Thursday, October 22, 2026

Mom-Day in the Other Dragonscale Skirt, and a Wee Shop

Welcome back to Mom-Day, my friends! Today, I bused out to visit with Mom for the afternoon, and then back to town, where I did a bunch of shopping for our Hallowe'en outfits - our party is this weekend! 

It's been a very long day, so let's get to it. 
It was the perfect day to wear the OTHER dragonscale skirt. 

  • Leather/wool/fur capelet - no label, consignment; last worn here in March
  • Wool sweater - no label, not tracked
  • Silk skirt - Strawberry Jill, thrifted; last worn here in April with black linen
  • Boots - Original Sabado, Fluevog; last seen here (2nd outfit) in September, worn all day for Vero's birthday bash

I did a simple wool sweater (I have a full vintage slip underneath). 
I found these fluffy cuffs in my archive stash when I cleaned out on the last swap-over and pulled them out. Why not wear them? What am I saving them for? 

I featured my lovely olive green capelet. 
It started out chilly and overcast, but became lovely as the day went on - we even had blue skies. 

Incognito. 
I just did a small silk scarf and fingerless gloves. 

I forgot to take the outerwear pictures all done up, so enjoy my hall selfies. 
You can see the colours in the "scales" there - they are iridescent. 

There we are, done up. 
I only waited a few minutes for each bus today - good "bus luck"! 

The stuff: 
I was on my feet for a lot of the day, so glad I had these comfy boots. 

  • Leather purse - Aimee Kestenberg, thrifted, Powell River
  • Fluffy cuffs - Fairweather, c. 1999-2000
  • Wool gloves - Parkhurst
  • Silk scarf - vintage, Lanvin, thrifted

Brassy bling: 
Two of Mom's pieces - I know she likes seeing them. 

  • Brass/leather cuff - vintage 70s, Mom's
  • Carved faux cinnabar bangle - consignment
  • Stone bangle - consignment
  • Two brass rings - both vintage mall
  • Silver/carnelian ring - thrifted
  • Bronze ring - P. Sarpaneva, vintage 70s, vintage expo
  • Earrings - LA Express, 1994
  • Brass astrological necklace - Mexican, vintage 70s, Mom's

Barnabas huddling on the deck in the cold morning. 
He's very stubborn - he really wants to be out there. 

Whateley sits in the bedroom and watches the squirrels on the lawn. 
Many acorns are being buried there. 

The tower, as I got off the bus. 
Lots of red and yellow leaves out. 

The stick tree. 
There was a bald eagle vocalizing as I walked through here - I watched her in the distance. 

Red leaves! 
So vivid! 

Mom and me! 
Good to see you, Mom! Thanks for having me over! I love you! 

She was very excited to show me her "new door" - my awesome nieces took her shopping for a new front door to her house, took pictures for her and helped her figure out the features she wanted. 
She raided her quilting stash for door colours - it's going to be green! - and the contractor was very impressed with her organization. I do not come from a family of wafflers! We know what we like. 

I bought this puzzle a few weeks ago, at Good Things consignment, for $9.95.
I knew it would be a good one for both of us. It's so pretty and reminded us of the Japanese gardens at Gorge Park. 

While we had lunch, we had visitors! 
This cat watched us very intently. 

Sort of ignoring us. 
I can see your ears turned towards us, madam. 

Hi, Rodney! 
"No time to chat."

Bye, Rodney! 

Mom exhausted from all the day's excitement of her door guy's visit, me and all this puzzle work. 
Okay, I'm leaving! 

Love you! 
Another awesome day! 

Cloud Drama. 
No rain, yay!

I bused back to town, and spent a few hours looking for items in WIN and Csino's Vintage to make our costumes for my birthday/Hallowe'en party this weekend. 
I liked these leggings. They'll be good for around the house as well as my Mental Health Walks, to be resuming in January. 

They're by Calvin Klein and only $14.95. 
I prefer larger over smaller sizes in leggings - they're way more comfy! 

This will be chopped up. 
I'm not going to tell you what I'm doing just yet, though. 

The sleeve lining was sewn in twisted, hence the donation to WIN. 
That doesn't bother me. 

It was only $9.95.
Someone cut the tag out! 

But I can look up the CA number: it's by Talbots! 
How exciting! I bet it sold for more than $9.95. 

This top is for L, not me. 
It's that icky bouncy jersey, but the animal vibe of the pattern and the colour is what we wanted. 

It's by Penningtons, a plus-size store. 
Only $11.95 and I'm cutting this up as well. 

This pink fuzzy sweater is perfect for my plans. 
It's thick and very stretchy as you can see from how it's hanging. I like the big sleeves. 

Ugh, it's Temu, a gross fast fashion brand. 
At least I didn't buy it new - and I'm going to cut it up! It was $11.95, as you can see. 

This was a maybe for L, but I might keep it for myself. It's reversible: a scoop neck on one side, and a wide V on the other. And fully lined. 
I didn't try anything on until I got home, just held it up against myself and hoped for the best. 

Only $8.95.
It's by Reitmans, a mall brand. 

At Csino's, I didn't find anything else, but this beautiful pinky-red coat called to me.
It's wide-wale corduroy, with batwing sleeves and defined shoulders (small shoulder pads) and does up with snaps.

It still had its belt, which is a miracle, as there are no belt loops! 
I prefer it without, but it's good to have options - and I could swap for another belt! 

There's a small tear on the stand-up collar. 
I can easily fix that myself. 

I was floored to see a full set of tags still in it! 
Unusual to see larger sizes from this era - if you guessed early 80s, you'd be correct. This is before the Great Size Shift - this is a modern size 9-10. 

100% cotton. 
And it is fully lined in acetate, as is also typical of the era - you can't wash acetate! It becomes very unhappy! 

Ooh, a Union label! International Ladies Garment Workers Union of Canada - according to the Vintage Fashion Guild (here, link 'cause I love) this label was in use between 1968 and 1984. 
However, the CA number yields "Niccolini Company" and when I search on that, I can see the history of the company by trademark details (here, if you're interested, I like this stuff!). The previous CA number holder changed it to Niccolini on Nov 25, 1986, so this was right at the tail end of Canadian union manufacture. 

I think we can establish that this is from the mid-80s! It still very much has a 70s vibe to it, especially with the belt. 

The top tag says Made in Canada. The brand is "Electre" and it says Paris, but of course, it's from CANADA. 
It was only $68.00 due to that collar damage. The Electre label is coming undone on one side too, so I might also tack that down so it doesn't come off. What a find! This is unrelated to our party...just a cool thing I found. 

And finally, more of the boys.
Obsessively watching birds, squirrels and the neighbour dog-walkers. 

You can see the family resemblance! 
And now, signing off for the weekend, my friends! I'll be back on Sunday with tales of adventure! 

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Two-Fer: Tuesday Pink Plaid and Embroidered Florals; Totally Tired Taupe Wednesday

Hello, and welcome back, my friends! L and I went to a movie with our pals Emma and Daylan on Tuesday night, and I was too tired to write when we got home, so you get a Two-Fer. That's two "fer" the price of one! 

So here's Tuesday's outfit, featuring this new-to-me thrifted white shirt (very exciting). 
I layered my wool-blend menswear sweater over it and then added the pink plaid for excitement. 

  • Shirt - Talbots, thrifted; purchased here for $14.95
  • Wool-blend and leather sweater - John Varvatos, consignment; last seen here in April with my long bomber jacket
  • Trousers - FRNCH, consignment; last worn here in May with a denim fin jacket
  • Sneakers - Converse; last seen here in September to see Lyle Lovett
  • Jacket (below) - Nygard, thrifted; last worn here in July with pink tulle

The chunky shoes added a nice "friction" to the outfit. 
That's Barnabas' butt wagging in the air there. He came in for a visit. 

I added this beautiful embroidered floral jacket overtop of it all. 
I wore it like this sometimes...and then took it off when I overheated. 

The obligatory back view.
All that embroidery makes my heart happy. 

I wore this out to the theatre as well, walking to town with L after feeding the kittens. 
Added a skull scarf, because 'tis the spooky season! 

The stuff: 
Comfy shoes for lots of walking.

  • Scarf - Metrowear, San Francisco
  • Snake brooch - consignment
  • Wool gloves - Parkhurst

Snaky bling: 
I liked the coiled snake at the neckline. 

  • Leather belt - Madewell, consignment
  • Snake pin - c. 1985, gift from Mom & Dad
  • Crystal heart cuff - Juicy Couture, consignment
  • Filigree cuff - St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop, London
  • Silver/green stone ring - thrifted
  • Silver snake ring - c. 1986, BC Museum gift shop
  • Steel earrings - gift from Lise

A mirror selfie shot with feline assitance. 
Super helpful, Whateley, thanks a bunch. 

Give us a kiss. 
"You're a weirdo."

Correct! Ha! 

We met up with Emma and Daylan at the Brickyard for pizza and beverage before the show. We went to see "Ken Russell's The Devils," (about it here, link 'cause I love). This is its world debut, after being banned for decades - we had the full director's cut. 
I always love seeing a movie at the Capitol 6 theatre, and even better with the moon in the clear sky. It was built in the 80s, and I love that glass feature - that's where you walk up a ramp to the get to the theatres. There is a giant plant in there that you might be able to see - it's original to the building. 

We settled into our reclining seats. 
It was a very...graphic movie, lots of 1971 nudity and violence and many scenes that would have been absolutely unacceptable back then (think Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange" for something similar, then add religion). We were all blown away by it - and it all actually happened! 

Emma sent me a picture of their other cat, Tooks, who ALSO really loved the new bed. 
I laughed at Kes' little outraged stalk.

And then it was Wednesday! I was really tired, so I did a super-easy outfit. Just a sweater, a skirt and boots. 
Really trying to keep my eyes open! 

  • Cotton sweater - Denim Supply Ralph Lauren, thrifted; first seen here in April for a Mom-Day
  • Skirt - Zara, consignment; last worn here in July with chartreuse for another Mom-Day
  • Boots - Aldo, thrifted; last seen here in March with mixed plaids - also a Mom-Day! 
  • Suede coat (below) - Mangoon, thrifted; last worn here in April with this same sweater

I laughed when I realized I last wore every main piece including the jacket below...for a day with Mom! 
No wonder I felt so comfortable! 

Incognito. 
My first time belting this jacket, with this wide leather belt that I found in my accessory "archives." Why not actually wear it? What was I saving it for? 

The stuff: 
I walked to and from work in these boots - I love them. 

  • Scarf - Zadig & Voltaire, vintage 90s, consignment
  • Belt - Le Chateau, c. 1986
  • Velour gloves - Thinsulate, thrifted

The old Le Chateau "house" logo (chateau means house). 
That belt has been worn a lot, look how worn it is! 

Brutalist bling: 
A simple outfit has the great advantage of being an excellent backdrop for my Brutalist pieces. 

  • Pewter cuff, bracelet, necklace/pendant - all Robert Larin, vintage 70s, vintage mall, gifts from L
  • Wood/steel brooch - Aarikka, consignment
  • "Volcano" ring - vintage 70s, Mom's
  • Square ring - thrifted
  • Earrings - vintage mall

Did you spot the brooch? It's on the hem of my sweater.

Whateley flopped in the hall. 
He just sits wherever he wants.