Monday, March 18, 2024

White Bookends and Red Plaid

Today's outfit was based around this white blouse that I thrifted on the weekend. 
I bookended with white shoes, an easy styling trick.

  • Shirt - COS, thrifted; purchased here for $9.50
  • Trousers - H&M, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in November 2023 for a games night out
  • Shoes - 5YMedio; last worn here in October 2024 with black and white and wings
  • Leather jacket (below) - Elizabeth & James, consignment; last seen here in January

I gave the blouse a steaming but it still wrinkled like mad. I didn't overly mind. 
It fit really well, which was surprising, since it's a pullover - no side-zip or anything! It does have stretch to it.

I accentuated the centre seam with a bigass necklace. 
My red plaid skinnies came out to play. 

Ooh, a mullet back! 
I liked this blouse quite a lot - it's a good buy...but we'll see how it washes, as I sweated in it. 

Outerwear. 
It went up to 17 today! I looked like this walking home. 

And I was fully done up in the morning.
The blue leather jacket is one of my favourites. 

Accoutrements: 
I am getting tired of cold hands. 

  • Scarf - Elaine Gold, vintage, consignment
  • Gloves - Parkhurst

Gloves begone! Bring on summer! 

The stuff: 
I like the masculine vibe of these. I have multiple pairs of white shoes - these, white wedge ankle straps, and chunky sandals, not to mention my sneakers. 

Gold bling: 
My colleagues loved the necklace. 

  • Necklace - D'Orlan, vintage 60s, thrifted
  • Gold bangle - thrifted
  • Gold/black eelskin bangle - thrifted
  • Earrings - Betsey Johnson - swap from Cat
  • Brass ring - vintage 70s, vintage mall


Sunday, March 17, 2024

Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Funky Friday in Ruched Velour; Eyes Without a Face Dress at Brunch, and a Wee Shop; Winesday in Black and Gold

Welcome back, my friends - we had our first warm-ish weekend of the year, and it was absolutely divine. I have outfits and pictures to share, so get settled and let's go!

Funky Friday time! 
I wanted to wear this velour top again, to see if I was going to keep it. 

  • Top - Juicy Couture, consignment; first worn here with stripes in November 2023
  • Skirt - Rag and Bone, consignment; purchased here for $20.00
  • Shoes - Swordfish Marquess, Fluevog; last seen here in January with plaid and red
  • Sleeveless coat (below) - Only, thrifted; last worn here a couple of weeks ago

I adore the bright red and the double-ruched sleeves. 
But it's not a great shape and I don't feel fabulous enough in it. 

I'm going to move it into my around-the-house wardrobe, as it's utterly comfy and fits in my current "mob wife" loungewear (BTW, "mob wife" is actually a trend!). Lots of klassy velour! 
First wearing of the skirt, and it was super-comfy. 

I think black tights or tall boots next time. 
But I wanted "bare" legs! (I'm wearing nylons). It's spring! 

I actually like the top better when I can only see the sleeves, ha! 
I ran errands after work, so lots of people saw me like this - I had many comments on my shoes. 

And one on my hair. "It's totally natural," is my usual response. 
It always gets a laugh. 

Accoutrements: 
I didn't need the gloves on the way home. Hooray! 

  • Scarf - fake Louis (Lewis!) Vuitton, thrifted
  • Gloves - Picabo, Powell River

The stuff: 
I walked to and from work in these grommeted beauties. 

Bold bling: 
The necklace is looking at me...

  • Necklace - Club Monaco
  • Leather/steel cuff - Rimanchik
  • Lucite/silver bracelet - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
  • Silver/onyx ring - Tocara, vintage fair
  • Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
  • Earrings - vintage fair

Two gargoyles watched over us while we played boardgames on Friday evening. 
One of them wants his dinner. 

We were up early, as we had some errands to run and a 10am appointment.
I couldn't wait to wear this dress right away! 

  • Dress - Little Moon, consignment; purchased here for $78.00
  • Boots - Clarks; last worn here (2nd outfit) to brunch two weeks ago
  • Coat (below) - Halston, vintage 70s, consignment, Sidney; last seen here in that same brunch outfit

I layered a camisole under the dress, plus mustard tights. 
Pockets! 

I really liked wearing this - I felt very "me."
I will probably keep this out for spring/early fall - I like a thin garment with long sleeves for sun coverage. 

I've been humming Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face" since I bought this - L and I recently watched the movie of the same name from 1960 (info about it here, all links 'cause I love). 
"Les Yeux Sans Visage..." - Billy was inspired by the movie to write his song, and I'm inspired to name this dress! 

I wore my Halston faux-fur-lined ultrasuede vintage coat over it, undone for an insouciant look. 
And carried a vintage purse. 

Incognito, but still digging into the pockets.
I felt very luxe as I strode about. 

Movie-Star Wrap! 
L informed me that it's Convertible Season again, so I need to keep my hair from spinning into a whirling dervish of strands. 

Wrap once under the chin, then a quick reef knot in back. 
What are those bags in the background...? 

Accoutrements: 
Some old favourites. 

  • Metal mesh/celluloid purse - Whiting & Davis, vintage 1930s, vintage fair
  • Silk scarf - Pierre Balmain, vintage 80s, thrifted

I spotted a purse like this on 1stDibs for over $400! 

The stuff: 
Good boots! 

  • Amber/silver earrings - vintage 1920s, vintage mall, gift from L
  • Silver/amber pendant - vintage mall, gift from L
  • Brass ring - vintage mall
  • Brass/jade ring - vintage 70s, Mom's
  • Silver/smoky topaz ring - Anneli Neumann, Sweden, vintage mall
  • Silver/amber thumb ring - consignment
  • Silver/amber small bracelet - consignment, Powell River
  • Silver/amber large bracelet - consignment

I forgot to take the bling picture, and put it all away. 

Here's what was in the background of the above picture. I packed up a bunch of my old archived and vintage items for House of Savoy to go through. Most of this is stuff I don't wear anymore - there's no point in keeping things I am not getting use out of. Emilie was pretty excited over some of the things here - I'll get 50% of the sell price in store credit. which is a big win for me.
I realized later that the bag with the X was winter stuff I was saving for my friends to shop from. I put it away, and also had one last look through all of the bags to make sure I didn't have any regrets (I did pull two things out). 

In case you're wondering, here's the one time I wore that mass of peach feathers, to Nick and Karen's Christmas party, here, back in December 2015.  
I have no arm tattoos! This is nearly 9 years ago - this dress hasn't fit me in years. 

Vero tried it for a while, but then returned it to me a few months ago.
I'd rather see it go to someone who will wear it, than to have those feathers slowly decomposing in my archives. 

Also, to those of you horrified that I would sell clothes to my friends - first of all, they're my clothes and I can do what I want with them. 

I will be selling them at "thrift shop prices", so $20 for dresses, $15 for jackets, etc. to help support my shopping. It's way cheaper for my pals to shop from me than to go to a store, and many of my friends have shoved money at me after one of my massive giveaways over the years, so this is just a natural evolution, and my gals are very supportive of this - I've been talking about it for half a year or so, so it won't be unexpected. 

After our errands, we headed to town for breakfast at John's Place - we're not used to being there so early! I had time for a 15 minute poke in Beacon Ave Thrift Shop while L held our place in line. Here's what I found. 
This bright emerald scarf was in with the St. Patrick's Day crap. I was just moaning about no green scarves, and then one came along! 

"Satin Squares, Designed in Italy, high quality, hand rolled."
I see that it's actually made in Japan. 

I don't think it's silk, but for $4.00 I am not complaining. 
It matches my green leather trenchcoat perfectly. 

This white blouse stood out amongst a mass of synthetics. 
A seam down the front centre, very odd. 

An a peplum/flare at the back! 
Which hangs down lower than the front. I like interesting design decisions like this. 

Oh, now it makes sense. 
COS always has unusual cuts and styles. 

It was only $9.50. 
It fit well and I can always use a white shirt. 

I was attracted to this brick/red leopard pattern (shocker, ha ha). 
It's a voluminous pullover top with a pussy bow tie option at the neck. 

The sleeves sold me! 
Elasticated and ruffled at the upper arm and again at the cuff. 

Highly flammable! Noted. 
I found a couple of these on resale sites for around $40+. 

For me, $15.00. 
I've already put an outfit together to wear this to work next week. 

The men's section is always hit and miss. 
I bought this short-sleeved shirt to re-sell/consign. 

I like the mix of old-time Paris posters in the print.
It has no content tags, but it feels like cotton.

Ooh, a chest pocket! 
And what's that? A monogram? GL is what I see. 

It's by Guy Laroche of Paris (and a size 5, whatever that is), a name I recognize from back in the 80s. 
Based on the label, this is from the 1980s (source here). It was a mere $9.50 - looks like I'll need to make another trip to House of Savoy! 

I petted this sweater dress a couple of times...
Nice and thick, no signs of wear...

Acrylic, and made in Italy. 
So not a totally cheap make. 

For only $10.00, I bit - I'll wear this around the house as well. 
Always be upgrading...even your house clothes! 

After all the chores were done, I had a long afternoon nap - I needed to stay awake at Winesday at Linda's that night! 
I snuck in a wearing of these new-to-me tiger pants and the recently-purchased gold sneakers to see how I felt about them. 

  • Cardigan - Kenzo, consignment; last worn here in February with blue
  • Mock-neck sweater - Nygard, thrifted; last seen here in February for a Mom-Day
  • Pants - Jones New York, thrifted; purchased here for $19.99
  • Shoes - Findlay, consignment; purchased here for $20.00
  • Sleeveless coat (below) - Only, thrifted; last worn just on Friday, above

The laces are incredibly long on the sneakers, so I did a double-bow. That's a leaf on the ground.
Also showing my socks, which have roaring bears on them (this is an upside-down view) - I thrifted these too. 

Without all the stuff on top - I needed options due to temps of 14 during the early evening...which dipped down to 4 when it got dark. 
I liked - but did not love - the pants. My plan to unstitch the hem to make them longer worked beautifully, but they still felt too short, and I have more flattering pants. Maybe in a denim...I'll keep looking.

I layered my Kenzo cardigan.
Because pockets! 

Shorter in the back, longer in the front. 
It's a reverse mullet! 

Done up and ready for sunshine. We chilled out in Linda's pergola in her backyard. 
"Um, excuse me? You're leaving?"


The menfolk had an early Music Appreciation Night (aka MANday), so L was home by midnight to chill with our little guy. 

Me? I staggered in around 1:30am. Hanging with my gals always restores my soul. 
I was glad of my sleeveless coat by that late hour. 

Accoutrements.
I wore my gold crocheted collar to show Vero, who's become smitten with crocheting - that's all free-form. I don't use patterns, just make it up out of my head. 

  • Purse - Aimee Kestenberg, thrifted, Powell River
  • Collar - made by me from vintage thrifted wool
  • Sunnies - prescription

The stuff: 
The sneakers were fabulous! A+, would wear again. 

Mixed bling: 
I like mixing my metals. The pendant is gold-plated silver.

  • Belt - gift from Ruth
  • Studded cuff - c. 1994
  • Leather cuff - Guess, thrifted
  • Necklace - Ambush, "Holy Mountain" collection, 2012, consignment, Vancouver, gift from L
  • Silver/onyx ring - Tocara, vintage fair
  • Brass ring - vintage mall
  • Earrings - thrifted

While I waited out front for Yvonne to pick me up in the cab, I took a pic of my shadow across our condo's lawn. 
My food/drink contributions: pulled pork mac & cheese, jalapeno cheddar cheezies, chocolate and sour gummies, plus Fresca and fizzy water. 

Looking up at our place on the corner, through the Garry Oaks.
They'll all be in full leaf soon!

On Sunday, L and I spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying some quiet, after we did our usual Big Breakfast and grocery shop. Vizzini was having none of this sun - found him sleeping under my robe again.  
"Ahem, I was sleeping until now."


Come on out, bud, it's sunny on the deck! 

I hope spring has sprung where you are, my friends (unless you're in the southern hemisphere in which case, happy autumn! I hope things cool down soon!). Thank you - as always - for stopping by!