How to look put together every day

November 22, 2024 / edebock / 3 Comments

It’s late in the day and I still haven’t written today’s Fashion Friday post, so this is going to be a quick one. We spent two days in the city this week attending medical appointments so that’s my excuse for not being better prepared. The good news is that the lab work and CT scans that I’ve had done over the past couple of weeks showed that my cancer is stable! That’s a word that I wasn’t sure I was ever going to hear again, so of course, I’m delighted. We’ll redo all the tests in three months time, but for now I can put that on the back burner and get on with other things.

We may not always feel as if we have it all together, but we can always look as though we do and how we look affects how we feel. Today I’m going to share 14 tips on how to look put together every single day regardless of age or occasion.

Start by taking care of yourself. Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and adequate sleep go a long way toward looking and feeling your best.
Get a good, low maintenance haircut.
Good grooming is key. Develop a good skin care routine, make sure your hair is neat and clean, practice good dental hygiene, and don’t neglect nail care.
Make sure your clothes are clean.
Don’t wear wrinkled clothes (with the exception of linen which is supposed to be wrinkled). You might want to invest in a hand-held steamer for quick touch ups.
Ensure that your clothing fits well.
Invest in good basics. Shop within your means, but buy the best quality that you can afford.
Use a fabric shaver to remove pilling from knitwear.
Find the colour palette that works best for you.
Make sure your footwear is clean and in good condition.
Accessorize, but don’t overdo.
Use makeup strategically. Again, don’t overdo.
Practice good posture.
And finally, wear a smile!

These tips might seem obvious, but you don’t have to look far to see women who ignore them, especially at this busy, sometimes frenzied time of year. Do you have any other tips to add to the list?

How to elevate a simple jeans and shirt outfit

November 15, 2024 / edebock / 4 Comments

In last Friday’s post, you saw this simple jeans and shirt outfit featuring one of my latest thrift store finds.

It’s a comfy, casual look great for wearing around the house or going for a walk, but today I want to show you how I would elevate the look a bit.

First, I unbuttoned the shirt and added a cami underneath. I tried white, but with the pale coloured shirt it looked blah and I looked washed out. Besides, it’s laundry day at our house and all my light coloured bras are in the wash. For me, a black bra under a white top is a no go. The rusty red coloured cami was a much better choice.

Next, I rolled up the cuffs and added a belt and some accessories. Considering the fact that the two main pieces are a pair of jeans and a cotton shirt, it’s still a casual look, but definitely a little classier than the first one.

You can’t see my footwear in either photo, but in the first one I was wearing sneakers. For the second look, I might choose a dressier pair of shoes or at this time of year, a pair of booties. After all, there are snowflakes in the air as I look out the window this morning and we’re back to taking fashion photos indoors. 😦

My latest thrift store finds

November 8, 2024November 7, 2024 / edebock / 8 Comments

As you’re no doubt aware by now, I love thrift store shopping. In addition to the fact that it’s a bit like going on a treasure hunt, there are several other advantages. I can afford to pay full price for my clothes, but my opportunities to shop are limited by the fact that I live in a very small rural community. Two small thrift stores are the only places to shop for clothing locally. The cost per wear is, of course, much lower when I buy second-hand and I also like the fact that, in my own small way, I’m helping reduce the enormous impact that the fashion industry has on the environment.

Thrifting can be a great way to add unique pieces or to fill gaps in your wardrobe, but I cringe whenever I see a blogger or a YouTuber bragging about her thrift store “hauls”. Excess of any kind bothers me. A bargain isn’t a bargain unless you’re actually going to use it and I can’t imagine anyone actually wearing everything in some of those hauls. I often leave a thrift store empty-handed, but once in awhile I find something that’s just right for me. Today I’m going to share my last two second-hand finds with you.

The casual, comfy tunic shirt from Old Navy has been a good addition to my fall wardrobe. The fabric, although 99% cotton, has a linen-like feel and the soft tan with multicoloured flecks throughout works well with my complexion.

When thrift store shopping, you might have to wade through some very outdated pieces to find what you’re looking for, but it’s possible to look up-to-date or even on trend wearing second-hand clothes. For example, brown is one of the hottest fashion colours for fall/winter 2024 and stripes are also on trend. There’s nothing out of date about my latest find which went with me on our recent trip to the coast.

I probably wouldn’t have bought the sweater new because it was made in China. That’s a personal choice, but one of my fashion shopping goals in recent years has been to avoid buying items, especially new ones, that were made in a country that is so well-known for exploiting it’s factory workers.

In case you’re wondering, the final two photos were taken in the tiny community of Madiera Park on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. The other one was taken yesterday in my own backyard. At 14ºC (57ºF) and sunny, it was unseasonably warm for the first week of November in Alberta, but I’m afraid that we’ll soon be taking all my fashion post photos indoors again!

Elevating your wardrobe with style adjectives

November 1, 2024October 31, 2024 / edebock / 1 Comment

I was almost finished writing this post when, in spite of saving it several times, it disappeared into thin air! After venting my frustration and calling WordPress a few unmentionable names, I decided to try again. Hopefully I can remember what I was trying to say.

Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of interest in my previous posts about style adjectives, so I thought that that would be a good topic to revisit today. Choosing three to five adjectives to describe your personal style can be very helpful in building a cohesive wardrobe and creating outfits that say what you want to say about yourself.

Almost seven years ago, one of my favourite fashion bloggers, Pamela Lutrell, who writes Over 50, Feeling 40, introduced me to the idea of style adjectives. I initially chose classy, confident, and comfortable to describe my style, but just as our personal style can change over time, so can the words we use to describe it. Although I’ve kept the original three, I later added casual and creative to my list. It’s only by chance that all five words started with C! At one point, I thought about adding colourful to the list because at that time I was trying to add more colour to my wardrobe, but I soon realized that there was a good reason that I always gravitated toward neutrals. Those are the colours that I feel most comfortable in. Eventually, I also realized that creative didn’t really describe my style, so I replaced that word with authentic. According to Merriam-Webster authentic means “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character” and that’s really what style adjectives are all about.

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When I stand in front of the mirror, especially if I’m wearing an outfit that I haven’t worn recently or very often, I run through my five style adjectives… classy, confident, comfortable, casual, and authentic. If the outfit ticks all five boxes, I know that it will communicate the right things about me and that I’ll feel good wearing it. I do the same when I’m shopping for clothes. In the fitting room, I ask myself whether or not an item fits all or most of my adjectives. If not, it doesn’t come home with me.

If style adjectives are a new idea for you, consider taking a look at the list below and choosing three to five words that describe what you’d like your outfits to say about you. If the words you want aren’t on the list, feel free to choose different ones, but try to be specific. Words like nice and pretty are too vague.

approachable coordinated glamorous sexy
artistic creative graceful soft
authentic current happy sophisticated
bohemian cute lively sporty
bold dressy minimalistic strong
casual eclectic modest stylish
chic edgy outdoorsy tailored
classic elegant polished trendy
classy feminine preppy unique
colourful fierce quirky vibrant
confident fun relaxed youthful
cool funky responsible whimsical

I’d love to know which style adjectives you choose. Why not share them in the comment section below?

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Choosing 10 key wardrobe items for fall

October 18, 2024October 12, 2024 / edebock / 2 Comments

I was scrolling through Facebook recently when I came across this reel by wardrobe consultant and blogger, Sarah Kelly who calls herself The Haute Homemaker. In it, she shares the ten pieces that she would include if she were starting her wardrobe off from scratch this fall. With them, she says that she could create endless outfit possibilities.

At the time, I was about to begin my seasonal wardrobe switch from spring/summer to fall/winter and I was also thinking about what I would pack for the trip that we’re now on. That led me to ask myself which items I would choose from my fall wardrobe if I had to limit myself to just ten. As I packed away most of my warm weather clothes and brought out the cooler weather ones, I worked on my list. Socks, underwear, and pyjamas didn’t count and unlike Kelly, I decided not to include coats or footwear in my ten. Considering the climate and my lifestyle, I would probably need to include a couple of coats and at least two or three pairs of shoes. That wouldn’t leave me much else to wear!

I seriously thought about including my denim military jacket because it’s new and I love it. It was on the list and off again more than once, as were my dark brown corduroy pants, but neither of them made the final cut. I decided that if I had to I could get away with just two pairs of pants as long as one of them could be dressed up or down. In order to create a variety of outfits that would suit my lifestyle, I decided that the rest should be tops and layering pieces. Most, if not all of my choices, have appeared on the blog before. After much thought, here’s my list:

jeans
navy pinstriped pants
sleeveless top
3/4 sleeve top
long sleeve t-shirt
long sleeve shirt
pullover sweater
cardigan
lightweight hoodie
Uniqlo ultralight down vest

Depending on where you live and what stage of life you’re at, if you were to make a similar list, yours might look entirely different from mine. I’m retired, so mine didn’t have to include items that would be suitable for a work environment although some of them probably would be. On the other hand, until the snow flies, I want to be able to continue to enjoy outdoor pursuits like hiking, so I needed to take that into account.

Now, here are some of the outfits I created with the ten pieces. I’ve included both casual and dressier looks. As you can see, I could easily create more by mixing and matching. I could also vary these looks with different accessories and footwear.

I’m faking! Hubby was raking leaves when I interrupted him to take photos for the blog.

The key word in this exercise is if. I’m not actually going to limit myself to only these ten items and while I did pack most of them, I also have a few other pieces with me on this trip. I do, however, remember my self-imposed fashion fast during the fall of 2021 when I wore only six items from my closet for 30 days. I definitely learned to be more creative in coming up with different ways to combine the same pieces and I also put a lot of thought into how to use accessories to add variety.

Just doing this exercise, thinking about which pieces I wear most often and which are most essential to me, has had two definite benefits. It has reminded me that I, like most people, have way more clothes than I really need and it’s shown me a gap in this season’s wardrobe that I’d like to fill. Maybe more about that in a future post, but for now, I have miles to go and people to see!

‘Annibirthday’ week: what I wore

October 11, 2024October 6, 2024 / edebock / 2 Comments

We call the first week of October ‘annibirthday’ week as our wedding anniversary (48th this year) and my birthday both fall within that week. Today I thought I’d share a few of the things we did and some of the outfits I wore during the week.

Although our anniversary is actually October 2nd, we celebrated a day early this year because hubby had an appointment in Camrose, a small city about an hour from home, that morning. Yes, at our age appointments sometimes happen even during annibirthday week, but thankfully this was a routine and uncomplicated one. Since there are many more restaurants in Camrose to choose from for a nice celebratory meal than there are in our tiny town of less than 1000 people, I went along with him and after his appointment we enjoyed a fabulous anniversary lunch at Marrow, a lovely restaurant housed in a historic feed mill. The bison burgers were delicious, the service excellent, and we loved the vintage decor.

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Since I was shopping while hubby was at his appointment and we had some outdoor pursuits planned for after lunch, I dressed for comfort. I wore dark wash jeans and the cozy Checkmate Jacket from cabi that hubby gave me for my birthday in 2019. It has become a fall favourite. Under the jacket I wore a dark green top with three-quarter length sleeves that was thrifted a couple of years ago.

You would have to zoom in very close to see the tiny pearl drop necklace that I also wore. It was a gift from hubby 43 years ago on our 5th wedding anniversary! Interestingly, we celebrated that anniversary with dinner in that very same historic feed mill. The restaurant was under different management back then and looks entirely different inside now, but as I recall, the food was just as good.

After lingering over lunch, we went for a 2.3 km walk around beautiful Mirror Lake in the middle of town and then played a round of disc golf, a sport that we’ve recently taken up and that I’m quite bad at! We finished the afternoon with lattes at GOAT Coffee, a favourite stop of ours when we’re in town. A sugar-free caramel latte with whipped cream from GOAT is the only time coffee crosses my lips.

The following day, our actual anniversary, was a quiet stay-at-home day. I spent quite awhile doing some travel planning, but more about that in future posts.

This is where I can often be found when I’m at home; on the end of the couch reading or using my laptop. In fact, this is where the blog usually happens. In the photo I’m wearing what could be called my style uniform at this time of year. Simply put, a style uniform is an outfit formula that you wear on repeat; a combination of clothing that make you feel most like yourself. Mine consists of blue jeans and a shirt or top that’s a step above a simple t-shirt or sweatshirt. This shirt, from Gap, was thrifted last year. It has a thin gold metallic thread running through the darker horizontal stripes elevating the look a little bit and the plaid pattern matches at the side seams, always a sign of good quality.

For my birthday, on October 5th, we drove about an hour from home to the tiny village of Donalda where we started with a lovely lunch at the Coulee Tea House, another favourite of ours.

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I wore a variation of my style uniform; a pair of charcoal jeans with a very lightweight striped boatneck sweater that was thrifted in 2022. I chose the sweater as a base layer for the hike that we planned to do after lunch, but I dressed it up for lunch by adding a scarf.

For the hike, I left the scarf in the vehicle and added several layers for warmth. When we started out, it was only 12ºC (53.6F) and there was a stiff wind blowing. I may have looked a bit like the Michelin Man, but I didn’t want to be cold!

As it turned out, the temperature climbed and the wind began to die down. Before long, I was stripping off layers and stuffing them in our backpack. Soon, the sweater and my light hoodie were all I needed.

Just an old gal and an old car!

The 5.15 km hike brought my 150 day walking/hiking challenge to an end with a total of exactly 330 km, 30 km beyond my goal! When we were done, we returned to the Tea House for a birthday cupcake and another pot of tea. They have 34 varieties to choose from!

For church on annibirthday week Sunday, I wanted to style my recently purchased denim military jacket in a new way. I had a skirt in mind that I’d had for about 20 years and hadn’t worn for quite awhile, but apparently I’m thicker in the middle than I was back then. When I put it on, I couldn’t zip it up so it was set aside to donate and I wore this dress instead. I finished the look with a pair of blue suede ballet flats.

Now that annibirthday week is over, we’re looking forward to celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday with one of our daughters-in-law’s family. I do love October! So many things to celebrate!

Stirrup pants: a fashion flashback

October 4, 2024October 3, 2024 / edebock / 7 Comments

We all know that fashion repeats itself. If we wait long enough a style comes around again, although in some cases I really wonder why. After all, isn’t once sometimes enough? A perfect example of this is stirrup pants! Yes, that strange trend from the 1980s and early 90s is back again!

Stirrup pants 1980s

Stirrup pants weren’t a new creation of the 80s. They actually originated as equestrian gear in the 1920s. When women started to move away from riding sidesaddle and began wearing riding breeches similar to men’s, the straps were designed to keep their pants firmly in place inside their boots. Later, the style was adopted by skiers who first wore stirrup pants during the winter Olympics in Germany in the 1930s. Then came the fitness craze of the 1980s and stirrup pants made a comeback, but not just in the gym where they make a certain amount of sense. No, this time they became mainstream fashion.

There’s almost always something a wee bit different about a style when it comes around again. This time, the stirrups are being made longer so that they can be worn outside the shoe instead of inside! As if stirrup pants weren’t already weird enough!

Also, keep in mind that many of the most recent iteration of stirrup pants are actually stirrup leggings and ladies, leggings are not pants! Unless you’re wearing them in the gym, please keep those butts covered.

I suspect that you’ve probably already guessed that I’m not adding stirrup pants to my fashion wish list. I wore them in the 80s, but this time around, I’ll pass. They weren’t comfortable or flattering then and I doubt that they’d be any more so now.

What about you? Would you consider wearing them?

Images: Pinterest

Styling a denim military jacket

September 27, 2024September 24, 2024 / edebock / 4 Comments

The last thing that the very helpful saleswoman at Cleo said to me as she packaged up my latest purchase was that she hoped I’d have fun styling it with different items from my closet and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. As soon as I saw the Denim Military Jacket, I knew that it would be a fun and versatile addition to my wardrobe; one that I could combine with old favourites to create many new looks, both dressy and casual.

Here’s how I wore it to celebrate hubby’s 50 year grad reunion at the University of Alberta last week. I’ve had the dress for many years and it’s appeared on the blog before, but the jacket seemed to give it new life.

The denim is soft and not too heavy with lots of stretch which makes the jacket very comfortable. Here I’m wearing it with another dress that I’ve had for a long time. In fact, I haven’t worn this one in so long that I was delighted to find that it still fit!

While the jacket looks great over dresses, it can also be worn more casually. Since we’ve been enjoying lots of lovely warm weather lately, I haven’t done my seasonal closet switch yet, but I dug into storage to try the jacket with my button front skinny cords. I think this combination might look better with tall winter boots, but I’m not bringing those out yet. I try to put winter off for as long as possible!

Then, of course, there’s this season’s denim on denim trend. For the next photo, I changed out the cords for my favourite jeans. The key to looking good in double denim is to wear a top in a bright contrasting colour. I don’t have many of those in my closet, but I think this one works.

These are just a few of the ways that I’ll be styling my new Denim Military Jacket this season, so don’t be surprised if it shows up on the blog again!

What elegance is not

September 20, 2024September 12, 2024 / edebock / Leave a comment

For the past year and probably longer, my most read blog post has been one that I wrote in September 2020 entitled 50 characteristics of an elegant woman. Every time I look at my stats and see it at the top of the list, I can’t help wondering why. I know that if you google “characteristics of an elegant woman” it’s one of the first items that pops up, but why are so many people looking for information about elegance? Is it something that’s lacking in our world today?

The dictionary defines elegance as the “quality of being graceful and attractive in appearance or manner”. Elegance is so much more than what we look like or how we dress. It’s the whole package, inside and out.

Since this is a topic that is obviously of interest, I thought I’d dive into it a bit deeper today and look at what elegance is not. I love the quote above, but it was also Yves Saint Laurent who said, “We must never confuse elegance with snobbery.” Elegance can’t be bought. A mean-spirited woman in expensive clothes and impeccable makeup isn’t elegant. She’s simply a well-dressed nasty person.

While elegance might sound like an old-fashioned concept, it isn’t only for the elderly or a practice from a bygone era. It’s something that every woman of any age can aspire to.

Perhaps you were brought up with the myth that elegance means conforming and keeping quiet. Not so! As I said in my previous post, an elegant woman isn’t loud or obnoxious, but she graciously and calmly stands up for what she believes in. She isn’t contentious, but at the same time, she isn’t a doormat. Elegance is not weakness!

While I was writing this, 1 Corinthians, the “love chapter” from the Bible that’s often read at weddings, kept coming to mind, particularly verses 4 and 5.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Everything that is said about love could also be said about elegance! Elegance is patient, it doesn’t envy, it doesn’t boast, it isn’t proud, it doesn’t dishonour others, it’s not self-seeking, it’s not easily angered, and it doesn’t keep a record of wrongs.

One of the areas where I see a distinct absence of elegance in today’s world is social media. An elegant woman puts her cell phone aside and gives her full attention to the people she’s with. When she’s alone, she doesn’t spend endless hours scrolling on Facebook and getting caught up in pointless debates. She’s careful about what she posts online and doesn’t use social media for self-promotion.

Elegance isn’t about perfection. It’s about being comfortable with who you are, knowing your limitations, growing from past experiences, and not worrying about the things you can’t control.

The right hiking shoe

September 13, 2024September 11, 2024 / edebock / 2 Comments

screenshot-2024-05-09-at-7.40.11-pm While out on the trails earlier this summer, I began to notice that my hiking shoes, now several years old, weren’t as comfortable as they used to be. The shoes themselves were still in good shape, but the insoles no longer provided the cushioning that they once did.

One of the great features of Merrell hiking shoes is that the insoles are removable and can be replaced. Unfortunately, the insoles that I wanted were out of stock in Canada and I couldn’t find any information about if or when they might be available again. I could have ordered them out of the US, but by the time I figured out the exchange on our dollar and the cost of shipping, I decided that the total was more than I wanted to pay for a simple pair of insoles. Instead, I decided to order brand new hiking shoes and I knew exactly what I wanted!

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The Merrell Moab 3 was rated the #1 Best Overall Hiking Shoe for 2024 by Good Housekeeping and I’ve known for a long time that I wanted my next pair to be the boot style to provide extra ankle support. I wouldn’t normally order shoes online, but because these are my third pair of Merrells, I was quite confident that they would fit well.

The Moab 3 comes in a variety of colours. You might think that I chose blue to coordinate with the Tensor knee wrap that I’ve been wearing on my arthritic left knee while hiking this summer, but I actually chose it because it was on sale for $50 less than the earth tone ones I might otherwise have chosen!

I firmly believe that good quality shoes that fit properly shouldn’t need to be broken in and this pair was definitely proof of that! Straight out of the box, I gave them an excellent test run hiking three days in a row over a variety of terrain in Big Knife Provincial Park. The first two trails were easy ones, but the third one involved some very uneven ground and a couple of tricky climbs that required stability and surefootedness.

This turkey vulture and his buddies were hanging around, perhaps hoping that I wouldn’t make it up that very steep slope. The shoes didn’t let me down though and they were comfortable from the moment I put them on until I took them off again.