Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Brunch, V-Day Fashion Show, The Magic Dress, and Some Retail Therapy

Oh, my friends, it has been a weekend to remember! It's been full of good times, love and shopping (and Vizzini). Let's go - I'm ready for dinner and some couch time!

Saturday brunch - leather and red legs, and of course "weekend hair"!

• Blouse - Marcona, thrifted; last seen here in December 2014 with sequins
• Dress - vintage 90s, Danier, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in January
• Shoes - Mini Qtee, Fluevog, consignment; last seen here with stripes in November 2014

L and I had a nice early breakfast with our friend Chris at the diner.

This dress has become a staple for me on the weekends!

The stuff:

Such fun shoes!

• Ring - Oscar & Libby's
• Earrings - local

After breakfasting, my girlfriend Caro came over to borrow a red dress for her Sweetheart party that night. She squealed when she saw me. 

Mom and I went to a Valentine's Day Tea and Vintage Fashion show, put on by an organization to support economic growth in Africa (Tanzania, to be specific). They have raised over $400,000 so far - I love a good time with a good cause!

• Blouse - Linea Domina; last seen here in April 2014
• Top - Betsey Johnson, vintage 90s, thrifted; last seen here (4th outfit) in October 2013
• Skirt - Le Chateau; not sure when I wore it last, as it's a strictly costume piece
• Boots - Mini Babycakes, Fluevog; last worn here a couple of weeks ago

I knew Mom was going to dress vintage-y, so I pulled out my Victorian steampunk gear. I was probably the most unusually-dressed person there, but not the only person in vintage!

The copper-finished leather harness is by Audra-Jean, purchased from Megan Mae.

The stuff:

The gauntlet was probably over the top, but nothing exceeds like excess!

• Gauntlet/cuff - SkinZnHydez, locally made
• Purse - thrifted
• Mini hat/feather fascinator - Heart's Content
• Necklace - gift from Mom
• Spinner ring - Twang & Pearl
• Floral ring - Sarah Coventry, vintage shop
• Bronze ring - P. Sarpaneva, c.1970, vintage fair
• Earring - Weiss - vintage fair

Caro took some pictures of Mom and I outside our library.

Mom work a homegrown vintage 80s fitted/flared jacket, and a long micropleated skirt.

Her blouse had a pleated stand-up collar and cuffs, with pin-tucks on the front and cuffs.

Of course, I had to style her up - the green hat with taupe feathers is mine, as is the eidelweiss silver pin with green and white feathers.

Don't we look marvelous?

We both had a ton of compliments, especially on Mom's hat (MY hat!). I had to practically rip it off her head to make sure she returned it, ha!

The display of "For the Love of Africa".

Every table was laid beautifully with vintage linens and china, as well as silver cream and sugar. There was also lovely jam and clotted cream for our scones. We each got a little bag of chocolates too!

Another mother/daughter pair shared our table - hello, Theresa and Suzanne!

Om nom, look at all those yummy treats. I was fairly restrained, as I'd had a big breakfast.

The entire thing was run by volunteers, from the waiters in their white shirts, black pants and bow ties, to the decorating of the church hall.

This collection of vintage shoes was amazing.

I was cooing over all these amazing vintage clothes.

Mom gets yet another compliment on MY hat.

This lady played her harp throughout the tea.

I loved this lady's beautiful outfit - she was very happy to pose for me.

Most of the attendees wore pink, red and other holiday-themed outfits, but I really loved this lady's beautiful vintage dress and coat (and those shoes are classic 80s!).

She looks amazing! Great clothes never go out of style.

Onto the fashion show, which was in the main church area. All of the models made these outfits, based on vintage patterns. The eras ranged from the 1850s up to the 1920s.

Beautiful blue.

Such a lovely Gibson Girl style.

 This woman and her outfit was modeled after Hannah Maynard, a famous photographer in Victoria's early history.

 I liked these two suffragettes!

The hostess told us about the eras, the details on the gowns and gave some historical background on the styles. It was fascinating - right up my alley.

This gentleman modeled several outfits - he had fun hamming it up. This outfit is based on an early Victoria Police uniform.

How would you like to go swimming in this bathing costume?

Or play tennis in this?

This next outfit was ingenious.

A proper lady transforms her dress to...

 Bloomers for riding her bicycle! Awesome!

So coordinated and matchy!

That was a really bright pink.

You can still see gentlemen dressed like this in the hoity-toity part of town.

Very twee British!

This was one of my favourites.

I was sitting in a pew on the aisle, and caught this as she walked towards me.

Giant flounces.

I loved the fit and the classic black and white of this outfit.

 The "key" pattern on the hem was all over the dress and jacket.

Dig that bonnet and its feathers!

I love the shape of this dress.

I would wear that.

This was my very favourite dress.

 All the detail (the fan, the lace overlay, the fascinator) took my breath away.

Just lovely - look at that grey satin!

I had trouble getting a picture of this lady, as she really got into her flapper character, and was shimmying all over.

Such a great outfit.

I love all the layers on this taupe dress.

This outfit is a replica of Queen Victoria's wedding dress.

She had the majestic wave down just right.

Giant sleeves!

The amount of work on these dresses was astounding.

And finally, a bride!

This dress had so much beautiful detail. 

Everyone together. 

What a fun event!

Mom spoiled her look by wearing her mod sunglasses on the way home.

You look awesome in MY hat, Mom!

After a much-needed nap, I got dressed for Caro's Sweetheart party.

Yowza!

• Dress - Black Tie by Oleg Cassini, vintage 80s, consignment; purchased here for $32.00
• Shoes - Vivienne Westwood + Melissa Anglomani, consignment; last seen here in January with all cream

This dress was a huge pain. I couldn't wear nylons due to the sequins and beads snagging them. I couldn't pull the hem up over my hips (think about it...). I could barely sit in it. And I had to wear shapewear (patooie!) to get it looking nice and smooth.

However, it was dubbed The Magic Dress and elicited gasps of admiration (and a few "you look f**king awesome" comments) from the other partygoers. I felt like a million bucks.

Mwah!

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day! My vintage swing coat gets an airing.

The stuff:

My favourite Valentine's shoes - I had my hearts on!

• Purse - Spencer & Rutherford, gift from L
• Silver bracelet - Coro, vintage 60s, Mom's 
• Gold/pearl bracelet - Trifari, vintage 60s, Grandma J's
• Flying spaghetti monster ring - vintage fair
• Death Star ring - Stone Roses
• Earrings - vintage 60s, Weiss
• Cuff/earring - Claire's

This is the most beautiful purse I've ever seen.

Every detail is amazing on it, from the 3-D flowers on the front, to the sequins and the bands of fabrics.

The entire metal frame is engraved.

Gorgeous blue lining and not an unfinished seam in sight. It's Mademoiselle by Spencer & Rutherford, an Australian company.

Today, I went to town to buy groceries, then had a browse through the WIN Warehouse Store.

After The Dress, I needed something a little softer and comfy!

• Dress - Kensie, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in December 2014 for chillin' at Book Club.
• Boots - Ash; last seen here a week ago for our trip to Powell River

This is my ultimate comfort outfit.

It was a gorgeous sunny day today - just what the doctor ordered for this grey gal.

Vizzini was making the best of it.

"I suppose I will sit in the sun."

He really wanted to go out on the deck.

"It's warm enough for me! I have a fur coat on!"

Sorry, buddy, it's still too cold to open the doors!

I had some good shopping karma. I bought these silver and crystal stud earrings for $15.00.

It's by Glee, a Victoria-based company.

At the WIN store, I spotted these cool crackled glass and amber goblets.

They were $1.95 each - half price on all "slashed" items today!

I fell for this luscious real fur hat.

It's so soft, and it looks like my hair (albeit crazy hair) when I have it on. It was $14.50.

This hat fits around my hair perfectly. That's always a factor - does it work with my hairstyle?

It's black velvet with faceted beads around the brim.

The ribbon has come unattached at the back - I will stitch that up.

 It's by Harryson, and the label says "fifth ave new york".

Couldn't find much about that company, but the hat was half price, so $7.25.

The fur felt inside is stamped "Aurore".

And made in France. Nice.

I knew this scarf was silk by touch.

The simple pattern and black, grey, burgundy colours with the yellow fuzzy bits appealed to me.

It's signed Sacha and was $2.50.

The edges are hand-rolled, a sign of good quality. I'd guess this is from the 70s, based on the unusual pattern.

I thought this cool belt was a steal.

It's by Danier Leather (that red is leather, and the leopard is pony hair), and was half price for $6.25.

This equestrian blouse grabbed my eye.

It's by Le Chateau and was only $4.50!

I've been on the lookout for nice thin wool sweaters.

This is a beautiful deep greeny-teal shade.

I don't know this brand, Dalkeith, but it was made in England and is pure Merino wool.

For $10.50, that is a good deal in my books. Ha, check this out - here's an ad for them from the Ottawa Citizen newspaper from August 1963. Those look just like this one - there we go, my sweater is 52 years old!

I swooned over this amazing cardigan:

These embroidered cardigans were a staple for a time in the 1950s; they are usually in pretty rough shape by the time they hit the thrift stores, with loose beads and threads, as well as moth holes and stains.

This one is in perfect shape, and don't you adore that rich peachy-yellow, and all those silver/yellow/brown beads and accents?

I might have gasped at the price tag:

That is such a good price! These are usually around $40 or more for ones in really good condition.

I'm having a loafer thing right now. I found another pair.

They are the palest pink and I can see myself wearing them out this spring/summer.

They have barely any wear:

Anne Klein and $22.50. Sure, I'm in!

I also found this awesome vest.

I think it's handmade (no label), and although the buttons are put on for a woman, it has no tailoring at all. I thought it might work for L.

Red star = 50% off, so this was $2.75. It fit L perfectly and will look awesome with some of his dressy looks. Who doesn't like to wear dragons? Also, nice metal buttons.

I'm going to the Art Gallery's next Urbanite event soon - I always get my tickets online right away, and I was surprised to find out I'd won a gift card to a local mall. I took the bus out to pick it up, then spent it immediately. Heh. 'Cause that's what I do.

I found these fabulous studded black leather gloves in Danier.

They were only $19.00! What a good deal!

I also popped into the MAC store and bought one of their Isabel and Rubun Toledo eyeshadow palettes.

Secret selfie

I've been wanting to go Full Crazy Lady with some blue eyeshadows, so this Moodyblu compact was perfect.

I also had a gift card from my brother-in-law for Christmas, so I dashed into Chapters on the way home.

I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan, so was excited to see a new book of short stories, "Trigger Warning", and a work-friend introduced me to Joe Hill (I bought one of his books for L for Christmas, but have yet to read it myself). 

When I got home, Officer Vizzini was having a snooze on the job.

"I could sneetch better on the deck."

I hope you all had a restful and fun weekend!