Suzanne Carillo

Have you seen the movie Atomic Blond? If not, you need to watch it. Not necessarily for the plot which I found a bit weak and hard to follow at times but for the super badass Chalize Theron kicking everyone’s butt while dressed like a rock star. Oh…and the soundtrack is pretty sweet too.

Charlize wears eleven different coats in that movie. I’m featuring five of them here.

The film takes place in 1989 and I’ll be honest, I don’t remember 1989 looking that good. In fact you could wear every single outfit from that film today and be right on trend. Thus is the power of vintage.

1. The first coat we see in the film left a huge impression on me.

It was this white custom-made vinyl raincoat by John Galliano.

This photo doesn’t do it justice. It is so far beyond any raincoat I’ve ever seen. I became ~~slightly~~ totally obsessed with that coat. (More on that later.)

Next we move onto a classic trench.

2. A traditional yet oh-so-damn-cool trench coat and those vintage glasses that are trending again right now.

Another tried and true classic winter coat.

3. A vintage 1980s extra long wool double breasted coat. Check out the over-the-knee boots! They are everywhere right now. What goes around comes around folks.

Timeless with a totally impractical twist.

4. This shot is from one of the many fantastic fight scenes in the movie all performed while wearing a classic white wool coat. I’m sure they had many duplicates of this coat as it would have been very messed up by the end of the scene.

How about some designer vintage?

5. We don’t see much colour in the film up until the end where Charlize dons a vintage Dior coat in red. Talk about eye popping vintage fashion porn. This woman really knows how to wear clothes.

From the moment I saw the movie I was on a mission to find some of the same pieces while thrifting and add them to my Etsy shop.

I spotted quite a few in the long wool coat category.

Long double breasted blazer style menswear inspired winter coat in taupe. Size small/medium.

Another wool coat 1950s 60s this time belted in bright orange/tomato. Size S/M

A gorgeous 1950s 60s teal wool coat that is quite simply divine. Size M/L.

You need to see the back of this coat to truly appreciate the craftsmanship.

I haven’t had a chance to photograph myself wearing it. Good thing because I’d probably want to keep it.

This is a classic London Fog trench coat but in a bold pink statement colour. Just the way I like it!

Size S/M.

I’ve got quite the personal collection of leather trench coats as I’m crazy about them.

This one below in burgundy with tweed trim is too small for me. Size XS.

Yes, those are tears falling on my keyboard.

This coat is a classic blazer cut with a single row of buttons. It is of course the gorgeous multicoloured plaid that really caught my eye. Size XS/S, thus why I’m not able to keep it. Otherwise this coat is a beauty!

If you’re into those big furry coats from the 90s that Melanie is always makes look so great I have one of those too. Size S/M.

I’ve got quite a few more coats listed that you can see in my vintage Etsy store here.

Remember how I said I’d get back to my obsession with the vinyl trench coat?

I had no luck at all trying to thrift anything remotely like it. I did however find an Etsy seller Ruslana Roman based in Russia that makes vinyl rain coats. I know! Can you believe it? They are made to order so I was able to choose the colour I wanted. After much debate I narrowed it down to either blue or purple and finally chose the blue.

Here she is in all her glory!

Can I just say how crazy I am about this coat? It is stunning! Every time I’ve worn it I get loads of compliments.

This coat does make me feel like I could kick some butt.

This is the first time I’ve had anything custom made since I was in my late teens.

Back then I hired a girlfriend to make a dress for me for New Year’s Eve. She was supposed to be a talented seamstress. I wanted the dress to be “all that” to show an ex what he was missing out on. It was a sheath dress in teal with spaghetti straps whose sole mission was to make me look like Marilyn Monroe. It was “none of that”. The fit was off. It was baggy where it should have fit like a glove. I wore it nonetheless because I felt at the time that I’d dropped some big cash on it however I never wore it again afterwards and considered it to be a waste of money.

Did I get the man back? Ha ha! Of course! But that is another story entirely my friends.

This experience of having a custom piece made was so much better!

There was quite a bit of delay receiving the coat due to my choice of colour as he had to order in the blue. When it finally arrived though I was more than pleased. It fits perfectly, has a gorgeous lining and a very unique beautifully designed cut. I love it!

I took more photos of some of my favourite coats and will have another posts coming soon featuring them. In the meantime you may want to see some of my other vintage leather pieces I have in my collection.

Have you ever had something custom made? Did it turn out as you expected?

Linking up with the lovely Patti over at Visible Monday.

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I’m not keen on having my choices restricted. Aging is slowly but surely restricting my options with every passing year and I don’t care for it one bit.

Diminishing Options As I Age

Drinking

A few years ago I could enjoy an ice cold martini once or twice a week, you know, to take the edge off and smooth out those rough spots. I also enjoyed a good glass of wine with a meal. Or wine without food. I wasn’t fancy about the necessity of food when it came to wine. My chronic acute sinusitis makes drinking impossible. I get physically ill and often develop full blown sinus infections almost immediately upon imbibing in even the tiniest drop of alcohol. No drinking, no more taking the edge off. Rubbing my pugs belly is my alternate. It’s okay but it doesn’t have the same panache. Also, I can’t order up a pug for petting at a posh restaurant or say, “I’ll have a round of pugs for everyone!” (loud applause and screams of joy.)

Exercise

I used to run and although I didn’t enjoy it as much as a good martini it made me feel good about myself and helped keep the pudge belly monster at bay. Now my back and neck rail against the jarring compressing effects of running. I’m forced to speed walk. I don’t mind walking but I don’t feel the euphoria I used to get after a run and it has done little to ward off the food baby which seems to have taken up permanent residence snuggled up and sleeping soundly around my waist.

Sex

Let’s talk about vaginismus or dyspareunia. It sounds a lot like Christmas for the vagina but I can tell you it most certainly is not. I’ll let you do your own reading up on that here. Needless to say it’s no party and it truly feels like my body is turning against me, ruining every enjoyment I blissfully took for granted when I was young. Oh sure there are “work arounds” …of course, but I dislike the fact that a basic bodily function that is pleasure based is now impossible. Also, gynaecologists seem to poorly trained or ignorant about this issue. The funniest representation about vaginismus was in an episode Lady Dynamite called Vaginismus A Christmas Miracle.

diminishing options as I age aging issues suzanne carillo — All items thrifted. Thank you Talize!

Food

What about other pleasures?

Like oh I don’t know…eating? Yep…that’s changing too.

No more dairy products, especially cheese which in my younger days, like Wallace I essentially survived on. I can still do limited amounts of goat’s cheese. Hallelujah!

Bread which was previously one of my most delicious and highly coveted sins now makes my stomach blow up like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. The main exception being that when someone pokes my belly I’m not giggling, I’m clenched over in pain wailing, “Why me Dough Boy? Why me?”

how to wear high waisted mom jeans suzanne carillo — The infamous “girdle/Mom” jeans.

Fashion

The choices in my closet have been reduced. Suddenly none of my jeans fit properly. Where did this “muffin monster” come from? It is hard to find a pair of pants in my closet that don’t make me look like a plumber and not in that good hot porno, “I’m a plumber and I’ve come to clean your pipes” way. Nope. I’m talking the low riders that allow the muffin monster free reign on the top while exposing a smiling butt crack from behind. Now my only choice is high waisted jeans AKA girdle/Mom jeans. Sure they help smooth out the front and sides but now my butt looks two feet tall. Maybe tall butts are in.

What about my love of high heel shoes?

As we age the cushioning on the balls of our feet heads for the hills just like the collagen in our faces. The hills are nice and plump but our faces and feet are flat and hollow. (The hills are code for food baby.) Now anything with a heel height above 2.5″ worn for more than 15-30 minutes is threatening to induce a migraine and let out the Bitch Queen of Pain which makes Cersei look like a well behaved Girl Guide by comparison.

Skin

How about getting outside for a nice walk? I used to be able to walk the pug any time, even in the middle of winter if I chose. Now, I’m relegated to walking outdoors only when it is above ten celsius. I suffer from rosacea and it has worsened with age. My skin can’t cope with low temperatures anymore. In cold and wind large red welts appear and take days to leave. People in my neighbourhood do a double take as I pass them by wearing a bank robber’s balaclava to walk the pug.

There will be no photos of that appearing on the blog or Instagram anytime soon. #toorealfortheblog

Makeup

The older I get the less my face likes makeup and the more it needs makeup. What a cruel joke! I fondly remember when I could go out and buy any makeup from the Drugstore and make it work. Those days are over.

I’m no longer able to wear mascara (partially due to my rosacea) which is why I get eyelash extensions. The extensions help but my blond lashes make it look like I have no lower lashes.

Brown spots and veins are turning my face into a coffee stained roadmap. All the coverup I’ve tried either looks caked, flakes off, or lasts fifteen minutes before it magically disappears.

My lips are the one area that I like to wear makeup regularly. Even they are rebelling by constantly peeling despite being addictively slathered in lip balm daily.

I’ve always had heavy eyelids. This isn’t new. The fact that eye make up only lasts about an hour is new. I’ve just ordered a new eyelid prep cream to hopefully deal with this issue. We’ll see…to be honest I don’t have much faith in makeup as 90% of it doesn’t work for me and my aging super sensitive skin.

how to wear plaid over 50 suzanne carillo — These boots are part of my collection of 30 minute boots. I switched to lower less photogenic padded heels after taking the photos.

Sense of Humour

One thing that hasn’t diminished as I age is my sense of humour. If anything it has grown and become my most valued coping mechanism. A person’s experience in life is directly related to how they choose to view their situation. You cannot control everything that happens to you, you can only control your response. Laughing is one of the best responses I know.

That is my list of diminishing options as I age.

Do you have any? How do you cope with the changes in your life due to aging?

Addendum

I feel the necessity to state the reasons why I wrote this post as so many people have misconstrued the meaning behind it. It was not meant as pity party. I was not looking for sympathy. It was written in the spirit of sharing facts with others so that they might not think they are alone or feel guilty that these same issues or others were their fault. Thanks for understanding.

Linking up with Fancy Friday.