Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Green Vintage Shop; Patchwork Shop; Winesday Stripes; Another Shop

Hello, my friends! I hope spring has sprung in your neck of the woods - it feels like it's getting close here! 

Let's kick this bigass wrap-up off with Friday's outfit, which I wore all day for work, and then in the evening to the Victoria Spring Vintage Fair, followed by dinner after at Spinnakers Pub with friends. 

The theme of the Vintage Fair was "Wear Your Green" - I had another green outfit planned (which I'll wear later this week) but my feet rebelled at the heels I'd planned for it, so I threw this together Thursday night before bed.

This is my entry for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style.

• Sweater - Tatyana, thrifted; last worn here in February for shopping again
• Skirt - Pink Martini, consignment; last seen here in October 2018 with heavy metal
• Shoes - Half Truth Tanya, Fluevog; last worn here in February with this same sweater (shocking)
• Coat (below) - Burberry, consignment, Vancouver; last seen here (3rd outfit) in February for brunch and shopping

Friday was also our office potluck for International Women's Day - we had about 30 dishes, including Indian sweets, Chinese cookies, sushi, pizza, cheese, chocolate, multiple dips...oh, it was all so tasty.

I bought sausage rolls on the way to work and cut them up into hors d'oeuvres sizes. I can't be bothered to make anything myself, and it's totally valid to buy things that other people have made.

Did you notice my gold tiger on my shoulder? She was quite popular, both at work and at the Fair.

I enjoyed this gold and black banded sheer skirt. It's a fun piece.

I've done the sweater/shoes combination many times before - they were made to be worn together.

As you can tell by the brightness, we had sunshine all day! What a treat.

Outerwear - I hate wearing a bulky coat to the vintage fairs. I folded up this leather one and stuffed it in a bag while I shopped.

As always when I have it on, I get gasps of admiration. Yes, it's leather, and yes, it's metallic bronze! Amazing, isn't it?

• Hat - Delux, Saanichton Fair
• Gloves - Cejon, thrifted

The stuff:

These shoes were great for walking to work, taking care of the potluck, running up and down stairs, getting to the bus stop with my colleague Janie, doing the Vintage Fair (2 hours), and walking to Spinnakers with Yvonne and Janie. No surprise, I demanded a cab home at the end of the night!

Gold bling:

My lovely tiger always gets love.

• Tiger pin - consignment
• Gold chain - Grandma J
• Earrings - thrifted

Awesome coworker, reader and commenter Trisha showed me a picture of her daughter Kailani dressed for International Women's Day:

Photo by permission

Look at that Wonder Woman tee (recognize it??) on my young fashionista gal! Kickin' it, Kailani! You go, girl.

Details of her girl-themed leggings.

Love!

I was fairly restrained at the Vintage Fair, and did not spend my full budget...unlike my colleague Janie, who went hog-wild and bought All The Things! She had never been to a vintage fair before and was gaga over the prices and array of sparkly things. The vendors loved her!

I found a few things in the WIN (Women In Need) room. This is a vintage 100% silk blouse.

I examined the shoulder seams inside and I think someone removed the shoulderpads from it. However, it doesn't affect the fit of it - it's a loose, blousy, pirate shirt.

I love the pixelated roses design - very Dries Van Noten! - I suspect that this is late 80s to early 90s, when pixels and computers were new and exciting.

Note the hip sash! Yar, I'll be wearing this on the gangplank, me hearties!

The blouse was $34.95, which I thought was a bit high, but *shrug* it goes to a good cause.

The brand is Roche de Paris, and it was made in Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 (and most of that manufacturing stopped around that time), that helps me date it. I couldn't find many mentions of that brand online, aside from some re-sales and a newspaper ad from 1986.

I found a new coat! This was my big item of the weekend. What shall we name it? The Fuzzy Flamingo? The Unsafe Pink Elephant? Give me some ideas!

PINK! I imagine this belonged to a lady in the 50s/60s who wore it to church (at Easter, certainly), probably a few times a year.

It's 100% wool - the back has some fuzzing on it, like the previous owner sat in a car that had scratchy upholstery that distressed her lovely coat.

I trimmed some of the "worms" off with scissors, which helped, but I'm going to wear the heck out of this coat.

We all had a giggle over the manufacturer: Auckie Sanft. That is the weirdest name ever, however, Irving "Auckie" Sanft was a real person! I found his obituary here (he died in 2000). I also spotted this awesome blog here post showing women's fashion from 1957 and there's an Auckie Sanft coat in the bottom picture.

You can see a bit of the pink lining there.

It was $49.95, but for the amount I'll wear it, it'll be pennies per wear over the years. This would have been very high-end back in the day, sold in a specialty section of a big department store like Simpsons or Eatons in Canada.

I know it's old because of the ILGWU( International Ladies' Garment Workers Union) label, which was in use between 1956 and 1968.

I'm so excited to wear it!

I picked up a free postcard, button and sticker as souvenirs.

And the last thing I bought from the WIN room were these fabulous brushed steel ball earrings for $8.95. They have no markings, but they feel lovely on.

I bought a few pieces at other booths, too.

The acrylic cuff was $5.00, the slinky metal 70s/80s necklace was $5.00, the "S" pin with the pearl was $2.00, and the fan earrings were $8.00.

I found a mark on the $2.00 brooch. Dodds (with a backwards S). I found this fun history of them here on a defunct blog.

My wee S pin is probably from the 60s. Not bad for two bucks.

On Saturday, L and I strolled to town for brunch. We went to Bin 4 for burgers (although I had an ahi tuna bowl instead).

Another wear of this fabulously tasseled and patchwork-looking sweater, and this lovely leather skirt.

• Sweater - Artisan de Luxe, consignment; last worn here (3rd outfit) in November 2018 with this same skirt
• Skirt - Mackage, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) in November 2018 with this sweater!
• Boots - Adrian Agnes, Fluevog; last seen here (3rd outfit) for brunch in November 2018
• Sleeveless coat - Only, thrifted; last worn here in February

Another bright sunny day! I re-purpled my hair on Thursday night.

"Where's my present from the Fair?"

When I bought this thick leather skirt I had to super-glue two of the snaps together permanently - otherwise it pops open and falls off.

Bits of yellow sneaking into my outfits mean I'm jonesing for bright springy colours!

You can never go wrong with red boots; it's why I have at least 6 pairs of them.

Outerwear - this was good while we walked in the sun. In shade, it was cold!

Long gloves to keep my arms warm.

• Gloves - Club Monaco, consignment

The stuff: 

I don't wear these boots very often - they are a commitment to get on! That harness has to be removed to get them on, and they are a very thick, stiff leather. But worth it! Badass!

Red bling:

Get used to those earrings - I wore them all weekend.

• Leather/steel cuff - Rimanchik
• White gold earrings - Frances Jewelers; gift from L

While were were getting ready for our respective evenings (Winesday at Yvonne's; MANday at our house), Vizzini watched us from his post. I had trouble spotting him at first.

"I'm camouflaged with my leopard post."

I got a better angle.

"Thanks for blowing my cover, Woman!"

What a sweet boy. Such fine mustaches! He has only 3 white eyebrows on one side right now.

He immediately hopped down and started angling for kitty treats.

"Feed me, or I will eat your shoelaces!" 

I hid the shoelaces and fed him before I left.

I squeezed a nap in after our jaunt to town, so with little make-up left and my old purple glasses on, I threw on a comfy sweater dress and tights and walked to Yvonne's to hang out with my besties for the evening.

This is my first wearing of this lovely wool Club Monaco dress - and my first wearing in years of these fun striped tights (by Trasparenze).

• Dress - Club Monaco, thrifted; purchased here last weekend for $25.00
• Boots - Cougar, thrifted; last worn here in February with pinstripes, pearls and patterns
• Leather trenchcoat (below) - vintage, thrifted; last seen here last week

After playing with the scarf all night, I mostly wore it draped down my back, not the way I'm wearing it here.

I walked to Yvonne's with my salad fixin's and a bunch of chocolate that I bought at Spinnakers the night before.

I was totally cozy in this snuggly loose sweater dress. Loved it.

Here I am wearing the tights in October 2010! Nine years is a long time for hosiery.

I took a pair of thick socks and wore those for the evening.

Dragging the scarf around. This old thing!

Bundled up. I cabbed home, since with the time change/Daylight Savings, it was after 2 am when I left.

It was a lovely evening, surrounded by my dearest friends.

• Scarf - Faux Louis (Lewis!) Vuitton, thrifted
• Gloves - Cejon, thrifted

The stuff:

 I'm surprised at how much I like wearing these boots. They are so comfy!

New cuff bling:

 I couldn't wait to wear this new-to-me cuff. See the silver sparkles in the clear stripe on the black sections?

• Cuff - vintage fair
• White gold earrings - Frances Jewelers, gift from L

Today, I walked to town to get groceries - as you can see, it was a three-day repeat of sun! Woo!

 Since I hadn't spent my full shopping budget, you know I had to check out a thrift store or two, right? Silly question.

• Blouse - VanessaVirginia, consignment; first worn here in November 2018 with pink and grey
• Leather "Buffy" slip dress - Danier Leather, vintage 90s, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit +) over Christmas in December 2018 in Powell River
• Boots - Arnold Churgin, thrifted; first worn here (3rd outfit) on a weekend in February
• Jacket - Frank Lyman; last seen here in January

No one saw me like this but I thought you would like to see the outfit without the jacket.

 This leather dress is one of my favourites for shopping - it just has a zipper up the back and is really easy to slip off and on.

I call it my Buffy dress, since it reminds me of the fashions on Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the late 90s, which are starting to be trendy again.

 The lace top is snug and thin enough that I don't have to take it off to try things on.

I had loads of comments on the jacket, though.

 It's such a stunning garment. Embroidery, studs, zippers.

Done up - feeling like a rock star much, Sheila?

 Yeah, baby.

Feeling like Wonder Woman, actually.

Boo yah!

The stuff:

 I love these boots - they were great for a spin around town.

Familiar bling;

 Look, a ring!

• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• White gold earrings - Frances Jewelers, gift from L

I stopped in at the Patch's pop-up store and had a good look through the stuff they were unpacking for spring. I spotted this wonderful high-necked, long-sleeved dress.

 It has an elasticated waist and cuffs, and the hem is about a foot higher in the front than the back. It looks great on. Very flowy.

I love the pattern of branches and flowers too - not too delicate, not too big.

 New with tags still on! What?!

It's Nanette by Nanette Lepore - made in China, unfortunately, not in the USA as her stuff usually is/used to be.

 It was only $26.95, though. I am not complaining! The original price was $139.00!

This isn't my usual style of dress, but I really liked it on, and I can see it being a really comfy dress for a summer weekend. It's a very bleached out blue chambray cotton.

"Did you buy this for me? The rope belt looks tasty." 

It's really soft and drapey on. It's by Michael Kors and was $24.95.

 It is from 2013 and sold for $90 originally.

It's all snaps - I like snaps.

 I wonder who the designer is??

I fell hard for this lovely neon yellow blouse. And I hear the cool kids are into neon (again).

 This blouse is 100% silk and has ruffles around the shoulders and arm openings.

It's by Kate Spade.

 Only $24.95! Yes, please, put that in my bag. It retailed for $198.00.

From there, I went to the regular Patch store a few doors down, where they were having a BOGO (Buy One, Get One) Free sale. I managed to get a free item, but I did buy this short dress because it's so COOL.

 First, it's velour (so KLASSY), and get a load of that amazing pattern! This is definitely of that "bike shorts and Doc Martens" era of the early/mid-90s.

There are very Goth-y looking scarabs all over it with these crazy scrolly designs.

 Look at that big bug near the bottom!

I found this as part of the print:

 "Franky for Betsey" - I couldn't find out who Franky is, but Betsey Johnson seems to have done a couple of lines of velvet clothing with tattoo-inspired designs back in the 90s, all with "Franky for Betsey" patterns.

It was $32.95, but I could not leave this on the rack.

 Made in the USA too! Love that!

So I got this skirt for FREE. It's very Muppety.

 It's a stretchy inside-out fleece, high-waisted pencil skirt. No slit, so we'll see how it does for walking.

It's a Zara Knit, new with tags still on.

 You can see the nice fuzz it has - it looks like snow! It's a polyester/acrylic/mohair blend. It originally retailed for $65.00.

I paid $19.95 for this skirt in order to get the Zara skirt for free.

 It's a neon yellow/pink tweed. It looks like yellow with red there, but it's not.

See? Neon! It's by J. Crew, and is from 2013 - that's the last time neon was trendy.

 I'm excited to wear this with the Kate Spade blouse!

I did one quick pass through Flavour Upstairs from there, but just found one dress, but it's a good one.

 Um, it looks like crap on the hanger? It's a wrap dress, in black and white loopy squiggles. The top part is a black on white, with a wide peplum and a ruffle down the front of the skirt. The skirt part is white on black.

It's Diane von Furstenberg! And only $24.99!

 That's a score.

There's the logo and hologram.

 It's the Mililani dress.

 It would have been several hundred dollars new.

And it's 100% silk knit. It will be lovely to wear in hot weather!

And my friends, now I'm off to enjoy my evening with L and Vizzini! I hope you all had a fab weekend!