Just last week, the fall colours were set off by sharp blue skies for maximum enjoyment
My autumn-blooming clematis — maximowicziana (terniflora)– encouraged an illusion of summer,
and although I’d changed to slightly heavier jeans (J-Brand skinnies), I could still wear my summer loafers (Fluevog) and didn’t yet need a sweater over my new chic(k) shirt (J Crew). And as you might be able to tell, it’s warm enough that I can go outside with my hair still damp — not my best look, admittedly. . .
Then this symbol showed up on the weather forecast. . . .
and not as a single, but in multiples, day after day after day into the foreseeable future . . . Must be October. Must be the West Coast. . .
I caught one of the last sunny-ish days to try out a transitional outfit, a cozy Vince wool-cashmere pullover with my Gap snakeprint skinnies (bought on sale last year for something like $29, cheap fun). Not sure that silk-linen scarf is convincing (I ended up untying that bulk later, letting it hang lower), but it’s my way of insisting that summer’s not quite gone yet. Even if it is.
No more illusions, though. Today’s View From Here makes that very clear. You can see why I wasn’t willing to step off my deck to take photos. At least the leaves haven’t yet fallen completely, so the land/seascape still has some colour.
But I’m preferring to stay inside, peering up to check on the weather through skylights — littered with fir needles and maple seeds after last night’s wind.
On the bright side, it’s boots-wearing weather, and I love me some boots. And if you can find some time for puttering, there’s really no better weather for it.
Sunshine, rain, blue skies, grey, dusty lanes or muddy roads, they all influence our dress either through the practical demands they impose or through the moods they sway us to. I’m sharing my weather-mood-outfit Visibility over at Patti’s place again. Check out the many expressions of that relationship at Visible Monday — it’s always fun.
Wow, the photos of your landscape never cease to amaze me. Honestly, you'd probably want to kill yourself if you lived where I do. Sure, there's less rain, but it's a concrete jungle. Note: I'm not dissing where I live – it's a very good place to be in many ways and I've worked hard to beautify my world – but seriously, what in the world is more geographically beautiful than Vancouver Island?
I love city life as well, though, and you've got house & garden right in there — enviable also, right? It's pretty stellar here though, gotta admit it — come see for yourself sometime!
What a delightful shirt- you wear whimsy well! And from here, in the grey sleet (where we are already in tuques and mufflers), everything around you looks luminous.
Today was so grey and rainy, windy enough that I thought I might not be able to get home, but no sleet, thank goodness! Are you on the verge of snow? Yikes!
I love that hen shirt on you, and the picture of you in the chair. You look very relaxed and natural. The colors in your pictures are just amazing. Wish we'd get a bit more rain, but we're heading into another week of high temperatures.
For us 6 weeks of drought is worrisome — sounds as if you're just getting started at that point! We've probably had more rain today than you'll have in weeks. Wanna swap?
Cute shoes, cute person. And that view…I like your photos bigger like this.
Why thank you — I was just following orders on the photos! 😉
You have fabulous hair!! And boots? They make winter worth enduring.
It's rather wild hair, isn't it?! With you on the boots, absolutely!
I have a pair of boots that I bought last month in Maastricht and I am aching to wear them – I believe the times has come! I love your fall-ish outfit and like others, your hair…..I have curl envy.
Today was definitely a boot day! Perhaps you'll show us yours?
Interesting photos and I love your hair! Are you on a smaller Island than Vancouver Island? My favorite Island in the world, but there are others in BC I've heard about.
Nice to see you on Visible Monday!
Yes — we're on a small island about a kilometre off Vanc'r Island, to the East. Residences only, here, and a floating pub. No stores at all. about 5 kilometres of dirt road.
Love the skinnies that end just above your ankle, gives you a very current vibe yet in tune with the authentic you. I so so hope I can follow your example and dress in a contemporary manner whilst being true to my own unique inner style compass when I am your age. For at that point my now baby daughter will be 19 and probably very embarrassed to have such an 'ancient' mother – compared to friends whose mums had them in their twenties and early 30s. I worry about it, being so very distant from her own generation, but seeing you (and LPC and Duchesse) gives me hope that I'll not have shuffled off into the land of lavender and beige polyester, depressing shoes and bad hair. Women of your age, I think, are blazing a trail for a very different sort of late middle age, compared to when I was a teen when late 50s/sixty somethings just packed up their joie de vivre and looked determinedly frumpy and dumpy, as if looking dreadful was a badge of elder female pride. Yikes, the clothes my gran wore when she was, I now realise, only 60. And she had great legs and beautiful arms right into her 80s, and the money to buy whatever she so desired (and had dressed exquisitely in the 1930s & 40s when young), what a waste. Keep up the inspirational work please!
By the way, in the large photo of you with the sea behind you, the sky is the most amazing band of stunning blue/turquoise/white. I came out of my back door yesterday evening to be confronted by a rainbow blazing out of a storm cloud and it felt like a benediction. Extraordinary weather around as the season shifts gear.
Hester
Thank you! We're a very fortunate generation, I think, and I'm glad to think we might be opening even more possibilities for our daughters and granddaughters.
The scene you paint sounds wonderful — I can imagine that sense of benediction. There is something about the shifting that makes for notable weather moments. . .
I love the skinny jeans and chicky shirt for the last sunny warm days before the deluge. Now it's time for boots and scarves and sweaters! What a sudden change in the weather. The weekend was just fine for staying indoors and puttering.
Yep! It's the deluge now — do you think it will stop by April?
I am loving those Fluevogs. I still don't see them online. I'll have to venture to the downtown Toronto store to see if they have them. I love wearing greys with blacks and this seasons bordeaux/burgundy/whatever you want to call it. Those shoes work so beautifully with those colours.
Both shoes above are Fluevogs — the top two-tone loafers are the Nzames. here's the link:
The Begin Cha-cha (the silver ones in the lower photo) are here: fluevog.com/code/?w%5B0%5D=gender%3Awomen&p=42&pp=1&view=detail&colourID=3500
Here, let's try that again for the Nzames: fluevog.com/code/?w=sale&p=25&pp=2&colourID=3254&view=detail
You'll have to cut and paste the link into your browser, sorry.
Thanks so much for the links! I wish they made the black without tassels. Though, it looks like the silver are quite dark and not as bright as they appear on the Fluevog site. I'm becoming a Fluevog addict! Once you buy a pair, you can't go back, can you?
Oh, I'm so far down that Fluevog rabbit hole. . . watch your step! 😉 And yes, the silver on the Fluevog site isn't nearly as appealing as the shoes are in real life, much more vintage-dark-metallic than disco bright.
OK, from a newbie Fluevog lover, I just wanted to update you… So, I went into the Toronto store to buy the silver/grey shoes and came out with the Brigid bootie. Love them! Perfectly on-trend and exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks for letting me share my Fluevog joy!
Nice scarf action! And I do like the Vince sweater & Gap jeans – where are your metallic shoes from? They're fab.
The shoes are Fluevog — see the links in the comments just above.
You look so very good in skinny jeans! It is still warm here so I am envying your boot and scarf weather. Love the Fluevogs.
Thanks!
Not sure if you'd envy our weather today — the kind of horizontal heavy rain, lots of wind, such that it works into every possible opening, turns umbrellas inside out, soaks through leather in seconds. . . . brrrr!
Like the others, I´m admiring the scene over your place. The sea s o near.
And, the casual wear – jeans, shirt and a generous sweater fits you so very well!
Thanks, Mette. I do feel lucky to have the sea at my front door, as you must feel with your expanse of fields.