Friday, July 18, 2025

Regret-Me-Not Belt, and a Better Denim Skirt

Happy Friday, my friends, and here's my last Regret-Me-Not to get re-styled, my hefty belt with turquoise "stones".
I had this shirt and skirt together already in my closet, musing about wearing them, so when I grabbed the belt back last week, I automatically draped it over the hanger. 

  • Shirt - Just Cavalli, Roberto Cavalli, consignment; last worn here in September 2024 with my now-gone skants
  • Denim patchwork skirt - Free the People, consignment; first seen here in May with shiny boots and stripes
  • Boots - Donald J. Pliner, vintage 90s, consignment, Sidney; last worn here in May with my Halston Ultrasuede dress

This was such a fun outfit to wear, all floaty sleeves and flapping skirt. 
This is one of the denim maxi skirts that's better than my skants. Yes, you are, you're a good skirt! 

Gotta love a skirt that makes your butt look good. 
I wore a camisole with shoulder pads under the shirt to define the shoulders slightly.

Incognito. 
No pockets so I carried everything in my wee bum-bag. 

Accoutrements and stuff: 
The boots are comfortable enough to walk in (although the toes are a little squishy), so I ambled both ways. The temps were not as toasty, and there was a lovely breeze. 

  • Plush bum-bag - thrifted
  • Leather belt - Brave Leather, thrifted

A very clever - but anonymous! - reader suggested daubing nail polish on the spots that are missing the plastic stones, layering it up and even putting white under it to make it match better. Well, I half-arsed it, and it's good enough! 
It's a pretty close colour, and I could always go over it with a lighter turquoise. And isn't that a gorgeous belt? I was so silly to let it go, and I'm relieved to have it back. *hugs belt*

Turquoise bling: 
Vix to the rescue! She identified the necklace as Nepali - this is a good article here (no pop-ups) about the art of jewelry-making in Nepal, which is mostly done by women.  This necklace was a pleasure to wear - I'm a fan! 

  • Turquoise stone bracelet - thrifted, Sidney
  • Carnelian bangle - consignment
  • Silver/turquoise ring - Karen's
  • Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
  • Silver/oval turquoise ring - Glee
  • Stone ring - thrifted
  • Silver/stones necklace - Nepali, consignment; purchased here for $65.00
  • Silver/mixed stones bracelet - Salt Spring Island, gift from L, c. 1999
  • Silver/turquoise earrings - thrifted

And now...off to enjoy the weekend! Thanks so much for being here - be sure to check back on Sunday for tales of adventure!

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Non-Mom-Day Mental Health Shop in Plaid Flannel, and SQUIRRELS!

Hello, my friends, welcome back! There was no Mom-Day today, since this hot weather is far too hard on Mom's energy levels. Enjoy the shade on your deck, Mom! I missed you! 

To make up for it, I have a bonanza of squirrel pictures for you - it's okay if you want to scroll down and look! 
I tested out my flannel duster - I enjoyed the way it billowed out behind me as I walked to town. 

  • Duster - Nu, thrifted; purchased here for $22.95
  • T-shirt - Leonard Cohen tour shirt, thrifted, not tracked
  • Denim skirt - Talbots, thrifted; first worn here in September 2024 with a denim fin
  • Leather sandals - Hopeful Sunny, Fluevog, thrifted; last worn here way back in July 2024 with yesterday's cow dress

I'm not entirely enamoured with it, though, and might move it into my house-clothes wardrobe when the weather cools off. 
The skirt was good - it's a white denim skirt, I've had a million of them. Do I love it? Tough call. 

Rock on! 
Yeah, not really feeling this pattern. But it is nice and snuggly.

Thinking about where I wanted to go. 
I was on a mission to get Mom some white pens for the art piece she's currently working on. I bought you one of each, Mom - four! So exciting! 

Accoutrements and stuff: 
These sandals don't get much wear - they are a smidge too high for a lot of walking, but they are quite comfortable otherwise.

Minimal bling:
Nothing to get in the way of my shopping! 

I found this leather belt at Zeitgeist Vintage, after digging around for about an hour.
I think this is a "90s does 1970s" belt - 70s leather belts are usually a single piece of leather with the raw back, and this is two pieces of bonded leather. No marks or stamps. 

Nice construction.
It was $36.00, which felt about right. 

I went through every item in the Velvet Crease, but came away with just two things from the jewelry case.
There was another necklace in the same style, with different colours of stones, as well as a couple of pairs of earrings (they were too heavy for my poor lobes). This is turquoise and carnelian, I believe. 

Vix, I think these are from India - what say you? 
This bracelet has lapis lazuli throughout. So pretty! 

And also very small.
Perfect for my little wrists. 

It's a bit tricky to do up on my own. 
It's hard to find bracelets with blue in them! I'm thrilled to finally have one. 

Nice backs. The bracelet's centre section is curved, as are the bigger sections of the necklace, which lays beautifully.
The bracelet was $35 and the necklace was $65, which I thought were very good prices. 

Stamped .925. 
I'm excited to wear these!

Next door at MONA, I found these super-shiny sandals. 
Be still my heart! Silver sandals have been on my Nice To Have list for many, many years. 

It's a bit hard to see, but they are stamped "Aerosoles." I have not historically had good luck with Aerosoles, but these were too cool, and were very comfortable.
According to Shoe Math, that is a 1-1.5" heel, and are very easy to walk in. They are a current style, called the Cosmos (they run $60-95 new) and they come in different colours.

The classic bottom. Not a lick of wear - I don't think these have been worn.
These are 8.5 (I usually wear 9-9.5), but I risked it since I have narrow feet. 

I found the stamp inside - the silver "leather upper" is a nice surprise! 
These were $60.00 for me, which is fair for consignment. These are going to be worn a lot! 

I spotted this and clutched it immediately. 
I may need a Tulle Intervention. This is six tulle skirts now in my closet...

There is a light brown base slip, a layer of tan netting, and then the outer layer, which is cream with velvet black flowers. 
This has the same waistband as my pink tulle skirt, so it's probably from Dots. This was $30, which is a solid price. 
The only tag, not even an RN or CA number! 

Okay, SQUIRRELS! 

This is NOT our girl Maple on the right, as she has a very skinny and more reddish tail (you can compare here), but is a slightly bigger red squirrel with a bushier tail. We're going to call him Garry, after the Garry Oaks. 
On the left is Garry's brother Cedar, who is a grey squirrel (more black than grey). These squirrels definitely interbreed, I'm told by someone who knows local biology. 

Cedar's just chilling out, having a nap on a nice mossy branch.
Enjoying a snooze, back leg handing down, head resting on the branch. Aw...I took these pics while chatting with Mom in the morning.

"Hey, Cedar, come climb around with me!" 
Garry's the instigator, for sure. Look at that bushy tail! He's up to shenanigans! 

He barged right over to Cedar's nap spot, and started grooming himself. 
"Buzz off, Garry." You can tell Cedar is a red squirrel due to the white belly.

"Fine, go ahead and sleep."
Garry climbed around, biting on leaves and moss on the maple tree. 

"I'm going to go over here!"
Garry crept out on the branch.

And did some acrobatics to get at the cedar tree growing in our side yard.
I love the little paws. 

"Hey, Cedar, are you still sleeping?"
"Yes, go away, Garry."

Finally, Cedar joined his brother and they clattered down the tree, head-first. 
"I got you, Garry."

"Okay, come on down!"
Dang, squirrels are so cute! 

I was stopped in my tracks on the way home from work yesterday. 
A deer! He's trimming the bushes, so thoughtful. 

I'll be back tomorrow to show you my final Regret-Me-Not outfit.

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

And Now...Cow and Yellow Sleeves

Today was "only" 24 degrees, still too hot for my liking, and it meant I can't wear a Regret-Me-Not. 
I needed natural fibres, stat! 

  • Cotton blouse - Zara, thrifted; last worn here in May to visit Mom
  • Cotton dress - Marimekko for Uniqlo, consignment; last seen here in July 2024 with bits of blue
  • Leather flats - Karl Lagerfeld; last worn here in June with tiers of toile

I usually do bare arms with this 100% cotton dress (this is the 5th time I've worn it), although my very first outfit incorporated a long-sleeved sweater. 
What sleeves do I have that would work under this crazy cow dress that won't make me boil? The Zara blouse with the ginormous sleeves! This felt so fun. 

The dress feels more voluminous than it is, and requires very little chair-wrangling. 
I loved it with yellow - I've now done red, pink (twice) and blue with this dress, which is a Uniqlo/Marimekko collaboration from 2018.

Scarf Lady Incognito! This scarf has the same "stone" pattern as the dress, only in reverse - white stones on a brown background.
I know it's not cow pattern, even though I call it that. 

Accoutrements and stuff: 
Yellow shoes are essential in my wardrobe. 

  • Silk scarf - Vera, vintage, thrifted

Orange bling: 
The Jell-O Shot necklace returns! It's practically vintage now, ha ha. 

  • Triangle bangle - consignment, Sidney
  • Steel/Lucite ring - Calvin Klein, thrifted
  • Plastic cuff/ring - Italian, vintage 60s, vintage mall
  • Wooden earrings - vintage, vintage expo
  • Necklace - Banana Republic, consignment

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Regret-Me-Not Grey Skirt, and Welcome Back, Helmut!

Next up on the Regret-Me-Not slate is this Club Monaco grey skirt, snatched back from a rash impulse because...why? 
After wearing it again, I remain perplexed, and can only attribute it to Brain Fog.

  • Leather-trimmed jacket - Helmut Lang, vintage 00s, thrifted; last seen here (3rd outfit) in June 2018!
  • Top - Culture, consignment; last worn here in April, layered under a corduroy dress
  • Skirt - Club Monaco, vintage 90s, thrifted; first seen here in April with another Regret-Me-Not
  • Shoes - Sol Sana; last worn here in April for a Mom-Day at Mattick's Farm

I also wore my old Helmut Lang draped jacket, with its swaths of real goat leather, a welcome return.
I am glad I took this back from Vero - it wasn't me in 2018, but here we are back in 2025, and I love it anew. 

It has such lovely detail. The main part of the body is a polyester woven textured brocade, fairly thin.
The entire bottom of the sleeves are leather - you can just see the big functional zippers here. I like the little split at the back hem too. 

The temps soared to 32 degrees, and even in the ACed office, I was warm throughout the day.
I have a white camisole on under the mesh pink leopard top - better to sweat on that than the shirt! 

Incognito and ready to be profesh! Showing the little pockets, which were sufficient for my work phone. 
I love how the jacket looks done up. The insides of both lapels (which are uneven) are more goat leather. I would guess that this is from the early 00s, right when "waterfall" cuts were starting to catch on.

It had shoulder-pad surgery before I found it on the racks at WIN for $19.95. It does up via a button/loop inside at the waist, and a hand-cast hook that goes into a custom lined "button" hole near the pocket.
The neck does up with another hand-cast metal hook (a different shape!), that connects with yet another hand-cast piece, a shallow metal arch at the side of the neck (on the right in this picture above). It's quite amazing, and the amount of care and attention that went into it is unparalleled. It was made in the USA.

Feeling dramatic! I'm admiring how nice the skirt looks in the pictures - it's fully lined, which gives it a beautiful drape. I noticed that it was made in Canada, which makes it even better. 
I skipped the scarf on the way home - I didn't want to sweat on it. I undid the jacket and walked slowly. So. Hot.

Accoutrements and stuff: 
Comfy shoes for a busy day. 

  • Silk scarf - vintage 80s, thrifted

Black and white bling: 
To liven things up!

  • Black/white bangles - consignment
  • Black and white cuff - vintage, vintage fair
  • Anneke & Lars silver ring - vintage mall
  • Silver chain ring - Mexican, consignment
  • Bakelite clip-on earrings - vintage 70s, vintage fair