Weekend Wrap-Up: Friday Plaid and Lace; Olive and Lace Jeans and an Anniversary Shop; Hang with the Gang in Black and Cream

Hello, and welcome back, my friends! We had a pretty quiet weekend, but I've still got a few 'fits to share, so let's get to it. 

Friday's office look features this dress I've had since 2011 - I bought it on clearance at long-gone Plum clothing for a mere $25.00. I'm sure it's around a dollar per wear after 14 years. 

I added this new lace top that I picked up at Dots last weekend. 

• Lace top - Culture; purchased here for $9.99
• Dress - Plum, c. 2011; last seen here (2nd outfit) in December 2023 for brunch and some shopping
• Shoes - Swordfish Marquis, Fluevog; last worn here in October 2024 with pink plaid pants
• Leather jacket (below) - Banana Republic, consignment; last seen here in December 2024

I'd forgotten how much I like a lace layering piece.

I had a secret photobomber this morning - I didn't know Vizzini was there until I uploaded the pictures. 

While the fabric of this dress is on the cheap side, it's still a woven plaid and miles better than the cheap tat you see in stores now.

I wore shorts under it for extra warmth. It was a chilly day!

I've always liked the generous pockets, just the right size for my work phone. 

My shoes always get the big reaction. My coffee maintenance guy said, "Look at those sleds!" I've never heard of "sleds" being used to refer to feet/shoes, it's not some sort of Canadian slang.

Wee! It's Friday! 

I couldn't bear wearing more black over this, and besides, it's Leather Weather! 

The vertical zips have the biggest pockets - I'm demonstrating the pathetic depth of the horizontal ones.

Why wouldn't you put decent pockets where your hands go? Silly! 

Accoutrements: 

It rained on the way home, but had been sunny (and chilly) earlier. Lots of stormy weather, but then it's always like that in spring. 

• Scarf - thrifted
• Bucket hat - Babaton, consignment
• Gloves - Thinsulate, thrifted

The stuff: 

I walked to and from work in these beauties. 

Badass bling: 

I ignore the belt loops on the dress - no one tells me where my waist is! 

• Belt - gift from Ruth
• Silver hinged cuff - thrifted, Powell River
• Cuff with red stone - thrifted
• Silver/obsidian ring - consignment
• Silver chain ring - Mexican, consignment
• Silver/red stone ring - thrifted
• Silver/red enamel ring - antique shop, Sidney
• Silver earrings - Israeli, consignment

We were up early for brunch on Saturday, which happened to be our 28th wedding anniversary. You can enjoy some pictures from the day here and my wedding dress here.

Aw, we look so young! L is 27 here, and I'm 29. 

I had to wear the lace-print denim jeans right away, which gave me an excuse to re-wear this nylon top and the taupe boots again.

Will I keep the jeans out for spring? Maybe...we'll see how much room I have! 

• Thin cotton sweater - Sonia Rykiel, vintage 90s, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) under my PANK dress for the VFF Gala in February
• Top - Sun Kim, consignment; last seen here in December 2024 with stripes and boss pants
• Jeans - By Malene Birger, thrifted; purchased here for $24.95
• Boots - Coffee Kope Tiam, Fluevog; last worn here in February with orange and Mr. Darcy
• Capelet (below) - no label, consignment; last seen here in October 2024

I played around in my closet until I figured out what I wanted to wear...and it was this! 

I felt totally badass in the jeans and kept the rest of the colour to olive and black, with a dash of tan. 

They stretched out as I wore them, becoming more comfy as the day went on. 

We met up with Nick at John's Place for brunch, then L and I had a little shop at Turnabout on Oak Bay Ave afterwards. 

I like how this top hangs lower in the back. 

Real pockets in the back of the jeans too! 

I added my olive capelet and long gloves.

Even a classy purse! 

Shades for when it was sunny.

All zipped up and carrying my bag like a Classy Lady. 

Accoutrements: 

Sneaking in a few autumn colours before "Real Spring" (post-closet swapover!) starts. 

• Leather purse - Allibelle, consignment
• Scarf - Zadig & Voltaire
• Leather/suede gloves - Gestuz, consignment

The stuff: 

The staff at Turnabout were amazed that these boots were from 2011. 

Bold bling: 

Old and new favourites.

• Belt - gift from Ruth
• Silver S bracelet - Mexican, consignment, Sidney
• Silver links bracelet - consignment
• Silver/obsidian ring - consignment
• Silver/smoky topaz ring - Anneli Neuman, Sweden, vintage mall
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Silver earrings - Brenda Schoenfeld, 1992, vintage mall

I did my usual 5-minute shop pre-brunch and again scored big in the menswear section at the Beacon Ave Thrift Shop. 

A lovely Hawaiian shirt in red, black, white and tan. Nice lining up of the pattern! 

It's by Sea Hawk.

I spy a surfboard! This is the pocket, and again, you can see that they tried to line up the pattern. 

It was only $16.00.

It's too big on L, so it's off to Limbo to make its way to one of my friends. 

I did find a couple of suit shirts for L - he wears a suit every day for work, so burns through them.

I know men's shirts are expensive, usually around $50-75 new. 

A nice shade of blue for $16.00.

It's by Club International, a Tip Top brand.

A standard blue shirt.

L really liked this one - his light blue shirt has totally worn out.

It's by Geoffrey Beene, and green tags were half off.

$4.50 for a work-shirt. Awesome! 

I found this top for myself. You know I'm a sucker for a painty-abstract pattern.

I love the detail at the collar too. 

It's by Piazza Sempione - I used to have these groovy woven brocade trousers by them. 

It was $16.50 - not bad for 95% cotton and made in Italy. 

I am pretty fussy at Turnabout - as I said to another shopper, "This is where I find the high-end wacky stuff." 

These mulberry purple/burgundy leather gloves were in a clearance bin with some wooly toques. 

I spy a Coach tag! 

They fit me perfectly. 

How nice to find 100% cashmere lined leather gloves.

These were $38.39, marked down from $47.99. I spied them online for $98.00! 

This beautiful 50% wool coat was marked WAY down. And yes, I'm well aware that it's another neon green article of clothing! 

It's by Banana Republic (I neglected to take a picture of the label, oops), and it looks like it's barely been worn. 

The four external pockets haven't even been opened! 

I rectified that quickly! 

A lovely grey lining. 

No inside pockets, though. Sigh. 

At least we know how old it is - it's from Holiday 2015, so 10 years old. 

It retailed for $269.00 US (zoiks), but it was end-of-season clearance at $72.00 at Turnabout, marked down from $179.99. 

I waffled a bit over these poly trousers - the material is like windbreaker, very swooshy. 

Of course, as you can see, I did buy them! These have all the things that the bad Judith & Charles pants didn't.

A big REAL pocket on the leg (suitable for something light, like a bus pass).

It was stitched up, so I opened it, snip snip snip. 

An elasticated waist. It also has two (real) pockets on the back, but I'm going to leave them closed, as they aren't big enough to be practical. 

Big pockets on the front. 

I like the custom ties. 

CMB stands for...

Cambio! 

These were $69.99 but I had a $13.00 points credit, so applied it to them, reducing them to $56.99.

I loved this skirt - the colours, the full long cut.

The pattern is woven in shades of black, green and turquoise. 

With a fringe of pink around each section of brocade. 

Massive pockets. YES!

It's by Maeve, which is an Anthropologie brand. New With Tags (NWT)! 

There's the original price - $170.00. I paid $89.99 for this piece of gorgosity. 

L and I had our anniversary dinner at Christie's Pub - nothing fancy for us, just an enjoyable meal, each other's company followed by an evening of board games and chillin'. Thanks for nearly 3 decades of laughs, good times and having my back, baby.

We were up early to get groceries and then meet up with pals Spence and Kim, who were over from Vancouver for the weekend, along with Greg and Nick.

I wore the same thing for both events (yes, groceries is an event). 

• Shirt - Essentiel Antwerp, thrifted; last worn here in August 2024 bookending pink pants
• Leather skirt - Helmut Lang, consignment; last seen here in June 2024 with the same top and boots
• Boots - Original Sabado, Fluevog; last worn here a couple of weeks ago at Beacon Hill Park with Mom
• Coat (below) - Banana Republic, consignment; purchased this weekend above for $72.00

Getting in a wearing of both the shirt and skirt, both of which had not yet been worn this season, but are firm friends having been worn together - even down to the boots! - before.

When you have a good outfit, you just stick with it! Showing off the ginormous zippered pockets on the skirt. 

We bussed to town and hung out at Cactus Club for a couple of hours.

So good to see some of our Chosen Family and celebrate life on a rainy day. 

Comfy in case we had to walk.

I try to be Zen about the rain. It's just water.

Outerwear - I couldn't resist wearing this snuggly coat right away.

I mean, SWOON, how lovely with all that black and cream. 

All done up and ready to go.

I considered donning the Rain Pickle, but decided I didn't want to deal with it. 

We were lucky to have only a few minutes to wait for our buses.

Rock on, my friends! 

Accoutrements: 

I know, I wear the same things over and over. I'll be putting the scarf away for the season (I don't do skulls and creepy-crawlies as much in warm weather).

• Leather purse - Rebecca Minkoff, consignment
• Scarf - Zadig & Voltaire, consignment
• Leather gloves - Danier Leather
• Bucket had - Babaton, consignment

The stuff: 

Love these boots! They make any outfit 100% more badasser..er. 

Mixed bling: 

Kim liked all my mixed metals. 

• Snake brooch (worn on coat) - thrifted
• Eelskin hinged bangle - vintage 80s, thrifted
• Chain/leather bracelet - Jenny Bird, consignment
• Brass leopard ring - thrifted
• Brass Brutalist ring - vintage 70s, vintage mall
• Pinky crystal ring - Dots
• Bronze ring - P. Sarpaneva, vintage 70s, vintage expo
• Vermeil ear-cuffs - consignment
• Earrings - thrifted, Seattle
• Vermeil/crystal necklace - vintage 00s, vintage fair, gift from L

And there you have it, my friends! Another weekend in the bag, and yet still some time left to chill with my guys. Thank you again so much for visiting - I appreciate every one of you.