Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Friday Vintage, Saturday Shopping (Spotted Again!) and Sunday Close Swap-Over!

Okay, this is going to be a big post, both for me to write and for you to read. Skim as you like!

Let's start with Friday, which was decidedly NOT casual for me. 

I'm "80s does 40s" for the annual Victoria Vintage Expo at the Crystal Gardens. Check it out here (2015) and here (2014) and here (2013) for past year's outfits and adventures. They tend to coincide with my September closet clean-outs, so feel free to get lost down that rabbit hole.

• Jacket - Simon Chang, vintage 80s, thrifted; purchased here in June for $3.00 (yes, you read that right)
• Blouse (underneath) - Michael Kors, thrifted; last worn here in November 2015 with cream and a pouffy skirt
• Skirt - Lida Baday, thrifted; purchased here for $16.95
• Shoes - Sencha Teapot, Fluevog; last worn here earlier this month with a plethora of colours

And here's the full ensemble:

I carried the hat to work, but I wore everything else all day Friday.

I loved wearing this gorgeous vintage 80s jacket, ginormous shoulder pads and all.

 And the beautiful wool and angora skirt was a pleasure to wear - so soft!

With my little vintage-y purse.

I took one of our IT guys out to lunch today - it was his birthday last week. I had to check and make sure he wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with me!

Nope, he was cool with it. I even look relatively normal without the jacket on!

It's getting darker in the mornings now. Ah, I miss the morning light!

A shot of the chapeau.

I've had this hat for close to 20 years.

The stuff:

Even in these wonderful comfy shoes, my feet were really tired by the time I got home at 9:30pm.

The hat is by Sylvia of New York and St. Louis.

I last wore it here in February 2014 with more vintage for the Victoria Film Festival gala opening.

This little purse is by Liz Claiborne.

I've had it about 20 years as well.

Vintage-inspired bling:

This is the first wearing of the wool gloves with the rabbit fur rosettes on them. I paid $6.95 for them, thrifted.

• Gloves - thrifted
• Fur stick pin (added to hat) - thrifted
• Earrings - Joyce's, vintage 80s
• Shield ring - Nine West
• Death Star ring - Soul Flower

Cat, Elaine and I met up to browse the Expo - we also connected with Yvonne and Randall, and Randall's dad (hello, Larry!), step-mom (hi, Sherri!), and sister (hello, Caroline!), and had a glass of wine with them.

I felt that this show was a bit of a let-down compared to past shows. Too many non-vintage vendors, and the crowds were much sparser. I still managed to find a couple of things.

I spotted the unusual pattern and colours of this dress.

 A classic shirt-dress, but not in black or beige (barf)! Hurray! One of the sleeves is tabbed up - it's an option!

I was happy to see Desigual embroidered on the back of the dress.

No doubt about who made it. But this isn't vintage!

Still, it was $30, which is a steal.

It will go with all the colours!

At the same booth, I actually found one of my own (donated dresses) - this one (image link here or go here and scroll down to the black velvet dress with big crazy sleeves), from my Closet Archive series in 2010. It was marked up to about $60.

I found another item that was the same as an item I own, but we'll get to that in a bit - it was also NOT vintage!

I stopped by the booth of my favourite ladies to see what copper stuff they had.

I got the necklace (not stamped, but 60s) for $25.00, and found the ring for $14.00 (also not stamped). The only item that grabbed me was an "atomic" printed 50s circle skirt, but it was about eight inches too small in the waist on me.

We went out for dinner afterwards and compared purchases, then home for an early evening. On Saturday, L and I went for brunch with Nick.

This is the official Last Outfit of Summer! I had to get one more wear of this cute dress in, just to make sure I really wanted to keep it. 

• Dress - H&M, thrifted; last seen here
• Shoes - Half Truth Veda, Fluevog; last worn here in August
• Jacket (below) - L.N. Studio, thrifted; purchased in April 2014 (here) for $19.50

I did discover that it's definitely a summer piece. It did not like tights, and kept trying to creep up to my crotchal region! 

This is my first wearing of these Betsy Johnson tights - I bought them on consignment, new in packaging. They're a very vivid red! 

Are you going to do coloured or patterned tights for fall? Or are you all done with that trend? My legs get cold and I have lots of tights, so I intend to keep wearing them.

Outerwear:

That's L in the background getting his shoes out of his shoe closet (yes, the man has his own shoe closet), but trying to keep Vizzini out of there.

I really liked how cute the jacket looked with this outfit, with the white cuffs and collar peeking out. This jacket is the parallel of that fluffy-flowered cream coat that I've been wearing so much this past spring/summer - this is the start of fall/end of winter version.

The stuff:

Good walking shoes. I did a lot of walking!

• Earrings - Stella and Dot, consignment

After lunch, L and Nick went for a browse in the CD shops, so I went to the St. Vincent de Paul, followed by the WIN Warehouse Store. I had a budget that I'd set for the Vintage Expo, and I didn't hit anywhere near it, so I felt justified in giving some of that allocated cash to my local charitable organizations.

At the St V de P, I scored on these sweet shoes!

They are leather, a great heel height, faux snakeskin (with a slight metallic finish).

A cute t-strap, and a slight platform to make that heel even easier to wear.

 They're by Amante, are made in Spain, and were only $10.00.

And not even worn! Look at that pristine sole!

I poked around online and these would be around $200 new.

I also found this crazy dress. I was drawn to the colours, and the fabric, a very soft, very bouncy jersey fabric.

Big swirls of paisleys.

But what is this crazyass thing here?

It's a tie sewn as part of the dress - there is another tie on the other side, more on the back.

Then I noticed that there was a name on the fabric.

Etro! I know that name!

And yes, indeed, this is an Etro Milano dress, made in Italy.

For $6.00. Yes. I was boggled.

For your enjoyment, I tried it on at home to see if I could figure out how it worked.

Tied at the side like a regular wrap dress (but it's not a wrap dress). There is actually two layers to this dress, and when it's tied, the top layer lifts up.

See?

Then I tried tying it at my shoulder, because why not?

I kind of like that! Although this is more of a summer dress, I've kept it out to get a wear out of it.

I also found this amazing thick knitted wool skirt.

It has a split on the side, with a flap of fabric that hangs in a loose triangle.

And it's olive green.

New with tags!

I don't know anything about TK Style, but for $8.00, that feels like a deal. Oh, and the sizing is really small - I'm not sure in what world this is a Large. It feels like an Extra-Small.

I strolled over to the WIN Warehouse Store next. Since I was just there with Jodi recently (here, two weeks ago), I wasn't sure if I'd find anything, but I planned to just enjoy the experience regardless. On my way there, I ran into Caroline, a reader of Ephemera from Ontario! Another reader encounter! How completely awesome! Thank you so much for reading, Caroline!

I started in the accessories section at WIN and found this lovely blue felted hat.

I am always on the lookout for a hat that I won't care if it gets wrecked in the rain.

This one was $8.95 and is by Le Chateau.

I wore it home so that I wouldn't have to carry it.

Ignore my mussed-up hair - it was rainy and windy!

I also found these amazing leather booties!

They remind me strongly of the 80s, but I don't think they are vintage.

They have a great "Beatle boot" look about them.

And that's a nice walkable shoe right here.

Each buckle is adjustable to the wearer's foot, and then snaps to the shoe - there are nice little brass levers for popping the snaps open.

I tightened up the buckles and now they are customised for me! Can't you see these with some fun tights?

These are by Aldo and were $27.95, the most expensive thing I bought.

I was excited to find another vintage 80s blouse, although now that I've done my closet swap-over, I seem to have a bit of a red shirt/blouse issue - too many of 'em!

 But this one is such a nice deep red! And look at the little pearl buttons!

It's got a fabulous "Sears - The Fashion Place" label on it, and is marked a size 12, so it is early 80s (pre-Great Size Shift). Not bad for $6.95! How can I say no?

I found a grey cowl-necked cashmere sweater!

It's by Lord & Taylor and was $6.00.

 Wow, what a score! Until I washed it today and the dime-sized moth hole in the front was revealed. Ah well, $6.00 for a sweater that I'll wear around the house is still a good deal.

I did well with blazers, and fell hard for this teal velvet jacket.

Um, I took a lot of pictures and got tired. Some of them are blurry. Sorry.

This is by Jacob, it's fully lined, and is a gorgeous teal.

For $8.50? Yes, get in my cart!

I was enamoured of this ginormous flame-orange sweater.

I think it might be vintage, as I can't find anything online about a clothing company called Satellite Drive.

This was $10.95 - not bad for lamb's wool and angora. I might wear this in an outfit, but it might also be a wear around the house thing. I like thin wool sweaters at home in winter.

I love this military-inspired plaid jacket.

 I remember when this was in the Bay department store - it's from the early 00s, and is by Bianca Nygard.

So many buttons, with crests, and all that wonderful plaid.

And what??

Are you kidding me? $8.50?

I don't even know if it was ever worn - no one took the stitch out of the back split.

I took it out immediately, so you can all calm down. Heh.

I am in total love with these black velvet pants!

They have a small high waist, and are very wide legs, but they look amazing on. I hear the cool kids are doing wide-legged pants again. Allow me to jump on that bandwagon, now that I am into trousers.

Wonderful vintage labels. Tan Jay, made in Canada! And that's a union label, so this is easily very early 80s or even late 70s.

And yeah, they were only $8.95. Mine! I did have to chase a woman away from pawing through my cart at one point. Shoo!

There is confirmation of the date as earlier than the mid-80s - these are a size 12.

So, before the Great Size Shift.

When I got home, Vizzini was being a spaz.

"I am a seething ball of fury!"

It's getting chilly on the deck, and we have to clean everything off it to allow the painters to get at the exterior of the building (our building is being painted).

"I will not stand for this disturbance in my world."

On Saturday night, L and I chilled out with some wine and played a couple of games of Arkham Horror. My favourite thing ever! 

And today, I headed to town to get groceries, and then turned my attention to the closet. 

All right, are you ready for the closet swap-over? Go here to see how things have changed since the end of March when I swapped out my fall/winter for spring/summer. 

This is the right side of my closet. 

It's a bit messy, but I'm good at hanging stuff up and putting things away after I wear them.

This is the left side.

My closet is about the size of a small bathroom, so it's not huge. I had it custom-built about 10 years ago, so it uses all the space and is very efficient for storing my clothes.

I started by pulling out all my spring/summer clothes and shoes, and folding them ready for storage. I do everything up: zippers, buttons, cuffs. It makes it easier to hang them back up again in 6 months.

Here are the clothes that didn't get worn over the past 6 months. How do I know? Because the hangers weren't turned around! I hang all my clothes with the hanger hooks backwards, then turn them around as I wear them.

This peach dress is spectacular, but we just didn't have that many fancy parties this past half-year.

 Feathers! It's a keeper.

Joyce's pink dress didn't get worn.

 Keeper.

Neither did this beaded cocktail dress.

It's killer on. Keeper!

A lot of my gowns stay in my closet but get worn about once every 3-4 years or more.

This is a one-shoulder ruffle jersey dress. I have loaned it out to 2 people in the past 2 years. Keeper!

My "stormy" dress didn't get worn.

Keeper - it's super-flattering.

I keep this for sentimental reasons.

 Silk and velvet, beaded...but it didn't ring my bell this year, so it's been packed away (not a cold-weather piece).

I fully intended to keep this wonderful green dress that I wore for New Year's last year, and my company Christmas party, but sadly, one of the seams, right at the bust, had shredded.

Dang! Farewell, lovely dress!

My origami dress didn't get worn, and frankly, I didn't want to wear it.

I'm over it, so into the giveaway pile it goes.

My Betsey Johnson dress was last worn a year ago for my birthday party.

It's a wonderful dress. Maybe this year, maybe next year, but it's a keeper.

A gorgeous navy blue lace saw no love in 6 months.

 But it's awesome, and so I'm keeping it.

I am not sure about this dress. It's a little too "hey, Sailor" for me.

 But I packed it away for 6 months and we'll see how I feel about it in March.

I love this dress.

 And it fits me great, so keeper!

I don't have much call for sequins in warm weather but you never know.

 Keeper!

This wonderful cotton striped frock coat is still a keeper, even though it's been about a year or more since I wore it.

Keeper!

This white eyelet skirt didn't pass the test.

Gone! It's a bit too frou-frou for me these days.

I saw this exact same skirt at the Vintage Expo!

I love it, so I'm keeping it. However, I bought this new, no more than 7 or 8 years ago, so again...NOT vintage!

Here's what's left on the long-hang section (on the left) after all the summer dresses have been taken out.

Three unworn dresses on the left, a Cat-Bait Danger Item (fringe), my fluffy underskirt collection, and then dresses.

Removed dresses, folded and ready for storage.

 A couple of little-used purses that I'm not ready to give up.

Only a few tops left.

 All favourites! Yes, the bird blouse is in there - are you happy?

Only a few long skirts left.

Can you imagine only having 5 longer-length skirts? How tragic!

Four sad little pairs of trousers. Actually, that should be five - the camo-pants were in the wash.

 And my jacket/coat collection has been weeded down quite thoroughly.

I see a yeti coat! The jackets are on the right side of the closet underneath the skirts (pic below).

On the right side of the closet, there is one small shelf up near the ceiling - I store my 1950s shoes there, and a couple of vintage hats.

Not too many skirts left.

Here are all the springs/summer shoes that got packed away.

 I counted all of my shoes...

And here are all the clothes that were put away for 6 months.

Yes, that cream coat is in there! It was hard to say "adieu" - but not goodbye!

I lined up all my fall/winter shoes and boots.

Those were in the spring/summer mix for cooler days.

Unpacking all the shoes, and deciding which ones stay out.

I say, all of them!

All the way down the hall!

 More boots.

Blurry. Did I mention this takes my whole day? I've been writing this post now for nearly 2 hours. Hungry!!

Another shot of the shoes down the hall.

They all fit in the closet!

Hiding under my clothes over the past 6 months was this massive pile.

One large tub, and a whole bunch of shoe bags full of shoes and boots.

Three more flat tubs were hauled out from under the bed.

A big mess of hangers!

And then I load it all in, hanging everything up. I also wipe down all of the wooden shelves, and dust my mirror and chandelier.

Top left shelf - this holds costume-y stuff, and those three boxes hold vintage items (Dad's sweaters, my feather boa and some purses that I wanted to keep).

Top left shelf, closer to the door.

Dressy going-out purses, gloves and fascinators. A couple of wigs in there too. The shoe boxes each have a good pair of spring/summer shoes in them, and help me see everything on the shelf.

One of two sweater shelves below that.

Sort of organized by floofy sweaters, thin wool sweaters, and fancy sweater tops.

And one more below that.

Also sort-of sorted into sleeveless sweater tops/specialty layering pieces, more thin wool sweaters, and tops/sweaters I haven't worn yet. I also keep my two Wendy Brandes rings and my watch here. I have a little flat fabric-covered box that I put jewelry that I haven't worn yet into.

The blouse/long skirt/pant section.

See? Nice and filled up now!

Looking at that section again from the back of the closet.

So many great pieces! I want to make outfits!

My long-hang dress section is nicely filled up.

So much potential for fun!

And here are my skirts, all hung up.

I have a lot of brown skirts.

And my jackets filled up, plus all the fall/winter clothes I've bought over the past 6 months, and haven't worn yet.

 All ready to be made into outfits! I can't wait.

On the right side of my closet, closest to the door, is my double-stack "Tower of Power" - my shoes!

Here we go, starting at the very top, at the ceiling.

Shoes I don't wear a lot, but still love.

Next to them, on the right.

Party shoes!

Shelf #2: Higher heels that I love, but don't wear on a daily basis.

I can still wear all of these, but less than my lower-heels.

To the right:

Fun shoes, and some familiar ones.

Shelf #3: I can wear these to work.

Yay, my red platforms are back!

Beside those.

The ones on the right are one of my favourite pairs ever.

Shelf #4 is taller, so I store my mid-calf boots here, away from Vizzini.

Some favourites there.

More short boots beside them.

I need to wear those lavender booties again.

Shelf #5:

These were all in storage.

Beside those.

Also in storage.

Shelf #6 (it gets darker, as we get closer to the floor - sorry).

A shelf full of Fluevogian goodness!

Next door to those.

More 'Vogs and a vintage red shoe. I had to keep the orange shoes out.

Shelf #7:

All the metallics. The new t-straps are there.

Beside those:

Classic shiny shoes.

Shelf #8:

My menswear lace-ups (away from someone who likes to chew on laces).

And beside those, my flat/kitten heels.

If/when I buy more shoes this season, these will move to the floor to make room.

On the floor, I actually had room for some of my purses.

And a few more pairs of flat menswear types.

Comfy shoes are a must!

My boots are stored along the floor, with one in front and one behind.

Tan, brown and black over-the-knee boots. You can see the re-packed big plastic tub living there under my jackets.

And in the centre, under the mirror are 3 velvet hatboxes with my belts. I sort these and pull out ones that are more spring/summer-y. I had a bunch stored away over the past 6 months too.

And a shoebox full of my soft belts and obis.

On the right side, more boots.

I have a bit of a red boot thing. I have at least 4 pairs. But they are all different!

More boots.

I'm excited to start wearing these again!

But we're not finished yet. Scarves get weeded through too. 

Darker, more autumnal colours. 

And I swapped out my jewelry, which I store in our bedroom on my dresser.  

All my seasonal vintage stuff there. That jewelry box was my grandmother's.

This is my "modern jewelry" box.

Necklaces on the two sides, and there is a flip-open top (my gold hoops live there), and 5 various sized drawers. I use the crystal dish for my stud earrings, and store a few things in the tins.

How it normally looks.

The cloth bag has some costume fun pieces in it, and keep my rigid cuffs out where I can see them.

I had a helper in all of this.

"What is this thing that looks very tasty?"

"Helper" is probably not the right term.

"What do you mean, I can't go in your closet? It's wide open!"

"Hinderer" is probably more accurate. Vizzini would not stop trying to sneak in the closet.

"I will bite you in the foot!"

He did bite me in the foot.

"I want in there! Let me in! There are things I want to see!"

He was given several warnings, and shoo-ings, but I had to lock him out on the deck while I finished loading my clothes and shoes.

I let him back inside as soon as I was done, but he was not happy with me.

"I am going to bite you when you least expect it."

As I was taking pictures, I noticed him sitting oddly in the corner.

"Nothing to see here. Go away."

I crept in close, and sat on the floor. I put the flash on.

"I'm just a cool cat, chilling in this awesome closet full of things to chew on. Nothing to see here."

He's sitting so funny, with his back legs all splayed out.

"If you laugh at me, I will eat another pair of Fluevogs. This is not an idle threat."

I tried to move him along, but he refused.

"This is a very fine place to have a sit-down, I think."

So cute, but so dangerous.

"Are we done yet?"

We sure are! I hope you enjoyed my little tour of my closet!

Linking up to:

• Judith's "Hat Attack" over at Style Crone
• Patti's "Visible Monday" over at Not Dead Yet Style

And I'm off!