Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Fancy Friday for Diwali; Brown Brunch; Velvet Shop

Hello! Although it was a quiet-ish weekend (no big events), I still managed to pack a lot in. 

Friday was the start of the Hindu Festival of Light - Diwali! - my office did "Fancy Friday" instead of our usual Casual Friday.

Guess whose idea that was? I went all out!

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

• Fur bolero- Bebe, consignment; last seen here in June to see "The King and I" on a mom-daughter double-date
• Dress - David Meister, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) for my birthday party in October 2018
• Shoes - Channi B; last seen here a few weeks ago with frilly flamenco and old velvet
• Coat (below) - Auckie Sanft, vintage 50s, thrifted; last worn here in April

As soon as I'd gotten approval to do a Fancy Friday (dress up, wear bright colours, wear traditional Indian outfits), I knew I wanted to wear this dress.

It is a stunner. The outer fabric is a vivid orange silk, and the pattern is woven lame (lah-MAY, darlings!).

This was my over-the-top look. I mostly had the hat off, as it tends to slide around a bit.

 Shoulders covered up in the office, although no one really cared.

I could easily slip this off when I had to run around - which I did, 'twas a busy day! I also seem to be back to having hot flashes after having the summer off from them, so that was a factor too.

 Without the hat, I wore this out to do some errands on my lunch break - it was beautiful and sunny.

A woman coming towards me on the sidewalk gave me a grin and two big thumbs up.

 All the salespeople gushed. I felt like a ray of sunshine!

Bundled up in the morning and evening. I carried the hat home in a bag.

I wore the coat open at points. The orange dress gleaming against the pink was gloriously bright.

If you have not met the Fuzzy Flamingo, here she is.

This is a gorgeous wool coat, perfect for this time of year.

The stuff:

I needed comfy shoes, and I've always loved teal and orange together.

Sparkly bling:

Once I decided on the teal shoes, the rest just fell into place.

• Necklace/bracelet/earrings - Sherman, vintage 60s, Grandma J's
• Bracelet - Butler Fifth Avenue, consignment
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

My parure (link) still has its original box: 

It's from the Bay! The Hudson's Bay Company was founded in 1670.

More stuff:

My lovely copper leather bag and my hat.

• Bag - Arcadia, thrifted
• Hat - custom-made Tierre Joline

I just realized that the bag is stamped.

It's a wonderful coppery-orange.

Y'all will indulge me as I share some pictures of my wonderful and fabulous colleagues.

Sukanya and I bond over art - in an IT company, there are not that many people who are into it.

Two of my favourite gents: Avi and Ashwin.

I love Avi's velvet slippers. Ashwin's wife made his tunic.

My gorgeous colleague Gurvinder's dress wowed me...

And then she showed me the matching gold pants! What!! This dress was so swooshy!

Simar and I have worked together for close to 6 years.

All that floral is embroidered. Just stunning.

I was so excited about Monika's chartreuse outfit that I forgot to take a picture of the full thing (she's in the group photo below, though).

I went bananas for the crystal decoration on the hem. Just drooling over that magnificent detail.

A group shot of all of us in the lunchroom:

Ashwin, Avi, Gurvinder, me, Monika, Simar, Nithya and Sara. They were thrilled by my dress, and I fit right in with the rainbow of colour. I want Fancy Friday every week!

Friday was also the last day for my coworker Bryce, so I made him a Zentangle as a going-away memento.

A simple checkerboard grid with a bunch of different tangles inside.

On Friday morning when I left, Vizzini had taken over the gold chair and my blue wooly cardigan.

"I thought you were leaving."

He's starting to feel the colder nights, and is becoming very snuggly with us.

"You're just a source of heat, Woman, now sit down."

L and I played boardgames on Friday night, and Vizzini chilled with us.

"You keep me warm, that's all."

He's such a liar. I could hear him purring over the music.

"Okay, I guess I like you."

We call those "lovey eyes."

I was up early for my Mental Health Walk - all the puddles were frozen as the sun came up. After a shower, L and I headed down to Pluto's Diner for breakfast, and then ran some errands in town.

After having purple hair for so long, I'm enjoying my more "neutral" hair and grooving on my favourite autumn colours.

• Safety pin leather jacket - Gianfranco Ferre, Spring 2003, consignment; first worn here (3rd outfit) a couple of weeks ago with leopard and leather
• Merino wool sweater - Banana Republic, thrifted; last seen here in February with wallpaper pants
• Skirt - Marc O'Polo, thrifted; purchased here for $29.99
• Boots - Matisse, consignment; last worn here in September with dark florals and pigtails

Jacket off - I only wore it like this when I was eating breakfast.

I discovered moth-holes in the sweater - sigh, they finally got to it. I've had this sweater for a long time, since December 2009 (wow, 10 years!), when I thrifted it for $12.00. I first wore it here in January 2010, and this is its 20th wearing - not bad for 60 cents per wear!

I noticed as I was tracking it back that I've mislabeled it a bunch of times as Club Monaco and Lord & Taylor, but it is actually Banana Republic. I'll be on the lookout for a new brown wool sweater, as it's been a very useful base item in my wardrobe. For now, a couple of holes near one cuff, and one under the arm, are not too bad.

I was very happy with the skirt on its inaugural wearing. It's a lovely thick soft suede, and it is actually tie-dyed, not printed. There are the right markings on the backside of it (the leather side) to match it being fully dyed all the way through. That's a good marking of quality.

It's a bit of a large slit, but with tights I wasn't bothered.

 It made it much easier for walking to and from town.

It was such a nice day, I wore my wonderful safety pin jacket again.

 I felt like a badass in this. Of course, L was also dressed up - we are a couple of snappy dressers! - and got a lot of looks while out shopping.

 I only needed a pair of gloves to keep my hands warm. These ones have a thick band of faux fur on the wrist.

• Gloves - Parkhurst

The jacket is getting softer every time I wear it. 

Bundled up and ready to face the public.

My second large coffee. One so that I'm nice to L; one so that I can deal with other people, hee hee.

• Purse - Roots, thrifted

The stuff:

I love these tall boots. They are excellent for walking.

Tortoiseshell bling:

Not much needed on the weekend.

• Earrings - local, Hamilton, Ontario
• Bracelet - J. Crew, thrifted

Someone was very subtle about us leaving:

"This is me not caring."

We call that "sneetching." He refused to look at us.

While L was browsing in the record store for a vinyl record for our friend Chris' birthday, I strolled down to Dots for a poke around.

I found this cool silver-tone rock and roll necklace on the $2.99 rack.

The regular price is inked out, but I can read the $49.99 original retail price.

I've been keeping an eye out for long silver necklaces.

As I noted earlier, I'm also really grooving on fall colours, and this gorgeous blazer caught my eye.

 I love the double-breasted cut - it's fairly boxy, but looks great on (L approved).

It's by InWear and was $29.99.

The colour is called Gold Flame, and the original retail was $150.00. I am looking forward to wearing this for Hallowe'en week!

After a solid nap and dinner, we had Chris and Ali over that evening for boardgames - we were up till 2am! I slept in a little on Sunday morning and then headed to town for groceries and a we shop at the WIN store on Pandora.

As you can see, we lucked out with another bright sunny day. I love these clear, crisp autumn days!

• Velvet dress - Betsey Johnson, vintage 90s, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in March with jeans and studded boots
• Boots - BCBG Max Azria; last seen here with my Iron Maiden tour shirt
• Coat (below) - Vassali, consignment; last worn here a week ago

A comfy outfit for trying stuff on: dress, tights and boots.

 I love the crushed velvet of this dress.

I'm generally a fan of Betsey Johnson's stuff - this design has scarabs on it.

 It's pretty short, so I wore thick wooly textured tights.

My over-the-knee leather boots helped protect me when I slipped and cracked my knee on the sidewalk.

I'm fine, just a little damage to my pride - I'll probably have a bruise on my knee.

When in doubt, add more velvet.

• Velvet gloves - Cejon, thrifted

The stuff:

 I have fallen in these boots a couple of times - the heel is quite slippy.

• Leather cuff - Guess, thrifted
• Earrings - local

I had very good luck at WIN, starting with these awesome bangles.

 Each set was $1.95. They are each hinged so they're nice and small.

I also found two unusual belts.

The black one is all woven, with wide sides.

The tan one is marked "Olsen"...

And the black one is BCBG Maz Azria.

 Neither of them look like they've ever been worn.

$6.95 seemed like a good deal for BCBG - it originally retailed for $88.00 new.

It's faux leather, but quite soft.

The Olsen belt is a soft, slightly stretchy knit.

I think the "leather" pieces are actually leather, but there's no content tag to confirm. It was $5.95. It would have been $40+ new.

I've been watching for nice sweaters for L - he wears them around the house.

This is a nice blue, and is 100% wool.

It's by Zara Man, and was half-price (all punched tags were 50% off) at $9.50. It probably would have been about $69 new.

Since I've started my Mental Health Walks, I've realized I need more workout gear. I found this lovely pink top in the half price section.

 It's by UnderArmor and was $9.50. They retail for $59.99 new.

It's specifically "coldgear" so it should be great for those winter walks near the water.

I also don't have any weatherproof pants. I loathe the colour of these, but at least they are not black.

 The hems can be work gathered or ungathered (I did one of each to show you).

They are by Mountain Equipment Co-op, a local company that sells very expensive outdoor gear.

They were $10.00, and would have retailed for $89.00+. Score! 

I've been eyeing this lovely vintage jacket for a few months. 

The neckline is really pretty, and it's a very fitted cut. The sleeves are bracelet-length.

It's actually navy blue and the orbs are woven into the fabric.

I like the pearl buttons. It was $8.50.

I've been on the lookout for interesting blouses.

 This saturated pink is great. The on-trend bow is a nice touch.

It's by Talbots and was $7.50. I don't know what what the retail would have been - maybe around $49.99? - but Talbots isn't cheap.

There's a snakeskin texture woven into it - a nice detail.

My old dark and light grey cardigan has finally worn out - the moths got it.

 And I found another one! I plan to wear this around the house - it's thick and snuggly.

It's very good quality - look, they lined up the stripes on the pockets and down the front.

 The buttons are offset a bit, not down the centre.

They say Saint James, and have a reef knot carved into them.

 It is 100% wool.

And it's by Saint James, made in France (KLASSY).

 It was $18.95...zoiks, it would have retailed for $400-500 new!

I fell hard for this lovely dress - the silhouette is very early 2000s to me (that high neckline).

It's a classic sheath dress.

Gold zipper down the back.

I am a sucker for a black and white dress, especially when it's NOT a print, but a weave.

Here's a close-up:

 I love the added detail of the gold lame (lah-MAY, darlings).

Even closer:

Such great fabric!

When I saw the name, I was all, "Oh, of course." Chetta B makes lovely dresses.

It was $26.95, but I'm sure it would have been over $200 new.

Last, but certainly not least, I found a gorgeous pair of brown leather boots.

They have a low heel and a big platform, and are very comfortable.

They fit well in the calves, and are wide in the ankle, so I'll expect some wrinkling there over time.

 I noticed that the left one had a mark and a light scuff.

Woly to the rescue! This is the neutral shoe cream, good on any colour.

 It softens, protects, and helps provide water resistance to my leather. No product push or links, this is what I use on all my shoes. It took the scuff right out.

The boots are by Rockport, and were $34.95.

That felt like a really good deal for leather boots. They are around $160.00 new.

They have Adiprene by Adidas cushioning inside for added support and comfort.

I'm all over that!

And with that, I've got to go give Vizzini some lovin'.

"Yes, you are late for nap time, Woman."

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!