New Blue, and Double Flashback: Saint Laurent Velvet and Cobalt Cardi

That weekend went far too fast! Another week, here we go.

Wearing a bunch of new-to-me stuff, and a few older things.

• Wool cardigan (below) - Ports, vintage 80s, consignment; last worn here in September for brunch with Mom
• Blouse - Fei, consignment; purchased here for $24.99
• Skirt - Yves Saint Laurent, Rive Gauche, vintage 80s, thrifted; last seen here for my birthday in October 2019
• Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog; purchased here for $157.59
• Cape (below) - Coracle Clothes, vintage 60s, pass-along from Sheila A; last worn here (3rd outfit) to the Victoria Film Festival Gala in February

I built this outfit around the blouse, because it's one of those ones that is best worn in spring/summer, but I wanted to get a wearing in before I packed it away.

Tops like this are "stand-alone" as they don't really work under jackets or cardigans, and it's too cold this time of year to wear them without something warmer. 

I do have a purple cami underneath, but my arms were cold after about half an hour in the office. 

Good thing I prepared and planned for this cardigan! I'd already intended on wearing my new blue shoes because they matched the blouse so well. See that nice blue on the back of the blouse in the above picture? It has lots of blue in it, but it's harder to see on the front.

Cobalt shoes, cobalt cardigan...it's a natural combo. 

We'll be having a Flashback on the cardigan shortly. 

I was so glad I brought this with me to work! I was snuggly warm all day. 

Masked up - one of the ones Cat made from L's old shirts. The muted purples worked well with the top. 

The skirt is one of those pieces that isn't very exciting in pictures, but it's pretty special (as you may have guessed from the post title), so we'll be having a Flashback on that too. 

My outerwear is so fun. I carried my cardigan to work in my shoe bag, as I didn't want it to adhere to either the cape or my velvet skirt and cause any Velvet Rage.

I love this vintage 1960s cape. It goes perfectly with the shoes! 

Avec beret! 

My hands are tucked into the pockets in front. 

• Beret - consignment
• Leather gloves - Danier Leather

The stuff: 

As expected, these shoes were lovely all day, although it was a really dead day in the office. 

Gold bling: 

Do you remember back in the 80s when you could buy gold chains by the inch? That necklace is one of those - it's done up with a jump ring. I've tied a knot in it for today's look. 

• Necklace - vintage, Grandma J
• Bracelet - thrifted; purchased in Sidney on the weekend for $15.00
• Earrings - Kate Spade, consignment
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• Gold/amethyst ring - Frances Jewelers, c. 1965, Dad's
• Cuff - vintage 80s, mine, refound/thrifted

Flashback #1: Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Velvet Skirt 

Every so often when I'm browsing through a second-hand shop, I find something that makes me catch my breath - on my shop at the Patch here in February 2017, I hit the jackpot with this deep purple velvet pencil skirt. 

It has generous pockets and the velvet is incredibly soft and plush, but that's not why it was special. 

It's Yves Saint Laurent, baby! From the Rive Gauche collection (his ready-to-wear line, launched in 1966 (link here 'cause I love). 

I have dated it as 80s, based on the label (resource here, noting the font, the pink/red squares) and the style (high waist, rounded hips). I paid $34.95 for it, which is an absolute steal; I see pencil skirts very similar to this on 1stDibs (luxury second-hand site) ranging from $166 to over $1,000 - as mine is this amazing velvet, I'm sure it would be somewhere in the low middle of that range ($400ish). Not that I would sell it! 

Of course, I wore the skirt to work right away, in February 2017.

The blouse was a momentary frivolity, but I had those shoes for a long time - they are in the giveaway pile, as they are quite worn out. 

I'm surprised that I didn't wear the skirt again for nearly a year, until January 2018, with another floral blouse. I do pack it away for spring/summer, but that's no excuse. Great pieces must be worn!

The darned skirt photographs almost black - it's impossible to get the colour right. 

This March 2018 outfit is a major flashback to the sorts of outfits I wore when I started blogging in 2008. 

Remember when we all wore vests? You can see the rich colour of the skirt better here.

This is a double velvet outfit (the jacket was velour, strictly speaking) from January 2019.

Hands deep in pockets (they are huge pockets). I still have that Victorian-style blouse and we'll see those shoes this season too. 

And here's the last time I wore this skirt, with a "confetti" sweater for my birthday in October 2019.

That sweater photographed so poorly, I chucked it to the giveaway immediately. 

Mathy stuff: I honestly thought I'd worn this skirt much more than I have! I'm only on the 6th wear, including today's outfit, which is $5.83 per wear, but I can do better than that! 

Flashback #2: Ports Long Wool Cardigan/Dress

I found this long 100% wool cardigan here in April 2018, at Duchess & Duke consignment, a store I don't visit that often (small, crammed racks). 

The shopping gods smiled on me that day, as I found this amazing long cardigan/dress. It's by Ports International, and this is likely from the 80s. 

I think $28.00 is a great price! I checked it very carefully - no moth holes.

I first wore it in May 2018 and right from the start, I've matched all kinds of blues and purples with it. 

That's a good shot of my blue velvet boots, which I shall have to wear soon. Yvonne has that skirt. 

With a plain ol' white shirt in August 2018. 

I didn't keep those shoes, but I did have that Nygard skirt for close to 10 years before I finally passed it along. 

I wore it layered over my Etro dress for a Winesday in September 2018.

Same velvet boots. 

Layered up for Christmas in December 2018.

We just saw this outfit in the Flashback for those shoes. 

I wore it two different ways in one day, in January 2019. 

The one and only time I've worn it as a dress - I quite like this look. I should wear it as a dress again! 

We went to a Mother Mother concert that night, so I quickly put on a pair of jeans, and unbuttoned the sweater.

Vizzini was not enthusiastic about us going out. 

I tend to add the cardigan to an outfit when I need a blanket-like garment for warmth or "armour". 

Here, it was worn for Book Club in March 2019.

And here for a day of shopping in May 2019. 

That's a different velvet skirt, my Sonia Rykiel one. 

I deployed the swooshiness of all that fabric when I wore it for the June 2019 Day of Indolence. 

What a fun day that was...sigh. 

A bright work outfit here in September 2019. 

Here comes the 80s! I love the bright yellow with this. Coincidentally, I bought that yellow cashmere sweater at Duchess & Duke too. Hmmm, maybe I should go check them out again! 

I wore this for a dinner date at Mac & Petra's in October 2019. Mac's mom Sheila is the former owner of my Welsh cape! 

I adore this dress - I want to wear it again soon. 

And 2020 rolls around - all the primary colours (plus green) in April.

I am comforted by the enveloping properties of this cardigan. It's like wearing a hug. 

Layered over my Etro dress again for a shopping expedition in June 2020.

The cardigan is such a lovely rich cobalt blue. 

And here's the last time I wore it, for my brunch date with Mom in September. 

I like all the shades of blue here. 

Mathy stuff: With today's outfit, this marks the 15th wearing of my vintage cardigan, for a whopping $1.87 per wear. Awesome! 

Did you have any favourites in these two Flashbacks?