My High Street look, a la charity shops

Most of my clothing is still en route to the UK, so when we were invited to a party the other night I found myself with nary a frock to wear - people would be checking out the new wifie, after all, so I figured I best look the part.

Enter one of the many charity shops in the charming seaside town in which I live. I found this second-hand, mass market dress for the equivalent of about $15 Canuck bucks - not cheap by Canadian thrifting standards, but charity shops here aren't the grungy affairs they are in Canada. As I've said before, they're clean, well-organized and not stinky at all. But they stock mostly contemporary mass market/High Street brands as opposed to the retro or vintage wear I'm so accustomed to finding.

Yeeps: I don't think I've worn a dress this short since I was in my 20s. Thankfully I dug up some blue opaque tights to tone down the tart factor - but my thrifted black designer platform shoes, which you have seen before, added a bit of an irreverant zip to the look (or so I'd like to think). The fitted trench, again not vintage, was found for about 12 pounds at another charity shop. So were the fabric and leather gloves (2 pounds). A vintage Danish pewter pendant given to me by a vintage seller and collector extrordinaire in Toronto finished off my party outfit. Verdict: one of our first social outings as a newly married couple was a fashion success (on my part at least, ha ha ... actually my hubby was just as hunky looking as ever). A fun time was had by all.