Two-Fer: Dinner Dress, a Wee Shop; and Velvet Plus Embroidered Flashback

Hello, my friends! Our province has just mandated more restrictions - no more gatherings or visits with friends or non-household family, and masks are now required in all public spaces. I know that me, my friends and family have been doing our best  to stay safe for the past month, but the numbers on Vancouver Island are poised to increase and we needed to crack down.

I had a last-minute dinner date on Thursday night with my former boss and now 22-years-strong friend, Tammy. We just made it under the wire - I came home and found out about the new mandate from L.

I'll take the sunshine while it lasts...

Tammy is a friend who just "gets" me - she shares my deep love for fashion and clothes (we check out each other's outfits very carefully) - and we spent a leisurely 3 hours at Il Terrazzo, one of the swankier restaurants in town. Of course, I dressed up!

• Dress - Proenza Schouler for Barney's, thrifted; first worn here in August with blue shoes
• Turtleneck - Jacob, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in  September layered under a dress
• Boots - Steve Madden, vintage mall; first worn here (3rd outfit) in October with leopard in the park
• Coat (below) - Forever 21, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in February to the theatre

I knew Tammy would love that I found Proenza Schouler, so I had to wear this lovely silk dress. 

I straightened my hair - it's fun when I have a bit more time. 

I absolutely love this dress - it's made of two different patterns, and you can see how they are flipped from to back and on the hem and cuffs. 

I wore my tall boots for leg coverage and for walking. 

Showing off my snakeskin patterned tights. I have a half-slip on with this, as well as the layered thin glittery black turtleneck. 

Masked up - snakeskin from Mom. 

I can hear Ann squealing with glee - it's the Grape Ape coat! 

I also wore a navy blue faux fur head wrap, but it was too warm for all but the walk to town, so it got shoved in a bag. 

I'm fully bundled up, and ready to go, including some music for walking. 

• Head wrap - thrifted
• Gloves - Roeckl, consignment
• Purse - Danier, thrifted

The stuff: 

The boots are wonderful to wear, but as always seems to happen, I ended up needing to take them off (a balancing act!). 

Bold bling: 

All my favourites, again to show off to Tammy. She appreciated it all - don't you love a good audience?

• Cuff/necklace - Robert Larin, vintage 70s, vintage mall, gifts from L on separate occasions
• Fang bangle - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Sidney
• Earrings - Tania Gleave, Granville Island
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• Silver/onyx ring - Toccara, vintage fair

I went downtown a bit early, with the intention of having a nice browse through Flavour Upstairs. I spotted these wonderful blue trousers right away! 

They are cropped and a straight leg.

They're by J. Crew and they were $34.99. 

Their trousers retail for $120-150 and up. 

They have two big front pockets on the hip. 

They haven't even been opened up! I will always open pants side or front pockets - I need to jam my hands somewhere! 

These are from Fall 2016, so they are 4 years old. 

The backside of the fabric reveals that they are indeed woven, not printed. I like that detail. They aren't lined, though, so they may be too cold for this season. 

I already have a fabulous Welsh wool cape...

But I tried this one on...and fell head over heels in love! 

The middle section is nearly a completely separate garment.

This makes for a nice thick fit, with double layers of fabric all around. 

There's one pocket, which is lined. 

The rest of it is unlined, but it's just as beautiful on the back as the front of the luxurious woven texture. 

The arm-holes are bound and match the edging on the rest of it. 

I'm pretty sure it's from the 1960s - look at that zipper pull! And it was only $49.99? Take my money! 

The tag says "A Dafydd Snowdon Design by Craftcentre Cymru Wales." The squished lettering at the top is "Medium".

And the back of the label confirms that it's all new wool, and was woven in Wales. Have any of you UK readers heard of Dafydd Snowdon? I couldn't find any background on him.

Flush with my success in finding these treasures, I realized I still had 30 minutes before our reservation, so I wandered up Johnson Street until I saw a sign in a local boutique Reunion: "Shoes 20% off" - uh oh. Danger!

As I was scanning the store for interesting shoes, I found a box full of wooden hangers. 

Only $5.00 per bundle, so I took them all, at $20 for 18 hangers and 6 pant-hangers. They are for L, to hang up some of his good clothes (he has mostly wire hangers), not for me My closet is full - no more hangers is the rule. They're living locked up in my closet for now, as a particular little kitten is fond of rubber bands. 

As I was filling my arms with hangers and cackling, "I want them ALLLLLL!", I stopped in amazement. 

Oh! Oh my! Oh my freaking goodness! 

Silver boots! 

Silver leather lace-up boots with cushy insides, and a zipper up the back (with a pull just like the cape!). Even the laces are leather! The front is "tongue-less" so my legs/tights show through. They are jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

They're by Eclipse and were $195, marked down to $95, marked down to $75. 

Like I was going to say no! 

I got home late, and hung out with L for a bit, then planned my outfit for today.

I've been wanting to wear this jacket since I've seen it in the Flashbacks for other things - and it will be getting its own retrospective in a bit. 

• Velvet blazer - Le Chateau, consignment; last worn here in March to get groceries
• Dress - Betsey Johnson, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in December 2019 on another Friday
• Shoes - Iona Poser, Fluevog: last seen here (2nd outfit) to meet John Fluevog in December 2019
• Cape (below) - Coracle Clothes, vintage 60s, pass-along from Sheila A; last seen here in October

The dress is very swingy, drapey velvet - with pockets!

I just needed a showcase for the jacket. 

Just your basic casual Friday. 

Swoosh Factor 8 (good for spinning). 

Dress alone. 

It has a wide neckline (it's a V in the back), but comes with bra-strap holders - classy! 

Masked up - I picked this teal one from Mom. 

And ready for the elements. 

It's been in the 8-10 degree range, with clouds, sun, wind, and rain. So, a typical fall. 

• Beret - consignment
• Gloves - Danier Leather

The stuff: 

I love that these shoes are wool covered leather, and note the brocade heel. I've added in padded inserts to make them slightly more snug. 

Minimal bling: 

With all that embroidery on the jacket, I didn't need much. 

• Belt - Club Monaco
• Amethyst/gold ring - Frances Jewellers, c. 1965, Dad's
• Earrings - Kate Spade, consignment

Flashback: Le Chateau Velvet Embroidered Blazer

I first saw this jacket in the early/mid-00s when I met up with some of my friends from high school - Lisa J. had become a buyer for Le Chateau, and she was wearing this. From the first, I coveted it and went looking in the Le Chateau in the Eaton Centre downtown (as it was called then; it's now the Bay Centre).

I think you can see why! It's practically crusted with embroidery. I first showed it here in February 2011 for the 4th Annual Wardrobe Challenge put on by Jane of The Small Fabric of My Life (she's back blogging, by the way! Go say hi!). 

At the time, I noted: 

I stalked this when it was in Le Chateau a few years go, but it was $99 and that's just too much for a jacket, no matter how much I love the black velvet and amazing embroidery.

When I saw this in a consignment store a few weeks ago, I had to have it! I got it for $40 (I asked for a discount because I'm a regular customer - it was marked at $50).

This was before I took pictures of my new and new-to-me pieces, but I got it at Rich Rags - I've been shopping there for at least 10 years. 

I took some newer pictures so you could see all the detail and the lovely colours. 

The collar and lapels (the back of the blazer is just plain velvet). 

And the lower part and around the pockets (real pockets!).

We have blue, green, purple, gold, caramel and brown - great colours that go with a lot in my wardrobe.

So, let's take a look at how many times I've worn it in the nearly 10 years since I bought it. 

I wore it twice in February 2011 for Jane's Wardrobe Challenge. 

With a yellow shirt, teal kitten heels and jeans! I never wear jeans! How unlike me.

And again with the same kitten heels and a long tulip skirt in caramel. 

The jacket is the only thing that's lasted, although if you note the camisoles I'm often wearing under it, this purple one shows up over and over - and I still have it! 

Here we are in April 2011 - I'd just started doing the Stair Pose, and have not quite mastered it. 

The shoes, skirt and sweater are all long-gone. 

November 2011, with orange tights and an orange suede skirt, which I kind of wish I still had (it's been gone for more than 5 years). 

Vizzini is only 6 months old there - he's so tiny! Still underfoot, though. 

I've always been big on belting this blazer. 

Showing my purple tights and caramel boots (those were crap quality - I've upgraded since). This was in December 2011. 

I wore it twice in January 2013 - and this is not the greatest outfit. 

The blazer looks better done up to show off the symmetrical embellishment. 

This outfit, also in January 2013, kicked off a run of wearing this skirt and blazer together.

This is a formula I came back to four times. 

What happened to 2012? I was in the middle of my ginormous year-long wardrobe challenge: the 30 For 30 for 12. The final month was January 2013, and I'd saved the blazer until then. 

Oh, my Fly London shoes - I'd forgotten about these. They were very high.

This was in October 2013.

I love how certain colours just pop when paired with the blazer. 

The caramel is an excellent accent too. This was in November 2013. We saw those shoes in Flashback here. 

And there they are again, in March 2014. 

That was a silk Hugo Boss/Boss Orange skirt. I didn't like the shape of it. 

My purple leather skirt is still in my wardrobe - here it is in November 2014, and here's the Flashback on it. 

I spy a kitty tail!

This suede skirt was thick and massive, and Vizzini chomped a bunch of the fringe off - I did not keep it (I gave it up a couple of years ago). I loved it, but I'd worn it enough - I only paid $10.00 for it at a vintage fair. 

This was in December 2014. I still have the boots, which have yet to be Flashbacked. 

Deja vu! Same boots, same skirt, same blazer. 

This was in March 2015.

Don't be scared, it's still me - I'm just wearing a white shirt. This was in December 2015. I did a Flashback on the shoes here. 

My magnificent vintage Versace "mom" jeans! I haven't worn them in a while (they are really tight with no stretch), but I still have them. #clothesgoals.

We saw this January 2017 outfit in the Flashback for these shoes (here). 

So what happened to 2016? No idea, but this is still technically a wearing in my fall/winter season. 

I went to this well again in November 2017. This is probably the final wearing of this skirt. 

Yup, we've seen all that before. The only thing that's changed is my hair! 

I wore it with my favourite gold skirt (it'll come out to play soon) and my tall boots (Flashback here) in November 2018.

I see a kitty hoping to dash into the hallway.

Just like with the purple cami, if you scroll back, you'll see that I wore this green sleeveless blouse under the blazer many times. 

This was in October 2019 (must wear that skirt again), and that's the same belt I wore today. 

Speaking of skirts to wear, this one will make an appearance at some point. 

This was my Clothing as Armour grocery-shopping look at the start of the lock-down, in March 2020.

And now, Mr. Vizzini would like to sit on my lap. 

"It looks soft and warm."

It is! There will be much cuddling this weekend. I'll be back on Sunday with tales of adventure - until then, take care, be kind, and be safe!