Ten of My Favourite: Capes

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to wear capes. I've worn them in different ways throughout my life, starting with when I wore them to play dress-up as a child. I later wore them both ironically and then with all of the seriousness I could muster, when I was a Goth. The first winter coat I ever made myself was a cape made from Italian wool and lined with fleece. It had a hood and wee bells dangling from the ends of  its cordon.

Years ago I noticed that people in a lot of European countries also wore capes. In NYC capes were huge during the sixties and seventies, going from shorter mod versions to longer, peace-and-love and flared pants-covering ones. Then, around 2010, they made a comeback and have been holding steady since. Here in Montreal, I only began seeing capes on racks last fall and it's only this year that they could qualify as trendy, although I have barely seen any on actual people. the lack of a garment's popularity in Montréal has never swayed me before and it certainly won't now.

My criteria this time is simply that it looks good. You can easily style a cape with what you have on your arms or legs and feet and by changing what you do with your hair.

...Onward to ten of my favourite capes!

1. The Michael Kors pea coat cape for $295.00 USD.

2. ZARA's checkered studio cape for $269.00 CAD.

3. Banana Republic's monogram colorblock wool cape for $225.00 USD.

4, 5, 6. The next three are all from asos.com.

The Jarlo Kerry Check Cape for $85.43 USD.

The Cooper and Strollbrand Cape for $104.12 USD.

The Mango Wool Cape Coat for $177.96 USD.

7. As much as I would love to point you to stores that have several of the same thing in stock, I'm afraid this is where my mainstream retail list runs dry. That said, I have acquired most of my favourite capes and coats from the thrift store. Along the same vein, I will show you four gorgeous, vintage capes currently listed on Etsy. It's also a safe bet seeing as most capes will fit most sizes.

This Irish wool cape is $94.99 CAD.

8. This 1960's Betty Rose cape is $84.32 CAD.

9. This reversible cape from the 60's is $307.40 CAD.

10. This argyle cape is currently on sale for $40.56 CAD.

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Final Fall/Winter 2012-2013 Office Wardrobe Update

i'm going to lay the whole fall/winter wardrobe challenge to rest today so that i can move on to what i want to put together for spring, as of next week. seeing as i was busy job-hunting, writing up "25 days of etsy christmas", redecorating three rooms in my flat (pictures of that are forthcoming) and working on the new shop, i didn't really give myself time to sew until now. that said, i did scour thrift stores and go through every piece of clothing i own (no small feat, i'll have you know!) and i did put together twelve basic, occasionally interchangeable outfits that are great for the office and that work for fall and winter. i've put together a few collages to give you the gist of these and, although the brands vary from those that i found and own (a lot of my pieces are vintage and i prefer lancome, dior and sometimes mac, when it comes to make-up), you'll get the idea!

i must say that the following h & m trousers were really well priced and are ridiculously comfortable.

i was so happy when i found a similar pencil skirt in this exact shade of purple, in verdun, secondhand, for $5!

my glasses have more of a cat-eye shape and, after buying a pair of cole haan chelsea boots online only to discover that they are too narrow for me, i came across a great pair of baxter boots at last year's swap team exchange. you can see them here.

even though i am a white girl with some arabic blood and probably shouldn't wear yellow, i can't seem to stay completely away. for a more casual work look, i've put together an outfit resembling this one and i like to wear it with a good 'ol fashioned french twist or by styling my hair with a slight, 60's bump at the crown, pinning up the side and letting the rest of it down and slightly curled at the ends. 

although i do my best to jazz up my office wardrobe, i'm usually seen wearing this combo or something quite like it:

a friend of mine bought this betty page clothing dress, never wore it and sold it to me for $20. i wear it with neutral panty hose or stocking and burgundy, suede mary janes that i also got from this friend but at a clothing swap. 

i was also lucky enough to come across a lovely, burgundy, a-line dress with leather pocket trim from lord & taylor. i bought it at my favourite verdun thrift store for $7 but most of their house brand dresses are between $110 and $300 so i'm quite pleased! i won't be able to shoot in natural light until next week-end and i can't find an image of the dress online so it'll have to have its own post, sometime soon!

this is the last time i'll be referring to this particular wardrobe, as i'll be focusing on the spring fashions i want and/or have, as of next week. the timing is great, too, because i go back to working nine-to-five in an office, tomorrow morning. 

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