Extra-Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: In Vest-ed in Florals; Black and Blue at the Beaches; Black and White Friday Glitter; Gunmetal Gala Glamourama; Orange You Glad Saturday Shopping

Hello, my friends! Are you ready for an Extra-Bigass post? Grab a cup of tea and get settled in, 'cause I have a lot of outfits and tales of adventure to share. 

Yes, that's me in a blue wig - just a taste of what's ahead!

Let's cast our minds back to Thursday's work outfit, shall we?

I built the outfit around the new-to-me thrifted floral blouse

• Blouse - Suzy Shier, thrifted, Powell River; purchased here for $4.99 
• Vest - CABi, consignment; last worn here with a floral maxi in September 2019
• Skirt - J. Crew, thrifted; last seen here in November 2019 with circles and orbs
• Boots - Baroque Velasquez, Fluevog; last worn here in March 2019 with velvet, lace and ruffles
• Raincoat (below) - Avoca; last seen here in January

I used to wear this leather vest very frequently back in the early- to mid-00s on the blog, but it has fallen out of favour in recent years.

However, it takes up very little room in the closet, and you never know when you might need a leather vest.

When they eventually come back into style, I'll be ready! It's an in-vest-ment!

The blouse was fine - it's a cheap polyester blouse, but I love the sheer fabric, the colour mix, and the neck bow.

I wore a neutral cami under it for cleavage coverage.

I'm showing my earrings here, as they're not really visible in these pics

The cream zippered skirt is a favourite - it's 100% wool and very thick and luxe-feeling.

Outerwear - it's winter, it's raining. Rain rain rain.

Since the weather's been warming up slightly, I didn't need a heavy coat, but I did need a water-repellent one.

• Cashmere beret - Club Monaco, thrifted
• Pashmina - Portolano, thrifted
• Leather gloves - consignment

Hood up!

I got soaked both ways, to and from work.

The stuff:

I thought I'd worn these boots more recently than last March! They are wonderful to wear, but as they are so elaborate (they are called the Baroques for a reason!), they need to be with fairly simple items that complement their style.

• Snake earrings - local

Here's a close-up of the boots' embossed leather pattern.

Gorgeous, right?

But no time to linger! On Thursday night, we had a quick dinner, and then got ready to go out!

Just managed to squeeze in a picture on the stairs before it got dark.

• Sweater - Maison Scotch, thrifted; first worn here for New Year's Eve
• Skirt - Trina Turk, thrifted; last seen here in November 2019 with a striped sweater that didn't match
• Boots - Gabor; last worn here in January for our trip to Powell River
• Leather blazer (below) - Danier Leather, thrifted; last seen here in December 2019

This is a pretty similar outfit to my New Year's look - baggy sweater + tulle skirt + hat.

"Wait, why are you going out on a Thursday?" 

We went to see the Beaches in concert! This is our second time seeing them (first time here in April 2018).

I wanted to be warm, comfy (for sitting and standing) and also look a bit badass.

Black, grey and blue for the win!

We didn't get home till 11:30pm (on a school night! Shocking!).

Outerwear - I don't like wearing a bulky coat to a concert.

But I did get soaking wet again.

• Hat - Delux
• Scarf - Roots, thrifted
• Gloves - Danier Leather
• Purse - Danier, thrifted

The stuff:

Good shoes for walking both ways, to town and back.

• Belt - Karen Millen, thrifted
• Eelskin cuff - thrifted, but probably mine from about 1986
• Leather cuff - Guess, thrifted
• Earrings - thrifted
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

The Beaches played at the Capital Ballroom - check out L's review of their current EP and the show here.

Photos all courtesy of Casey - thank you! L and I were joined by Casey, Madeline (his daughter), Cat, Karen, Nick, Greg and Rosanna.

 L and I were on the side mezzanine area. We guarded everyone's coats.

 I require seating and also not to be in a mash of people on the floor.

I enjoyed the show, and bought another t-shirt.

That's printed in a bright pink - I can definitely work this into a casual outfit.

Victoria was the first stop on the Professional Tour.

If you like rock/pop (my favourite song by them here*), and you live in one of these cities, you should go!
*As always, all links 'cause I love!

As you would expect, I was rather tired for a full day of work on Friday.

You know what that means: a jammy dress! I built this outfit around this fabulous necklace that I recently bought during a fit of retail therapy.

• Dress - Chetta B, thrifted; first worn here (3rd outfit) in November 2019 for a Ghost Walk
• Turtleneck - Jacob, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in January for brunch with L
• Shoes - Seychelles; last worn here in December 2019 for a shopping expedition
• Coat (below) - Apparence, vintage 80s, thrifted; last seen here in January

Look at all the pattern! Pay no attention to the sleepy woman!

My coworkers loved this outfit - all the patterns were very appealing in person.

I like to point out that this dress is NOT a print; that's woven texture.

These tights finally gave out on me after 10 years (you can see me wearing them back here in Feb 2010!!). How's that for slow fashion?

If I look apprehensive, it's because I'm thinking of the evening ahead.

It's still raining...but I was snuggly in the Unsafe Polar Bear.

But I skipped a hat and brolly since I took the bus to and from work to save time (tired in the morning, needing to get home fast in the evening).

I still got sopping wet on the way home. It was like a tropical downpour out there!

• Gloves - Cejon, thrifted

The stuff:

I really like a black/white/cream/gold colour party.

First wearing of this necklace, which was around $22.00.

• Necklace - Aldo, first wearing
• Leather/chain cuff - local
• Bracelet - thrifted
• Earrings - thrifted

Friday night was the Victoria Film Festival's Gala Opening, themed, "The Glamourama of Deception." Not knowing what the heck that was supposed to mean, I went with glamour. I supposed my "deception" is that I don't really have blue hair. Fooled you!

I went full gunmetal grey glamour in this lovely off-the-shoulder mermaid gown - it even has a train!

This is my entry for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style! I felt like a movie star in my gunmetal dress!

• Dress - Vince Camuto; first seen here (3rd outfit) in December 2018 for my company Christmas party
• Shoes - Maleika Conquer, Fluevog; last worn here in December 2019 with Alexander McQueen trousers
• Cape (below) - Coracle Clothes, vintage 60s, pass-along from Sheila A; last worn here in November 2019

When Yvonne was over last week for me to style her up for the Gala, I pulled this dress out for her to try on. She didn't recognize it, and I realized that I'd never worn it with my friends! This necessitated a full outfit re-vamp on my end from what I'd had planned, including a mad dash out in the rain on Friday to purchase a wig and a purse with a long strap.

I bought the wig at Heart's Content, a wonderful little locally-owned and operated store in Victoria's historic Fan Tan Alley. I've been shopping there for decades. The wig was $45.

I felt rather smashing all night in the gown, although when we were sitting down at the opening movie, a snarky woman behind me remarked loudly to her friend, "I guess I didn't get the glitter memo."

I turned around and said, "Well, the theme is the Glamourama of Deception. Too bad you couldn't find anything suitable to wear." That shut her up.

Ack, should have straightened out the front - was in a hurry!

No one snarks on my glamourama!

In case you wondered why the boring black shoes, I really need about 4 inches of heel so that the dress doesn't drag too much.

And they are funky black Fluevog boots that I can walk in and stand comfortably, although after dancing for 4 hours, my feet were tired. Totally worth it!

We only had an hour to get ready - we picked up Cat and Ross and cabbed to the Vic Theatre for the premiere of "La Belle Epoque," a wonderful movie that left all of us long-married/partnered couples feeling very affectionate to our spouses. It originally premiered at Cannes - Variety review here, and I would recommend it. We all agreed that it's the best movie that the VFF has done for opening night in the 6 years that our group's been attending.

"Move it, the cab's here!"

I was rushed on my outerwear (you can see I missed a button on my cape) and didn't have gloves, a scarf or an umbrella. I regretted that.

You may be as creeped out as I was by L's outfit.

That mask...I can't even look at it! I love the rest of the outfit, though, which my man styled himself.

His new burgundy-brown suit, a yellow shirt, a vintage orange tie, a 20+ year-old lion pendant, Fluevog shoes.

He also wore a lion-head belt buckle (mine, thrifted), and a bunch of rings, and a dagger brooch I bought for him in Las Vegas in 2002. The bathrobe is one I think I found for him back over 20 years ago at Value Village.

A close-up of my head - the tiara doesn't show up well in the other pictures.

I wasn't sure how ice blue would look on me, but I like it. I'll definitely wear this wig again! I wore contacts, if you wondering why something looks off, hee hee.

• Tiara - Icing

The stuff:

The boots performed well, despite getting wet in the rain while waiting to get into the after-party at the site of the former Millos Greek restaurant (you can buy it if you want - it's for sale! - listing here).

Sparkly bling:

Normally, I would never buy a purse retail, but I have very few purses with long shoulder straps and really needed a silver one for my outfit. I bought this metal chainmail one at Le Chateau (Canadian-owned!) on my Friday lunch break for only $20 on sale.

• Purse - Le Chateau
• Cuff - Swarovski, consignment, gift from L
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Earrings - vintage fair

I took some dark, blurry pictures - lucky readers! There were two REAL photographers at the Gala, but no pictures are posted just yet. I'll include pics and a link to those in a future post, once they are up. But for now, enjoy my blurry party pics.

These lovely ladies danced for us before the movie! Sparkly!

At the venue - Nick and I in the "lip room".

Sure!

Hey, Yvonne, what's behind that door?

"Let's peek!"

It's a volunteer, posed with a tiny piano!

"I've been offered 6 glasses of wine so far, but thanks for asking!"

Thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work on the Gala!

Here's Randall and L.

 Randall went with a classic suit, while L...nope, can't look at that mask. Ack!

I have such beautiful, glamourous friends.

Linda, Yvonne (recognize the Yeti coat? It's on loan from me, last worn here in November 2018), and Joanne. I gave Yvonne my Simon Chang gown (worn once here, 3rd outfit, in October 2019 for my birthday party, pic here) - it looked spectacular on her, not so much on me.

We snuck into the windmill tower, which was not included in the party set-up, although I think it should have been.

 Look at those crazy murals on the walls!

I loved the full log beams on the ceiling.

This would have been a cool area for a photo-booth, as there wasn't one at this Gala.

Here's my lovely Vero.

What a stupendous fascinator! She's so sparkly!

And Karen and Cat, all glammed up in black. I see Ross peeking behind Cat...

Karen's dress is a stunning vintage one, and Cat's is one of my old dresses (this one, worn here in June 2014 for L's birthday ).

I loaned her a gold purse of mine, and I also gave her my bronzy-gold Big Presence Desmond Fluevogs that she has on here, as they just don't work for my feet anymore (boo, sad). I last wore them here in October 2019, and tracking back, I wore them 33 times since I bought them here in Feb 2015 - I'm very happy with that! No regrets, except that those shoes hurt my feet now.

Cat and I laughed that we both ended up with our colourful bobbed wigs on. Both of us have fine hair that doesn't like rain, so it worked out well. I love this magenta colour - reminds me of my old actual hair.

Karen added the furry boa to the neckline of her dress and wore a black fascinator. Those drinks look tasty! All food and drink is included with our Gala tickets, including oodles of chocolate truffles as we were leaving (we all stuffed our pockets and purses with them).

Ross joined Cat - he wore a super-sequiny blazer in red and black.

Such a snazzy couple! Hey, Mom, do you recognize your 60s pink gloves? Those are on loan to Cat, and have been "mine" since I liberated them from Mom's dresser in the mid-80s. Here's a pic of me modeling them in 2010 (this post here). I love helping style up my friends, and am happy to loan them stuff that makes their outfits sing.

Me and Cat posing with this big ball of paper roses.

The upper area behind us had two "secret" rooms: the lip one above and a snake room.

Snake room:

The snake operated on voice commands: the light in the room changed, and the snake's eyes flashed.

While I was exploring the space, I missed out on our group getting pictures with actor/movie start BILL NIGHY. I did get to meet him, shake his hand (gently, he has arthritis), and exchange a few words. He liked my outfit. If you don't know who he is, here's his IMBD page, but you might remember him from "Love Actually" (he's the best part, clip here) or "Shaun of the Dead" ("sorry, Phil!" clip here).

 WE MET BILL NIGHY!! And this blurry picture is all I got. Oh, Sheila.

These lovely ladies are at every Gala.

I took pictures of them at the 2016 Gala too (here).

We spent the bulk of the night on the dance floor.

Lots of fun!

Justin and Linda.

Hello, darlings!

L and I slept in a bit after that late night, and realized, "Hey, it's only Saturday! Let's go for brunch!"

Of course, Saturday was bright and sunny! Orange you glad the rain stopped? (har har).

• Blouse - Zoe & Sam, thrifted; first worn here in December 2019 for Book Club Christmas dinner
• Skirt - Mexx, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in November 2019 with a fox for brunch
• Shoes - Mellow Bossa Nova, Fluevog; purchased here for $99.00
• Coat (below) - Zara, gift from Dominque; last seen here in November 2019

Shades of orange - I was very bright.

I headed off on my own after brunch at Pluto's to do a little thrift shopping. I basically took most of January off from shopping, due to our busy schedules more than anything. I was jonesing for a shop!

I have a camisole on under my blouse, which is silk, so still insulating and warm.

I have nylons on - not ready for bare legs for several months yet!

I test-drove these new shoes to see how they would stand up for a full day on my feet.

Verdict: they were most excellent!

Outerwear - this light blue coat was perfect for a sunny day, although in the afternoon as the sun started to go down it was chilly.

 I was glad to have gloves.

• Gloves - Club Monaco, consignment

The stuff:

These shoes do not accurately photograph; they are neon yellow. Like, traffic cone neon!

Copper bling:

Probably too much bling for shopping/trying stuff on - the necklace was pokey on my neck.

• Necklace - Matisse by Renoir, vintage 60s, vintage fair
• Bracelet (part of a set with earrings, not worn) - Renoir, vintage 60s, vintage fair
• Earrings - vintage fair

I went to Flavour Upstairs, where I found this amazing skirt.

It's a heavy printed cotton, trimmed with a strip of leather leopard.

And look at that wonderful beaded fringe!

It'll be a challenge keeping this away from Vizzini!

It's by Mica, and was $19.99.

It's made in the US, and I would date this to the early 00s - remember when we had beaded fringe on everything?

I fell hard for these red high-waisted full-legged trousers.

I have noticed that I don't have a ton of red in my wardrobe - how did that happen?

These are by Zara Basic, and were $29.99, which felt a bit high, but I loved them, so whatever.

They are a linen/viscose blend, and I'm going to have to get them hemmed before I can wear them, as they are very long.

From Flavour Upstairs, I went to the big WIN store on Pandora (hello to the lovely twin Aussie ladies I met there!).

I spent a couple of hours going through everything, and came away with some good basic items, like this lovely green turtleneck.

It's by Tabi and is 100% cotton.

Only $7.95! And since it's made in Hong Kong, this probably should have been in the vintage section, as it's pre-1997 when Hong Kong went back to China.

This sweater WAS in the vintage section - I love this cut on me.

This is a nice deep royal blue - it'll be good for showing off necklaces.

It's by Intimate, and is an acrylic/wool blend.

For only $7.95, what a steal. This is probably from the 60s.

This skirt was marked as Special, so someone in the pricing department at WIN had a good eye.

It's a lovely emerald green a-line midi skirt, with dark stitching at the hem.

It's by Jaeger and made in Great Britain. It's definitely vintage. 1960s?

Only $16.00??

That seems very low to me.

I will look forward to wearing this in the spring.

I am very fussy about dresses - I tend to like them to have good shape/seaming and to be a plain colour or a classic pattern.

I loved this red one - it's cotton with a touch of stretch. It has pockets! I spy a jammy dress!

It was $26.95, and was probably sold at Dots, which carries a big range of samples from Sandwich.

Their dresses retail from $65-130 so that's not bad. It's sparkly - do you see it?

And today, nothing but groceries and blogging, with the Oscars tonight. We also have to spend some quality time with Vizzini, who has missed us desperately.

"No, I haven't! This is your leg!"

Such a liar! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Been to any concerts or galas lately?