Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Fringed Friday; Two Days of Shopping

Hello, my friends! I hope you are having a lovely weekend! 

Here's my Friday work outfit. One of my colleagues shook his head at me in the morning: "You really don't do Casual Friday, do you?" 

Nope, I really don't. Once again, I'm thankful that I work in an environment (IT) where I can explore my style!

Linking up to Patti's "Visible Monday" over at Not Dead Yet Style.

• Velvet/silk beaded kimono - no label, consignment; first worn here in May with burgundy jeans
• Dress - Tommy Hilfiger, thrifted; purchased here for $5.00
• Shoes - Chie Mihara; last seen here (3rd outfit) in July with my de Castelbajac jumpsuit

It's been a muggy, windy, gloomy weekend.

 The Castle against the clouds.

And this raucous seagull who set off the alarm when I appeared on the stairs.

"Woman on the stairs! Woman on the stairs!"

The crows and seagulls in our neighbourhood have just gotten through nesting season, thank goodness, as we're getting tired of being dive-bombed.

My outfit was very popular at work on Friday and I felt magnificent swooshing about the office in all this fringe. 

I have gravitated to autumnal colours for most of my life, and am really looking forward to getting my fall wardrobe out - although I still have 6 weeks in my spring/summer wardrobe to go! Mustn't rush these things.

First wearing of this lovely dress - it's rather simple, but sometimes that makes for a nice layering piece.

 I wore a mustard camisole under this for cleavage coverage.

Adding the kimono takes this up a notch. A big notch!

 All that pattern is burnout velvet.

I swoosh at you!

 I was very, very careful not to roll this into my office chair, or have it catch on a door or latch.

I wrapped it around myself like this.

I might have to belt it in a future look!

The stuff:

 Easy, comfy shoes for a Friday - the magic of platforms means I'm only wearing a 1" heel here.

Snake bling:

 Wearing my lovely snake jewelry for work - why not? I have to get my money's worth, and besides, these are too cool not to share.

• Snake belt - vintage 80s, vintage expo
• Snake bracelet - Whiting & Davis, vintage 70s, vintage fair
• Gold hoops - 5th anniversary gift from L
• Amber ring - c. 1996

My mood and energy have been low for the last while, so a few evenings of games and quiet were just what I needed this weekend.

"Well, I've got my seat, you'll have to sit elsewhere." 

Much cat cuddling, playtime and nap-time were had as well.

On Saturday, L and I went to Artisan Cafe for brunch, did a light grocery shop for our evening guests, and then I went to the WIN store on Pandora for a thorough browse.

 Another wearing of this lovely linen/cotton dress, and this pulled-out-of-the-giveaway-pile sweater. Also, easy stuff for fitting room exertions.

• Sweater - Nor, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in December 2018 with a pink pattern
• Dress - Geek Boutique, thrifted; last worn here in April with cosmic blues
• Shoes - Born, thrifted; last seen here (in a few outfits) in July when I was in Hamilton, ON

It poured rain for most of the day, but it is August, so it was also rather warm.

 This layering of a "holey" knit cotton sweater over the light, unlined dress was just right - not too warm, kept me from getting chilled when I was wet.

It's a mix of greys, steel blue (the sweater) and nay (the shoes).

 Ready for the rain!

I hate carrying an umbrella, so I made L take mine home after brunch and took advantage of a break in the rain to dash to WIN. It rained again while I was shopping, and then bits of sun started to poke through the clouds, and I was able to walk home without getting a drop on me.

The stuff:

 The toes of my shoes did get soaked, though. There were a lot of puddles and patches of wet grass.

• Earrings - Fossil, thrifted

The shopping gods smiled upon me, and I found some fun things. First stop, the accessories counter, where I found these two rings, both $3.95. The acrylic one is hand-painted, and reminds me of Anna and Ann, both of whom sport these kinds of funky rings. How fitting that my middle name is Anne! I like the chunkiness of the wooden ring.

 The earrings are very Art Deco-looking, and are quite heavy - I think they might be stainless steel. They remind me of my POLY jewelry, although these are not (no markings on them). They were $9.95.

These wonderful patent leather shoes were a great find.

 Taking a picture in the cloudy daylight so that you can see that the colour is a dark reddy-brown - is that oxblood?

I love the shape, the way the ankle comes up at the back.

Gold heels! 

The Mary Jane strap snaps to take them off.

 These are in the fall/winter pile. They'll be awesome with tights.

They've been worn obviously, but are in pretty good condition. All leather, and made in Italy. I am not familiar with the brand Napoleoni, but that round red sticker inside the left shoe makes me think these came from Winners.

 They were probably about $199.00 original price, but these were only $16.95.

And even then, that was marked down from $24.95.

 A pretty good score, I'd say.

I love finding funky accessories - I have Celeste Stein tights (these ones), so finding a pair of nice trousers socks made me happy.

 These are cream and black - I love the pattern, although once on the foot it's mostly blurred out as the fabric stretches.

However, when I tried them on at home, I received a nice surprise.

 They are fleece-lined! I paid $6.95 for these, and you can see the original retail there of $19.99.

I find it very relaxing to take my time and go through all of the racks at WIN - it's very meditative, just humming along with the top-40 music and looking for treasures.

 This is a really nice olive green blouse, with interesting lace detail on the front neckline.

I have never heard of Jella Couture, but they do seem to be one of those fast-fashiony brands.

It was only $3.50 (all tags with a hole-punch were 50% off).

I fell in love with this amazing zebra/Eye of Sauron/Joy Division album cover corduroy skirt.

"Love? I'm feeling no love at all. Zero love."

Mr. Yowly needed attention at this point. Excuse the interruption.

"I'm an interruption? You offend me, Woman!"

Oh, come here, Vizzini, you silly thing.

"Right, there had better be some tummy rubs and snuggles." 

There were.

I feel like corduroy is due for a renaissance - this is a soft stretchy cotton cord skirt by Chapter One.

 It was marked down to $8.50.

I'm starting to get a collection of black sweaters, but tell me, could YOU have left this on the rack?

 It's a silver fox!

A SPARKLY silver fox! 

"You know you love me."

The dark grey parts are sparkle wool.

It's by Gap (sized whacky, of course), and was also marked down to $8.50.

As it says, it's a merino wool blend. I love this sweater!

And checking the secret label down the side seam, we see that this is the "Long Sleeve CREW NecK FOX" sweater.

 It retailed for $59.99 US in the Holiday 2017 season (delivered to stores in October 2017).

I am so excited about this lovely dress - it weighs a ton - all of this design is embroidery on black lace.

It's a classic fitted sheath, and the hem hits just below the knee.

A nice bold gold zipper down the back.

 It's by Eliza J and the sizing is all wonky.

It's marked a size 12 but fits like a size 8.

 It was only $24.95 - that feels like a good deal, since the original retail was $158.00 US.

Look at the colours and all the amazing embroidery detail.

 The sleeves are unlined and go right to the elbow. I can't wait to wear this!

After a late evening of hanging out with our friends Cat and Ross on Saturday night, I was up early to get groceries and then check out Turnabout's clearance sale of summer consignment items.

 I walked to the grocery store, did my shop and then hopped a bus to Oak Bay. I walked home.

• Shirt - Dept, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in January for a weekend brunch
• Skirt - Sonia Rykiel, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in May with a long blue cardi
• Boots - Arnold Churgin, thrifted; last worn here (4th outfit) in March for a weekend shopping expedition

I have had this shirt for five years, and it's been part of many outfits...but now I've decided I'm done with it. I'm just not feeling it anymore.

 Clicking back through the "last seen here" links, I count 23 wearings! Just for fun, here's the first time I wore it back in May 2014 - I still have that belt, those boots, but my hair's been lavender, magenta, and purple in the 5 years since I had it short and red, not to mention, it's about 8 inches longer!

I paid $16.98 for it on consignment at My Sister's Closet, so my cost-per wear was 74 cents per wear. That is excellent. Thank you, old shirt, for all the good outfits - you were always a star!

The shirt has snaps, and I also have a cotton tank layered under it (thank you, cloudy August). Easy for fitting rooms.

My skirt is a lovely stretch cotton velvet by Sonia Rykiel - comfy and classy!

Headphones in, bag ready (with my shopping bag inside). Will the shopping gods smile on me today? What do you think? Hee hee...

• Leather bag - Danier Leather, thrifted

The stuff:

 These boots are super comfy, good for walking, and also have a zip on the inside of the ankle. Love!

• Earrings - Tania Gleave, Granville Island

I went through every rack in Turnabout and found some great stuff. I ended up with two items with trippy black and white patterns - how odd! The first one is this multi-patterned short skirt.

I like the optic pattern, and how it's repeated in the floral (the backside of the skirt is fully floral).

The waistband is a spotty black-on-black pattern. 

 Hooray - this skirt has pockets!

It's the Peter Pilotto x Target collection - the skirt originally retailed for $34.95 US.

 I found a secret tag - this was in fall/winter (quarter 4) of 2013.

 It was marked down to $7.50. I'm looking forward to mixing more patterns with this.

I found a wonderful gold "garbage bag" skirt.

 I love the wrinkly "bark" texture and the bubble hem!

I'm somewhat biased as I adore Dries Van Noten's clothing - he's probably my favourite high-end designer.

 This is an older piece as it's made in Belgium - his newer items are made in China. I haven't got the energy to dig through his last 20 years' of collections on Vogue (and I think this may be earlier, pre-Internet), but I'm sure it retailed for over $200.00 - Turnabout's original price was $189.00 and this was marked down to $57.00.

I'm also a big fan of the following designer's pieces. Oh, and this is my other crazy optic garment.

 It's looking at you...

Isn't that incredible? I love these computer-generated graphic images.

 This is a Jean Paul Gaultier Soleil cardigan, made of the same meshy fabric as my vintage 90s long-sleeved "cosmic" top (seen here).

 This was marked down from $79.99 to $24.00 - mine!

 Made in Italy - most of his stuff is not anymore. I'd guess this is probably from the early 00s.

I just love this pattern.

I can't wait to mess with my coworkers' eyes. Heh.

I like the large mesh cuffs - they are snug.

 That makes the sleeves nice and pouffy.

After my successful foray into Turnabout, I went over to Good Things consignment to see if they had any interesting jewelry (I got my tiger brooch there), and found a purse.

 It's a very bright coppery yellow. Or is it yellowy copper?

It has good solid hardware.

 The brand is Arcadia.

It is leather, and the inside is all nicely lined with woven "Arcadia" fabric.

 I have very specific requirements for a purse: must be leather (or some other really nice material - but no fake leather), must have a couple of zip compartments (for my wallet and other stuff), must hold all of my purse things, must have a good closure, and must not be boring.

I can always tell how much a purse will hold by looking at the bottom.

 A goodly amount, for sure! This purse was marked down to $30 from $50. Mine!

As I took pictures of all my finds, Vizzini inspected them.

"That is obviously why they are on the floor, which is my territory." 

I had to scoop them up quickly.

"Yes, this mesh cuff is a delightful plaything. I accept these gifts, Woman."

Silly kitty! What's your favourite of my purchases?

Thanks so much for stopping by!