Major Weekend Round-Up: Vintage Shopping and Cat Pictures

When do I not have a busy weekend? Never, that's when. So here we go, let's get caught up!

How I do Casual Friday:

Honkin' bigass shoes, leather and a denim blazer!

I went out for dinner after work with my former boss Tammy from Fairweather (I worked there 1997-2000 while I was at university the second time). She is quite the fashionista - no one I know (in person) talks clothes like her! She is my fashion sister. Anyway, I had to pull out the stops and look fabulous, of course.

This denim blazer was last worn to a hockey game here in March. The gold leaf pin was one that I took as a remembrance of L's Grandma W from her memorial service a few years ago. I love the idea of putting out all of someone's jewelry for people to take. It would sure increase attendance at the service (hee hee, I'm morbid).

The blouse is one I've had for several years - it was worn twice in the April 2012 capsule (recap here).

The leather skirt was also featured in the April capsule, and worn twice. It is my favourite leather skirt; so soft, great length and fits perfectly. Also: vintage 80s and consignment!

We'll get to the red shoes in a minute - I did wear them at work for about 4 hours, but I had a flat(ter) pair that I wore to bus to work (I am not going to fall off another bus!), and to walk to meet up with Tammy.

Nice woven gold leather kitten heels. I last wore them here for a shopping expedition. Speaking of shopping, I did swing by the Smoking Lily stores after work on Friday - 20% off everything! I might have bought something...

Okay, here are the red shoes.

Yup, those are 6 inches of freakin' awesome. I bought these at Kurt Geiger in Heathrow Airport in London in May 2010 for 59 pounds (about $85-90 Canadian back then). They are by Carvela, and are leather and wood. I love the rock and roll studs on them. The X strap across the top of the foot keeps them very securely on my feet, so I can walk around and not feel tottery.

I never did put these into a capsule in 2012-13, but I'm keeping them. They are not an every day shoe, but I love the fit and shape of them. They live in the "party shoe" section of my shoe tower.

I first wore them here with my Spanish ladies dress that I bought in Camden Market. Here are the other times I wore them:

• September 2010: with a crazyass puffy-hemmed strapless dress. I don't have that dress or the red cardigan anymore; I should wear that big black chain necklace again soon!
• July 2010: with a funky printed dress and my "sleeves are real big" cardigan, which was sent to a fellow blogger. The dress was passed on to the great swap/donation karma pool.
• April 2011: with my ruffly leopard zip cardigan.

I'm shocked that I've only worn them 4 times total, but they aren't really a work shoe, and I guess I haven't really mentally transitioned them into the party shoe collection. Well, I will have to rectify that. We go to lots of parties, so time to get these babies back in rotation.

Jacket (Bisou Bisou, consignment), blouse (INC), skirt (Hemingway, vintage 80s, consignment), red shoes (Carvela), gold shoes (Aldo, consignment), pin (Grandma W, vintage 80s).

Tammy and I had a lovely dinner, and some great catching-up. When I got home, L showed me some pictures he'd taken. Officer Vizzini is on patrol!

Keeping an eye on the neighbourhood. There are a lot of people, cars and squirrels to keep track of, you know.

After a hard few minutes of patrols, a cat needs to chill.

"I'm relaxing over here."

 He always sits with his arm hanging over his box.

Something has been spotted. Perhaps a moth?

Definitely a moth.

"If only I could get to it."

I love his little white goatee.

On Saturday, Cat, Elaine and I met up for the Fairfield Vintage Fair. I scored big at this last time we went (here, in November 2012), finding Versace shoes, my lovely velvet poncho and oodles of jewelry. I probably should have read that post and reconsidered my outfit, but I felt like dressing up and wearing a vintage-y look.

Most impractical outfit ever for trying on things! Scads of little buttons on the vest and the blouse (with a pin a the neck), plus a hat, plus zippered boots. What was I thinking? After one disastrous attempt at trying on a vintage dress, I focused on stuff other than clothes (or at least things I could try on over this).

However, I liked the Victorian vibe, so aside from that momentary frustration, I was happy with the outfit. I got a few compliments and one lady asked to take my picture.

I'm linking up this outfit for Patti's "Visible Monday" at Not Dead Yet Style - check out all the fabulous people!

This is my J. Peterman blouse (last seen here, while imitating a pirate), with my leather vest and purple boots (last worn together, here, with denim and floral).

The skirt is my seersucker flouncy favourite (last worn here, with greys and purple boots).

I debuted my crossbody "The Trend" leather purse:

It was awesome - so many pockets, and lots of room inside for all the little purchases I made.

Cat and Elaine also found tons of scores, so we headed to the pub afterwards and had some beer (and whisky!) with lunch and pored over our loot, oohing and ahhing. By the time I got home, it was after 5pm and I may have been a bit tipsy (hee). I didn't take my "stuff" shots until this morning.

This is the first time I wore this little fascinator/hat/headband thing. It's locally-made.

I liked the sort of vintage look of it.

My lovely Fluevog boots:

Perfect for walking to the fair, poking around in dozens of booths and tables, walking to the pub and walking home. L and I ended up heading out for dinner, so these really proved their walking worth!

Top (J. Peterman, thrifted), vest (CAbi, thrifted), skirt (Y, consignment), headpiece (locally made), brooch (vintage), purse (The Trend, thrifted), boots (Libby Smith Bellevilles, Fluevog).

The copper pin that I wore at my neck:

I actually bought it at a previous vintage fair (here) with Elaine. I hunted for copper jewelry to add to my collection, but didn't find anything at all.

But I did find some other really cool things! Zenkat Vintage (Etsy shop: linking 'cause I love) had a crazy-good table with very reasonable prices. Shout out to Katherine, who was a really nice lady who was very patient with the three women who monopolized her table for 15 minutes, picking through every single thing!

I found these wonderful Bakelite hoop clip-on earrings for $18.95:

As noted, they are tested and are authentic Bakelite - Elaine got a pair of green/yellow marbled ones the same shape as these, and a gorgeous Greek classic-inspired black cameo Bakelite brooch.

I also bought this lovely "thermo Lucite" brooch for $7.00. I didn't know this was Lucite, but I have a few pieces with "stones" like these; now I realize that's what they are. Cool.

I also got this amazing brooch and earring rhinestone set for $18.00.

These are the same look and feel as my "lemon-lime" brooch and earrings set that was my Grandma J's (this set). This set is in pristine condition - it doesn't look like the earrings have ever been worn!

I love rooting through bins of junk, looking for the treasures. This necklace was $2.00 at a different table.

Isn't it stunning? I love the black, champagne and amber colours of the crystals, and the brushed bronze finish on the metal. It's not high-quality, but it appealed to me as a unique piece, and heck - two bucks? I'm in!

The above ring was also from Zenkat:

The ring is brass, with an aluminum semi-circle and grey acrylic stones. It's stamped "POLY" and after a bit of hunting on the interwebs, I've discovered that it's by Christophe Poly (link here) and it was made in Montreal. Wow, he makes some amazing pieces! Ha, the only place in Victoria his pieces are sold is the shop in the Art Gallery. I'm sure this ring cost more than the $9.00 I paid for it - looks like they sell for around $30.00 new.

Some other interesting pieces:

The "spiral galaxy" pin is a Sarah Coventry brooch. It was $5.00. I have a couple of "Sarah Cov" stamped pieces, including this flower earrings/brooch set (not yet worn, for shame) and this amber/floral ring.

The crazy "spider" ring with the pearl in the centre was $9.00.

The silver bracelet above was found in a $1.00 bin. Check out how it expands!

I do well with rings and bracelets when shopping vintage, because my fingers and wrists are very small. The stretchy bracelet fits me perfectly.

I also found this bangle in the same $1.00 bin. It makes a soft shushing noise due to all the little bits hanging off it.

The little turquoise ring is actually crushed bits of turquoise, but the ring itself is stamped .925, so it's sterling silver. It was $10.00 and it fits on my ring fingers, so I have to wear it over my wedding ring.

The other ring is stamped "Avon" (ha!) and I love the sizing feature.

Such a good idea! It fits on my pinky finger with that extra inner ring - I have such a hard time finding pinky rings.The stones in it are meant to look like hematite, but I don't think they are. One of them is slightly scratched, but it's not noticeable (I eagle-eye every thing I buy). This ring was $5.00.

The last piece of jewelry I bought was this beaded flower.

As you can see at the very bottom, it's beaded onto metal wire! I think the method is actually crochet stitches.

Check out the back:

The pin clasp is threaded through the wire, so it's very secure. What an incredible amount of work went into it! I almost felt guilty for getting it for $5.00.

I learned how to crochet when I was very young (thank you, Mom!), and I've made tons of doll clothes, blankets, pillows, scarves...you name it. I never thought of crocheting beads onto wire to make jewelry, but it totally makes sense! I bet it's not that hard, either.

I also got this cool 40s/50s vibe jacket. It was from Regalia Boutique's table - when you bought 3 things, you got 30% off. This was originally $40.00, so $28.00 with the discount.

I like the offset buttons.

And the sweet detailing on the sleeves.

The lining is silk and it's really cool - I'll be wearing this jacket this week to assess its "keepability" and I'll take a picture of the lining then.

The second item I got were these suede gloves.

Marked down to $10.00 plus the discount, so $7.00. I love the grommets and the leather stitched through them. So cute - it'll be a while before I wear these, though!

The third item is actually a gift for our friend, Vero (it's really cool, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog - it's a black lace slip/dress for her burlesque persona).

Good haul, eh? I can't wait to go to the next Vintage Fair!

Today, L and I went for brunch. Remember I mentioned that Smoking Lily had a sale on? I might have purchased this dress there...

It's called the Tessroc dress (link here, linking 'cause I love me some Smoking Lily). I love that neckline, and the lovely pockets.

I told L that I would point out that I have a swirly boob and a canoe boob (the blue designs are canoes).

And it looks like the big swirly thing is actually a variation on the ampersand (&). Love it!

I wore my navy blue Noa Noa sheer underskirt for a little fun, and my comfy aqua Fluevogs.

I wore my black boyfriend blazer over the dress for coverage (last seen here in March with blue and yellow).

Punch out!

Hyno-boob!

 You can see the silkscreening on the dress better there. Fistfuls of rings, and lots of bling.

The stuff:

All handmade or second-hand.

The ring shot:

Two cheapies flanked by Wendy Brandes originals. I do like to mix my high and low!

Dress (Tessroc, Smoking Lily), jacket (Banana Republic, thrifted), shoes (Prepare Guides, Fluevogs), wrist-wrap (Shi Studios), earrings (Raven's Roost Studios), bangle/turquoise ring (vintage thrifted), silver swirly ring (vintage thrifted, Avon), Fulvia ring (Wendy Brandes), lapis lazuli ring (Wendy Brandes). 

More cat pictures! Vizzini was so cute when I got home last night, I had to take some more pictures.

Snoozing on his post. For once, he is not looking completely evil.

Hee, he has 3 white eyebrows right now on one side, and none on the other.

He always places his back feet oddly.

Giving me a lovey face:

I hope you all had a great weekend!