Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Caped Brunch With Dragonscale Skirt and Leather Vest Flashback; Christmas Vs. Cat, Part II

I hope you've all been enjoying your weekend. It's been quiet for us, so I've been focusing on self-care (kitty lovin', hugs from L), and getting some more of my Christmas stuff sorted out. 

We went for brunch on Saturday morning to Pluto's - no Nick until we sort out his bubble, sadly. 

It was sunny early on, so I dressed in some bright colours that make me feel good. Colour Therapy! 

• Blouse - H&M, thrifted; last seen here in December 2019 with shiny paisleys
• Leather vest - CABi, consignment; last worn here in February with florals
• Skirt - Strawberry Jill, thrifted; last seen here in November 2019 with velvet
• Boots - Rockport, thrifted; last worn here in October with a corduroy suit
• Cape (below) - Dafydd Snowdon, vintage 60s; purchased here for $49.99

I wanted to both wear my new-to-me cape and this dragonscale skirt, so I built the rest of the outfit accordingly. 

We're going to have a short Flashback on this amazing skirt...

...and on my old leather vest, which will be a larger Flashback as I've had it much longer. 

Wally and Alicia, our regular servers at Pluto's raved over my outfit, and I was stared at by a few people in the diner. Even L said this was one of his favourite outfits! 

I only took my cape off while in Pluto's, and wore my mask while I wasn't actually eating. 

Outerwear - like I was going to hold off wearing this magnificent beauty! 

My arms were a bit cold - I do have elbow-length, cashmere-lined brown leather gloves, but I went with the short taupe leather gloves instead since we were only out for a couple of hours at most.

• Gloves - Danier Leather

Rear view: 

Isn't it lovely? This will look great with my cream fedora!  

All ready to go! 

First wearing of this 1930s vintage purse. 

• Purse - Whiting & Davis, vintage 1930s, vintage fair; purchased here for $16.00

The stuff: 

Comfy low boots for walking. We picked up a few groceries after brunch - people were panic-buying again (there was no toilet paper). 

Circular bling: 

I loved carrying this purse (perfect for a cape, where you can't wear a shoulder or cross-body bag), and it held quite a lot. 

• Studded cuff - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
• Silver/gold cuff - JPL, vintage fair
• Ear-balls - Dior, consignment
• Amber ring - some junky store, c. 1997
• Smoky topaz/silver ring - Anneli Neuman, Sweden, vintage mall

Getting some Vitamin D.

It gets dark so early now (around 4:45pm). It feels like we barely have any daylight. 

Vizzini was on neighbourhood watch duty when we left. 

"Do you mind? I'm very busy."

He may seem very standoffish, but he does love to hang out with us. 

"Lies! You're merely a heat source."

Okay!

Flashback #1: Dragonscale Strawberry Jill Skirt

I bought this skirt at the bit WIN store in December 2017 here while out shopping with my former colleague Dana. 

I was mesmerized by the overlapping circles, which have always reminded me of dragonscales, hence it's the Dragonscale skirt. 

This is the backside of the fabric, where you can see that each circular "scale" has been sewn one at a time. 

It's incredibly labour-intensive. 

And I'm sure it would have sold for far more than the $18.95 I paid for it! 

As I am wont to do, I wore it right away in December 2017.

The tights don't quite match, but I remember liking this outfit. We saw the shoes in Flashback here. 

Headed out for brunch in February 2018. L is looking very snazzy. 

I wore just a plain cream sweater under this - my yellow leather jacket is nearly 10 years old and still going strong! The shoes were Flashbacked here. 

I like this outfit from November 2018 - all the necklaces help break up that expanse of cream. 

I'd wear this again. 

And here is the last time I wore the skirt, in November 2011, with two of the same necklaces. 

I decided I did not like those shoes, so they are gone! 

Mathy stuff: I've only worn this skirt 5 times so far, but it's a pretty distinctive piece and so I like to space my outfits out. That works out to $3.79 per wear, but I'm totally fine with that. It's got many more outings left in it. 

I note that I always matching my clothes to the colours in the skirt - what would you wear with it? Any favourites there? 

Flashback #2: CABi Leather Vest

I bought this vest, according to my post from April 2011 here, "a couple of weeks ago" for $18.98 on consignment (at My Sister's Closet, I recall). 

My first wearing of it - that's a very "Classic Sheila" look. I was really big into belting things for a few years. The vest is the only thing I still have in some of these early outfits. 

Still working on that Stair Pose while I have some coffee later in April 2011.

Those boots went really well with the vest, so I paired them multiple times. Guess how many! They probably deserve a Flashback, as I still have them. 

A casual Stair Pose from June 2011.

I adored those sandals (I wore them to death), and that skirt still appeals to me, but of course, none of this survived. 

I even cull Fluevogs! These ones are an older pair that were just too high to wear regularly. 

That skirt was a favourite for a while. This was also in June 2011.

Those boots again, in October 2011. 

2011 was a period where there was almost no brown in stores - it was just not in fashion, and I bemoaned that for years. 

I love this outfit from November 2011. Red is such a great colour with brown. 

That suede skirt didn't last long - it was a wrap-around and gaped open - but it is magnificent.

Vest over a jacket? Sure, why not! 

This was in January 2012, and that "mushroom" skirt was a staple in my wardrobe for about 5-6 years. 

The 30 For 30 For 12 Wardrobe challenge started in February 2012, and I wore the vest four times. 

The boots again! I loved that skirt and was sad when it got a bleach stain on it. 

Same boots, and let's put the vest over a denim jacket! That's the same belt I wore just a few days ago - I've had it a long time.

I got a turquoise streak put in my hair at the hairdresser - it didn't last long, but it started a years-long period of my blonde front streak (which I did myself from then on). 

And the third outfit from the February 2012 capsule. 

That's Mom's vintage 1970s choker, and that is one ugly skirt. 

I like this open look - I do miss that grey velvet pocketed skirt (it was a very low rise). 

The boots were only worn a couple of times. I still have those tights!

I wore the vest for the Steampunk Expo in April 2012 as one of my "Wildcard" outfits during my year-long challenge: 

So many layers! We saw those Fluevog boots in Flashback here. 

We'll do a Flashback on this leopard blouse eventually - this is in March 2013 (remember, 12 full months of capsules meant I didn't wear some of my clothes for a year). 

I see I'm in my blonde phase, a very temporary one. 

My favourite pairing of boots and vest again in April 2013. 

I was really big into that "trumpet" shape with my skirts, I see! 

I wore this outfit to a vintage fair in May 2013 with Cat and Elaine. 

Same boots again! Following the Steampunk Expo the previous year, I was doing a lot of steampunk-inspired looks. 

I remember this skirt well - and there are the boots again, in their last pairing with the vest. If you guessed 7 times worn together, you win...accolades from me! Way to go! 

This was in June 2013. I do not care for the blouse worn hanging out below the vest - it just looks sloppy to my eyes now. 

Vest over jacket again in November 2013. 

My "barnyard" skirt was a wardrobe staple for a few years. The boots were Flashbacked here. 

My brown floral Doc Martens must have been fairly new here in March 2014. 

I don't wear them with my "real" outfits anymore - they're one of my walking to work pairs now, and have been for several years. 

This skirt is another Strawberry Jill piece (same as the dragonscale skirt above), worn in September 2015. 

This was a brunch outfit. Around this point, my style started to shift, and I moved away from wearing my leather vest. It doesn't take up much room, though, so I kept it even if I wasn't wearing it as much as I used to. 

I didn't wear it again until April 2018, nearly 3 years later! 

This was one of the outfits I wore when Ally of Shybiker came to Victoria to visit me. Flashbacks on the boots here, and the ribcage sweater here. 

I tried it again in September 2019, but didn't like this outfit. 

The skirt was SO very 1980s, and was really tricky to wear - this was its only outing. 

And here's the last time I wore the leather vest, in February 2020. 

And I feel like I'm coming around again on the leather vest - I'm glad I kept it, and I think I'll be wearing it again a bit more. 

Mathy stuff: I have worn the vest 23 times in nearly 10 years, taking it to 83 cents per wear. 

Tell me your favourite outfit! I think the red suede fringed skirt outfit is my favourite. 

Christmas Vs. Cat, Part II

On Saturday afternoon, I did another phase of Getting Vizzini Trained Not to Eat My Christmas Decorations. This is L's side of our hallway coat closet - this side are all his winter coats, sport coats, and dressier blazers. 

There are three very deep shelves built into this alcove at the end of the closet - my decorations are stored in paper shopping bags (mostly) that slide in there, three per shelf. I also store stuff on the floor under the coats. 

There is also a shelf above the coats that I store some things on. We are lucky to have so many closets in our condo! 

As I pulled everything out and wiped off 10+ years of dust (shame on me), Vizzini came out to inspect everything. 

"This smells like my old pal Inigo!"

That's my smaller tree - Vizzini was entranced by the twine used to hold the box closed, so I had to ensure it was out of his reach. 

Some of the bags pulled out...

"Are these all for me? How thoughtful!"

As I said previously, I haven't even looked in some of these bags for over a decade. It was hard to resist digging into them myself! 

"Oh, go on, let's have a look!"

I did experience waves of memory and nostalgia for my old job at Christmas House, though. Most of my decorations are in bags and boxes from my store, which was called Christmas House. This is one of the shopping bags.

My store was at 1209 Wharf Street - I also traveled up-Island with my boss Joanne and her mom, Evelyn (Ev) to the Whippletree Junction store and to the Chemainus store to redecorate them in the off-seasons. 

Before we had professionally-printed bags, I stamped them all myself! 

This was one of my jobs that I enjoyed - very Zen-like and methodical. We also had small flat white bags that I stamped. 

This is the corner of a lovely paisley-embossed silver box - when Rose's Jewelers went out of business, we bought all these boxes from them. 

I glued our business cards to cover Rose's logo. This was when we only had two stores, in the late 80s/early 90s. The Chemainus store opened in the early 90s. 

This is the top of one of our square green boxes - very classy gold lettering!

As you can see, I've noted "copper ball" on the corner - I write on all my boxes and containers so that I remember where everything goes when I pack it back up. 

I was SO tempted to start unpacking things!! Instead, I carefully grouped a few bags around so that Vizzini would be able to smell them but not get at anything. 

I did allow myself to unpack two of my Santa figures, though, and I'll show you those shortly in more detail - one is sitting up there on the baker's rack. 

And the other is on an end-table here, surrounded by more bags. 

I was tickled by that very old Fluevog bag - that goes back to around 1998. 

More bags and boxes. 

I plan on leaving these out until Tuesday when I start pulling out the lights and setting up my trees. 

My Mom made this beautiful quilted table mat for our old coffee table, but it works great across these two back-to-back bookcases. 

I was worried about those tempting tassels, but Vizzini has ignored them! 

My tall tree is still in its box, but set up in the corner where it's going to go. 

Mom also made that amazing tree skirt - the fabric is brocade Chinese dragons. 

I found a bunch of stockings. The top one is suede with rabbit fur trim - I remember it was very expensive. Unfortunately, the fur is starting to biodegrade (since it's now about 30 years old. We used this as our generic stocking for our cat(s), but it's going to go in the giveaway pile. 

The middle stocking is one that my mother-in-law made for L for one of the years we spent Christmas up in Powell River. The bottom stocking is lovely - it's one that I bought for myself at the store before...

....Mom made L and I matching ones after we got married. They are the top and bottom ones here (mine has lace on the trim - L's has fringe) and they are the same fabrics as the tree skirt. 

The middle stocking is mine from Louise. 

This is one of the Santas I unpacked. I'm a sucker for details and a good face (always important in a Santa!). 

This one has a wonderful coat with gorgeous autumnal brocade and velvet. 

He's really pretty. He can function as a tree top decoration, but I've never used him that way. He is also very funny as a hat when one is tipsy, hee hee. 

This is my other Santa that I unpacked. He's a limited edition figure, and I recall he was very expensive - over $100 25-30 years ago. 

It's called "Checking His List". 

All of these figures (we carried the whole line) had amazing detail, and glass inset eyes. 

I like that his pipe has a face carved into it. 

The lovely hound dog resting on Santa's foot. 

This list does not say "Sheila" - obviously, I am on the Naughty List! 

The side has a cat - do you see the mouse hiding under the edge of the apron? 

My detail-loving heart appreciates all this texture. 

There's the piece's name; the artist's name (D. Miller) is on the left, and on the right is "SC + MC" which I've always held is for "Santa Claus + Mrs. Claus."

A better look at the pipe. 

And the pile of boots on the side. 

There's the edition number. 

Mine is 3,475 out of 15,000. 

I kept the box for this figure as it's very heavy, and you generally want to keep the boxes of limited edition things. 

United Design was a company we ordered from a lot - I have some music boxes and ornaments by them, I vaguely recall. 

I also found my original Santa hat - made by Mom, back around 1987.

Along with "Property of #1 Elf" (me), it also says, "NOT FOR SALE" - it used to hang off the side of a big antique chair we had at the doorway of the shop where the "Tired Shoppers (and Husbands)" sat. 

L and I played boardgames all evening on Saturday, and kept an eye on Vizzini. 

"I'm not sure if I should be rampaging or sleeping."

He took a liking to the table mat. 

"Does this bother you? I hope so."

It does not bother me - it probably smells like Inigo, who used to squeeze himself under the small tree and sleep on this. 

This is several hours later - Vizzini did fall asleep on here. 

"What do you want, Woman?"

I want you to not eat my decorations, buddy! 

Well, that was fun! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Thank you so much for stopping by!