It's been a whirlwind of a weekend! So busy, so let's get right to it.
Here's Friday, and the last day of Pride Week featuring my most rainbow-y dress.
My "stained glass" dress, also known as the Mondrian Dress or the Partridge Family Bus Dress or the Shattered Plaid Dress.
Whichever you prefer, this is my entry for "
Visible Monday" at Patti's
Not Dead Yet Style. Go!
- Dress - Tangerine Jill, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) to the theatre with Mom in January
- Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevogs:
- Orange pair last worn here in April with jungle print
- Yellow pair last worn here in July 2017 with a wrap dress
It's a spectacular dress - every one of those silk squares is hand-sewn (on a machine) to a sheer black silk organza backing. The dress is fully-lined, of course.
And yes, your eyes do not deceive you! I wore different-coloured shoes with this!
The back view - it's always important to make sure you look as good from the back as you do from the front.
I had a lot of reactions to this when I left the office for lunch on Friday (it had plenty of favourable reactions at work, although it was a quiet day overall).
I wore a light jacket over it, as it was mostly cloudy out.
Totally subdued, hee hee.
The stuff:
I have these shoes in copper leather as well as a slightly different style in orange/lilac, but only these two pairs in the same waxed canvas finish. I'm surprised it's been so long since I wore the yellow pair! These shoes are totally comfy. Better wear them again soon!
Rainbow bling:
Fairly subtle, ha ha!
- Cuff - thrifted
- Glass bangle - thrifted
- Earrings - Stella & Dot, consignment, Vancouver
- Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
I went to the WIN store on Pandora Ave after work with one of my colleagues to introduce her to thrift shopping, so full disclosure, I did bring another pair of shoes to work and wore them for our shop.
I also walked home in them.
- Leather flats - Karl Lagerfeld; last seen here (2nd outfit) in May with a swooshy skirt
My colleague bought a skirt, and I may have found a couple of things for myself...they just jumped off the rack at me, even though I was really just shopping for her!
I love simple tops like this. They layer well under jackets and cardigans, but can also be worn on their own. They're polyester, woven, and have a nice classy look - and they can go in the wash
if when I sweat in them (which I usually do).
This one is by Karl Lagerfeld and was on the 50% off rack.
So, only $7.50. Considering it would have been around $79.00 new, I'm good with that!
I also spotted this amazing skirt in the Vintage section of the 50% off rack.
It's a very fine woven wool, and get a load of that image! Plaid, with straps and buckles, and pheasants!
It's a wrap-around skirt (one button and one hook, so I'll be wearing a slip under it!), and has this fun detail near the waistband.
It's a bit hard to see - the "strap" is sewn into an interesting detail. It isn't a loop, so is not for a belt.
A look at the full pattern - note the fringe at the hem.
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| "This skirt smells like a kooky woman." |
Yes, and good thing I like being that kooky woman! Check out this very old vintage Ralph Lauren label. I looked it up on Vintage Fashion Guild's site (a really useful resource,
here, linking 'cause I love), and it's likely late 70s or early 80s (
here).
It was only $13.95, so I had to have it. It's not lined, and it does have a couple of small moth-holes, but nothing that I mind that much. A little wear and tear is to be expected when you shop second-hand, especially with clothing that is 40 years old.
On Saturday, we played Ultimate Frisbee - it was very hot and sunny, rather nice compared to last week, when we played in the pouring rain.
Easy off-and-on clothes. I'm fully sunblocked too.
- Dress - Joe Fresh, thrifted; last seen here (4th outfit) back in July 2017
- Shoes - Karl Lagerfeld; last worn the day before (they were still sitting out, so no thinking there!)
We had a good game, although I was rather sweaty when it was over!
I'm totally done with this dress. It's lined in cotton, which is a good thing - but it's just too clingy for my taste, and I don't love the sack shape. I paid $19.99 for it in 2015 and wore it 6 times, so a little over $3 per wear. Good enough.
I do love a good black and white patterned dress, though.
Sorry, pockets, you are not enough to save this dress!
If you go back to the link above when I last wore this dress, there are a whack of pictures of the last time I hosted Winesday, and my ginormous pile of clothes/shoes/accessories that I gave away then. I mention this for foreshadowing...
The stuff:
Easy shoes for walking to the field, then to town, then out shopping afterwards for 4 hours, then home again. Tired feet!
- Bakelite earrings - vintage 60s, vintage fair
I hadn't been to Flavour Upstairs for a good look around for a while. I tried a lot of things on, but narrowed it down to just a few really special pieces.
I know, it's rather bold! I have been eyeing this double-knit polyester shirt for ages, waiting for it to be marked down further. One of the benefits of being a "kooky woman" is that all the really funky stuff goes on sale.
This is by Replay, and as you can see is from their "Girl's Line".
I have never heard of this brand, but they've been around a while (about them
here, linking 'cause I love). They seem to specialize in jeans and casual wear. I am guessing that this shirt is from the 90s, based on the retro 70s print and thick knit polyester.
Made in Italy, gotta like that!
If you checked out that link above, you'll see the picture of their very cool factory - it looks like a mansion.
It has some marks on the back of the shoulder, so it has now been marked down to $5.00, which is enough for me to try it on finally.
I can live with the marks - they didn't come out in the wash, but with the wild pattern no one will notice them.
I was pleasantly surprised by this pink acrylic sweater.
It's totally bizarre, but it looks much better on (it's very stretchy).
Made in the UK! Awesome!
Also, better stay away from fire when I'm wearing it...
The brand is Boohoo, which is also a brand I'm not familiar with.
It sold for $29.99 (link
here, 'cause I love) on their site, so $14.00 is fine with me. It's called the Isabella Funnel-Neck Jumper.
I also found another leather coat (I have a lot of leather coats!).
I didn't have a royal blue one, though! Well, technically, I DO...but it's quite a different style (
link).
It's by Danier, and surely would have been at least $200-300 new. It was all mine for only $44.99.
From Flavour Upstairs, I went back to the WIN store. I hadn't really done a thorough look-through on Friday, since I was helping my coworker. I spent a couple of hours going through all the racks, and again, tried on massive amounts of stuff. I only came away with 3 items, and weirdly, they were all the last things I tried on.
I found this cream high-neck blouse with lace inserts.
I like the wrinkly texture and the Victorian look of it. This will be good for layering.
I've had Renuar pieces before and they've been good quality. I saw the punch-out on the tag and figured this would be 50% off.
Surprise! For Saturday, WIN had 75% off on punch items! This was only $4.25.
As my style continues evolving, I've been picking up some basic colour pieces, so this black tux-style shirt appealed to me.
The front has horizonal pin-tucks for that nice formal look. The sleeves are 3/4 and have flipped-back cuffs. I like these kind of details.
I also love seeing a nice detail like a "boob snap" right where most buttoned blouses and shirts tend to gape.
Cleo is a mall store - they are still around but they're not a store I shop in, as the clothes are a little plain for my taste.
Again, I thought this would be half price, but was thrilled to get it for $4.00!
This wonderful jacket caught my eye.
It reminds me of motorcycle leathers!
All of that pattern is actually sewn/embroidered!
Wow, so cool!
There is a black band down the sides, and a stretchy black insert along the underside of the arms (which are snug).
And zips at the cuff of the sleeves.
It's by BCBG Max Azria, and is called the Duke jacket. A little digging around reveals that this retailed for $585.00 new (
here, link 'cause I love - it's on sale for $155.00 - we can match!).
$19.95 would have been a great deal, but at 75% off, to only pay $5.00 for this? That is a total score!!
So, I mentioned foreshadowing earlier because on Friday, my dear Caro came over to help me sort through all of my clothing in in the giveaway pile...
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| Caro's revealing all the accessories under the purple scarf, which are hidden from Vizzini |
She got dibs on anything she wanted, for helping me sort it all out, and took home that giant Costco bag full of clothes. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and a few hours of giggling and playing with everything. At one point, we had a "swoosh off" as I showed her how to deploy that fringed kimono topper (yes, she did take it home).
I invited about 50 people from work and life to come over and help themselves to whatever they wanted on Sunday/today - it was a full year's worth of clothes, shoes and accessories. The clothes sat out on Saturday, and someone found them.
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| "I approve of my new cat-bed." |
Shocking, the cat found the most comfy place to sleep!
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| "What do you mean, people are coming over? What about my bed?" |
He was pretty good, and didn't chew on anything. He did go after the jewelry, but when it clattered, he dashed under the bed and hid. What a 'fraidy-cat!
He patrolled early today (Sunday) while I tidied up and aired out the house, ready for the horde.
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| "Nothing on this side to report." |
He liked the cross-breeze from the windows being open, but he knew something was up.
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| "No one's going to show up. You may as well put my clothing cat-bed back together." |
We had about a dozen people come, including Trisha and Kailani (
picture used with permission), who took a couple of big bags of goodies home. It was a madhouse for the afternoon!
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| Thumbs up for a great giveaway! |
I was left with 4 bags ready for donation - they're bundled up and I've contacted a charity for a pick-up. I'll be good for another year, maybe??
I hope you all had a fun weekend!
