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Suzanne Carillo

40+ Adventurous style solutions for the uncommon woman

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  • Suzanne Carillo adventurous style for the uncommon woman over 40
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dressing for my fantasy life Suzanne Carillo

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Fantasy Dresses – Buy It And The Occasion Will Present Itself Part 1

July 17, 2017 by suzanne carillo

As an avid obsessed thrift shopper I’ve noticed that second hand stores are packed with beautiful special occasion fantasy dresses.

You know the ones I’m talking about, bought for someone’s wedding, graduation, anniversary or office party and then never worn again.

It’s a crying shame! All those amazing worn-once fantasy dresses just shuffled off to the thrift store to waste away.

I’m a sucker for fantasy dresses.

Remember that movie with Kevin Costner? Field of Dreams?

The famous line from that film is, “Build it and they will come.”

My mantra is, “Buy it and the occasion will present itself.”

And if that doesn’t work then just host a party so you can wear your dress. Yes, I know it may seem extreme but I’ve done that time and time again and had a ball.

Lately I’ve come across some really fantastic fantasy dresses I thought I’d share.

This first one really reminds me of the Dolce & Gabbana ad,


Dolce-Gabbana-lace dress

 

Instead of traipsing around showing off my underwear I decided a full length vintage slip was in order. Initially I had a black fitted sheath dress underneath but then you couldn’t see the wonderful lace detail.

favourite fantasy dresses Suzanne Carillo style for women over 50

 

vintage lace maxi dress suzanne carillo
Shout out to Judith who gifted me this awesome art deco compact.

 

I’d love to find a vintage red maxi slip to go underneath. Or one that matches my skin tone even more. Then it’d look like one of those red carpet naked dresses.

fantasy dresses suzanne carillo

A couple of things I will need to watch for when I wear this dress is washing my hands…the sleeves are abnormally long, and standing up after sitting as the dress is so long I found the lace catching in my heels at the back.

vintage fantasy dresses suzanne carillo style for women over 40

This dress makes me feel insanely glamorous!

Like,  “I’m Queen of the world universe!”

vintage lace maxi dress suzanne carillo style for women over 40

 

I’m thinking I may wear this out for dinner and a play in Stratford.

Stratford Ontario is all about the glamour.

Ha ha! That is an Ontario joke.

 

Doesn’t matter one bit to me that everyone else will be rural business casual, AKA no cow dung on their boots. Ha ha! (If you are from Stratford I’m not dissing you. Mississauga isn’t known for high fashion either.)

In my book you can never be overdressed.

thrifted fantasy dresses suzanne carillo style for women over 40

 

How many fantasy dresses did you buy only to wear them once?

I have a serious problem collection of beautiful fantasy dresses I’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks.

 

Linking up with the lovely Patti over at Visible Monday.

 

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Exploring Southern Ontario With Blogger Friends

July 14, 2017 by suzanne carillo

Exploring Southern Ontario With Blogger Friends

I was lucky enough to have Patti from Not Dead Yet Style and Ally from Shy Biker come and visit me last weekend.

patti not dead yet style ally shy biker bloggers

It was the second time they visited but this time round rather than staying in Toronto Patti stayed with me and Ally stayed five minutes from my house. It meant far less time stuck in Toronto gridlock.

The first day we headed west of Mississauga to Cambridge and Langdon Hall and the Fashion History Museum.

fashion history museum ontario suzanne carillo

 


fashion history museum cambridge suzanne carillo

They had an exhibit on Dior and another one on Canadian fashion throughout the last 150 years for Canada’s recent 150th birthday celebration.

It is a great little museum in a picturesque village. I highly recommend visiting it if you are in southern Ontario.

 

Then we went to Langdon Hall a summer home (mansion) for Eugene Langdon Wilks in 1898.

We wandered around the gardens for a bit, the weather was perfect, then headed inside for a very quick game of pool and classic high tea.

lilly pads suzanne carillo Exploring southern Ontario with friends.

patti not dead yet style suzanne carillo

If you have a keen eye you would recognize this piece of 1940’s vintage from my personal collection.

I had to wear vintage to a vintage fashion museum.

suzanne carillo ally shy biker bloggers

langdon hall ontario suzanne carillo

 

The next day we headed downtown to catch 6 Quick Dick Tricks at the Fringe Festival.

It was a hoot! Both Ally and I were called on stage and participated.

This is where the “Dick” guessed the name of Ally’s dog as a child.

Rover in case you were wondering.

six quick dick tricks ally shy biker

Sadly no one got any photos of my trick.

I was invited on stage for a rather naughty one.

Darn!

Ah well…I’ll leave you guessing. Suffice to say that everyone found it very funny.

We found some very cool street art and stopped to take photos. You can see Ally with this same mural here.


street art suzanne carillo toronto

 

Afterwards we headed out to the Distillery District and ate at a fab Mexican restaurant that I discovered with Shelley and Judith when they were visiting.

ally shy biker patti not dead yet style suzanne carillo bloggers

Of course we managed to get out and get a little bit of thrifting in, thank you Talize!

We all managed to find a little somethin’ somethin’ to take home.  I really wasn’t shopping for myself as I was keen on finding something for Ally and yet I still managed to come home with some treasures.

 

I really enjoyed the chance to entertain Ally and Patti at my home. I’m like one of those Italian grandmother’s though, always insisting,

“Eat! Eat! Eat!”

I think I over prepared for the visit because I now have a fridge full of leftovers to eat on my own.

BTW…Ally you forgot your six packages of chips!

I never bring chips or nachos into the house because I know they are my kryptonite (that is Ally’s favourite snack) and we didn’t even open them while they were here even though I kept insisting she open them.

There may only be three packages left now.

Will I have enough willpower to hold off on the rest till my husband comes home in a couple of weeks?

Don’t hold your breath.

 

The highlight of the trip may have been an impromptu photo session where items were chosen from my Vintage by Suzanne Etsy store inventory and then I played photographer.

It required me doing makeup for Ally and cajoling her into wearing what I picked.

Here are some of my favourites…

If you are curious about Ally I wrote a whole blog post about her transgender life journey here.

ally shy biker yellow dress transgender

ally transgender pink dress shy biker

Ally went home with this 1970s green dress. It was a real battle to get her to try that one on but look at how wonderful she looks!

Proof that you cannot tell by just looking at something if it is going to work for you or not. Especially if you have preconceived ideas about what type of dresses you will or won’t wear.

I knew this might work for her but even then I had no idea just how well. It fit her like a dream and the colour matches her eyes.

ally shy biker green dress transgender

patti not dead yet style black dress suzanne carillo

Patti is wearing a dress from my shop, a necklace I made her and my booties!

Ha! I LOVE it! 

Doesn’t she look fierce?

patti not dead yet style blogger suzanne carillo

patti gibbons not dead yet style suzanne carillo

Some of you keeners might recognize this online estate sale chair from here. I knew it would be brilliant in photos!

We had so much fun this weekend!

I just wish that some of my blogger friends lived close enough to go for coffee regularly (or hot water which is what I drink).

In the meantime I’ll be grateful for the moments I do get to share with them.

My life is so much richer for knowing them.

 

Have you ever had friends over for a photoshoot? Or is it just us weirdo bloggers?

 

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Hi! I’m Suzanne

Suzanne Carillo About

I'm a 50+ avid secondhand shopper, vintage lover and reseller that caters to the incessant demands of a diva pug named Zoë.

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When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. It's a reminder of what it means to face resistance and keep moving. Like an airplane meeting headwinds, we often find our strength not in smooth skies but in turbulent ones. Headwinds build lift. They give the wings something to push against. In the same way, strength through resistance is born in those moments when everything feels uphill. It’s in these moments that quiet courage grows, even when it doesn’t feel heroic. Struggles don’t always mean we’re failing. They may mean we’re in the very place where transformation begins. The wind that pushes against you now might be the wind that teaches you how to soar. ⁣
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