Colourful Weekend Wrap-Up: Coiffed Friday and Coat of Many Sparkles for Shopping

I'm finally starting to relax - I have all my Christmas shopping done! And all I have to look forward to is quiet days at work, as everyone goes on vacation, and getting together here and there with friends and family. 

And here we are, continuing in the glitz and glam of the season, with a "bam!" of colour. Not to mention Weekend Hair.

Whoop! Sign me up for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style!

• Dress - Dept., thrifted; last seen here in October with orange
• Shoes - Cydwoq; last seen here for Shoe Shine, but last worn here in March with Leia and Morena

I loved wearing this dress again - I did my deep blue vintage full slip under it, and sort-of matchy blue tights.

I haven't seen as many coloured tights around this year, but my tights typically last me for a few years, and I'm in no hurry to go solid black. It seems a shame to waste good fashion real estate on plain or black or beige.

Outerwear:

I adore this butter-soft orange leather jacket. It would only be better if it had pockets (it does have one internal pocket) on the outside.

The stuff:

Writing about these shoes for Shoe Shine got me all excited about wearing them. They were as lovely and comfy as I'd remembered.

Simple bling:

I think of these as spring/summer accessories, but why not all year round?

• Belt - vintage 80s, thrifted
• Earrings - local
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

I had a shopping date with my colleague Sarah after work - she's new to Victoria so I introduced her to the WIN Warehouse store. She found a skirt, a gorgeous grey wool vintage pencil skirt - such great quality!

I did well myself, finding a vintage back camisole for $2.50 (not pictured, it's just basic), and this fabulous hand-made dress:

It's classic 1980s cut, with a very narrow pencil skirt portion - with pockets! I love that it unbuttons all the way to the hem, so that you could wear it open or partly open with another skirt under it. I have such plans!

Fabulous fabric:

It feels like silk. It is fully lined in a wonderful Marsala shade (colour of the year for 2015!), with lots of crazy hand-stitching.

It fits like a dream, and oh my goodness, really?

The buttons are self-covered metal forms that the person who sewed this dress made to match. One of the buttons' fabric is torn. I just snipped it off and replaced it with the one at the bottom hem of the skirt. Voila! I always knew I'd use those Brownies sewing badge skills!

On Saturday, L and I had intended to get up early for breakfast at Floyd's and then get our final Christmas shopping done for each other (my favourite part) solo afterwards. We slept in (okay, I slept in) and dawdled (um, that was me too) so went a little later.

It was very mild out, so I risked wearing my wondrous Coat of Many Sparkles for the day.

• Sweater - Simply Cashmere, thrifted; last worn earlier this month here
• Skirt - INC, consignment; last worn here in a very seasonal outfit in December 2013
• Coat - Desigual; last worn here for our annual pilgrimage to Vancouver last March
• Boots - Prepare Guide, Fluevog; last seen here in November with chartreuse

A simple and warm outfit to layer under the coat. I can't believe I haven't worn this skirt in a year - I often wear it on the weekends.

I got many compliments on the coat. It is a rather spectacular piece. I had to quickly sew a button onto it before we left (see, not "dawdling"!). There goes that sewing badge again!

These boots were made for walkin'...about 2 hours less than what I actually did. My feet are sore today.

Cross-body bad, fingerless gloves (warm but leave my fingers free!) and I was set.

The stuff:

The coat is a loud talker, so I kept everything else pretty minimal.

• Cuff/earring - Claire's
• Feather earring - local

As I said, I did finish all my Christmas shopping. I'm not supposed to shop for me, but how could I leave these scores behind? I do shop in thrift stores for stuff for L all the time...can I help it if I glanced around and these things just leaped out at me?

A Talbot's leather and pony hair belt for $1.00? Yes, a DOLLAR. That's insane. It would be a crime to leave that in the thrift store.

These utterly charming vintage earrings?

$5.00! Come on, someone else would have snatched them up and they're so awesome!

And seriously, you can't expect me not to get these.

Shoes of Insanity! What? They are leather (laces too0, made in Brazil, pointy-toe lace-up, flatform sling-backs. They are by Arnoux Collection, which I can't find much about online.

They are all the adjectives.

I suspect that the soles are cork - they are very squishy and amazingly comfortable. They are the oddest looking shoes I've ever seen.

Which is probably why their original owner donated them to the thrift store. They have never been worn.

Not even a scuff. $14.99 and they were mine!

And how how was your weekend?