Oct 19th & 20th - Outfits #19 & 20 - Let's Get This Weekend Started!

Hello and welcome to the weekend! 

Let's get right to it - here's Friday's outfit.

I've pretty much abandoned Casual Friday - I don't miss it

I wanted to wear my gorgeous burgundy leather obi again, so I mixed it up by putting against a background of neutrals. I last wore the belt with this same jacket and booties (here), although I last wore the booties here on Monday with oranges and reds.

I last wore this awesome brown skirt here with green tweed and mustard (that sounds like an exotic salad!). I also added burgundy tights and a burgundy cami to help pull the whole red thing together.

The swallow necklace that Mom gave me filled in the neckline nicely, and went well with my brown/bronze-y jewelry.

For my outerwear, I took the belt off and tied it over my coat. My new toque and gloves and my fur scarf kept me all snuggly in the chilly October wind.

And my eyes are closed

I showed my Obakki coat to a coworker who used to work in Vancouver and was familiar with their store. She gasped when she saw the coat and said it would have easily been over $1,000.00 in the store. Wow!

Coat (Obakki, thrifted), jacket (Armor Jeans, thrifted), cami (Jackpot), skirt (Liz Claiborne, thrifted), booties (Coffee Kope Tiam, Fluevog), belt (locally made, gift from L), necklace (Summoning, gift from Mom), earrings (Plum), assorted rings), hat and gloves (Roberta's Hats).

I went up to one of my favourite shoe stores in town after work on Friday, locally owned and operated Heart and Sole,* because two different friends had forwarded me notice of their sale - 75% off! They (and their sister store, Footloose) are the only stores in town that carry Fluevogs (a very small selection, mind you), so I had to stop in and see if there was anything left in my size.
*I link because I love - if you're in Victoria, go check out this great little store!

I was so close to nabbing a pair of the black Wonder Ayers for $54.00, but the last pair was a 10 and would have been a smidge big on me. Besides, the lady trying them on really needed a good pair of black shoes and they fit her perfectly. I think I convinced her to buy them - it's only good Shoe Karma, am I right?

Instead, I found these fabulous Spring/Summer sandals.

They are the Faith Reumah* in a floral-print leather. The soles are real wood, and you can just see the John Fluevog signature stamp on the strap near the buckle.
*I link because I love - and I LOVE Fluevogs!

The back of the heel:

As I often find with Fluevogs, sometimes a style doesn't appeal to me until I see them on my foot.

I actually kind of like how they look with my burgundy tights on:

I have fairly narrow feet and these fit like a dream. The straps are nicely adjustable and the front is not too toe-y (I don't like my toes poking out too much).

And they were only $54.00!

 Woot!

Today, L and I went out for brunch:

It was nice and sunny when we left.

My weekend outfits are a lot simpler: just my black sweater (last worn here in a dressier ensemble, 2nd outfit, scroll past the shopping pics), my Smoking Lily skirt (last seen here, in that same outfit as the booties, jacket and belt above!) and my granny shoes (worn last weekend, with my barn skirt).

A few steampunk-y accessories (a couple of leather cuffs, my octopus necklace), and I'm good.

We had some errands to do downtown (mailing a certain star/moon belt to a certain blogger, for one), so this was good for walking around.

For outerwear, I donned my thick black leather jacket and some fingerless gloves.

"Howdy!"

We ended up at a mall just out of town, looking for an accessory for L's costume tonight. I haven't been to a mall on a Saturday in a long time, and I was a little overwhelmed by the frenzy of consumption - bags of cheap oil-based fabrics made by workers who don't earn a living wage. I've just finished reading "Over-Dressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Fast Fashion*" and it was a solid reminder to myself to not buy cheap crap. I really want to work on buying local, ethically-produced fashion when I buy new, or at least clothing that is made in Canada. There's not much of that in the mall. I should have gone to the MAC store - at least much of their product is made in Canada.

If you haven't read "Over-Dressed" I would encourage you to do so. I know many of my fellow bloggers and readers are already buying ethically by shopping thrift and second-hand, and supporting local businesses, as well as shopping their closets, and that's a great thing! But somehow we still end up going for the cheap new stuff...and I know for me, I'm going to start asking myself how much I really want that cheap item.

Heavy stuff, man.
*I link because I love - and I recommend this book.

On a lighter note, L and I are going to a grotesque burlesque tonight! It's a costume party, and my dear friend Vero is one of the performers. I'm excited to do up a fun costume! Gotta go!