Comfort food: outfit version.

This outfit exemplifies the perfect combination of comfy and stylish, in my own couch-lounging sartorial opinion. These are my favourite pair of jeans. Sadly, just last evening I managed to spill candle wax all over a friend's floor, with the last few spats landing on the bottom trim of my jeans. We later read that ironing them with a paper bag between the iron and material will draw the wax from the jean to the paper, rendering the jean wax- and stain-free. If you see them in a future outfit post, you will instantly know that this home remedy was a success!

Jeans Le Chateau

Scarf gift (purchased in Switzerland)

Sweater thrifted

Earrings kiosk, University campus

Accidental click that gave me time to do something silly

Saddle shoes Shopruche

These are some of my favourite outfit pictures. Natural light is so much more appealing! More where these came from come in Spring.

Built up from the shoes.

This was an outfit that started with the shoes - brogues purchased in the fashion capital of the world: Milan. These were worth the wait; I had a vision of brogues/oxfords, and I found them!

Shoes Milan, Italy

Jacket Mod Cloth

Leather green bracelet market in Florence
Renegade cluster bracelet Stella and Dot

 

Socks Mod Cloth

Bulky scarf thrifted

Dec. 20 - P.S.

I failed to acknowledge the gap between posts that just.. err.. happened here. Its not that I've lost interest. I have set a bit of a precedent though, and I am not confident I'll be able to keep up the same effort in posts come the new year.

You see, when one is not a natural writer, it can become a teeny bit of a chore - which blogging should not be. The 'chore' label stems more from the time than the task itself. Time is going to become quite valuable come January, when I return to school full time to complete my Doctorate, but continue working my current job full time.

In the interest of continuing to keep up the blog (at a reasonable rate of posting, ie. more than once a month and hopefully more than once a week), some posts time forward may just be the outfit itself. Perhaps a short blurb on where I wore it or why I like it, but I'm not going to put the pressure on myself for any more than that. With that said, one Nov. and one Dec. outfit post, coming soon! (evidence I haven't lost the interest in wardrobe-blogging, just the time to have creative descriptions alongside).

Drowned in brown.

Sweater Smart Set

Well this outfit definitely is an expression of Kim. Again, you see browns unveiling themselves on a fairly regular basis in my wardrobe. It's funny how these habits develop. I know I've already touched on how my love for brown was born, but I think that part of it now is a nostalgia thing, maybe even an identity thing. The time during which I discovered my taste for brown (sartorially) brings back many fond memories. It was a time in my life in which I began thinking (shopping, and dressing) independently. Growing up in a fairly sheltered home, independent thought wasn't entirely encouraged, although it wasn't actively discouraged either. Being a natural introvert, it took some time once I was out on my own to distinguish between my own tastes and preferences and that which was inherited from my home environment. With regard to the brown in my closet posing as a piece of my identity, there may be some truth to this. Friends and family know I love brown, so it has almost become expected: if the coat comes in 2 colours, I'll always choose brown. I am okay with this expectation; it is part of me and it is not a common taste to be so consistently drawn to. Is that to say I would change my taste if it were less distinguishable from common fashion and fads? Maybe. I have always liked being a little bit different from the mainstream.

Corduroy skirt Urban Outfitters

Another reason this outfit is quite idiosyncratic for me: the total value of the outfit comes in at under $50. I am a bargain girl. (Which partly explains why I have too many clothes; the cheaper they are, the more your pocket can support). Excuse me while I tally up the bill (these things bring me great joy - sometimes I'll even keep the price tag as a reminder of how great the find was!).

Sweater: $4

Skirt: $10 (it was missing all but 2 buttons at the time of purchase)

Shoes: $22

Necklace: free

Tights: not sure, but tights typically aren't expensive anyway

P.S. This necklace was one of my rewards for hosting the Stella and Dot party previously mentioned.

P.P.S. This is Canadian dollars.

Stella and Dot mixed chain lariat, knot worn hidden

Stella and Dot mixed chain lariat, knot worn frontward

Ballet flats Aldo

Yule, Yuletide, Christmastide, Christmastime

Seeing I am decorated in festive colours, I felt it appropriate to cast this outfit on the backdrop of our merry home. I hadn't intended to coincide the colours of my outfit with the holiday season, but I have been known to enjoy finding reasons to match my attire to a season or holiday in the past, and, I especially love dressing in costume. 

As we are less than 2 days away from December, most are starting to embrace the arrival of the Christmas season. 

Many big corporation and/or department stores politely allow Hallowe'en to pass before unveiling their Christmas 'look' for the year.  In my corner of the world, Costco decided to break that trend this year, and apparently set up their Christmas garb in October! In addition, Shoppers Drug Mart started playing Christmas music in early November, but due to large volumes of complaints, they obliged with customers' disdain for the premature instrumental sashay into the season.

This begs the question, When is too early to delve into the Christmas season? Present culture usually welcomes the season with lucrative motives. At the same time, when chatting with friends, I've learned that many of them embrace the season quite early in November by choice, not corporate influence. Their underlying reasons are simply "I love Christmas," and "Let's celebrate for as long as possible." 

When I started this post, I originally set out to determine why red and green are Christmas colours. (I eventually answered that question..perhaps another post now though!) As internet surfing often spiderwebs (no pun intended), this lead to reading about the original pagan germanic Yule festival (which was eventually absorbed by Christmas). It was a 12 day festival, thus our modern 12 days of Christmas. Yuletide refers to the time between December 24, and January 6.  There were even specific terms used for the month before Yule and the month after Yule. We just call November 'November', and January 'January'; it'd be like November being called "Before Christmas" and January "After Christmas," if you follow my drift. This may not quite be etymologically accurate, but it tells me that its a time of year that has been enthusiastically embraced for extended periods of time for centuries upon centuries. And since people seem to be in happier spirits during this time, perhaps its not so precocious to start celebrating as early as November 1st after all. 

What do you think?

Outfit details: jacket Holster, jeans Le Chateau, shirt Giant Tiger, scarf Winners, clogs by Dansko, earrings Hand crafted (I don't recall the artisan's name, unfortunately)

The uniform.

Many fashion bloggers describe and exhibit what might be articulated as their "uniform," from time to time. This tends to entail intermittent posts exemplifying a pattern of sorts, whether it be a particular style or silhouette, or a theme of certain colours and/or pieces.

Cardi and jeans: thrifted

Personally, my "uniform" is apt to pop up when I plain and simple cannot decide what to wear.  Almost subconsciously, it pieces itself together, and it comes so naturally that it is almost effortless. (Instant relief from what-to-wear block).  

Which leads me to - What is my "uniform"?

I really didn't start to define my style until after high school. I guess this makes sense as most of us just try to stay afloat in the "fitting in" fashion pool, during that stage of our lives. Anyway, after high school my fashion took a dip down the bohemian aisle, of only thrift stores, specifically. This look started to transform, (or perhaps 'mature' - as my mother would likely say) around 6 or 7 years ago. I like to think the influence of the boho look can still be seen, although subtle. I have been caught saying: "If dread-locks were professional, I'd likely still have them!"

More specifically, the Kim-uniform is a combination of fall colours: always a brown, often with green and the more than occasional splash of orange. Wooden jewelries are first in line for accessory potentials, and when the scarf trend hit in ~2007 here, I adopted that as part of the ensemble as well. In fact, today I started with the scarf and built the outfit up from there. 

Necklace: little store in Forio, Ischia, Italy

Even on days where the entirety of the uniform hasn't manifested, cardigans are probably the most prominent item in my wardrobe. 

The cardigans

*I just counted, and there are over 20 of them!

Earrings: Ten Thousand Villages

Scarf: outside the Duomo in Florence Italy

This scarf has a funny story, actually. I had to purchase it when we went to the Duomo, as mentioned in the caption. Not thinking, I wore shorts and a sleeveless top that day. Correction: I was half thinking, as I brought one scarf with me in my day's belongings to cover up my shoulders for entrance into the Duomo. I failed to realize I'd need something to transform my bottom half into something more conservative as well. Luckily, I found something close by, at a good price, that is even deemed "uniform" worthy!

After mentioning Italy and especially the Duomo, I am unable to resist the urge to sneak a couple photos into this post. 

Shopping in Florence

Duomo at night

Duomo by day, view from the Bell Tower

Inside, floor level

Well worth the 463 spiral steps to the top!

Confession of a shopaholic.

Okay. So I have a confession to make. 

Great restraint only goes so far, and I have already suffered a setback in my 'recovery' from being a shopaholic. 

I sat pining for days over these loafer heals from Marais. They are currently 50% off, and I have a weakness for both brogues/oxfords/loafers and the like, and a good deal. I would have bought them had it not been for the exorbitantly steep shipping charges attached to special deliveries north of the US border. $40, to be precise! It was just enough to put on the breaks and instead of clicking checkout, I let them sit open in my browser, taunting...tempting... torturing me, for the next 4 or 5 days.

I closed the browser window yesterday, finally. However, the real confession I have to make is the purchase that did materialize: sitting in a neighboring browser next to this suppressed obsession, sat something a smidgen more practical. The root of the problem lies in my neglect to define rules for this undertaking. The original statement described a "clothes diet"; technically speaking, this precludes shoes, jewelry, bags, scarves and other accessories. (An additional matter of contention was my previously agreed upon plans with my best friend to co-host a Stella and Dot party. We made these plans in August, so really I couldn't go back on my word with that one. I'll return to this in a bit).

The confession: I hear by admit to purchasing some cheap skinny belts, and a pair of black dress shoes.

In all honestly, my black flats at present are more than 7 years old, and are literally starting to fall to pieces. Really, they can only still be called shoes by definition of what they appear to be, and not by the service they provide (or lack thereof). To successfully remix my clothes for an entire year, I really did need a pair of versatile black shoes. I explained this to my husband and he chuckled. I stand by my rationalization though! I bought some basic coloured skinny belts for the same reason; to mix and match I am going to need some of the accessories I have been brushing aside in lieu of spending all budgeted personal spending pennies on clothes!

So here it is. The Doctrine of a Non-shopping Year:

Thou shalt refrain from purchasing new and used articles of clothing, outdoor footwear, accessories of which include hats, hair accessories, scarves, belts, tights and anything else that might purpose itself in 'completing a look.'

*Caveat: if an item that is used frequently, that is also of great value to providing variety in remixing, were to break or rip or become nonfunctional due to something incidental (ie run in the tights), the original item may be replaced, so long as it approximates the essence of the original item.

Permitted are undergarments and socks as needed, pajamas, and with regard to the Stella and Dot party: remuneration may be accepted, and thereafter, the Non-Shopping Year begins. 

Kapeesh?

---

Kapeesh.

Swift as a fox

Cardigan, Ricki's

This dress just arrived in the mail yesterday. It was definitely love at first (web)site, but it wasn't purchased on a whim - I watched it completely sell out, went through nonbuyer's remorse, and was subsequently ecstatic to see it return to stock. (And then, on a second whim, into my cart it dropped, quite swiftly). 

It is heavenly comfortable for a dress, and equal parts charming -to please my young (appearing) self, and professional: I can easily assemble a polished look for work with it.  It was the last purchase I made after which I decided to go on my year long "clothes diet". (Perhaps I sensed a loss of control, what with how swiftly it went from not mine, to mine?)  

'Brick your place' earrings, via ModCloth

 These also arrived with the dress, as you must not waste any space in a parcel you are paying to have shipped to you. 

#unspoken rule of online shopping

As a child, I was a tetris mastermind: none of my siblings, friends, nor siblings friends came close to
matching my record score! So, you can see why these were a must-buy.

In addition to nostalgic reasons, I liked these because of the asymmetry. I have always had a penchant
 for asymmetric articles of fashion.

Belt, Le Chateau

'Foxtail and Fern' dress via ModCloth