All the Frills: Moving Past Festivus

I know Christmas is passed us now, but I’m still planning on enjoying the decorations for just a bit longer. Which is why, today on All the Frills, I’m featuring a few details from my holiday décor. If you decorate, how long after the holiday do you leave your decorations in place?

Weekend Reading:

• This article is legitimately hilarious. Finally, a pineapple just for ladies!
  
• So 2016 was a rough year. I think we can all agree on that. The saddest part for me was the beating that feminism took. I won’t lie, I cried a bit when I read this essay.
  
• You guys, I have a really ambivalent relationship with heels.
  
• If you’re at all interested in Arthurian legends, you’ll appreciate this piece.
  
• Anyone a HUGE Labyrinth fan?
  
• Climate change deniers and their commensurate wilful ignorance make me sad. Very sad. Which is why this piece but a big smile on my face.

Temperate Days

While the temperature here recently took a pretty significant downwards swing, a couple of weeks ago it was still temperate enough that I could get away with a lightweight jacket and a warm, blanket scarf. How I miss those days!

boots: Franco Sarto / dress: Zara / scarf: Joe Fresh / jacket: Joe Fresh

All the Frills: I'm a Squirrel

Sometimes it’s the little things that make you smile on a dreary winter’s day – and for me that usually involves looking at anything even vaguely sparkly or shiny. I’m a relatively simple person, truly.

Weekend Reading

• If you’ve never heard of Artemisia Gentileschi before, you should read this article.
  
• Some of these feuds are pretty amusing.
  
• If you are an introspective makeup wearer, like me, you will likely find this piece very interesting.
  
• We live in dark and disturbing times.
  
• This alabaster religious statue has quite the tumultuous history.

Leopard Print

My love of leopard print is no secret, so when I came across this top it was a foregone conclusion that I was going to adopt it and give it a loving home. And since then it’s been in regular rotation when I go to the office. It’s just so perfect for work.

pants: RW and Co / shoes: ASOS / blazer: BB Dakota / necklace: Simons / shirt: Calvin Klein

Little Black Dress

I’ve recently been on the hunt for a new little black dress – not only a wardrobe classic but a staple for me given my proclivity for donning black pretty much all the time – and I fell in love with this one that I found after scouring the racks at my local Winners.

I love the little detail on the neckline and that it both has long sleeves and pockets. I have seriously never met a dress with pockets that I didn’t love. I's also enjoying it's relaxed fit, which will make it great for long days at work, where after a few hours in a more fitted piece I start to get very uncomfortable and desperately want to go home to put on something more comfortable.

dress: Daniel Rainn / booties: Camper / choker: Stella & Dot

All the Frills: Festivus!

Once again, we find ourselves smack in the middle of the Festivus season. I’m actually really not all that much of a Christmas person, but I won’t lie that I adore the decorations and really get into decorating the house every year.

I don’t do any holiday baking, I try to avoid holiday parties, I spend most of December complaining about basically everything, and I abhor Christmas shopping (yeah, I’m basically the Grinch) but give me some sparkly tinsel, some tiny lights, and a lot of glittery ornaments and I can make my peace with things. As you can see, I went my usual overboard self this year!

Weekend Reading:

• I guess the best way to caption this is “mystery of the mummified knees solved!”
  
• This is some seriously creepy art.
  
• This article, about the search for the Woggin (repeatedly mentioned by whalers in earlier centuries), is wonderfully entertaining.
  
• And I doff my cap to you, members of the Satanic Temple. Keep fighting the good fight.
  
• Ireland’s abortions laws really, really need to change. This is disgraceful.

All Black and a Touch of Faux Leather

Worn to work recently – an all black outfit with a touch of faux leather afforded me the perfect opportunity to wear my recently acquired studded loafers (aka, my new most favourite pair of shoes).

On an unrelated note, I have to express my growing excitement over the fact that, come Friday, we are shutting our office down for the holidays and I embark on a glorious two and half of weeks of stay-cation. The last few months, with all the book work and associated other projects, not to mention things just being generally crazy busy at my office, have been tiring and stressful and I am so ready for a bit of a break!

pants: RW and Co / shirt: F21 / blazer: Calvin Klein via Value Village / shoes: Strategia

Getting Festive

I wore this plaid jumper out to shop for Christmas decorations. Which is really about the last thing that I need to be buying more of because I already have an almost obscene amount of them but I just can’t help myself and every year there are always seems to be some new thing for decorating the house that I convince myself I need to have. Anyways, the red plaid felt pretty festive for an afternoon of wandering around the stores. It even started to snow later in the afternoon, which basically made the whole day for me.

jumper: F21 / jacket: Joseph Ribkoff / booties: Camper / leggings: ASOS / necklace: French Connection

Adulting

I wore this recently to the bank to review my retirement savings plan (which, incidentally, is in pretty decent shape - and I'm glad for that because I don't have a pension plan through work so that whole thing is all on me). Is it weird that I always feel like an appointment at the bank entails a blazer?

pants: H&M / shoes: Zigi SoHo / shirt: Joe Fresh / blazer: Simons

All the Frills: A Lack of Self Control

I recently went to a housewarming soiree that was also a Stella & Dot party. Such things usually spell bad news for me because I have no damn self-control when it comes to jewellery. To that end, meet my newest acquisition, the Freya Fringe necklace. In truth it’s actually like five necklaces in one…which makes me feel better for having no self-control. I mean it’s a bargain, right?

Weekend Reading:

• As an historian, I am very familiar with the prevalence of nostalgia narratives in political and social discourse, and I really enjoyed this article.

• God I love the dictionary!
  
• Well, this story about a Moroccan tv segment that provides a tutorial on covering facial abrasions caused by abuse, is a real bummer.
  
• I just found a new favourite website – seriously, this place is an information mecca (I particularly enjoy they section that fact checks films based on true events).
  
• Well, this couple is just flat out adorable.

November Rain

Having gotten married myself at night and in the winter, I’ve always been a fan of such celebrations. So I was super excited to go to a wedding recently that happened in the late afternoon on a cold, grey, and rainy November day. Unfortunately it was so rainy and dark out that I had to do photos by the front door on the way out. You can’t win them all!

dress: Simons / shoes: Courtney Love for Nasty Gal / jacket: Joseph Ribkoff / clutch: ASOS / necklace: Stella and Dot / bracelet: Stella and Dot / ring: House of Harlow

Flu Shots and Other Housekeeping Matters

Worn to get a flu shot. Yeah, I wanted to be as obnoxious as I could at the pharmacy (don’t worry, I got my comeuppance when my arm got insanely sore for the ensuing three days).

pants: Mustard Seed via Simons / necklace: ModCloth / shoes: Spring / shirt: Simons / jacket: Wilfrid

All the Frills: Shoes, Glorious Shoes

Meet my new shoes. They are, quite possibly, the greatest purchase I’ve ever made in my life.

Weekend Reading:

• I am so on board for a museum of purses.
  
• This story about a baby goat with anxiety is just about the most amazing and adorable thing I’ve ever read. I want to give this organization all my money.
  
• So this is legitimately disgusting.
  
• The Atlantic has an interesting article on “the understudied female sexual predator.”
  
• Want to look at some pretty adorable cats?