities, eccentricities and styles, and encourages you to be your best possible version of yourself.  I feel very much at home when I'm there! 

Debra Rapoport was one of the first people I met through Ari Cohen and his Advanced Style blog when I started going to New York regularly in October.   We have since become friends and I can count on her to organize some sort of marvelous adventure during my visit.  This year, we did a photoshoot with Jocelyn McKenzie in Brooklyn, which I wrote about here.

I love spending time with my friends Valerie and Jean, aka The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas when I am in New York, and this year we attended a performance of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at The Joyce Theater in Chelsea.  After the show we were outside talking about the show when the man next to me (whose name is Rudy Baker) in the photo above joined in the conversation.  From his velvet bowler to his painted fingernails, his style suited his personality pefectly, and I wish I could have sat down with him as I bet he had some great stories to tell.

I first "met' Hillary via Instagram and after we had followed each other's accounts for about a year, we were able to meet for lunch while I was there.  She is a total sweetheart, and the only disappointment was that I wasn't able to meet her four-legged baby, Harvey Noodles.

Above is Dayle Berke, (her instagram is @artfulcitystyle) another superbly stylish woman I have had the pleasure to meet while in New York.  Dayle volunteers as a docent at the Museum of Arts and Design, and gave an excellent tour of the current exhibits, to a group which included Jean and I, which I will post about soon.

The Baroness of Latex (right, posing with friend) hosted a Halloween Party in her apartment and I attended as a guest of the Idiosyncratic Fashionistas.  The Baroness was wearing one of her own designs and was a delightful hostess. 

She had asked guests to come dressed as a version of her (which you can only do when you are the Baroness of Latex) so there were some very impressive latex outfits worn by some of the other guests.  I had no latex, so I made do with a form-fitting dress I had purchased at Value Village.  The last photo I had seen of the Baroness showed her with pink hair, so most of us turned up in pink wigs, only to find she had moved on to blonde.  One of the Baroness' cats decided to join me in this photo, in which I look like I am very elegantly hailing a cab.

As luck would have it, fellow blogger Patti was also in New York at the same time, so we met up in Washington Square Park for a coffee.

While I was chatting with Patti, Amanda Dolan came by with her dog Pearl.  Amanda is the owner of Spark Pretty, and usually has a booth at the Manhattan Vintage Show with her partner in style crime, Meagan Colby.