Spooky Season Weekend Wrap-Up: Friday Skulls and Snakes; Brunch Black, Orange and Red and a Wee Shop

Welcome back, my friends! It was a chill and quiet Hallowe'en weekend, with our usual brunch followed by friends over for scary movies on Saturday, followed by a Sunday full of football. 

Friday's office outfit features my infamous Snake Jacket that I illustrated back in the pandemic (here for details and lots of process pictures). 

A little denim as a nod to casual for Friday.

• Leather skull jacket - Q2 Collection, thrifted, embellished by me; last seen here in November 2025
• Sleeveless top - Le Chateau, thrifted; last worn here in July with a Halston duster
• Denim skirt - Levi Strauss, thrifted; last seen here in July with a pajama top
• Boots - 7th Heaven Mega Racer, Fluevog; last worn here (2nd outfit) in September for a sequined brunch
• Poncho (below) - Bodybag by Jude, consignment, gift from L; last seen here earlier this month

But I'm pretty blinged up! 

Lots of gold snakes - my coworker Nisha admired my necklace. 

I had a few fans of the jacket. 

I'm always the dressiest on the Teams call. 

I walked to work in my bigass boots. 

Whateley supervised from the hall. 

This poncho is perfect over leather jackets. 

This felt very me. 

More posing help. 

Thank you, buddy. 

The stuff: 

I bused home - I just wanted the weekend to be here. It was a very busy day...

• Purse - Ted Lapidus, vintage 90s, vintage fair
• Silk flies scarf - Smoking Lily, thrifted
• Leather snake belt - Notes du Nord, thrifted
• Leather heart pin - Smoking Lily
• PVC hat - Babaton, consignment
• Gloves - Parkhurst

Snake bling: 

I'm happy with this collection. 

• Black snake bracelet - vintage 90s, consignment
• Lucite/gold fang bangle/earrings - Alexis Bittar, consignment, gift from L
• Silver/gold/amethyst cobra ring - vintage fair
• Snake necklace - vintage 90s, vintage expo
• Silver snake ring - BC Museum gift shop, c 1986

My little helper. 

He looks like he's up to something. 

They've been getting at the Hallowe'en decorations. I keep finding glitter pumpkins on the floor.

And of course, there's the tub inspection. 

They can never get enough playtime! 

A rare resting picture. 

On Saturday, we met up with Nick and Zeb for brunch at John's Place. 

I wanted to sneak in a wearing of my glittery skeleton earrings. Snakes, spiders and bugs work fine all year round, but skeletons are very Hallowe'en. 

• Wool blend dress - Spanner, vintage 90s, thrifted; last seen here in November 2025 with red leather
• Boots - F-Trip Warhol, Fluevog; last worn here in September with tulle and pop art
• Elmo coat (below) - Maeve, consignment, Powell River; last seen here (3rd outfit) in August to brunch

This is such a great black dress - I always feel like a million bucks in it. 

I had many admirers of my boots. 

After brunch, L and I split up for a quick 30 minutes shopping trip - him at Ditch Records, and me at Upcycle on Fort Street downtown. 

The store owner loved my outfit - I got to show off all the bits, which is always fun. I don't run into many people who love clothes like I do in real life. 

Incognito. 

We had a beautiful sunny day, crisp and cold. 

The stuff: 

I forgot gloves! Ah well. 

• Puffy purse - consignment
• Spider brooch (on purse) - vintage mall, gift from L
• Scarf - Metrowear, San Francisco, 2006

Sparkly bling: 

One of the skeleton earrings is jumping for joy. 

• Silver grapes cuff - Karen's
• Mixed metal/leather cuff - Jenny Bird, consignment
• Silver snake ring - BC Museum gift shop, c. 1986
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Necklace - All Saints, gift from Dominique
• Earrings - Baublebar

The jewelry in place. 

You can see the seams in the dress - it does up with a hidden zipper in the shoulder/neck seam. 

Zeb and Nick! 

The staff at John's were all dressed up too.

Hey, my guys. 

I like that L and Nick kind of match. L's wearing his L7 shirt (we have the same one).

I found a couple of things at Upcycle (link here, 'cause I love). 

I'm not a huge knit person, but I love a good pattern. 

It looks like globe maps! 

I love that! 

It looks cool reversed too! 

I...would totally wear it like this! 

Take a good look at the labels, because I removed them all after taking these pictures. There was no brand tag - it had been cut out. 

Washable is great! 

Nothing here - no CA number.

The back of this label is in Chinese. I'm going to call it my Global cardigan so I can find it again. 

My final check for things I like with wool/cashmere in them is to hold them up to the light before purchase. 

I spotted this hole in the middle of the back right away. However, I can sew! The lovely person at Upcycle offered it half price at $20, and I said yes. 

This cool jacket caught my eye. I love a geometric woven pattern. It's also cat-approved! 

It comes with a self tie belt, but no one tells me where my waist is, so I cut the raggedy loops off. 

This batwing sleeve shape is good.

The grey squares are actually thin lines of white. 

It's meant to be belted, but I'll probably use a different one. 

Ha, the paw! This was $43.00, a good price for a nice quality jacket. 

The label had been cut out of this too. You can see the white pattern better here. 

I recognize this content tag as Nygard, so the proprietor looked it up  - yup! I was right. 

I did the repairs on the cardigan right away - you can just see the hole in the upper right. 

Thread colour selection. I went with the dark navy blue. 

I tried to make it blend in with the pattern. 

And so that it would work either way I wear it! 

If you squint, you can barely see it. 

Good enough! 

I left on some of my jewelry (the earrings, one cuff and the rings) and put on my house clothes for the rest of the day. 

You can see Barnabas atop the scratching post in the background. 

I only wear these things at home, not in public. The big skull sweatshirt is very bally, but I love the sparkle! The Adidas track pants are favourites. We had Cat and Ross over for Scary Movie Night - we watched "Primate" (good, all gave it 3/5) and "Blood and Black Lace" (also solid, all rating it 3-4/5). 

And there we are, time to rest before it all starts up again. Thanks for being here. 

Spooky Season: Mom-Day in Cherry Cord and Brocade Secret

Welcome back to Mom-Day, my friends! Brr, it definitely feels like late October - there's a chill in the air, big grey clouds loom everywhere and the wind is brisk. It's coat weather! 

I bused out to Mom's in the morning, did a few chore-y things for her, and then we had a cup of tea while we worked on the jigsaw puzzle. Lunch was bagels and cream cheese plus veggies, and then onto the puzzle. 

As always, the time flies by - good company! Thanks for having me, Mom, I love you! PS - I got the teal memo. 

I sure did! I built my outfit to go with my new cherry red corduroy coat, but of course, the outfit underneath also has to be maxxed out. 

I've been wanting to wear these brocade "one size" pants again, to see how they would work in fall. I loved them, and I discovered a secret about them! 

• Leopard turtleneck - Gilmour, vintage 00s, thrifted; last seen here in August with these same pants!
• Teal sweater - Bellissima, last worn here in August under a brocade dress
• Brocade trousers - Engineered Garments, consignment; first worn here with this same top
• Boots - Doc Martens; last seen here in September with licorice and lemon
• Coat (below) - Electre, vintage 80s, consignment; purchased here for $68.00

This leopard worked great the first time I wore the pants, so why not again? 

With another thin sweater over that! I felt very clever. I rolled the pant legs this time (putting a safety pin in the back of each) but they did not stay rolled, and I had to fix them at every destination. 

Here's a good look at the coat's shape. The front halves are single pieces of fabric including the batwing sleeves. 

Isn't it lovely? Great shape!

The side view is slightly cocooned.

It was very comfortable to wear. 

Back view. 

Again, two pieces of fabric. 

Mirror selfie. 

Swanky pose. 

Outerwear - it was so gloomy out, so I skipped my sunglasses. And of course, it got sunny. 

On the bus home, I spied two young girls out the side door - they spotted me and started talking animatedly, clearly enjoying my outfit. I waved, and gave them heart-hands, which they reciprocated. We waved as the bus pulled away, and I couldn't stop smiling. 

The stuff: 

Best walking boots for my sore knee. I was prepared for rain with the scarf and beret. 

• Bag - Niko and..., consignment
• Droopy leopard brooch - Parklane, consignment
• Silk scarf - Pierre Balmain, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Leather studded gloves - Danier Leather
• Wool beret - vintage, thrifted
• Salamander brooch (worn on the coat) - gift from Cat
• Bug brooch - consignment

Bronze bling: 

A bunch of vintage jewelry to go with the coat. 

• Eelskin hinged bangles - both vintage 80s, thrifted
• Birds hinged eelskin bangle - consignment
• Thin eelskin bangle - fake Gucci, vintage 90s, Italy, gift from Mom & Dad
• Brass/glass ring - Raphael of Canada, vintage 70s, consignment
• Brass ring - vintage mall 
• Brass/glass necklace - Raphael of Canada, vintage 70s, consignment
• Brass/glass earrings - Martha Sturdy, vintage 70s, vintage fair

I fixed the damage on the collar of the coat before I left. 

You can see a bit of the cream interfacing. I trimmed all the ragged edges, then closed the raw edge with red thread.

Then coloured over any exposed interface.

Just a felt pen from the stash. 

Not too bad. 

Good enough! No one will notice. 

I switched to black thread. 

I don't want to lose the label! It's too cool! 

A quick stitch. 

Yay! 

I said goodbye to the boys. 

Found Whateley snuggled up. 

Barnabas followed me around, then led me into the dining room for some tummy rubs. 

How could I resist. 

I saw a hilarious Hallowe'en-decorated car downtown while I waited for the bus. 

Our lovely downtown. 

Familiar sights. 

No one was around at all, just me and the birds. 

Lovely colours.

So much yellow! 

An inviting Garry Oak.

I took the path less traveled (the left one). 

Cloud drama! 

I had my phone out with Merlin listening to the birds. 

Ooh, that's pretty.

A tunnel of autumn colour. 

What I heard. 

A hawk! Cool! 

This tree is so showy. 

It matched my coat! 

Mom's been working on the puzzle. 

Impressive! 

And then four hours later. 

"Go ahead and finish it," I said. Mom has a dentist appointment next week, so no Mom-Day. 

The view beside the bus stop. 

And then I was home. 

Here's what I discovered about my pants: there are buttonholes in the hem! 

I remembered I had this spare pair of Fluevog shoelaces - I could thread them through them, so that I have a drawstring! 

And voila! 

No more rolling - I just need to tie them and they'll balloon. How fun! 

Barnabas, not impressed. 

He sleeps here all the time. 

Whateley hasn't slept here in months.

I see you, buddy. 

Well, my friends, I'm now signing off for the weekend! I hope you have a fun time for Hallowe'en, if you do anything for that. I'll be back on Sunday with tales of adventure, so do pop by! Thanks for being here!