Dead Flowers

As I became increasingly conscious of my recent monochromatic 'rut', last night I decided to shake things up drastically by dressing in direct opposition to the way I have been for the past few days...fur, florals, a bejewelled fascinator, and shiny shoes just felt right for a change, though it's pretty rare even on my zaniest of days to find me wearing all of these pieces at once. So I arrived home from work, did a mental "to hell with it!" in front of my closet and piled my favourite things onto my body. This is my first time wearing the faux fur vest, which I have deemed July 2008's Most Awesome Goodwill Find - not only is it in spectacular condition and the kind of piece I have dreamed of having for years, it was also $5...does it really get better than that?
This decision of mine seemed to warrant staring and slack-jawed gawking everywhere G and I went, which I don't get at all...really, it's just clothing. Don't get me wrong, I obviously love fashion and think that clothing and style are much more indicative of a person's psychological make-up than most give them credit for being; at the same time, it's mostly all fun and games, isn't it? The very fact that $40,000 handbags and their $40 knockoff counterparts co-exist on the same planet must prove that on some level. It's not that I actually care what the Sketchers-wearing masses (yes, I have an inexplicable hate on for Sketchers which I can't even think about attempting to make sense of) think of me or the way I look, though - bottom line, I just don't understand why they care to begin with.
Anyways. I'm kind of in love with the way last night's photos turned out. Particularly the ones with the blue-ish light in the background, which I maintain looks almost like a spaceship landing if one doesn't focus on the actual object too much...

Wearing

Vest: vintage

Dress: H&M

Shoes: Juicy Couture

Bag: Kathy Van Zeeland

Hairpiece: yet another piece of memorabilia from my figure skating days...my love for sequins, all things shiny and hence figure skating was borne after seeing Kristi Yamaguchi in a yellow sequined dress on TV - I find it highly unsurprising that my glitterbug ways have continued long past my activity in the sport.

All the Hurry and Wait

I spent the majority of my time this past holiday weekend reading real-crime murder mysteries and drinking white wine spritzers on the lounge chair below...
Yesterday a sense of normalcy returned to my life, what with being back in the city. It is unfair to refer to yesterday as 'normal' though, because it was so much better than what 'normalcy' indicates. Copious amounts of sangria, obtaining some impressive Primal Scream acetate and last, but definitely not least, not having to go to work all contributed in a significant way to one of the loveliest Mondays I've experienced in recent history.
G and I caught up with the charming, entertaining and just generally awesome LJ of (the equally awesome) NoGoodForMe and much photographed fun was had everywhere from Kensington Market to the Annex to downtown yuppie pubs. As such, my cowboy boots have finally made their debut appearance onto Modern Guilt - unreasonable walking shoes were simply out of the question yesterday, and these boots are a long standing favourite for pretty much any casual activity you can dream up (I am going to resist the glaringly obvious and painstakingly cheesy Nancy Sinatra reference I could make here.)
Life is back to normal today, but it's the good kind of normal that comes from having an enjoyable and diverse weekend combined with an adequate amount of sleep. I have many things to plan and figure out over the next few days, and as a result I may have some extraordinarily exciting news to be sharing very soon...
Wearing
Top: Chinatown
Leggings: Aritzia
Boots: vintage, from a friend's mom's youth
Jewelry: Everything from candy machine dispenser junk to vintage family heirlooms

On LJ: I know that the shoes are Vans and that the t-shirt is vintage, but the shortalls are still a mystery to me. That being said, I'm kind of obsessed with them.

Pictures and things that I've done before

Since I don't particularly have any new or exciting news to impart, today's post is going to concern 5 Recent Observations Upon My Life.

Recent observation #1: The homeless and mentally ill find me very attractive. No, seriously. I cannot count the number of times in the past two weeks I have been accosted and/or 'complimented' by street urchins (what is the politically correct term being used now?) I am still uncertain as to how I should feel about this.
Recent observation #2: I find it impossible to have my picture taken without smoking. Apologies to any anti-smokers out there who are reading this blog. Yes, I do smoke and yes, I know it's bad for me and that I should quit, but I am fidgety by nature, and I find it disconcerting to not be doing anything with my hands whilst attempting to be still for photographs. This is probably something I should work on.
Recent observation #3: I have not listened to any new music in months. And by 'new' I don't mean it had to be recorded and released yesterday - I mean I have not listened to anything less than 10 years old in a very, very long time. Again, this is probably something I should work on, but I cannot seem to find anything new which is worth listening to, and this is probably compounded by the fact that I am nothing if not a creature of habit. If anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way...I truly hate being stuck in a music rut, and I am currently too busy to devote a lot of energy towards discovering my next favourite band.
Recent observation #4: There is no such thing as having enough dresses. Casual, fancy, sophisticated, grungy, jersey, silk, rayon, poly-freaking-ester...it doesn't even matter anymore. I knew I was developing a problem when I seriously considered wearing a plain black hoodie of G's to work this morning (with nothing else besides unmentionables) because I want everything in our closet to be a dress. This is an addiction in the making.
Recent observation #5: My city, my friends, my boyfriend, my summer, my very existence on this planet = entirely 110% awesome.

(N.B. Do you know what else is awesome? The fact that The X-Files movie comes out tonight. Because while everyone else is losing their proverbial shit over this Batman business, I am delighted and thrilled to be witnessing the reunion of the stone fox that is Fox Mulder and that lovably rational Dana Scully. I'm still attempting to devise an X-Files-related-but-still-chic fashion statement for when we make our way to the theatre, I will keep you posted on how that works out for me...)

I wish every one of you a happy, stylish and awesome weekend! I will be cottaging and braving the alleged Hurricane Bertha, but keep your eyes peeled for weekend updates nonetheless.

Wearing:

Dress: AA

Leggings: Aritzia

Shoes: Converse

Necklaces: I felt the need to pile on every single necklace I own last night, so I'm just going to go with 'various' to avoid everyone knowing exactly how many I piled on and henceforth how I managed to keep my head up.

Does this make me really, really weird?

This isn't something I ever imagined myself saying, but I want a lacquered insect carcass really badly. I've always had a thing for weird jewelry, and this is one of those rare moments where I fully resent not having bothered to get a driver's license - I would totally road trip it down to Massachusetts right now to get one of these necklaces.

Is gross-hot the new hot-hot, or am I just odd?

Photo credit: FabSugar.com