I wore this out to dinner  – that’s pretty much the only time I’ve been taking outfit photos these days! – with The Princess. We arrived slightly early for our reservation and part of me hoped that we’d have to sit and wait at the bar for a bit since as soon as you sit at a table your outfit is hidden behind the table and tablecloths! Instead, we were seating immediately and I didn’t get to prance around as I had wanted.

I wore this out to dinner with the Princess. I built the outfit from the shoes up – since the day before I blistered my feet with yet another pair of sensible shoes. Not once has a pair of high heels marred my skin, yet flats – the shoes that are supposed to be kind and gentle – have a 50/50 chance of doing damage. Errrgggh!!!

The skirt is made up of 1/2 cm leather panels stitched onto thick jersey. There’s a lot of give to this garment, it’s a perfect way to maintain ones dignity while wearing ‘buffet pants.’

I know, nobody likes when slender gals complain about their weight, but … what the hell is going on with my midsection? That is a pudge I didn’t expect. Thank goodness for buffet skirts.

I bought this bracelet at a psychic fair jewellery booth when I was about 15, which was 19 years ago! It was nestled among polished rocks, mood rings, phallic lengths of quartz, Eye of Horus pendants, and a bunch of stuff with snakes on them, and it couldn’t have cost more than $20 – probably more like $12.   It’s one of the very few things I still have from my high school years.

I love these shoes! Relax, that thing on my right heel isn’t a weird patch of dry skin, it’s a clear Bandaid protecting my sensible-shoe wound.

I wore this dismal outfit to my infusion appointment since it’s usually pretty cold in the office and I knew I’d be keeping my coat on the whole time. Seriously, this is the laziest outfit I’ve worn for ages and ages, and I never would have done it if not for the trench. Between the trench, the hat, and the bag, the nurses had no idea how crap I really looked. I have to keep this from becoming a habit!

Ah, crotch bunch. I have my belt cinched one hole tighter than I should. I wore this (without crotch bunch) out for dinner with The Princess and The Littlest Princess and his fiancees last week. I added a chain loop around the lapel that drapes around the back. I like the look of the chain but wasn’t sure how it would work in real life. It worked well while I was standing and walking around, but the problem I ran into was the transition from sitting to standing. The loop is just long enough that if I’m not careful it can get caught under my bum and prevent me from getting upright.

I went into the city with The Princess and finally met his mother. The Princess and I have been together for 11 years, and while I’ve known his kids from the start, for totally valid reasons, I’ve only begun meeting the rest of his family in the last few months. I figured the lunch ‘meeting’ could be very uncomfortable so I put my outfit together with as many of my current favourites as I thought would be appropriate. That meant my all-time favourite top – this dusty rose knit tee, my current favourite shoes (black Miu Miu’s), my cross body silver necklaces, and my new brass knuckle clutch. I figured the weapon clutch could come in handy if the lunch didn’t go well!

I tried to keep my look very ME but also very neutral. Not too edgy, not too glam. I would have loved to have worn my current favourite bottoms, which are a pair of David Kahn, Brenda Skinny leather look ankle pants, but felt they might be a bit much. It turns out I could have worn any ballsy outfit I wanted – The Princess’s mom is so seriously glam! She wore a black and white outfit: Black pants, a white button up shirt with a double collar, a micro hounds-tooth vest, and an amazing black blazer. Black nail polish (I was going to do my nails in black polish but worried it would be too goth!), and her expertly layered pixie bob completed the look. Her hair is a perfect mix of light and dark grey, blonde and white. I think she looks like what Meryl Streep is going to look like in 20 years.

The lunch went well, we got along well and were comfortable with each other. We were able to talk and laugh and share stories. Of course the things that kept us from meeting for a decade are still in play, so where we go from here is awkward and in question.

* Don’t worry, I took these photos a couple days after I actually wore the outfit, so when I met The Princess’s mom, I was crisply pressed, wonderfully coiffed, contact lensed, and dolled up in make up!