Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Friday Casual Stained Glass; VVF Studio 25 Gala; Striped Theatre and Winesday; Cat in a Box; Super Bowl Casual

Hello, my friends! I've had an insanely busy weekend of adventures, and good golly, I want to tell y'all about it. Here's a little hint - it involved DISCO.

Photo credit: VFF Photo Booth on Facebook

This is my entry for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style - L and I got our disco on, baby!


But before we get to that, I had to work all day Friday. Knowing that I had a super-busy evening ahead of me, I wore an easy outfit for work.

 My lovely "stained glass" dress does all the work, no fuss needed.

• Turtleneck - Jacob, thrifted; last seen here under a grey dress dress in January
• Dress - Tangerine Jill, consignment; last worn here in July 2018 for Pride Week
• Shoes - Miista; last seen here (3rd outfit) for shopping over the holidays in December 2018
• Coat (below) - Forever 21, thrifted; last worn here in January

Friday was a hoppin' busy day, and it just flew by.

 As always, this stunner of a dress gets lots of attention.

It's a work of art.

 My styling was pretty simple. Black sparkly turtleneck and black tights. Done.

I wore the coat I planned to wear that night to the 25th anniversary of the Victoria Film Festival's opening "Studio 25" Gala.

 Nothing too crazy, just a lot of patterns. I got a few side-eyes on the bus in the morning, but my coworkers are pretty used to this level of whackitude from me by now.

• Leather gloves - Club Monaco, consignment

The stuff:

 Easy shoes for lots of running around.

Silver bling:

 Upon further review, this is a different day's accessories - I only wore white-gold hoops for jewelry on Friday! I did all my stuff photos on Sunday, and mixed things up.

• Gold/silver cuff - JPL, vintage fair
• Ring - POLY, vintage fair
• Gold earrings - 5th anniversary gift from L

As I left for work in the morning, I spotted Vizzini on the benches.

"You're leaving me again, aren't you?"

 Yes, afraid so, bud. And it's not been a weekend conducive to kitty-snuggling.

I had to get ready for the VFF Gala at work. I brought my change of clothes/accessories, enough make-up to make sure I had a back-up set at home, and fully-planning to leave all my work clothes, including my glasses, at work. I redid my make-up in the office bathroom, and changed into my disco clothes...and then I cabbed to my hair appointment!

 In addition to my usual cut (we took a couple of inches off), Sofia gave me lovely soft feathered 70s "Farrah" hair.

My make-up isn't super visible (as is appropriate for the era), and wasn't really relevant as I wore sunglasses all night.

 Soft and ready to "Love to love you, baby"! I picked these fun blue-to-yellow shades up at the Patch during my lunch break for $19.95.

Because L and I were meeting up that night, we did a test-run of our outfits on Thursday night, to make sure we had all of our accessories lined up and everything was ready to go. I totally recommend this for big events!

 My glorious authentic disco dress!

• Dress - vintage 70s, thrifted; purchased here for $11.95
• Shoes - Sol Sana; last worn here (3rd outfit) in December 2018 with a steel metallic gown
• Coat - Forever 21, thrifted, as above

It was a really simple outfit - I let the dress do all the work.

 It wasn't as flashy as some of the outfits - a lot of people at the Gala had rented costumes that were not actually vintage from the era - but I felt like I embodied the Saturday Night Fever feel of the discotheque.

Modern me, showing off all my ink too!

"I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it."

I discovered that this dress was MADE for dancing! It swooshed and swirled - so much movement!

"I just see you being silly, Woman."

At the Gala, I had many people telling me how much they appreciated that I was fully-authentic.

 It was a wonderful piece to wear for this party, and I can't wait to wear it again!

The stuff:

 I needed to wear shoes that I could walk in (from the film venue to the party venue - 4 blocks), and stand/dance in all night (3+ hours). These were awesome, although my feet were pretty tired on Saturday!

Silver bling:

I kept it all simple, with the heart theme and era-accurate pieces.

• Belt - vintage, thrifted
• Cuff - Swarovski, consignment; gift from L
• Earrings - vintage fair
• Sunglasses - the Patch
• Bag - gift from Megan Mae

Although L is very good at styling himself, I provided some guidance and input. He had his beard trimmed off into a funky "Shaft" look on Thursday night - I bought him a gift card for a proper shave and style for Christmas:

 Back to his usual handlebar, plus angled sideburns.

Love it!

What a handsome guy. Aw!

One of the things I love to brag about is that L and I never need to rent costumes because we shop our closets!

"I'd like to shop your closet for some tasty shoelaces."

This is a 70s polyester shirt (all of our guy-friends had shopped at the Patch for their vintage shirts - all looked fabulous, as you will see shortly). L wears this on the weekend sometimes for our brunches.

The orange satin trousers are by Versace and were purchased a few years ago on consignment in Vancouver.

"Getting bored of all this clothing talk. Laters."

He wears these for lots of special occasions.

Adding a fun newish pair of Fluevogs, L's lion-head pendant, and a leather belt with a Playboy cover buckle (it features the "Women of Canada").

 His sunglasses are his everyday prescription pair.

Look how awesome we are!

 I'm ever-grateful that L loves to dress up.

Pimpin' in our outerwear.

 This coat makes me laugh, because the front snap pops open if I breathe. POW! L's coat is vintage 70s, trimmed with wolf fur. He wears this regularly when we go out for brunch.

Sofia and I were captured by the event photographer as we arrived at the film venue. 

Source

She wore a black pantsuit/bodysuit with this fabulous BCBG body-chain, and vintage gold earrings. So much fabulousness!

 I took my camera and took a few pictures, but mostly I enjoyed myself and lived in the moment, and enjoyed the Gala with our friends.

Source

 We all met up at the film venue - we saw Sink or Swim (Le Grande Bain) which was a Full Monty-esque comedy about middle-aged men forming a synchronized swim team. We all enjoyed it - it was a nice, upbeat film to kick off our evening.

Unfortunately, our friends Cat and Ross had to cancel at the last-minute due to illness, but the rest of our stalwart and game-for-anything crew put on a good show.

 Yvonne doing her disco cool vibe in leatherette leggings, and a sequined top (it's one of mine from way back), and Randall showing some impressive chutzpah (and chest hair) in his 70s polyester shirt.

Karen and Nick are goers! We've been partying with them for more than 20 years, and they always give 100%.

 Karen does her 70s vibe with all items shopped from her closet - I know, impressive, right? - and she styled up Nick as one spiffy disco dude. He's a dancing machine!

Linda, looking gorgeous in her fur, Fluevogs and hand-crafted ensemble - she's a very talented sewist.

 Her guy Brad and friend Joanne were also on theme, but I didn't get any pictures of them.

L, arriving in his groovy outerwear.

 At the end of the night, L and I bused home - our outfits caused quite a stir on the late bus!

This woman had the best vintage 70s dress, and allowed me to take her (blurry) picture.

 When I have my contacts in, I lose all my close-up vision, so I had no idea how my pictures were turning out!

Presenting the film.

 The screening was at the Victoria Conference Centre.

The Gala itself was held in a former office-supply retail space a few blocks away. Volunteers had decorated it, and did a wonderful job.

 I was particularly enamoured of these umbrellas with motion-sensor lights hanging down - I twirled with the lights and danced here, and lounged like a diva on the batting-covered box-seats scattered about.

L and Casey, who came as Andy Warhol.

 He was perfectly in character all night.

All the food and drink at the Gala party were included in our tickets. The drinks were Harvey Walbangers, a take-off on a Screwdriver, plus the usual beer and wine, and the food was all 70s-inspired: cheese fondue, cheese-balls, deviled eggs, meatballs, mini quiches.

In the "blue room" - Karen, Sofia and L.

 Rock on, my peeps!

A DJ spun 70s disco hits. There were volunteers in disco outfits dancing on speakers, and zooming around in roller skates; they did a demonstration of disco-dancing for us, with lifts and spins.

Source

We danced for hours to "YMCA", "Heart of Glass", "Dancing Queen" and all kinds of awesome songs. It was a fantastic party!

We had a nice sleep-in on Saturday, then headed to lunch at John's Place (link), another favourite local diner - I've been eating there since I was a teenager.

 I always dress like this for the diner!

• Leather jacket - Burberry, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in December 2018 for a pre-holiday shop
• Top - Calvin Klein, thrifted; first worn here in October 2018 for a Casual Friday
• Skirt - Kenzo, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in September 2018 with this same jacket
• Boots - BCBG Max Azria; last worn here (2nd + outfits) in December 2018 for our trip to Powell River

I had to wear my old purple glasses, since I'd left my turquoise ones at work. After breakfast, I picked up my kit from work.

I still hadn't gotten a wear in of this skirt yet this season, so I built the outfit around it.

I had a lot of happy comments from strangers in this, and one couple at John's Place recognized us from the Gala the night before. 

Pockets!

L and I are rather distinctive in our garb.

Such a lovely jacket - I adore how it looks with a pouffy skirt.

 The skirt's textile has a really interesting raised pattern that is puffy.

Buttoned up for walking.

 A yellow brocade purse for a fun pop of colour.

• Purse - Aldo

The stuff:

 Very comfy boots. I wore the lion head belt buckle as an homage to L's chain the night before.

• Belt - Leather World
• Buckle - Zara, thrifted
• Cuff - JPL
• Ring - POLY
• Gold earrings - gift from L

In the afternoon, Mom came over to visit with Vizzini before we headed to the theatre. We just got a new ottoman with storage inside, and L was demonstrating, to someone's interest.

"What new toy is this?"

He wasted no time.

"I approve of this cat space."

What is it with cats and boxes?

"I claim this as mine."

Mom and I walked down to the Belfry Theatre for their latest presentation, the one-act play, "Bears." Local review here - it was amazing.

 Nothing works for comfort like a dress - and this is one of my very favourites.

• Dress - Karen Millen, consignment; last worn here in October 2018 for a half-day off
• Shoes - Half Truth Veda, Fluevog; last seen here (2nd outfit) for some after-brunch shopping in January
• Coat (below) - Danier Leather; last worn here in January

From the theatre, Mom and I went for dinner at the pub, and then walked home.

 And then - yes, my day is not over yet! - I cabbed to Winesday with Yvonne.


We spent a lovely evening, well into the wee hours, hanging out with our wonderful Winesday women.

 I ate a lot of chocolate.

Bundled up - you can see how my dress rides up when I wear tights. 

 I wasn't outside much, and it was a chilly but dry evening.

• Fur boa - thrifted
• Gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff:

 Easy shoes.

Simple bling:

 Favourites, all.

• Cuff - Rimanchik
• Earrings - Tania Gleave, Vancouver
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

And today, after sleeping in again, we hosted an 11-person Super Bowl party.

Got my team sweatshirt, my slippers, and my coffee. Go, Rams! Although, sigh, they did not win.

I hope you all had a fun weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by.