All's Fair, Plus Emmylou

Hello, my lovelies! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Long weekends are the best, aren't they? 

L and started our Saturday with brunch at our favourite diner with our friends Chris and Alison. I felt like being sex-ay in my leather.

This is nearly a copy of this outfit from last January's capsule, although I am happy to report that I passed along that turtleneck sweater (turtlenecks, pah!) to a better home.

Black leather dresses are appropriate for brunch, yes? I last wore this bare-legged here in July with my shiny shiny brocade coat (time to wear that again!).

I am still babying my new tattoo by wearing natural fibres, like this cotton long-sleeved tee, as much as possible. This is one of my Wear Around the House tops, so you can tell I am being ultra-lazy about outfits on the weekend, ha! I last wore it as a travel piece when we went to Powell River for Lawrence's funeral here in June.

Add a pair of funky wooly tights and red harness boots and Bob's yer uncle. I last wore these fabulous boots here last month when I was sick.

Top (Calvin Klein, thrifted), dress (Danier Leather, thrifted), tights (Hue), boots (Adrian Agnes, Fluevog), feather earrings (local), spider/snake rings (homegrown vintage 80s).

After brunch, we had to run some errands. I spotted a sign for the Vintage Fair, and although I am not the spontaneous type (L balances me well in that respect), I said, "Let's go!" and so we did.

First, we saw that there was a Record Fair within a block of the Vintage Fair. L is very much a music guy (have you checked out his blog? You should!) so we browsed through some vinyl for a while. He got a couple of older Emmylou Harris albums to add to his collection.

Then we strolled over to the Vintage Fair and had a quick peek around (L is not up for marathon shops like my gals Elaine and Cat, so it was short and sweet). We spotted this for L:

When we party, L always drinks from his Goblet of Rock (a vintage brass stemmed goblet); now, we have the Stein of Rock! Look at that lovely silver lady embellishing the Japanese pagoda design (there are also dragons on it). The blue glass insert is removable for washing. It was only $20.

I gasped when I saw this piece:

Oh yes, vintage 60s Renoir copper! This sits just perfectly on my neck - I can't wait to wear it.

It's stamped "Renoir":

It was only $35.00 - such a score!

After a brief nap (all that Fair-ing was exhausting!), we got ready to head down to the Alix Goolden Hall for a concert: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, with Richard Thompson opening.

The hall is an old converted church, which means you sit in pews and it's general seating. We lined up for nearly an hour ahead of time to get good seats. I had to wear lots of layers to regulate my temperature: cold outside, hot inside.

This is my purple suede vest that is the sibling of Curtisse's jerkin (check it out). It was last worn here by L (picture, beware of sexy hair chest!), and last worn by me in the January capsule (recap here).

 My denim maxi skirt was last worn here in August (2nd outfit).

Same top underneath, plus my black classic boot for walkin' (last seen here for the Day with Auntie last weekend).

Top (Calvin Klein, thrifted), suede jerkin (vintage 70s, consignment), skirt (InWear, consignment), boots (Aldo, consignment), earrings (gift from Lise).

I actually remembered to bring my camera to the concert. Here's a bunch of guitars:

The one right in the front is Emmylou's!

Inside the hall.

The stage is the former alter area, and there are rows of pews on the main floor, with a balcony that encircles the entire space, with about 4 rows on the sides. This was a sold-out show, so the full venue was packed. It holds maybe 800 people.

There are 4 circular staircases to get to the balcony.

They've tried to keep the space as original as possible.

From our seats, looking across at one of the rose windows and the central arch.

The acoustics in the space are incredible.

Check out the old organ pipes. In the far right corner is another circular staircase.

We had an amazing view. We are maybe 40 feet from the stage.

The rear rose window:

There are an additional 3-4 rows of seats behind the lower balcony where we sat.

Richard Thompson* opened up. I didn't really know him as an artist before we got the tickets (which we bought back in August).
*linking 'cause I love

He was very good - it was just him and his guitar. What an incredibly skilled player!

After a break, Emmylou Harris* and Rodney Crowell and the backing band came on.
*linking 'cause I love

Emmylou has been writing and recording since the 60s - she has an amazing voice which holds so much heartache and emotion.

I highly recommend these videos if you are not familiar with her (these are all YouTube, and I'm just linking so you can check 'em out):

• "Pancho & Lefty" (from 1977, one of my favourite songs)
• "If I Needed You" (from 1982, a gorgeous song by the late Townes Van Zandt)
• "Back When We Were Beautiful" (with Rodney Crowell, from their new album "Old Yellow Moon" - a truly lovely song that had me in tears)

She is such a talented woman: visible with her white hair, and so young despite being 66 years old. Can I please be her when I grow up?

Richard Thompson came back onstage for a couple of songs with just him and Emmylou on guitar.

Look at how gorgeous it is with the organ pipes lit up!

It was a hugely emotional evening, just experiencing the music in such a wonderful venue. One of my top 5 concerts, definitely. If you get the chance to go see her, please do! You won't regret it.

After a late night, L and I came home to a hungry kitty.

"I don't care about your goings-on. Feed me!"

Stamps from the Record Fair, Vintage Fair and the concert.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the Travelling Yellow Skirt photo-shoot! Yes! Finally!