Sunday, January 19, 2020

Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Tiger Fleece and Fringe, Family Brunch

Hello, my friends! It's been a lovely and relaxing weekend, as I surrounded myself with friends and family to help soothe my Rage and get me back on an even keel. 
On Friday, I covered myself in thick fleece and a tiger (just to let everyone know I was still a little Rage-y (rar!).


  • Fleece dress - Kenzo, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in December 2018 for brunch
  • Boots - Minnetonka, thrifted; last seen here in February 2019 with my PANK dress
  • Coat (below) - L'Atiste, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in December 2019


I adore this dress - it's the thickest fleece I've ever felt. Several of my coworkers felt it and were suitably impressed.
 Guess who it's by? Can you tell by the giant KENZO emblazoned across my stomach?

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

The tiger itself is embroidered and is rather rigid - several people who saw me sitting asked me to stand up so that they could admire him (rar!).
 The "skater dress" shape of this is...questionable for me, so I have to be in the right mood for it, but I love the statement it makes. I'm here and in your face!

Pockets! I am also wearing a short skirt-slip under it due to the open, short, flared shape.
The dress is really tight, with no stretch (it has a side zipper), so I have to be feeling good about my weight before I'll wear it. It's also really WARM, so I can only wear it on really cold days. It was just right on Friday. I have worn it once a year (5 times now) since I bought it for $24.95 in 2016.

Outerwear - in retrospect, not the most insulating coat I own, but because of the flared skirt on the dress, I needed something with room for that. I usually wear a cropped or short jacket with this.
All my pink pieces for warmth and colour.


  • Cashmere toque - Club Monaco, thrifted
  • Cashmere pashmina - Portolano, thrifted
  • Leather gloves - consignment


The stuff:
Although I love, adore, am delighted by these boots, they are not staying with me. This is only their 3rd wearing and the wedge heel is just too high, and they are a size too big (even with insoles). If they were flat, I'd wear them constantly. However, they are going to my colleague Camille, who is super-excited to get them.


  • Earrings - consignment


After work on Friday, L and I trekked down to Outlooks for Men where he bought two new suits for work, and then we went for Thai food for dinner. We spent the evening playing boardgames and listening to music. It was heaven.

On Saturday, I passed on Mental Health Walking on black ice near the water (no, thank you!), and instead of brunch, L and I caught the bus and met up with my family at Montana's restaurant to celebrate my brother Dave's 50th birthday.
Being warm, comfortable and suitably Aunt-Sheila-is-wacky for my nieces and nephew.


  • Vest - Pink Martini, consignment; first worn here in December 2019
  • Dress - Karen Millen, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in October 2019 for dinner at Mac and Petra's
  • Boots - Truths Teah, Fluevog; last worn here (2nd outfit) for brunch in December 2019
  • Coat (below) - Vassali, consignment; last seen here in October 2019


A nice stretchy stripey wool dress, and then the layered light grey knit vest/duster over it.
 Unfortunately, all the decorations, buckles and gewgaws of my boots snagged the vest really badly when I was walking, and destroyed the bottom 4 inches of it. Despite my (sort of) patient gentle pulls and repairs, the vest is not worth all that effort and is now in the giveaway pile.

I felt badly about it until I saw that I'd only paid $12.50 for it and wore it twice. I'm good with $6.25 per wear.
 A bummer, though.

I like this look, so I'll probably keep my eyes peeled for another long grey vest for layering.
After lunch, we bussed back to town to pick up groceries for Winesday (my evening event with the gals) and MANday (L's evening music-listening group).

Outerwear - it's quite a lot warmer and most of the snow is in dirty, slushy piles. It even started to rain.
I've never been so glad to see rain. I'm done with snow - bring on spring!


  • Fur boa - thrifted
  • Gloves - Parkhurst
  • Leather purse - Danier, thrifted


The stuff:
Knits + boot decorations = bad things. Sigh. Live and learn!

Silver bling:
Easy stuff.


  • Necklace - Dots
  • Earrings - gift from Lise
  • Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes


I took a few pictures of my brother - Happy Birthday, Cowboy! I did a tribute to my little brother for his 40th birthday, 10 years ago (here, including why I call him Cowboy)
 Aw!

Montana's is a steakhouse-themed restaurant - note the deer head behind Dave.
Can't believe my little brother is 50!

Dave and his two youngest daughters.
That's Hannah in the middle (17) and Sydney (10).

My nephew Matt is 25 and the oldest of Dave's kids.
I love this pic of him and L.

All three girls - Zoe (on the right, 21) arrived late.
She was over from the mainland (Vancouver) - she goes to university there.

All of us.
 Syd looks fearful - it's okay, honey, wackiness doesn't run in the family (yes, it does).

And with me.
The restaurant does brown paper on the table and supplies crayons, and we all got a little colouring in.

I wrote "Happy Birthday, Dave" at my spot.
"Really. More pictures."

The server noticed and brought Dave a bowl of ice cream, a chocolate cookie and caramel sauce all over it.
"If I give it to you, you have to share the cookie."

All the best to my dear bro!
It was great to see everyone!

As I wore the same outfit for Winesday (minus the vest), and I spent Sunday watching the NFL football playoffs, that's it for outfits! I really needed a quiet weekend, and this was just right.

Thank you so much for dropping by!

24 comments:

  1. Pretty clothes. Thanks for sharing your family photos. You and your brother look alike: your facial features are similar (in my view). Nice post.

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    1. Thanks, Ally! Really? My brother looks like my grandfather, and I look a lot like my mom, so I guess that is the genetic connection. We have never really looked like siblings.

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  2. How fun you could all celebrate for your brother's birthday! I really like that outfit too - the pink dress is fun but the long dress and vest look so good together. What a shame the boots ruined the vest! I hope you can find another to replace it.

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    1. It was nice to see the fam. Thanks, Mica - I'm sure I can find an even better one - I wasn't that enamoured with the knit due to snag issues, anyway.

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  3. That's a yummy Kenzo dress, raaahhhrr! Your family pics are sweet, and there's a family resemblance among you, in the best ways. Stay fab, xo

    Patti
    http://notdeadyetstyle.com

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    1. Thank you, Patti! Ha, we don't see any resemblance - maybe we're too close to see it?

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  4. There is certainly nothing like fleece for warmth and your tiger fleece is spectacular! How sad that the fringed boots and sweater vest have to go, but I've been reading your blog long enough to know that you will find even better replacements and I look forward to seeing what you discover.

    How wonderful that you could give your brother the best present of all for his birthday; time together!

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    1. Agreed, Nana - thank you! Camille loved the boots, and I know I'll find a better long vest now that it's on my radar.

      He was happy that we were able to make it!

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  5. That fleece Kenzo dress really is something else, I've never seen anything like it. In spite of the tricky skater dress shape, it looks amazing on you, although I'm hearing you on it having no stretch whatsoever. I love the purple tights with it, and those boots. It's a shame they're too high, but lucky Camilla! Your family together for your brother's birthday looks lots of fun, and I'm admiring the Karen Millen dress, which looks perfect with the long vest and that fabulous necklace. Lovely though embellished boots are, I've given up on them, as they are constantly ruining my tights! xxx

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    1. It's quite amazing, isn't it? Thank you - I tend to style it the same way every time. My feet were DONE with the boots by the time I got home, and Camille was delighted to get them this morning. I love the Karen Millen dress - it's amazing quality. I'll have to be more careful with the boots - I find that issue with any shoes/boots with buckles too.

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  6. Well I wanted to know more about Winesday! I have the save boots without the fringe, but very high wedged heel. I love them a lot but no one sees that it's a high heel!

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    1. It's a group of women...we meet every 6 weeks or so. Everyone brings a bottle of wine (or whatever else they want to drink) and a small dish of food to share. It's lovely!

      My feet are strongly rebelling against anything higher than 2.5" these days, sadly. Thanks, Nancy!

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  7. Happy birthday, Dave!

    It looks like a really lovely family get together, Sheila. The only one missing was Vizzini...

    I loved both of your dresses. So warm and snuggly; I've seen some shocking pictures of the snow in Canada - no wonder you're sick of it!

    What a shame about the vest but I'm sure you'll find a replacement soon.
    xxx

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    1. Thank you so much, Vronni! It was lovely. I don't think Vizzini would have enjoyed it, lol. We did miss getting any pictures of him this weekend, though! Uh-oh, he'll be miffed.

      Thank you! Our snow is all gone now, thank goodness. Ah, it's okay, I'll find another vest, or something even better.

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  8. love your fleece dress with the amazing pink accessories and purple tights, such a fab outfit (and toasty!). I think you look (particularly) gorgeous in this dress and it has even Pockets!
    Also love your striped dress and how cute it looks with the vest, sorry that it was damaged (but hope you will find another one soon, or even a better one!). I think all we have some embellishments or accessories which have snagged clothes, knits or tights, sigh!!
    Happy Birthday to Dave!, and glad that you had a lovely time with your family!, they look lovely!
    besos


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    1. Aw, thank you, hon! It's a big statement of a dress, for sure.

      I love that striped dress - it's so comfortable. I'm not too choked up about the vest. I hate it when things snag!

      Thank you so much!

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  9. How lovely to see all your family! It looks like you had a great time.

    The tiger dress is good fun, and people can't say you haven't given them fair warning...

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    1. They are pretty much all right folks. :) It's always good to see them.

      Thank you! Ha!

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  10. That skater Kenzo dress looks amazing on you. I like the maxi striped dress as well. You are always dressed to impress. Lovely family pics.

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    1. Aw, thank you, Ivana! it's such a good piece. The striped sweater dress is one of my favourites. Thanks!

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  11. That's a shame about the vest as it looks really good layered over the striped dress (which is still one of my fave pieces in your closet). The bold Kenzo dress is a challenge to wear but it makes me happy when you wear it. I love a "skater dress" shape but they don't work all that well on me either. However, if I found a pink fleece one, I would damn well make it work ;)

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    1. Yeah, it was really annoying - I thought I could save it, but it's just too wrecked. I'm hoping for a long faux fur, wouldn't that be cool? I love the striped dress, but yes, I get the skater dress thing...L bought me this one because he liked it on me, otherwise I would not have gotten it.

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  12. My little brother is called Dave and he is 50 this year too!! x

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