Bigass Anniversary Weekend: Fluvogian Adventures with Melanie, Shopping and Carousing

Well, that was a bit of a break, but I had a good excuse! L and I celebrated our anniversary weekend as we always do: we go to Vancouver and buy each other Fluevogs!

Photo by Melanie!

L, thank you for being my partner in crime, my best friend, and most awesome husband who has put up with me for 18 years! Crazy! Where does that time go?

As we know our shopping patterns pretty well, we both pack minimally for the trip. 

I also took a blue sweater, but otherwise wore the exact same outfit every day; concrete leather, black boots and a sweater.

• Sweater - Talbots, consignment; last seen here for Pink Shirt Day in February
• Leather skirt - no name, thrifted; last worn here (after the Hallowe'en costumes) in November 2014 with Etro
• Boots - Aldo, consignment; last seen here (4th outfit) in late February with lavender ultrasuede

The weather was pretty crappy the whole time. It's the west coast - we get a lot of rain, so it's not like it was totally unexpected.

Both the boots and the skirt are leaving my closet. The boots are very worn out, and the skirt is a little blah. I've gotten my $7.00 out of it!

The real star was my pink fringed coat!

"Ayyyy...I'm so cool."

Funny thing about this coat. There are no neutral reactions to it: 75% of the people who saw it, loved it, and 25% laughed at me behind my back (L let me know). Not that I care terribly about that, because I completely and utterly love the insanity of it.

So much, that I'm linking up to Patti's "Visible Monday" over at Not Dead Yet Style! Go check it out!

We always take the float plane over.

Our planes were packed both ways - and they only hold maybe 12 people.

I was on the right wing.

The Coho ferry from Port Angeles was debarking cars and trucks.

There's the Victoria Clipper!

It's a hydrofoil that goes harbour-to-harbour from Victoria to Seattle.

It was quite cloudy the whole way over. Most of my pictures were of the plane windows with water droplets on them!

Looking down on some of the little islands in the strait.

And before we knew it, there was Vancouver!

It's only a 35 minute flight to Vancouver from Victoria, so after we walked to our hotel and checked in, we headed down to Acme Cafe to meet up with the fabulous Melanie of A Bag and a Beret!

Yes, here we are!

"Save-on Meats!"

 It was a meeting of shaggy coats!

And of course we ham it up every time L turns the camera on us!

We saw this strange little car and had to pose with it.

Tentacle Coat and Muppet Coat approve!

Melanie took us to a favourite little hip thrift store, where I found a vintage early 80s Pierre Cardin silk skirt.

I love the length.

All fully lined, hand-stitched and reeking in quality.

Not bad for $24.00.

Look at all the hand-finished edging!

I don't even sew and I know that's amazing.

Even the zipper has a little spike that keeps it from slipping.

The dots are a pale cream instead of white.

We dragged Melanie along to Fluevog in Gastown.

We were all flouncing about like we owned the place, to the delight of our usual Fluevogologist, Wes (hi, Wes!).

Hop like a bunny, Melanie!

"Okay!"

I got to see O's magic loupe in action!

Melanie directed me to a couple of other thrift stores. What a sweetheart.

She also took some shots of L and I as we cruised around the store. She wrote about it here - go, go now!

These are part of the famous "Shoes My Husband Hates" series. Photo by Melanie.

L watching to see that I don't commit a crime against shoe-manity and buy an(other) ugly pair.

Photo by Melanie.

I spy a pair in the background that I ended up getting.

But it's so hard to chose.

Photo by Melanie.

L didn't end up getting the ones he has on there, but I got the pair I'm modeling. Oh, yes, I did!

In fact, I got two pairs! Strictly speaking, L and I buy each other our shoes as our anniversary gift to each other. 18 years is the Fluevog anniversary, right?

Words to live by:

Always hold on to the truth.

Don't let others sway your heart. 

Don't compromise yourself for the 

sake of temporal grooviness.

Be separate from the crowd that's 

awash with normality by standing 

on a firm foundation.

Never waiver in your love or faith

and in all you do

please wear my shoes.

 - John Fluevog

These lovelies are the Queen of Prussia Louise, in burgundy metallic. Linking here 'cause I love!

Do you see the curly scrolls on the toe, heel and bottom of the heel?

Be still my soul. Or sole.

"Be the Queen, Guard Your Boundaries"

I wore these out for dinner and drinks on both Friday night and Saturday night, with no foot pain at all! The left shoe rubbed the upper part of my ankle, but only a smidge. No blisters.

I thought this height of heel (3.75") was out of my reach, now that I'm in my late 40s, but I walked all over downtown Vancouver in these (and even quite a wee bit tipsy at times) and they were amazing. Thank you, for making such awesome shoes!

Look at these buckles.

Custom-made!

This is the flat back of the heel:

It took me a minute to figure out what the symbols are - they're pieces of John's signature.

And yes, Amber, I saw your comment on Melanie's blog! I did get the Esoteric Temptations Odette. Linking here 'cause I love!

These are a much shinier and bluer shoe than they look on the website. They are metallic as well - sensing a trend?

I LOVE the Swordfish toe on them and the way the shoe comes up at the back of the ankle. I have very narrow ankles at the back and these just fit like a glove. I expect they will be a bit stiff at first, but my Half-Truth Tanyas (these) do the same thing and they've gotten very soft and comfortable.

Not exactly how you might picture "soft and comfortable", but Fluevogs are amazing. The quality is just the best.

Check this out:

A good look at the metallic blue colour

Skull buckle! Skull buckle! I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West Coast in these. I can't wait to wear them!

John's signature on the heel.

And matte-finished heels with a shiny stripe on the bottom.

You know what they say about temptations...

Be vigilant

Protect your sole

 - John Fluevog

It was no contest for shoes for L. 

His favourite football team are the Miami Dolphins, so when you get metallic aqua shoes, you just have to buy them.

These are the Gateways Brandenburgh Light.

Even the soul (sole?) is aqua!

These were also far too cool to leave behind.

L wore these out - in the rain! - both nights in Vancouver

 These are the Imperials Ian.

Look at that heel! These are total showstoppers.

I took my chartreuse silk dress (light, doesn't take up room) and wore it both nights. 

Stair pose across the bed!

Fancy tights and the same jewelry as daytime. Good to go! I wore this for dinner and drinks both nights, meeting up with our friends, Craig and Anthony.

• Dress - Mary Jo Bruno, consignment; last worn here in November 2014 for brunch out 
• Bigass necklace - Club Monaco

On Saturday, we met up with friends Spense and Kim and their kidlets out in West Van for breakfast. There is great shopping with lots of little local boutiques along Main Street, as well as some awesome diners for brunch.

I found this lovely skirt at Front & Company for $28.00. It's by Kenneth Cole. 

Those are all good colours! Plus, I love the slightly less exaggerated high-low hem, and the flowiness. This will be nice in warm weather.

I always go into Two of Hearts Boutique! It's all local and ethically-produced clothing, and I've gotten some gorgeous pieces there over the years. I fell in love with this dress.

It's navy blue and white on a thick stretchy cotton, with shirring down the side of the waist and a pleated criss-cross over the bust, and little cap sleeves.

The polka dots make it hard to see the details!

 The upper back has a cut-out, and buttons at the top.

Hand!

 See?

And Wendy B would love this:

Can you see it? Polka dot camo!

A butt bow!

It is a killer dress on and I already have an event to wear it to! It's by Stop Staring! and is called the Love Dress - it was $198.00. It's made in the US - they make tons of  vintage-inspired clothing.

I fell in love with this rich pattern.

This one is by Cici and was $89.00. I can't wait to wear this with all my pink and yellow for spring!

I don't often buy full price, but I like to support local designers and ethical manufacturers, as well as actual bricks-and-mortar stores, instead of shopping online.

Oh, and I like second-hand! Like these NEW Diesel shoes.

I adore this D'Orsay pump, with the metallic (again!) toe. The colour is a steel/pewter.

And again with the high ankle thing!

That's a good heel height for me, for shoes that aren't Fluevog!

These are made in Italy, are all leather, and also feature a custom buckle.

The buckle was also trick to figure out - you have to slide the strap through, then lock it by sliding the peg to the front. In fact, I bet that's why they were barely worn, if at all. If you don't get them done up right, you just step out of them.

Shiny sole with NO wear! These were $45.00 second-hand. I found the same ones online for $190.

I love the mod vibe of them. 

I popped into one of the stores Melanie had recommended, My Sister's Closet, which is a charity that supports battered women. Not to be confused with My Sister's Closet in Victoria, which is a middle-range consignment store. 

I found this amazing jacket there. 

 Of course, it caught my eye immediately, but once I started looking at it, I really fell in love.

The back.

Hell, yeah! That's all embroidered, front and back, and look how the patterns line up! The sleeves are the same, the front is even.

A close-up of the centre back:

Ooh, pretty colours...I can't wait to start wearing this.

It's by Paparazzi by BIZ, which seems to be carried in Anthropology stores (which we don't have, but there's one in Seattle).

This was $125.00, but it's for a very good cause, and I would have kicked myself if I'd left it behind.

Not only my shoes have profound things to say!

I particularly like that comma. 

"Where there is love, there is life!"

I was amazed to see that it's machine wash, tumble dry!

It's a heavy but soft denim and it weighs a ton. It's got heft.

With three pairs of shoes, a dress, a coat and three skirts, my backpack on the way home was stuffed tight. The weight went from 6 lbs to 14 lbs!

L also did really well on his shopping, following his haul at Fluevog. He found this cool shirt at Front & Company.

 It's by Uniqlo, and will look great with his skinny jeans this spring.

He's also a sucker for funky socks.

I like that "El Corazon" pair.

We found a very high-end consignment store, where L slipped on these black dress shoes. Sometimes a name does equal quality - these are Prada!

They are quite broken in, but fabulous all the same. And L got them for a fraction of their cost new.

Bright and early Sunday morning, we strolled back down to the waterfront.

Cloud drama over Canada Place.

Hints of blue in the sky.

 The planes bobbing gently on the water.

Time to go.

 I see a ferry!

There was a very boorish and loud family of tourists on the plane coming back. I mostly dozed for the short flight.

Fort Rod Hill Park on the right.

Fisgard Lighthouse at the end of the spit.

And before you know it, we're home.

I can almost see my house!

Outrigger paddlers right below us.

I've done dragonboat racing there - the planes are close!

Someone might have been very happy to see us.

"What, home already?"

 He's been quite the snuggle-puss for the past couple of days.

"Nonsense, just workin' the beat."

We missed him too! It's good to be home!

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With all that shoe goodness, it feels like time to celebrate! 

Join me on Friday for the first Shoe Shine of spring!