Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Origami Flashback; Red Dress, New Glasses and a Wee Shop; Winesday Layers

Hello, my friends! I'm back and it's been a very exciting weekend! I've got two Flashbacks, my new glasses (FINALLY), and I even got a little shopping in there. 

Here's Friday's office outfit, doing a more casual vibe. 

Showing off my new-to-me shoes, and this fabulous shirt. Yes, it's a SHIRT. 

• Shirt - Cartise, consignment; last worn here in August 2019, with my wallpaper pants
• Trousers - Banana Republic, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in June with my Darth Sheila duster
• Shoes - Wittner, consignment; purchased here for $47.99
• Jacket (below) - Prosperity, consignment; last seen here in May on my first post-lockdown shopping expedition

Fantastic news! The smoke is gone and I can see the Castle again! 

We have had blue skies this weekend, which has been wonderful. For those who have asked, No, there aren't any fires in my city, but there are often some on my island (link here to where I am; Victoria is on the southern tip of Vancouver Island), and also in my province (link here), but we've been getting the smoke from the forest fires in Washington State (link here) to the south. That smoke has been drifting across North America for the past week. 

Anyway, outfit! I've worn this combo before, as we will see when I do a Flashback on both the top and on the trousers. 

Comfy for a fairly quiet day. 

The shirt is black mesh stretch fabric, and all the white is cotton/poly woven seam-binding, painstakingly hand-sewn into those shapes. 

It's a bonkers amount of work in it. 

It's starting to feel chilly in the mornings, so jacketed up. 

I love the outer space pattern of this jacket. 

There are bits of green in the galaxies, matching the trousers. 

Masked up in my new black and white paisley mask. 

Wonder Woman-ish pose. 

The stuff: 

First wearing of these new-to-me shoes, and they were FABULOUS. So comfy - I could wear these all day long. 

Green bling: 

The shirt is quite bossy, so not a lot of bling required. 

• Earrings - Stella & Dot, consignment, Vancouver
• Silver/aventurine ring - consignment
• Silver/onyx ring - Tocarra, vintage fair

Someone was nosing around while I was taking my morning pictures. 

"Hello, and welcome to my blog."

We have to have our morning cuddles. 

Flashback! Green Brocade Banana Republic Trousers

I bought these green brocade trousers at WIN here in June 2018, so not too long ago. They are by Banana Republic and retailed for $120.00 - I paid $22.95 for them (which is still a bit high for a thrift store, WIN). 

I love that woven brocade texture. No plain pants for me! 

Sometimes I like to let the emerald green pop, as I did for my first outfit with them, in June 2018.

I have all of these pieces still (we did a Flashback on that Armani blazer), but I have not worn that beaded silk top or the Fluevogs yet this season, tsk tsk. 

Sometimes I go full matching with a pattern with green in it. 

As I did in July 2018. Sadly, that vintage shirt did not stay in my closet. 

Nor did this vintage top (it just wasn't right), which I wore to the dentist in September 2018.

Even though this style of pant isn't trendy right now, I find it very flattering on my shape. 

I did a revisit on the "dress with pants" trend of the early/mid-00s here, also in September 2018.

I like that colour combo, but I recall this being a very finicky outfit to wear (much fabric-friction). 

Here we are with a familiar combination, in April 2019 - I must have packed the pants up for the fall/winter season. 

I like the look of the pink brocade slippers as a pop against the green. 

This was another outfit that I had fabric issues with, but I do like this look from August 2019 overall. 

I let go of that top - I gave it to Vero. 

My 2020 looks with these pants began with this primary colour mix in April. 

I love the bright yellows there. 

And this is the last time I wore them, in June 2020. 

Woo, my hair is very pink! 

Mathy stuff: I still have plenty of wear in these trousers, but I've now worn them 9 times, so our cost-per-wear is $2.55. Good, but I can do better! 

Flashback: White "Origami" Shirt by Cartise

I bought this shirt back in December 2015 (here) for $24.00 I was immediately drawn to the amazing construction:

Isn't it cool? I have referred to it as my Origami shirt for ages, due to the folded strips of fabric. 

Here's the first time I wore it, in January 2016. 

I like the mix of the geometric shaped on the trouser socks with the shirt. My hair is very swoopy! 

In March 2016, with my lilac fuzzy skirt. 

I think I still have that, but those shoes are long gone. 

Another fuzzy skirt, also in March 2016. I replaced that skirt with my current fuzzy yellow one. 

There are my as-yet-unworn Fluevogs again - this was their inaugural outfit. 

Looks like I packed this shirt away for spring/summer that year, as I didn't wear it again until December 2016. 

I miss those gold shoes (I wore them out), and I had that skirt for ages before I let it go a few years ago. 

The shirt was the perfect complement to my ORANGE LEATHER SHORTS in February 2017. 

I wore this outfit for a birthday gathering for Cat. 

One of my "ringmaster" looks, from November 2017.

I love those trousers, but they are a smidge tight now - I am looking forward to wearing that amazing coat again soon. 

White bookends for a dental appointment in April 2018. 

I adore the white shoes with this. Fab. 

Deja outfit! This is from April 2019, as we saw above in the trouser Flashback. 

Slouchy pose. 

And here is the last time I wore the shirt, in August 2019. 

Another pair of pants that are too snug. I'm gonna have to cut back on the "medicinal chocolate", heh. 

Mathy stuff: Another item that's going nowhere, I have worn this shirt 10 times so far, which works out to $2.40 per wear. 

Moving on! L and I met up with Nick for brunch on Saturday at Pluto's, followed by a peek in Vanity Fair Antique Mall to see if there was anything L might get for me for my upcoming birthday (we found two things, but I won't be getting them until my actual birthday in a few weeks). 

I had to wear my new-to-me red dress! 

• Dress - Heartbreaker, thrifted; purchased here for $11.95
• Shoes - Pegabo, consignment; first worn here in August with optics and pink leather

I rolled with the vintage look, adding leopard accessories. 

I wore a full black vintage slip under it, which you can see peeking out at the hem. 

I don't have an issue with that - I like that little peekaboo. 

I love the V at the back - so sweet. 

Masked up - I had several compliments on my overall look while we were out. No coat needed - it was a lovely sunny day! 

The stuff: 

Excellent shoes for a bunch of walking. 

Leopard bling: 

That scarf is one of my older accessories - I bought it for around $5.99 at Fairweather ladies' clothing store (a now-gone Canadian company/mall store) when I worked there in 1999-2000. 

• Scarf - Fairweather, c. 1999
• Belt - Talbots, thrifted
• Bracelet - Butler Fifth Avenue Collection
• Bee pin - gift from Megan Mae
• Earrings - thrifted
• Chain/leather bracelet - thrifted

One of our additional errands was for me to pick up my new glasses! They were finally in at Goo Goo Goggles. 

Some daylight pictures so you can see the colour. 

You can also see how the curl falls out of my hair! 

The frames are a reddy-pink shade, with a metallic finish. The inside is dark, dusty purple. 

They are by Theo, a Belgian brand, same as my turquoise glasses, and L's last two pairs.  

Black and PANK glasses case and lavender lens cloth included. 

The frames are really interesting, aren't they? First, the "points" are all numbered, and the lenses are asymmetrical (which suits me, as my eyes are uneven, as you can see above).

Here: The green is the numbering, 1 through 10. 

And if you look where the blue lines are, and compare side-to-side, you can see how the lenses themselves are different, as well as the top edges of the frame. I like this quirky look. 

I found something for me at Vanity Fair Antique Mall - this amazing vintage 80s silk scarf. 

I find that most vintage scarves are either in pink/red/blue shades, or full-on autumnal hues - you very seldom see purples, and not much in green either.

It's silk, and the edges are hand-rolled. There is no content tag, but I can tell it's silk by feel. You can see the "ribbon" stripe weave effect, which was very popular in the 80s. I spotted the brand name on it: Lanvin Paris! It was $25 - not as cheap as my $10 scarf from the 1970s (here), but still a bargain for vintage Lanvin.

According to the history of Lanvin (here, link 'cause I love, of course), this would have been designed by the last of the actual Lanvin family to be head of the brand, Maryll Lanvin, just before Claude Montana took over leadership of the House of Lanvin in 1990 for two years. 

I popped in to Lazy Susan's to see if they had any good masks. Yup! 

A red-on-red pattern, and a leopard mask! I'll be wearing that a lot! 

I abandoned L on the way home and browsed in The Velvet Crease for a bit. I found this polyester ruffled blouse for $22.50. 

I used to have a silk version of this many years ago by Tangerine Jill (here, in 2014), and also a purple polyester version by Esprit (here, in 2008). I like the ruffled front for wearing under blazers and cardigans.  

This is by local company Tatum & Olivia which, as we discovered a couple of weeks ago, is actually one of the women from Tangerine Jill. So I knew it would be good quality.

I'm on the hunt for more white layering tops, as I've destroyed at least one so far this year, just through sweating wear and tear.

I am always happy to find a fine-gauge sweater that looks good - being curvy/boobtastic means that many sweaters make me look bulky. This is also a really good neckline on me. 

I was tickled that this is nearly the exact shade of my new glasses, a raspberry reddy-pinky shade. 

It's by Banana Republic, and is mostly wool, with just enough polyester to help it retain its colour/shape. 

Don't forget to check the inside tags to see how old it is! 

Sixteen years old! This is from Holiday 2004. It was $24.00. 

After all that walking, I was tuckered out, so napped for an hour in the afternoon before I got ready to go to Winesday at Alison's, out on her/Chris' new backyard patio. I futzed around and was pressed for time, so forgot to do my stair picture. 

This was how I looked for most of the night - our group of eight sat outside (physically distanced), so we all layered up for the evening chill.

• Dress - Smoking Lily, thrifted; purchased here for $11.95
• Turtleneck - Jacob, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) in February, under a black/cream/gold dress
• Poncho - Ralph Lauren; last seen here during our after-Christmas trip to Powell River in January 
• Boots - Arnold Churgin, thrifted; last seen here in early March for a medical appointment and some shopping

Here's the outfit without all the layers. 

The thin black turtleneck is viscose, so is not too heavy. 

I have alligator-printed tights on under the dress. 

I also carried my new-to-me fleece Smoking Lily scarf (also purchased here, for $5.95).

"Wait, something's going on here. I can sense it."

L hosted MANday (Musical Appreciation Night), with five of his close friends (6 is the maximum recommended indoors for distancing). I'm sure Vizzini enjoyed seeing Uncles Nick, Ross, Casey, Randall and Chris, and hoovering up the Cheezies they dropped. 

Fully bundled up. 

This is how I ended up after the sun went down around 8pm. I also had a fluffy blanket, and traded out my boots for fleece-lined slippers. 

Masked up for the cab rides there and back. 

My fingerless gloves make their first seasonal appearance - they are awesome for being able to eat and also keeping one's hands warm. 

• Gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff: 

I haven't worn these boots in months, which isn't hugely shocking, as they are one of many pairs of walking/shopping shoes/boots that I have. Since the start of the pandemic, my outfits have been reduced by about 30% due to fewer work-days, shopping trips and social outings. 

Grey bling: 

A few older pieces by Shi Studios, a local company. 

• Belt/pendant - Shi Studios
• Buckle - Shi Studios, thrifted
• Earrings - thrifted
• Shield ring - Nine West
• Silver/onyx ring - Tocarra

And now, off to watch some NFL football and chill out with my guys. 

"I might sit on you."

There's a strong chance that he's already flopped on L for the afternoon (aha! both of them are asleep on the couch as I type this). 

"I'm feeling sleepy..."

I hear ya, buddy. Couch, here we come! 

Thank you all so much for stopping by! How was YOUR weekend?