dorothyperkins – PPMeow!

#OOTD: Pink, Pearls & Perkins!

Between my recent vintage shopping and new pieces I’ve picked up here and there over the past few months, there are a ton of NEW (+ new-to me) accessories that I haven’t integrated into an outfit from my closet as yet. So, I was determined to adorn myself with newness in my office outfit(s) this week.

I’ve been waiting patiently for Spring to officially get here already to wear these pieces I picked up from Your Big Sister’s Closet

On Monday I finally unveiled them to the office, along with my new Dorothy Perkins pencil skirt with my mint-toed nude pumps and lacy shoulder pink 3/4 top. I have this top in mint seen here, but I recently re-discovered that I had it also in pink (hidden in the deepest corners of a drawer). Hooray for buying things you in multiples once they’ve stolen your heart completely! 🙂

I also wore these behind-the-ear cuffs I picked up from the Steampunk Fair a few weeks ago. Thought it might be too edgy of the office, but I wrote them anyways anticipating less than positive reactions from colleagues. Between the necklace and the skirt, this unique piece of jewellery got oh-so-many compliments! Thrilled that the ones I picked up – the clock-arms – there weren’t too many for sale that looked quite like them. 🙂

Putting all the above pieces together….and TA-DA! A more exciting Office ready Monday. Waddya think? Belt? No Belt? You Likee?

How I got The Look:

Mint-toed nude pumps from HBC, Eaton Ctr

Checkered pencil skirt from Dorothy Perkins, HBC (Yonge/Bloor)

Pink lace shoulder top from Forever21+, Eaton Ctr.

St. Paddy’s Day!

O’ St. Paddy’s Day! An excuse to drink in excess and claim you’re Irish! It’s great! I’m a big fan of any excuse to drink beers in the afternoon or all day among friends, whilst the bar spontaneously breaks out into song and the occasional jig with fiddle solo. In previous years, the shenanigans would begin by getting ourselves down to an Irish Pub for breakfast-brunch around 11am to secure fantastic seats/section for the rest of the day to comfortably letting the beers flow, as groups of friends and friends-of-friends joined our table-o-fun throughout the day. See pics below of all previous shenanigans of St. Paddy’s of my past.

So I was seriously bummed that St. Paddy’s Day fell on a Monday this year. Plus, with nearly all my peeps coupled off, moved far, far away from the city, start having babies…trying to round-up the troops for early celebrations on the weekend wasn’t working out. 😦

But then a Facebook invite lifted my hopes: Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It: Retro Road Show’s St. Patty’s Bash @ The Dovercourt House! 80s/90s music with nominal cover charge and in my neighbourhood. Perrrrfect!

Now…what to wear?

I picked up this fabulous dress at an event in Guelph last summer called Consign Your Curves. Where curvy women opened up their closets and sell their never/barely worn garments before hauling it all away to Goodwill or storage lockers abyss. Sadly, in all the time I’ve owned this piece I haven’t found an opportunity to wear it….until THIS weekend, I thought!

But that evening I didn’t feel it was GREEN enough. In fact, I realized how little items of green I own. Instead I ended up wearing 2-piece illusion dress (sheer green/black skirt) from Forever21+. With a few green pre-cocktails at a friends place we headed to Dovercourt House where we danced between two floors of video dance party goodness. There was even a photobooth with props…which we clearly enjoyed!

Now, since Monday is really St. Paddy’s Day…I couldn’t attend meetings in the office without bringing a touch of the Irish with me 🙂 Originally I put together the below for an office appropriate St. Paddy’s approved Outfit of the Day.

Buuuuut, over the weekend when I was killing time before the Mirvish show: Arrabal at The Panasonic Theatre (a surprisingly good show told all in dance!), I found myself in The Hudson Bay Company poking around the Dorothy Perkins section (my fav)… I discovered their UK clothing line called Billie & Blossom. Typically UK sizes are about two sizes smaller than stated, i.e. a UK 16 is really a size 12/14 in Canadian sizes. But this delightful butterfly patterned pleated coral dress seemed to fit as it should on moi at a UK18! Plus, the sleeves were just right and I love the neckline. And this morning I had-had-had to wear it instead… with my Kelly Green blazer, of course to give it a touch of the Irish! 🙂

I had hoped to convince a bunch for Folleauges (friends who are colleagues) out for a few green beers after work today and maximize my outfit to double duty – nobody likes wasting a good outfit on an insignificant day. But the afternoon had got away from me, and when I next looked up it was already after 5pm, Irish pubs near the office had line-ups growing since before 3pm and my office was a ghost-town. Sigh..

How did you celebrate St. Paddy’s Day? What did you wear? Share in the comments section…or better yet, post pictures on the Facebook page. I’m dying to see what y’all got up to 🙂

xo, Irene

How I got The Look:

Saturday Night: Blue-green dress from Asos + Rocker-chick buckle&zlip booties from Aldo

Monday March 17 – Office Day: White-Pink-Orange dress from DressBarn (original choice); Butterfly patterned pleated coral dress by Billie&Blossom (Hudsons Bay Co). + Kelly Green blazer from INC, Hundson Bay Co. + Black leather pumps from Guess

Accessories: Earrings & necklace were both gifts from wayyy back & St. Paddy’s Day headband from Old Navy many many moons ago

Kiyonna’s Black Lace

Lace is maybe the loveliest of all fabrics! It’s just so pretty and feminine and when it comes in black…uber sexy!

Last year, I discovered this fabulous plus clothing line called Kiyonna. This line seems to have a ton of lace offerings to the plus population…and their sizing is nearly perfect for those in the petite category when it comes to arm & shoulder lengths too! Often their website has deals for online purchasers…which helps, as their items tend to be on the pricey end. I personally am still a bit wary about online shopping. Simply relying on pictures of items on photo-shopped models on a computer screen without being able to ACTUALLY try something on first, isn’t my favourite way to shop for clothes. (I did manage to get brave…and buy a Hot-Mama Kiyonna dress…THE Valentina Illusion Dress..Meow indeed!)

To my surprise I found that Stefanie, owner of SexyPlusClothing carried a few fab Kiyonna pieces in her shop… and I quickly snapped up this lovely black lace 3/4 sleeved wrap top! It really is a lovely versatile piece that goes great with a skirt or pants….for office, special occasion, date night…huh huh 😉

Take a look at how I’ve worn it in the past and recently to the office with a black cami underneath, gotta keep ‘the girls’ in check among co-workers ya know.

Want to save 20% off on Kiyonna order – click here friends!!!! 🙂

How I got The Look:

Black lace wrap top by Kiyonna, from SexyPlus Clothing – when they were located at Rosedale/Yonge Sts…so sad they’ve moved out to Mississauga 😦

Berry pencil skirt by Dorothy Perkins, The Hudson Bay Co. (Yonge & Bloor location)

The Shoes: Hi-glossy black pumps from Payless; Beige peep-toed booties from NineWest; and Black snake-skinned ponty-toed booties from Madeline

Navy tuxedo stripped pant from Old Navy, yup…the Diva line – Best. Pants. Ever!

Photo credit: Rebecca Northcott, Rebecca Northcott Photography

#OOTD: Go Canada Go! + Sunday Brunch

I’m not a sports fan. Buuuut when a work colleague instant messaged me Friday afternoon to give me grief about the fact that I was working…when I should be a patriotic Canadian, by stopping everything I was doing and watch the Olympic Men’s Hockey US vs. Canada Game… how could I argue?

As y’all know….Canada dominated moving into the finals! And at 6am this Sunday bars everywhere opened their doors to die-hard Canadians who support our athletes by drinking beers and cheering at big screen TVs with complete strangers in unison.

I too wanted to be apart of this hoopla! However, unable to commit to the extra early wake up call that is required to get up, dressed cute and out the door to a crowded bar to maybe find a seat at the wee hours of the AM with a possy of peeps, just wasn’t panning out. I ended up watching the game cozy in my snuggie with the pup from my couch instead. But I did venture into the city for long-standing Sunday brunch plans.

Sadly, try as I might, there is no way to get my hands on one of those cute 2014 Red-White-Black pomp-pomp HBC touques – If anyone has connections for getting me one of my very own – speak up friends! In an effort to make up for not representing in person at 6am, my Outfit of the Day (#OOTD) needed to be a nod to our Canadian Olympic athletes doing us proud over there is Sochi. So here’s what I’ve come up with:

Love this Dorothy Perkins dress I picked up a few years ago on sale. I especially love the detailed double-puff of the short-sleeves. It is a bit short to be worn on its own once all my T&A fill it out, so I often wear it as a long tunic or simply fold or tuck as I did today. The black n’ white polka dot Diva pants worked out perfect to add a bit of interest/pattern with this all solid colour look. Plus, these pants fit easily within my over-the-knee/thigh-high boots. I kept the make up uber simple, avoiding heavy eye-make up – just masscara and a bit of gloss.

I walked into The Annex from my place, to have a catch-up Sunday brunch at Insomnia Cafe with a few gfs – new & old! I’ve only been here once before, Xmas Eve two years ago after midnight mass with a few friends who were visiting from out-of-town. However, this spot is apparently known for their Brunch menu. And a fantastic little surprise – they have a $5 mimosa special!!! They have an entire section devoted to Eggs Benny (my fav!). I had the pull-pork option…and as they say, “you eat with your eyes first”…see my plate below…it was fantastic! We had a particularly lovely server today too – which really made leaving the comfy chairs/sofa area they sat us in, oh-so difficult. Looking forward to visiting this spot again, as they have daily deals on drinks as well as $10After10pm menu options! Woot! Woot!

How I got The Look:

Red puffed sleeved dress by Dorothy Perkins, from The Hudson Bay Co. (Yonge & Bloor Sts)
Accessories from Laura Petite – Earrings & Neclace (picked them up yesterday in my kill-time-in-the-mall-mini-haul)
White wide-belt with silver details from Lane Bryant
Black n’ white tiny polka dot, Diva cut from Old Navy [see Best. Pants. Ever!]
Over-the-knee/Thigh-high black wedge boots from AdditionElle (Queen & Yonge Sts)