Weekend Wrap-Up: Emerald Armour; Pearls, Popcorn and Pickle, Plus Two Shops

Welcome back, my friends! Another lovely weekend over far too fast! It was fairly quiet with just brunch and Winesday on Saturday, but time spent filling my cup with the company of my dearest friends is always to be treasured.

Here's what I wore to work on Friday - I went a little fancy! 

This gorgeous silk satin coat-dress is my emerald armour.

• Sparkly turtleneck - Jacob, thrifted; last seen here in February during the Mom-Day Adventure at Bowker Creek
• Silk dress - Escada, vintage 00s, consignment; last worn here in September 2024 with gold leather pants and sneakers
• Leather boots - Stuart Weisman, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in February with ORANGE LEATHER SHORTS
• Coat (below) - L'Atiste, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in November 2024

I did an easy layering formula - black sparkly turtleneck, black tights and black tall boots. 

Done! 

Oh, and throw a belt on there. 

Blurry on a very early morning. I didn't even think of saving this for St. Patrick's Day, oops.

Outerwear - I put this cloth coat away for the deepest darkest winter days. Time to bring it back for the shoulder season.

It's far too thin to wear as an insulating layer, but on a mid-range day (5-6 degrees) it's fine if I'm walking fast. 

Accoutrements: 

Picking out the slight green tones in the scarf. 

• Scarf - Givenchy, consignment, gift from L
• Toque - gift from Tammy
• Brooch - Monet, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Leather gloves - Roeckl, consignment

The stuff: 

I walked to work in these, then took the bus home with my heavy bag of groceries. 

Mixed metal bling: 

Confession, I'd forgotten about this bigass belt! It was tucked in my scarf display (a former CD rack), and the scarves had obscured it.

• Belt - vintage 90s, consignment
• Lucite/silver cuff - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
• Lucite/gold bracelet - Alexis Bittar, consignment, gift from L 
• Necklace - Ambush, "Holy Mountain" collection, 2012, consignment, Vancouver, gift from L
• Green stone/silver ring - thrifted
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Big earrings - vintage 60s, consignment; purchased here for $20.80 

After a laugh-filled evening playing boardgames and listening to music, L and I were up early on Saturday to meet up with Nick for brunch. I'd been saving this outfit for Urbanite, but it's not till April, and this skirt will not be staying out in my upcoming closet swap-over.

So, what the heck, why not wear it out for lunch? I'll have to create a new outfit for Urbanite, not a terrible thing (I bought embroidery floss for the mothy skirt!). 

• Cotton top - Zara, thrifted; purchased here for $15.00
• Sequined sweater - Forever 21 Girls, thrifted; purchased here for $4.95
• Cotton skirt - Kaliyana, consignment; last worn here in October 2024 for my birthday lunch with Mom and Uncle Brian
• Boots - F-Trip Etta, Fluevog; last seen here in February bookending leopard denim
• Rain pickle (below) - Ilse Jacobsen; last worn here in October 2024
• Sleeveless coat (below) - Only, thrifted; last seen here a week ago

I also wore this to Winesday later in the evening. I knew my awesome women would love it and they did.

It took a good bit of wrangling to get the yellow top underneath the sweater. 

I had to pluck and tug at the sleeves to pull them up into gathers at the elbow/upper arm to let the big bell sleeves stick out. 

It goes so well with the big pouffy pleated skirt, doesn't it?

I forgot that it has massive pockets, otherwise all my pictures would be of me with my hands jammed in my pockets.

I wore a vintage slip underneath to keep all this cotton from clinging. While it is cotton and therefore could be a spring/early fall skirt, I don't have much in the way of dark red in my warm season clothes. But never say never! Maybe I'll change my mind and keep it out.

Unfortunately, it poured rain off and on during the day. We had to run some errands after lunch and got drenched.

And then it got sunny. I had to break out the Rain Pickle! It kept me fully dry - I even pulled the hood up over my hat at one point. 

Accoutrements: 

I was glad of the snuggly scarf - there's still a chill in the air. 

• Leather purse - Banana Republic, consignment
• Hat - Delux, Saanich Fair
• Scarf - thrifted
• Leather gloves - Picabo, Powell River

Since I cabbed to and from our Winesday host's house, I changed into the outerwear I'd wanted to wear if it hadn't been pouring rain all day.

Of course, showing off the sleeves, and a silky colourful scarf. 

Accoutrements the Second!

Spoiler! I found a bag while thrifting and had to give it a try-out right away. It held everything I needed for the evening, including all of my bags used to ferry my Winesday food and drinks. A+, loved it - it worked well cross-body too. 

• Eelskin purse - vintage 80s, thrifted; purchased below for $10.00
• Scarf - Picasso tourist souvenir, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Sunflower brooch - can't remember
• Leather gloves - Echo, consignment

I've had that sunflower pin for over a decade - it might have been a Le Chateau purchase in the early blog days, but it's a bit of a blur.

The stuff: 

My patent leather yellow boots were wonderful in the rain. Sunshine on my feet!

Pearly bling: 

Because it looks like popcorn! 

• Bracelet - thrifted
• Two long necklaces - both Eatons, 1986
• Brass ring - vintage 70s, vintage mall
• Gold/emerald/diamond ring - Francis Jewellers, 2007, 10th anniversary gift from L
• Silver/crystal ring - Uffizi Gallery, Florence
• Pearl studs - Aldo

I wore the ropes of pearls wrapped around one wrist - I originally bought them in 1986 to wear like that to my friend Sarah's wedding. 

As usual, I had my 5-Minute Shop at the Beacon Ave Thrift Store while L and Nick waited for a booth. I had amazing shopping luck! 

This gorgeous blood red eelskin purse caught my eye, with its classic boxy shape. The strap is long enough to be cross-body, and as confirmed, it worked well.

Thin suede inside and a magnetic clasp.

Mae pointed out the damage on the edge, and was delighted when I told her that was now viewed as highly-desired patina. "You mean my jeans have patina?" Darned straight! 

The bag has two zipper compartments (small), and two expandable sections that hold more than they look. 

I fit my phone, keys, wallet and a bunch of shopping bags in there, plus my gloves and scarf.

I've been looking for a burgundy purse for a long time.

No label, but after practically turning it inside out, I spied a tiny tag. 

"Genuine Eelskin, Made in Korea."

I spotted large purses like this online in the $50-75 range. It's definitely from the 80s, very much a "Working Girl" kind of bag.

A close-up of the quality hardware - and the snap to remove the straps! 

I'm boggled that it was only $10.00. 

I had a bonanza in the menswear section. There must have been a closet-clearing of some gentleman who was very stylish in the late 90s, because I bought three of his shirts.

L adores this type of embellished shirt, and I'm also a fan of the asymmetrical embroidery. The back is plain. 

I forgot to take a pic of the content tag, but it's 100% cotton, made in India. 

I count four shades of thread: white, baby blue, French blue and navy blue. 

The cuffs have a blue and black pattern, and a red/blue/yellow contrast on the cuffs. 

Beautiful custom buttons. and very little wear on the cuffs.

"Knowledge Wisdom Truth" - this is on the front button placket.

You might be able to see that the white cotton portion has a brocade floral weave. 

It's by Robert Graham, and I remember that these shirts were VERY expensive back in the late 90s/early 00s, around $200-300, and checking online, they still cost that! 

I knew $16.50 was a very good price. 

Another embroidered shirt! This one is a very soft chambray cotton (also made in India). 

It's a textured grey with black embroidery. 

Wings on the back! 

Affliction. Well, I hope you get better. These Y2K shirts are highly desired now.

A pocket on the sleeve. 

Note the metal X button. All of the buttons on the shirt are the same. 

A better look at the chest fleur-de-lis.

It's by Black Premium and was $16.50 as well. L kept both of these shirts for himself with my approval.

This white shirt was in the put-back area. The details were too good for me to pass on it.

It's a beautiful thick cotton (I'm guessing by the feel/hand, there is no content tag on it), woven with a subtle stripe. 

It has a double layer stand-up collar.

The buttons are black trimmed mother-of-pearl (real!). Note how the front placket covers a small portion of the button. 

The front pockets are real, and are secured with a small triangular tab with a single button. 

So unusual! 

Two spare buttons at the hem, plus this embroidered patch with three men on it, all wearing caps. 

I'd pegged this as mid-90s, as that was when this style of collar was last in style. 

It's by Dornbusch, and there are three gents again. 

$15.00, what a bargain! 

And lastly, I found this acrylic knit sweater for myself, in my favourite neon yellow. 

It's an oversized fit, and has pockets. 

It doesn't look like it's ever been worn - it still has its spare buttons attached. I spent a few minutes carefully removing the black hanger loops and picking out the black thread from the shoulder seams.

It's by Forever 21 and was $15.50.

I had a whirlwind dash through Dots while L was at the bank, and found these wonderful blue wooly gloves. 

What a gorgeous colour! They were tagged at $14.95, but I know Dots always has extra discounts. 

I was surprised to see that they are "handed" instead of interchangeable, like most of my knit gloves.

And then I noticed, oh, shoot, is that a hole in the finger? 

No, it's actually finger and thumb escape hatches so you can use your phone without taking them off! 

I love the long wrists too - these were 50% off, so I paid $7.50.

I like thin pieces for layering under dresses and strapless tops. 

This is a stretch black lace, with lace trimming the high neck and long sleeves. 

It has two buttons in the back and an open loop below that. 

I have a few things by Culture from Dots - they're good quality. 

This was marked down to $9.99.

It would have retailed for $68.00.

This green denim jacket caught my eye in the final clearance section. 

It's a fitted high waist with an oversized sleeve and upper body. 

It's a cool fit, kind of vibing on the 80s silhouette, only without the shoulder pads.

It also looks good worn open. 

It's by The Korner and is a generous XS, fitting my waist perfectly.

It was $17.49, regular retail $100.00. 

And there you have it, my friends, my soothing and social weekend. How was yours? Thank you so much for dropping by!