Boxing Day

December 26, 2020December 26, 2020 / edebock / Leave a comment

Our very quiet Christmas is over. Thanks to modern technology, we were able to see and chat with all our kids and grandkids, so it wasn’t as lonely as it might otherwise have been. It was also a good day to reflect on our many blessings and on the reason for the season… the babe in the manger who became the man on the cross; the One who died that we might have everlasting life.

Today is a totally secular add-on holiday celebrated in the UK, Canada, and other Commonwealth countries. Boxing Day originated as a day to give gifts to the poor. The reason for the name seems to have been lost in the mists of time. Some say that wealthy employees would give boxes containing small gifts, money, and Christmas leftovers to their servants who were allowed time off on December 26 to visit their families. Others theorize that churches put out boxes to gather money for the poor and the proceeds were distributed the day after Christmas. In any case, the original meaning has long been lost and Boxing Day has become primarily a day for shopping after Christmas sales, much like Black Friday in the US.

In past years, Boxing Day has been a good day to pick up electronics, toys, fitness equipment, seasonal clothing, gift sets, and all things Christmas at seriously reduced prices. It’s also been a day for pushing, shoving, and standing in long line ups in overcrowded stores. For many shoppers, Boxing Day and Boxing Week sales this year will look a little different. With Covid shutdowns or restrictions in place, much of the shopping will be done online.

Either way, I’m with Santa… I think Boxing Day is a good day to relax after the busyness of Christmas Day! It’s also a good day for eating leftovers of which there are many in our house. In spite of the fact that there were only the two of us, I cooked our traditional Christmas dinner including a turkey! After dinner tonight I’ll be packing up meal size portions and putting them in the freezer to be enjoyed some other time.

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Shopping like a goddess

October 30, 2020October 29, 2020 / edebock / Leave a comment

If you’ve been reading Following Augustine for long, you know that I love thrift store shopping. In fact, one of my most popular posts over the past year has been this one. I’m not crazy about big city stores like Value Village where there’s an overwhelming amount of merchandise to sift through. Instead, I prefer smaller not-for-profit stores like the two that I shop locally.

Other than one pair of pyjamas that I picked up at Walmart, the only clothing that I’ve bought in the past four months has been second-hand. One of my most recent finds was the Goddess Blouse from cabi’s Fall 2018 Collection. Although it’s two years old, it’s like new and it fits into my wardrobe for several reasons.

Like many cabi pieces, it isn’t trendy. Its timeless quality means that it’s something that I’ll be happy to wear for a long time. The cream coloured background is flattering to my complexion and the abstract pattern, in colours that are part of my spring palette, doesn’t overwhelm me. The blouse also coordinates with lots of things in my present wardrobe including many other cabi pieces. That’s one of my favourite things about cabi; the fact that pieces from one season are intentionally designed to coordinate with those from several previous seasons so that you can build a cohesive wardrobe over a period of time.

In the first photo, I’m wearing the Goddess Blouse with my grey skinny jeans, also from the Fall 2018 Collection. My necklace is another recent thrift store purchase.

I love the next look which is entirely cabi. I styled the blouse with my Brick Dust skinnies from Spring 2018, the Tudor Cross necklace from Fall 2019, and one of my oldest pieces of cabi, the Shirttail Cardigan from Fall 2016. It might be four years old, but it’s still going strong!

Next, here I am wearing the blouse with a pair of dark wash jeans and yet another piece from cabi, the Checkmate Jacket from a year ago.

And finally, here’s my very good friend and cabi stylist, Deborah, wearing her Goddess Blouse with several items from this season’s cabi collection.

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By now, you might be wondering if this is a sponsored post. It’s not. I just have a lot of cabi in my closet and I’m delighted that I was able to add another piece for just $3.00 by shopping my local thrift store!

Finding trends in my closet

July 24, 2020July 23, 2020 / edebock / Leave a comment

As most of you already know, I don’t shop for clothes online and I’ve mostly been staying away from brick and mortar stores since the onset of Covid-19. That leaves shopping my closet and trying to create new looks with old clothes.

When I researched fashion trends for spring and summer 2020 for an earlier post, one of the looks that appealed to me and that I could see myself wearing was the suit with Bermuda shorts.

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Had I still been teaching instead of happily retired, I could definitely have seen myself investing in one of these menswear inspired suits. They’re a nice take on business casual and if the trend doesn’t last, the pieces could still be worn separately. I didn’t realize at the time that I could create a similar look using pieces from my own wardrobe!

I wear capris more often than shorts as I don’t think that my knees are amongst my more attractive features, but I do have several pairs of shorts including these black ones from Nike Golf. The top is cabi and the little black jacket is from Canadian fashion retailer, Reitmans. All three pieces have been in my wardrobe for several seasons.

I’m not really going anywhere these days that requires even this level of dressy, but I did have some business to take care of at the bank yesterday and even though it wasn’t necessary, it felt nice to dress up just a bit.

HOOFING IT Across Canada update:

I’ve now walked 51.37 km since the beginning of the challenge. With over 6 weeks left, I should have no problem surpassing my personal goal of 100 km. Donations have slowed down a bit, but thanks to many generous donors, I’ve raised $1095 which is 73% of my $1500 goal. As the Canadian neuroendocrine cancer community, however, we have a long way to go to raise the $100,000 needed to continue funding much needed research. At present, we’ve raised just over $31,600.

Back in business, but without a fitting room

July 10, 2020July 9, 2020 / edebock / 3 Comments

Our local thrift store reopened on Tuesday. My main reason for going in that afternoon was to drop off a load of things that I’d sorted out of my closet, the storage room, and the kitchen cupboards over the past few months. I also wanted to see if I could find some more books to read because I’d finished most of the ones I picked up prior to Covid-19. Of course, I couldn’t be in the store for the first time in over four months and not take at least a quick look at the clothes too!

Almost immediately, I spied a cute pair of Simon Chang capri pants. They looked like they might be the right size, but as I’ve mentioned before, I have a hard time finding pants that fit my boyish figure. If they fit at the waist, they often bag at the hips. If the hips fit properly, they’re too tight at the waist. Like many stores, however, there were some restrictions in place due to the pandemic and the fitting room was closed. Should I buy the pants anyway? At just $3, what did I have to lose? There are no refunds, but if they didn’t fit I could simply donate them back.

OR… I could try them on anyway! That’s right. Savvy thrift store shoppers know that not every second-hand store has a fitting room, though most of them do. As I mentioned in a post entitled 18 Tips for Successful Thrift Store Shopping, if you have to try things on in the aisles, you want to be able to do it easily and modestly, so it’s a good idea to dress with that in mind. Even if there is a dressing room available, wearing leggings, a cami, and slip on shoes makes trying things on a breeze, but on Tuesday I hadn’t come prepared. I was wearing pants, not leggings. How could I try on those cute capris?

I wouldn’t do this in a regular retail store, but I simply took those pants over to the circular rack of skirts and dresses which is up against one wall of the store and found a long skirt with an elastic waist. Standing where I was largely out of view, I slipped it on over my pants, and you guessed it… I discretely removed my pants from beneath the skirt and pulled on the capris! There weren’t many shoppers in the store at the time and I don’t think anyone even noticed. Sometimes unusual times call for unusual measures!

The pull-on capris are made of a very comfortable stretch fabric with a nice wide waistband, but it was the tiny polka dots that attracted my attention. Polka dots are very much on trend this season and I’ve been wanting to add some to my wardrobe.

I’m wearing my new pants with one of my brightly coloured golf shirts, my Nordgreen watch with it’s navy leather band, and a pair of Naturalizer sandals that I’ve had for years.

HOOFING IT Across Canada update:

I’ve walked 22.99 kilometres since starting the challenge on July 1st and thanks to many generous donors, I’m slightly over half way to my fundraising goal of $1500 for neuroendocrine cancer research.

Chinos

July 3, 2020July 4, 2020 / edebock / 8 Comments

I finally went clothes shopping this week! To be more truthful, we were in the city for an appointment and I went into one clothing store. Just one!

After weeding several things out of my closet that should never have made the cut when I did my seasonal closet switch last fall, I identified a couple of significant holes in my summer wardrobe. As I mentioned two Friday’s ago, I have lots to wear when the weather is hot, but where we live I need things that are suitable for cooler summer days like the ones we’ve been having recently. One thing that I clearly needed was a couple of pairs of pants that would be warmer than my shorts and capris, but cooler than jeans.

Though I don’t shop for clothes online, the internet is a great place to do some scouting, especially during these days of Covid-19 when I don’t want to spend a lot of time browsing. I’d much prefer to go into a store, buy what I want, and leave again without lingering. When I knew that we’d be going to the city, I checked out the Mark’s website in advance and decided that their chinos might be just what I was looking for. Chinos are a nice middle ground between dress pants and jeans for both men and women.

The first thing I did when I entered the store was check to see if the fitting rooms were open. If I couldn’t try the pants on, there’d be no point in me even looking at them. Thankfully, a limited number of them were in use and there weren’t a lot of customers in the store so I didn’t even have to wait in line.

Finding pants that fit well is often a struggle for me, but Mark’s slim-fitting, tapered leg chinos were perfect for my boyish figure. The toughest decision was which of the several colours to choose! I settled on two pairs; one in a light tan called Stone and the other in a dark Olive. Both will be very versatile. I’m showing you the light pair today, but I’m sure that the others will show up on the blog sometime soon. The bottom hem is meant to be rolled to ankle length, but they can also be worn down.

I didn’t realize until after we’d finished taking the pictures that I’d forgotten to put on any lipstick, so this is my au naturel, at home look! Actually, I’d just got back from having several vials of blood taken at the local hospital, so perhaps I was even a bit paler than usual!

Being a word nerd, I couldn’t help doing a bit of research to find out how chinos got their name and what it actually meant. Apparently, the word was first used to describe khaki coloured military trousers that were worn during the Spanish American war of 1898. They were made from a cotton twill fabric that was sourced from China, so the name came from the fact that Chino is the Spanish word for Chinese. Thankfully, my new pants, which are made of a stretch cotton blend, were not made in China as one of my fashion goals for this year is to avoid buying Chinese products as much as possible. Of course, I have no idea where the fabric came from. As I’ve mentioned before, being a truly ethical shopper is very difficult, but I try.

What happens to your returns?

June 12, 2020June 9, 2020 / edebock / 7 Comments

In last Friday’s post, I shared some of the reasons why I prefer shopping for clothes in person rather than online. Today, I want to discuss what I consider to be another very big strike against online shopping.

Do you know what happens to the items that you return? In far too many cases, they end up in the landfill! That’s right! It’s estimated that more than 25% of all returns go into the garbage! I was shocked and appalled when a reader brought this to my attention.

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In a time when people are doing more than ever before to protect the environment, consumers usually don’t realize that their online shopping habits could be undoing a lot of the good that they are doing in other areas. While it might be convenient to order a pair of jeans in two or three different sizes, keep the one that fits, and return the others, most people would probably think twice about doing that if they knew that the pairs they are returning might end up in the garbage.

So why is this happening? It’s all about money, of course. It costs companies more to employ the people required to check returns for damage and, in the case of clothing, to re-press and repackage each item than it does to simply incinerate them or throw them in the dumpster. Not only does the environment suffer, but we, the consumers, end up paying more for products because retailers have to increase their prices to recoup their losses.

So how big is this problem? In Canada alone, we are returning $46 billion worth of goods every year. In the US, over 4 billion pounds of brand new returned apparel end up in the landfills annually. That’s approximately the equivalent to every family in the country throwing one laundry load of clothing in the garbage every year. This dirty ~~little~~ secret isn’t exclusively an online shopping problem. About 5 to 10 percent of in-store purchases are returned, but that rises to 15 to 40 percent for purchases made online. Clothing and shoes bought online typically have the highest rates with 30 to 40 percent returned.

If I wasn’t already committed to shopping in person, I definitely would be after looking into this! I learn a lot from my readers, so please keep the comments coming. 🙂

Online or brick and mortar?

June 5, 2020June 4, 2020 / edebock / 5 Comments

Online shopping has grown in popularity over the past few years, but Covid-19 has taken it to a whole new level. Here in Canada, e-commerce giant, Amazon, uses the postal system to ship parcels. For the past couple of months, Canada Post has been handling volume comparable to the usual Christmas rush. I’ve made a couple of orders myself, but when it comes to clothing, I’m definitely a brick and mortar shopper even though I live in a teeny, tiny town that doesn’t boast a single clothing store!

There are several reasons why I prefer to shop in conventional stores. First of all, I like to actually see the garment that I’m considering buying, feel the fabric, and examine the workmanship. I can’t do that looking at an image on my computer screen.

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Fit is another important reason why I choose to shop in person. Size charts and customer Screen Shot 2020-06-03 at 2.00.26 PM reviews are helpful, but nothing beats trying the garment on and standing in front of a three way mirror. I could probably do quite well ordering tops online, but pants are my nemesis. I’m tall and thin with a very boyish figure, sometimes referred to as a pencil body type. Made for more curvy girls, pants that fit my waist often bag at the hips. I usually have to try on several pairs to find the ones that fit me well and flatter my body type.

Shoes are another item that I would have a very hard time buying online (except for this pair that I had already tried on in store). My feet are very narrow, so again, finding ones that fit well sometimes involves trying on several pairs.

I realize that online purchases can be returned and that many companies seek to make that process as simple as possible, but it’s still a hassle and there’s often additional cost involved. The fact that our town doesn’t have a drop off point for any of the courier services adds further complication. I do wonder how often someone ends up keeping a garment that would have been returned to the rack if they had picked it up in a brick and mortar store. Chances are those items don’t get worn very often if at all.

There’s also an emotional and social aspect to personal shopping that’s absent when purchasing online. While setting aside time and actually going to the store requires more effort, the personal attention of trained customer service staff often enhances the experience and, of course, in-store shopping can also be shared with friends. Finally, there’s the luxury of walking out of a store with exactly what you want and not having to wait for delivery.

As pandemic restrictions gradually lift, we’re likely going to see long-term changes to the shopping landscape. Sadly, some retailers, especially those that were already struggling financially, may disappear entirely and others may move to an online presence only. Hopefully, however, there will always be a place for in-store shopping!

Do you prefer to shop in person or online? If you shop online, do you have any tips that you can share?

They wanted to be mine!

May 1, 2020April 30, 2020 / edebock / 13 Comments

Never would I have imagined that a virus like Covid-19 would help me meet my fashion goals for 2020, but one of those goals stated that “I will strive to buy less and experiment with new ways to wear what I already have” and that is most certainly what has been happening! Unlike many women, I don’t like shopping for clothes online. I like to touch and feel the fabric, look at the workmanship, and try things on before I buy. Consequently, until this week, it had been over two months since I last bought a fashion item of any kind.

The last time we were out and about before we started sheltering in place, my husband wanted to check out a sale on men’s jeans at a Mark’s. Originally called Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Mark’s is a popular Canadian workwear and casual clothing retailer. Knowing that it would take hubby awhile to try on jeans and decide what to buy, I headed for the women’s section to browse. There, I spotted a pair of shoes that were part of a display and I immediately heard them called my name!

Flora Leather Lace Up Sneaker

It was the quilted side panels and the little bit of bling that caught my eye and it was definitely love at first sight!

Changing direction, I made my way to the shoe department to try them on. They had my size. They fit perfectly. I walked around the store and they were comfortable, but then I reminded myself that I really didn’t need another pair of sneakers. Feeling quite virtuous, I bid them a fond farewell and left the store without them.

A few days later, a Mark’s flyer arrived in the mail and there were the shoes in a photograph on the very front page! I eagerly poured through the pages only to discover that they weren’t actually included in the sale. I even looked them up online to be sure. That was, perhaps, my fatal error! We all know what happens once you look something up on the internet. Every time I went online, there were those shoes calling out to me from side panels and advertising banners. They simply wouldn’t leave me alone! Scrolling on Facebook? There were the shoes. Reading the news? Those shoes again! Checking blogs? You guessed it. The shoes were there too! I couldn’t escape them. They really wanted to be mine, but I continued to resist. I didn’t need more sneakers.

Screen Shot 2020-04-29 at 2.32.40 PM Then one day it happened. They were there again, but this time, this is what I saw! Believe it or not, I continued to resist. I mentioned the shoes that wouldn’t leave me alone to hubby and he told me that I ought to order them. Finally, after days of arguing with myself and reminding myself that I really didn’t need another pair of sneakers, the shoes won out and I placed the order!

I was very impressed with the service I received. Not only has Mark’s done away with shipping fees for the duration of the pandemic store closures, but I ordered on Friday evening and the shoes were delivered to my door in a small rural community on Tuesday morning! On the other hand, I was less than impressed to discover that the price of the shoes has dropped even more in the few days since I bought them! Oh well, they really wanted to be mine and now they are! I’m sure we’ll enjoy a long and happy relationship!

Wear it 3 ways

March 20, 2020March 19, 2020 / edebock / 7 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I seldom shop for clothes online. I know I’m old school, but I like to touch and feel the fabric, examine the workmanship, and try things on before I buy. In these uncertain days when we should all be staying home as much as possible, many retailers are temporarily closing their doors and going to online shopping only. Rather than shopping for anything new, I’ll be playing with the things that are already in my closet. This is not a bad thing. In fact, it fits perfectly with one of my fashion goals for 2020… “I will strive to buy less and experiment with new ways to wear what I already have.”

One of the things that I like to ask myself when I’m considering adding something to my wardrobe is can I wear this at least three different ways with items that I already have in my closet? If so, it will probably be a good purchase. This won’t always work for something like a special occasion dress, but it’s a good rule of thumb for most other wardrobe purchases.

For today’s post, let’s look at three different ways to style an item from my closet. I randomly chose the Garden Blouse from the cabi Fall 2018 collection.

Here’s a colourful, casual look suitable for daytime outings and lunch with friends. I’ve paired the Garden Blouse with my Brick Dust Skinny pants, also from cabi. They were part of the Spring 2018 Collection, but one of the things that I like about cabi is that the company is intentional about ensuring that new releases coordinate with items from previous collections so that over time a customer can build a cohesive wardrobe. I’ve finished the look with a cute pair of flats in a floral pattern similar to the top.

Now let’s glam it up a bit for an evening out with my hubby.

I’ve tucked the top into a pair of dressy black pants, added the little jacket that has appeared on the blog numerous times before, and changed the accessories. Black isn’t the best colour on me, particularly close to my face, and I’ll be adding less of it to my wardrobe in the future, but for now I’ll be wearing what I have.

Though it was part of a fall collection, the blouse is very lightweight and the sheer sleeves and overlay are right on trend for spring 2020, so let’s look at a spring/summer look featuring the same top. I had to dig into storage for this one as I won’t be transitioning to my warm season wardrobe for awhile yet. We still have lots of snow on the ground here in Alberta, but a girl can dream, can’t she?

As with many pieces in my closet, I can easily dress the Garden Blouse up or down and I can wear it with many other things that I already own. This makes it very versatile and greatly reduces it’s cost per wear.

And yes, if you’ve been wondering, I do have a new hairdo. I actually had it cut a month ago, but I haven’t posted any pictures of myself on the blog since then. It looks a bit wild and crazy sometimes, but after fighting with my natural curls for much of my life, I’m embracing them!

Fashion or function?

January 24, 2020January 23, 2020 / edebock / 7 Comments

I love a stylish pair of sneakers. You’ve seen some of my favourites here before.

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I also love the fact that sneakers are no longer only for wearing to the gym or for running. In fact, a pair like these from Circus by Sam Edelman wouldn’t even be suitable for those pursuits. I have, however, worn them with a dress.

Then there’s this pair that I bought specifically for walking in Europe last spring.

Here I’m wearing them overlooking a beautiful stretch of sandy beach in Belgium.

My husband gave me these metallic blue ones for Christmas just over a year ago. They look especially good with jeans.

Naturalizer Women’s Cairo 3 Sneaker

But sometimes what a shoe looks like isn’t the most important factor. One of my goals for the new year was to get back into the habit of walking on the treadmill at least three times a week (on the days that I don’t lift weights) and for that I needed a new pair of comfortable, supportive shoes. At the sporting goods store I was confronted with an entire wall of running shoes and trainers and I had no idea where to begin! Of course, my eye was drawn to the cutest and most colourful ones, but I had to remind myself that that wasn’t why I was there. Thankfully, a very knowledgeable sales clerk steered me in the right direction. If I was only going to use the shoes on the treadmill and not for other gym activities, she recommended running shoes as opposed to trainers. That narrowed the search to half the wall! Looking at my feet, she immediately realized that they’re narrow and suggested two brands that I should consider. These are the ones that I settled on.

ASICS Women’s GT2000 6 Running Shoes

I’ve only put about 8.5 kilometres (5.3 miles) on them so far, but I think they were a good choice. They’re lightweight but sturdy, and gel technology in the heel and the forefoot provides plenty of cushioning. The fact that I also like what they look like is simply a bonus! I’ve added them to my list of clothing purchases for 2020, but I really think of them as an investment in my health as opposed to a fashion item. Sometimes function takes precedence over fashion!