Weekend Wrap-Up: Wonder Women Sidney Shop; Strappy Red Flashback

Hello, my friends - I hope you're all having (or have had) a lovely weekend! I went on a wee shopping trip to the seaside town of Sidney, BC, with my dear friend Cat. 

Seeing as it's October, I love dressing up, Wonder Woman is my superhero alter-ego, and I had this as-yet-unworn new-to-me t-shirt waiting for an outfit - well, I  may have gotten a bit carried away! 

• Leather blazer - Danier Leather, thrifted; last worn here in April
• T-shirt - DC Comics, thrifted; purchased here for $19.99
• Skirt - Peter Pilotto for Target, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in December 2019 with black and white
• Shoes - Aldo, thrifted; last worn here in August with Spanish ladies

Cat and I (and Elaine, when she lived in Victoria) have been doing trips to Sidney for years, but somehow have neglected to do this since Elaine moved to Hamilton two years ago. Sidney is a small waterfront town near the Victoria airport, on the way to the BC Ferry docks, and is mostly home to retirees and well-to-do folks. It's a lovely place, and has some fabulous thrift and consignment shops, all nice and close together. I've gotten some amazing deals, and made some great purchases there over the years, including my Valentino suit and yellow tiger blouse, and my Matisse shoes, and lark dress, 

T-shirts are not really part of my day-to-day wardrobe, but I wanted to challenge myself to incorporate this tee into at least one "real" outfit. It'll otherwise go into rotation as a house/sleeping tee.

I matched the red to this funky Peter Pilotto/Target collaboration skirt. The back is the same multi-floral pattern (I forgot to take a rear view pic - I was rushed in the morning). 

From there, I added a pair of the $1.99 tights I picked up at Dots the other day - aren't they fun? I love playing with tights to jazz up a look. 

The skirt has pockets! Awesome! 

Jacketed up - it's Leather Weather! 

All my blues were perfectly matched! 

Added my superhero women mask (with Wonder Woman prominently showing). Cat was also sporting a fancy mask - a gent passing us called out, "Nice masks, ladies!"

I added my skull-and-crossbones scarf, and my red fingerless gloves - it was gloomy and a bit chilly as it often is on the water. 

I did gold accessories, including my gold purse to further match the Wonder Woman palette.

• Scarf - MetroWear, San Francisco, 2006
• Gloves - Parkhurst
• Leather purse - Banana Republic, consignment

The stuff

I loved how the straps of the shoes went with the stripes of the tights, plus a gold heel/buckles/zip for the WW theme. We'll have a little Flashback on these shoes in a bit. 

Matchy bling: 

Bringing in a bit more of the black, blue and gold. 

• Leather/chain wrap - local
• Studded leather wrap - Kipling, thrifted
• Earrings - thrifted
• Silver/onyx ring - Tocarra, vintage fair
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

Shopping! I can't remember the names of all the shops we went to - we visited at least 4 or 5 thrift stores, though! I found these earrings for $7.95 in one of the first thrift shops. 

They are a very lightweight plastic. I like the white/brown neutral mix. 

I had good luck in the next shop, which had a 50% off on yellow and green tags sale (the shop staff hollered this every 5 minutes or so, so we were well aware of it). 

This is a maxi skirt in a light flowy polyester. I was attracted to the black and white print and the nice silky feel of the poly - there's a big range of quality in polyesters.

It has double slits to the thigh on both sides of the front. 

How risque for a 53-year-old!

I checked to see if it was lined, and noticed that the fabric is NOT white on the back (a shoddy, put-it-back deal-breaker for me). 

I also exclaimed with delight that it was lined with SHORTS instead of a wee little skirt! I love it! This will be awesome in summer.

It's by Renuar, a brand I've bought before (my Victorian-style blouse, and this coat I used to have), so I knew it would be decent quality. 

I spy a yellow tag, so it was $4.00. This skirt has gone into the spring/summer pile for next year, where it will surprise me. Oh, yeah! Our trip to Sidney!

I am not a leggings person - you will not see me in leggings in a daytime outfit - as I'm a firm believer in "Leggings Are Not Pants" (however, you do you!). But I will wear them around the house under a casual dress or long skirt, and they are great for layering under maxi skirt or tucked into boots. That layering ability is going to come in handy this fall/winter for outside gatherings. 

When I cropped this photo, I noticed that one leg looked longer than the other, so I pulled them out and checked. Yes, one leg is 3 inches longer than the other! Ha! Good thing no one but me will ever notice that. 

The brand is Masai, a Danish company, which I have seen at chi-chi boutiques and sometimes in second-hand stores. I used to have this ginormous scarf by them (which I gave to Cat), and Cat is a big fan of their clothes. 

They are a very soft viscose, and I don't think they've ever been worn. They were also half price, so $5.00. The leggings on their site start at $63.00 Canadian, so five bucks is a good deal! 

I also spotted this sparkly top - like I could miss it! 

The front of it is covered in silver and black paillettes (silver on one side, black on the other). 

I'm usually irritated when designers don't carry a pattern or decoration onto the back of a garment (we're seen from all sides, duh!), but in this case, I'll probably wear this top under a jacket 99% of the time. 

It's by Nygard Collection and was only $4.00.

The backside is a thick cotton in a sweater knit - very nice quality. 

I found this gorgeous bracelet in the case at the same store. It's leaves and branches linked together. 

It has no marks, but it's a nice shiny gold, had little wear, and fits snugly like a cuff. I really liked it on - it was $15.00. 

Cat also found lots of goodies, and after 3+ hours of shopping, followed by a leisurely late brunch at the Surly Mermaid Pub, we were walking back to the car down a different avenue and realized we'd missed a whole block with two more thrift shops and another consignment store! 

We had a good browse in Connections consignment store, where I found this incredible dotted dress. 

It's your classic fit-and-flare shape with lots of pleats, gathers and tucks - with pockets! - and looks great on. 

It's a linen/cotton/viscose blend.

And it's from Summer 2014 (with shipment to stores by March 2014). 

It's from the Banana Republic/Marimekko Collection collaboration, and it was only $24.98. 

This is a small-scale version of Marimekko's "Kivet" print by designer Mija Isola, a "pattern built on circles cut with scissors, the print resembles rough-edge stones from the artist's atelier" (link here to the original 2014 press release, link 'cause I love). 

It originally retailed for $140.00 US, and the collection sold out immediately, so these are fairly rare! This is also in my spring/summer pile, ready to be rediscovered in 2021. 

Lastly, we stopped in at House of Lily Koi, a luxury consignment shop like Turnabout, where I tried on a few things, but ended up finding my birthday present from Mom in the accessory case (her $100 cheque for my birthday was in my spending budget for the day).

It's a hand-carved Lucite bangle by Alexis Bittar, trimmed with "fangs" of silver and crystals. The fangs remind me of Vizzini's fang that sometimes pops out when he's sleeping. 

It's nice and small, to fit my wrist - it is hinged with a magnetic clasp, same as my other Bittar bracelet (this one, which I found for $39.79 on clearance at Turnabout in Vancouver).

You can see the carving marks in the Lucite, which is clear with a black backing - I know, it looks solid black here, doesn't it? 

There's the stamp with the name. This was $68.00 which is still a great deal, as they retail for between $145.00-$195.00. Thank you, Mom, I love it! 

Flashback: Strappy Red Aldo Flats

Although I have not had these flats for very long, I have worn them a bunch already. I bought them here in August 2018 for $16.95 at the Women In Need Boutique.

They are fabric with a sueded finish, and the straps are all adjustable, but they do zip up the back. Once I had the straps set how I liked them, I trimmed the ends off with scissors. Snip! Snip!

My first outfit with them was in August 2018 and it was a doozy! 

Hoo boy, yeah, not quite sure what I was thinking there! I still have that skirt but everything else has been moved along. 

I wore this to Easter at Mom's house in April 2019. I must have packed them away for the winter after my initial wearing.

So bright and colourful! 

They've been worn with my Spanish ladies dress twice, here in June 2019. 

This just makes me happy - I can practically feel the warm sunshine.

I kept them out last year over the fall/winter, and wore them in December 2019 with my Christmas tree-skirt. 

That is a very Christmassy outfit, worn on my last day of work before the holidays. 

Snuggling with Vizzini in March 2020, in my picador skirt. 

The gold heels and hardware on the shoes really elevates them for me. As I have another pair of more casual red flats (my Pilgrim Truths, Flashback here), these are my dressy red flats. You really can't have too many red shoes. 

This was in June 2020. 

A nice pop of red with the black and white zig-zags. 

I wore them out for a shopping browse in July 2020. 

They are a nice orange-y red, a very handy colour. 

And here's the last time I wore them, in August 2020. 

With the Spanish ladies dress for the second time. 

Mathy stuff: Including today's outfit, I've worn them nine times in two years, and more than half of that has been in 2020. I'm sure I'll get a lot more use out of them, so the current $1.89 per wear will be even lower.

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