Super Weekend Wrap-Up: Brown Floral Friday, Yellow Fruitals, and a Shopping Bonanza!

Not long before the Super Bowl! Our house is aromatically enhanced with the smell of two kinds of chili, and I'm chillin' in no make-up and an oversized Carolina Panthers jersey - no picture of that! A dozen people will be arriving in about an hour. 

It's been a relaxing weekend. I've sorely needed my downtime, so you know what that means! Retail therapy! 

But first up: Friday. 

Have I mentioned before that I don't do Casual Friday? I really don't.

• Blouse - Peter Nygard, consignment; purchased here last weekend for $11.50 on the clearance rack
• Skirt - Bedo, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in November 2014 with Dries van Noten in November for an outing at the Art Gallery
• Boots - Mini Babycakes, Fluevog; last seen here in October 2014 with green fringe

This lovely blouse is silk and it breathed beautifully while I did the last of my stairs for the end of the challenge on Friday. It also kept me warm - silk is magic! I knotted it in the front, and let the back hang down a bit.

The skirt is very high-waisted; I like how it forces me to stand up straight and hold in my stomach. Good posture!

The stuff:

Since I was photographing my boots anyway, they seemed like a good candidate for Shoe Shine, which is on until Friday!

Minimal bling:

A couple of sparklies and my enormous and gorgeous Wendy Brandes Fulvia Ring.

• Earrings - local
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

I love a good knuckle-duster of a ring.

My camera battery died midway through my Saturday morning pictures, so I did my stair pose after I got home around 4pm.

I'm a little more mussed up and unkempt when I've been shopping for 4 hours!

• Fruital blouse - thrifted; last seen here in January with faux leather
• Skirt - BB Dakota, consignment; last seen here in August 2014 with an insanely ruffled blouse
• Boots - Pegabo; last seen here (5th outfit) in November 2014 for Zoe's day with crazy Auntie Sheila

L and I went to Floyd's for brunch, then I strolled off to have some thrifting Zen-time.

The boots were not the best choice for slipping off for trying on clothes, but they're good for walking.

I went to three thrift stores and one consignment store. I did pretty good, and found something in every store, including a few amazing items.

First, I went to the St. Vincent de Paul, where I found this dragonfly leather cuff.

I like the construction:

It was $5.00, which is a good price for Catalyst Reaction Leather.

I also have this piece by them, with airplanes on it.

I took this suede belt off a mannequin at the WIN (Women in Need) Boutique.

I recognized it immediately as a Shi Studios piece, both the belt and the buckle, which is removable and interchangeable with my Shi Studio belt (seen here). The buckle and belt cost $99.00 to buy together on their website, and I paid $12.50. Score!

This isn't a terribly interesting piece, but it's a very useful piece.

It's a cardigan, which does up with a snap in a deep V at the front. It was $12.50 and is by Conrad C.

I recently purged most of my cardigans, feeling like I was "over" them, but they are super-useful for wearing with sleeveless tops and over dresses in the summer. I think it was more that my old cardigans were the wrong shape for the style groove I am in right now. Been there, done that, time to play with something else.

And lo and behold, here's another cardigan!

This one is by Jacob, and is a deep marsala colour - it was $13.50. It came with a belt that is backed with grosgrain ribbon (it's laying over the shoulder in this picture). I'll be removing those little loops on the side of the sweater. No one tells me where my waist is!

I stopped in at the Hospice Thrift Store as well. I work with a really sweet and intelligent young woman named Emily. She's fresh out of university and is this is her first "real" job. I know she doesn't have much money, and she loves classic styles  (she was the recipient of this jacket, which was outside her comfort zone, but she wears it all the time).

I knew when I saw this dress that she would love it.

It's by Club Monaco and is 100% silk. It's a beautiful cut and pattern. Totally classic and I know Emily will rock it.

It was only $15.00. That's nothing. This dress would have been over $200 new.

Yes, I did try it on...just in case it was a big 4! It was not.

I'm so excited to give it to her! I actually put together a huge bag of clothes to take to work tomorrow to give away to my coworkers. I love seeing my stuff go to good homes!

I found this top for me:

It reminds me of galaxies!

It's semi-vintage Club Monaco piece - they have been around since 1985, so there are some old pieces out there. You can tell by the label (compare the font on the label below to the one on the dress label above), and by the fact that it's made in Hong Kong. Very little clothing has been manufactured there since the 80s, due to cheaper manufacturing costs in China. I'd guess this top is from the early 90s - it might have had thin shoulder pads at one time.

The blank tag means this is a generic thrift store price for a short-sleeved blouse, which is $6.50. However, all yellow labels were half-price, so it was $3.25.

I still felt vaguely unsatisfied with my purchases - I liked all these pieces, was giddy about the dress for Emily, but I hadn't found that "wow" item yet. So I wandered another couple of blocks, over to the Velvet Crease consignment store.

And I totally lucked out! I found a Desigual coat!

I love Desigual's textures and patterns, and how they play with colour.

Check out the amazing back!

When it fit, I knew I would buy it regardless of the price. At $82.00, this is a pretty expensive consignment item. However, while researching on the interwebz, I discovered, that this coat is from Fall 2012.

I dig the cool buttons and the orange contrasts.

See the black label? There is a gold drawing of a man's head beside the words "Desigual by". It's Christian Lacroix! Sa-weet! I found an article about this here (linking 'cause I love, and that may well be this exact jacket). These coats sell for over $400.00 (and they rarely go on sale).

I also found this wondrous creature of pink sparkle loveliness:

It is a classic wiggle dress and it fits me perfectly! We will be going to Caro and Ron's Sweetheart Party for Valentine's Day. Guess what I'm wearing?

It's BlackTie by Oleg Cassini, and it is probably from the 80s.

It is covered with glass bugle beads and iridescent sequins - it weighs a ton! - and those are all sewn by hand! The bottom hem has some loose threads and is missing a few beads/sequins, so I asked for a discount (since I was getting the coat for sure). This was priced at $42.00 and I received $10.00 off, so $32.00..

So, I found my real gems in the last place I looked - isn't that always the way?

A few of you have asked - our Book Club just discussed "The Hare With Amber Eyes" a non-fiction book by Edmund de Waal.

I thought this was a lovely book, rich and fascinating in its glimpses of a family over the past 100 years. Edmund is a pottery artist, and inherits hundreds of Japanese netsuke (little carved figures). He dives into researching his family, to find out the history of how these figures ended up in his possession; the result is that he brings the personalities of his ancestors alive, and pulls you into their turbulent lives during the Bohemian days in Paris, the Jewish persecution prior to and during World War II in Vienna and other locations in Europe, to modern Japan. It's not a book I would have picked up (my tastes run to trash, unashamedly), but I really enjoyed it and savoured it - it took me 2 weeks to read here and there.

Well, off to watch the Seahawks (hopefully) crush the Patriots! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!