Mid-Week VacationCatch-Up: Mall and Shopping; Lunch With Mom and Shopping; Day on the Town (and Shopping)

Lest you think from that headline that all I do is shop when I'm on vacation, it's really only a small amount of the time. I could have written "and Napping" but the pictures of that are very boring compared to pictures of shopping treasures. 

Anyway, I'm on vacation still, yay! This outfit is from Tuesday, to wear to my haircut, out to lunch with L, to Mayfair Mall to spend gift cards with L, and then a little downtown thrift shopping on my own. 

 Comfy, low-effort, good walking shoes and clothes that are easy off/on for trying things on. I'm always prepared!

• Coat - Desigual by Christian Lacroix, consignment; last worn here in November 2017
• Sweater - Contemporaine, thrifted; purchased here for $15.95
• Skirt - Les Filles de Neaux, thrifted; last worn here  for Jeans Week in May with creeping velvet
• Shoes - Camper, thrifted; first worn here in May with a funky pattern mix

Didn't wear it like this, except when I was in the chair at my hairdresser's and eating lunch at the Ruby.

I'm on the lookout for a new denim skirt. I do like this one, but I'm fickle when it comes to jean skirts - I've had many of them in my life!

First wearing of this 100% wool sweater - it was lovely, as wool often is.

 I have a vintage camisole on under it for smoothing and keeping any itch away from my skin. I'm not too bothered by wools, though.

This is mostly how I wore the outfit.

 This coat has double pockets: you can go in through the top, or in from the sides.

I haven't seen any nice Desigual jackets around like this for a long time.

 I'm always glad to get another wear in of this glorious piece.

All done up and ready to hop on the bus!

 Trying to make more of an effort to wear some of my purses, instead of my old tried-and-true cross-body bag.

• Purse - BCBG Paris, vintage, thrifted

The stuff:

 Wonderfully comfy shoes, even if they are not the most attractive things ever. I like them.

• Earrings - Frances Jewelers, 10th anniversary gift from L

We had a couple of gift cards to the mall and spent about an hour looking around. L bought a work shirt, but I am so saddened by the dearth of stores with good quality items. Everything is so poorly made and it's all the same. Talk about boring...

So I stopped downtown on the way home and swung by the WIN store for a quick poke around.

 This is a navy blue velour (KLASSY) skirt. It's quite a casual look, but hey, I like casual sometimes.

It has an exposed seam down the side seams to the hem.

It was interesting enough for me to take a second look. 

When I saw the label I may have giggled. Sonia Rykiel! For $6.95!

 And it's made in France (even more Klassy). This has some age on it (look at the content tag - it's been washed a few times), but still...this is a really good quality piece.

One of the mall stores we did browse through was Banana Republic - I do like the quality of their product, but then the cheap thrifter in me says, "I could find those same pants in a thrift store for under $25!"

 And that's exactly what I did!

Dig that tone-on-tone pattern woven into the emerald green.

 Nice slash side pockets too! These are a cropped length.

They retailed for around $120.00 new.

 $22.95 for me!

On Wednesday, Mom picked us up and took us to the Snug at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel for lunch for L's birthday. Thanks, Mom!

 Of course, I have to dress up! I can't go out with Mom dressed like a slob!

• Jacket - H&M Garden Collection, consignment; last seen here in September 2017 with more flowers
• Lace top - Express, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in April under a jumpsuit
• Skirt - , consignment; first worn here in May with Kermit shoes
• Shoes - Tasty Vogs Hermine, Fluevog; last seen here in February with a shiny dress

Without the jacket (I took it off during lunch).

I am done with this lacy top. Just tired of it.

Much love for the skirt.

 After lunch, Mom dropped us off at Oak Bay Junction and L picked up his dry-cleaning and walked home.

I popped into Pocket Clothing, which used to be called Leche's. I used to shop there a lot, around 10 years ago when I first lost weight.

 I love the jacket with the skirt. I have to do this combo again. Mental note.

I don't shop at that store very often these days because they don't get very good quality stuff in - it's a lot of cheap, poorly-made clothing.

 To be fair, though, I have found a few good things there over the years, but it's not a go-to for me. It just happened to be in the same area as L's drycleaner, so I popped in for a look around.

Wearing that purse again!

 I was very fancy, both at lunch and shopping in the store.

The stuff:

 Sorry, shoes, I gave you a shot and you failed me. These don't work for me, so they are gone. Worn 'em three times. You can't win them all!

Blue bling (and a bonus):

 I like that the skirt has a lot of colours in the pattern to play with. I chose blue this time.

• Earrings - Mango's
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

But wait, what is this thing that I was not wearing in the pictures?

 It's a new-to-me vintage brooch, from Mom! I have long coveted this, and remember Mom wearing it in the 70s with a pussy-bow blouse and wide-legged swishy trousers (she was very stylin'!).

She was given this in 1962.

 It's a rigid metal, and the glass centre is black. I wore it on my coat for the afternoon.

She gave me first dibs on a baggie of earrings too.

 I remember the top ones (enameled metal) from the 80s, remember her wearing the silver ones in the 90s. I don't remember the chandelier ones - they're pretty recent, but I liked the style.

Anyway, back to Pocket Clothing. I browsed for about an hour and looked at everything, and actually found some goodies.

 This is a cotton/poly/wool blend sweater dress in a dark olive green.

I like the cowled back and cut-out detail.

 That makes it for me. It will be a good piece in the fall, with boots and a bigass belt.

The brand is Just Female, and it was marked down to $18.00 from $28.00.

 Mine!

Annie also carries a fair bit of leather, mostly vintage.

 I love the flare cut of this 80s/90s peach suede vest.

It has pearl snaps!

 It was $38.00.

This skirt's pattern and colours caught my eye.

 Short, swingy, and it has pockets.

No label, but it really looks like H&M to me.

 On sale for $14.00 from $18.00. Yay!

Today/Thursday, L and I went downtown and spent more gift cards. Brunch at Milestones, a browse in some shops, and now a rest before we go for dinner.

 I was saddened to hear of Kate Spade's death recently. My own issues with mental health resonated, and so I wore my Kate Spade skirt for her and for me.

• Sweater - Judith & Charles, consignment; first worn here with Gaultier pants in May
• Skirt - Kate Spade, thrifted; last seen here in September 2017 with pinks
• Shoes - Wonders; last worn here in April with swooshy pants and duster

It's been mostly overcast, but not too chilly. A light sweater with layers works.

 I have a full-length vintage slip on under this for extra warmth (this is also a wool sweater, again).

I love this skirt - it's just so pretty.

 It's also silk and pouffed and billowed with the breeze while we walked around town.

I didn't want to cover up with a coat, so I used this lovely silk scarf to keep me warm. The inside is a soft fleecy fabric.

 I liked how the florals went with the dots.

• Scarf - Story of Shanghai, thrifted

I should make more of an effort to photograph L's outfits. He is always just as stylish as me!

 That is a vintage 1950s Christian Dior tux/tails jacket, my friends. I found it for $40 in WIN a couple of months ago - he had the sleeves let down slightly but otherwise it's a perfect fit. I like that he's doing a floral shirt, cobalt blue skinny jeans and a funky silver pair of Fluevogs. Rock on, L!

He would probably want me to point out that he makes his own outfits, and finds many of his pieces himself. I am available for consultations, but he does most of his outfit assembly.

The stuff:

 I walked to town and back in these shoes. Awesome!

Princess bling:

 Yeah, we are always overdressed, ha ha!

• Leather obi - vintage 80s, thrifted
• Crystal necklace/earrings - Sherman, vintage 60s, vintage fair
• Amethyst/gold ring - Dad's, Frances Jewelers, c. 1965
• Bracelet - Lia Sophia, thrifted

We popped into Flavour Upstairs, where we found L another Etro shirt! It's a lovely paisley one, and was only $22.95. Score!

L pushed me to try on this vintage stretch velvet dress. It's SO 90s.

 It reminds me of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". I love the deep burgundy with orange and teal flowers.

So pretty!

 That's a low neckline. Not work appropriate!

It's by Betsey Johnson, and was $24.99.

 It's very Betsey.

And it was made in the US.

 Pretty sure her stuff isn't made there anymore.

I also stopped in at Dots while L was perusing the record store. I found this awesome jacket.

 It's fuzzy like a teddy bear!

It's by InWear and was $29.99. It's called the Laney Jacket and retailed at $150.00.

I'm excited to wear this!