Instead of the usual brunch on Saturday, my Artner Rosanna picked me up and we headed over to the Da Vinci Centre for a vintage fair! How fun!
I always like to wear vintage to fairs, but I also need to be comfy. I decided to do 80s boots and bomber jacket, and a bunch of fun vintage jewelry for good luck.
- Cotton velvet bomber jacket - Escada by Margaretha Ley, vintage 80s, thrifted; first worn here in January
- Tunic/dress - Junya Watanabe for Comme Des Garcons, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in January for the first party of the year
- Turtleneck - Bellissima, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in December 2025 under a chambray dress
- Boots - Bandolino, vintage 80s, Sidney; last seen here (2nd outfit) a couple of weeks ago with the S Dress
I didn't take the jacket off at all, but I always plan my outfit in case I do!
I layered sparkly gold/black tights under the tunic, and a dark teal turtleneck under it.
But it's all about the velvet leopard bomber jacket!
It had many admirers at the fair.
Snapped up just so I could pop it open!
The stuff:
My boots are wet here, from washing all the mud off them. We attempted to reach a picnic bench in a park to review our shopping booty, but the field was very muddy.
- Leather purse - Aimee Kestenberg, thrifted, Powell River
- Tiger brooch - consignment, gift from L
Vintage bling:
I loved the half-tulle, half-denim skirt, the yellow leather Adidas sneakers, the Moschino shirt (not visible), and the vintage 70s sparkly-eyed happy face brooch.
I had a lot of fun picking all these out. A few people noticed, but it's mostly for me.
- Gold-tone necklace - Givenchy, vintage 80s, vintage fair
- Gold-plated silver shark jaw cuff - Tom Binns, 2012, consignment
- Lucite/gold earrings/bracelet - Alexis Bittar, consignment, gift from L
- Brass/glass ring - Rafael of Canada, vintage 70s, consignment
- Brass ring - vintage mall
- Bronze ring - P. Sarpaneva, Finland, vintage 70s, vintage expo
- Gold-plated pewter necklace - Robert Larin, vintage 70s, vintage mall, gift from L
I had to get a picture of Rosanna - she always looks so good!
And check out the purse! It's a pineapple!
I was touched to see my vintage Pierre Cardin scarf, purchased by her at a recent Limbo sale.
I thought you might like to see how big the room is. We also checked out some vendors downstairs, but had no luck there.
We're both very methodical - we headed right, did the perimeter, then did the centre. We missed nothing!
We both did very well - this was our favourite booth, with a ton of great jewelry pieces, and we each came away with treasures.
We have very similar tastes, however, and were jockeying for "first" position, each snatching treasures out from under the noses of the other.
Our purchase review after a couple of hours. This is Rosanna's booty - she did so well, and I'm jealous over a couple of pieces!
Clockwise, starting from the top:
- The belt was leather, with 8 different animals on it.
- A gold-tone necklace with plastic "berries".
- A chain choker with chain tassels.
- A handmade brass Brutalist ring.
- A brass/green crystal ring.
- Matisse by Renoir copper "spray" earrings with blue enamel.
- A clear offset bangle from the 60s.
- Red crystal "spray" clip-on earrings.
- Centre box: Brutalist belt buckle and ring.
Posing with her treasure!
This is my pile of goodies.
I bought L this glass "stone" studded brass goblet, made in India, for $20.
It was cold and windy, despite the sun, so I'm going to show you these things at home.
Many of the things I bought were unmarked, or prices were discounted by the sellers for buying multiple items (very kind). I spent ~$100 cash I'd saved up from my Botched sale, and got small discounts from doing that as well.
For the rest, each piece was between $10 and $30, so we're going to call each thing $20 for future amortization purposes. None of these were marked with stamps, brands or anything that I could find.
I really liked the abstract matte golden earrings. You can wear all three charms, none or any combination of them. Isn't that cool? L informs me that this very nice fish pin is a "ground feeder" like a catfish.
I was charmed by the leaping zebra brooch.
The silver ring (which IS marked) has a rim of blue enamel and fits my thumb. The royal blue glass stone mounted on brass ring is too big on me, but L has claimed it for himself.
I liked the weight of this large stretchy silver bracelet (not real silver).
The crystal dolphin pin is a shoulder brooch!
These two pairs of copper clip-on earrings had to come home with me.
This was a custom one-of-a-kind ring, done in blackened silver, with amethysts and topaz stones set in the gold snake body.
The hood! The fangs!
These two pairs of copper clip-on earrings had to come home with me.
The disc ones will look great with all my copper "ball" jewelry.
The pink ones are Matisse by Renoir - they're very unusual. I found a good article here about the Renoir of California company (all links 'cause I love).
Some booths were pricey - and some were VERY reasonable! $8.00 for the discs, and $14.00 for the enameled pair.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw this cobra necklace! The ladies at this booth noted it had come from a collector selling off her personal pieces.
I was utterly entranced.
The back of the hood has been blackened.
Cool detail.
I found the .925 sterling silver mark.
I had to get this double ring and cuff, with a green Murano glass blob. I saw nothing like this online - it's very rare.
This was only $85.00, which I thought was a STEAL.
Rosanna and I spent some time pawing through a case full of 1970s Brutalist jewelry. OMG...hold me back!
The rings are adjustable.
As is the cuff.
It's by Rafael of Canada.
This was tagged at $165.00...
...and these earrings were priced at $75.00. But the lovely seller (who I've bought from before) gave me both for $200. I'm going call the necklace $145 and the earrings $55 for cost-per-wear purposes.
It's really rare to find Brutalist earrings. I thought these were Raphael as well, but they are less rough, with more polish. The "stones" are glass or resin.
She started out in the 1990s, and these earrings are from then (about her here). She made every piece herself - they were not mass-produced.
When I was digging around looking for these earrings specifically (I did not find them), I discovered a few examples of her more recent jewelry...and I think the changeable earrings above are by her!
And finally, I found a couple of clothing pieces, which I usually skip, since I don't want to try things on in a huge crowd of people.
This is a t-shirt fabric at the top and a flowy, almost-sheer woven bottom.
It's 100% cotton and was made in the USA.
A green sunflower, green tomatoes and a swag in a frame.
It's 100% cotton and was made in the USA.
I like the soft green, not too mint-y.
It's by Johnny Was, a label I've seen for $$ at Turnabout.
This was $20, a good price.
I fell hard for this shirt. WOW.
The fabric is cut to show each panel, and the gold lines around the hem, button front and collar.
This is more centred than I hung it.
I found these three images on a real Gianni Versace shirt:
A frame of red and blue flowers.
Gold buttons with what look like medusa heads on them.
A butterfly and a gold swaged border.
That border is orange and red leopard!
"Histoire Naturelle" (natural history). Atelier Versace.
A green crow! This is NOT Versace!
"Histoire Naturelle" (natural history). Atelier Versace.
It's by Miss Ann International. And Rosanna and I both thought it was silk, but after looking at the seams, we realized it's very soft polyester.
It was "Happy Hour" at this booth, so it was half price - only $10.00.
L and I both slept in, then got dressed for our weekend brunch. We headed down to John's Place to celebrate our anniversary with delicious breakfasts!
I didn't feel like doing much effort, so paired it with these boots - they are old friends.
It was bright, but cloudy and warm-ish. And it was a special occasion, so this calls for sequins!
- Sequin plaid polo dress - Polo Ralph Lauren, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in December 2024 for a Fancy Friday with these same boots and jacket
- Boots - Original Sabado, Fluevog; last seen here last weekend
- Leather moto jacket (below) - Banana Republic, consignment; last worn here in September 2024 for brunch
The fanciest Jammy Dress I own!
And this jacket too - it's all been worn together.
Sometimes it's nice to have the same thing over and over, kind of like me and L, still going strong after 29 years.
We grocery-shopped on the way home.
We're a team - L pops next door and gets cat accoutrements and our drugstore needs, I do the shop, and then he meets me and bags it all like a pro. The cashiers are always impressed.
The stuff:
These are practically slippers.
The stuff:
Minimal bling:
The skinny blue enamel/silver ring is from the vintage fair haul - it fits perfectly on my thumb.
- Leather/steel cuff - Rimanchik
- Carved faux cinnabar bangle - consignment
- Silver/lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
- Silver/kyanite ring - consignment
- Silver/red enamel ring - antique shop, Sidney
- Silver/blue enamel ring - vintage fair; purchased above for $20.
- White gold earrings - Frances Jewelers, 10th anniversary gift from L
Rockin' and rollin' for nearly 3 decades.
Thanks for always being my rock, Logan. I love you muchly.
Our boys lurked around in the morning while I got dressed.
"I licked your brush!" "I patrolled for toilet paper."
What a couple of weirdos.
One final goodbye to the Beacon Ave Thrift Shop.
The Quadra location has a few other thrift stores around it - I'll have to do a Mental Health Shop down there one of these days.
Home with the groceries and "someone" wants to help.
"I smell new toys!"
Barnabas loves to chase balls.
And there we have it, my friends, another weekend over far too quickly! Thank you all so much for being here!
