I savoured my day off today - there won't be too many of them in my future, so I'm ensuring that I do things that I love while I can. I have really enjoyed the slower pace of my life over the past year, including my leisurely Mental Health Shops. It was too hot to be racewalking 7K today, but a four-hour stroll and browse? Oh yeah, that's my idea of heaven!
I wanted to wear this new-to-me skirt right away, so I did!
I also deployed my paper parasol along with sunblock so that I could skip a shirt/jacket.
- Top - Tatum & Olivia, consignment; last worn here in May with dots and stars
- Skirt - Faithfull the Brand, consignment; purchased here yesterday for $35.00
- Sandals - Born, consignment; last seen here in June for a Mom-Day Adventure
- Parasol - Chinatown, c. 2012
As Laurie noted in the comments, this skirt does have an uneven hemline - it dips up in the front. That will be handy when I go up stairs - I won't step on it.
I love how pretty that looks! I'm an excess of ruffles.
The back hem of the skirt is long.
It was wonderfully swooshy.
I don't usually expose my bra straps, but since I wore a slip (a blush vintage one - I matched the pink in the flower pattern) under it, I thought it looked more deliberate to have double straps.
"Straps are good for eating."
That is true, apparently - when Vizzini was a kitten, he ate about 4 inches of strap from one of my expensive $80 Wacoal bras.
Masked up - it's a pale leopard print.
While I shopped, I tucked the parasol into my leather backpack.
I grocery shopped, then strolled up Fort Street's "Antique Row" area. It's got Vanity Fair Antique Mall, Leka, Luna, The Velvet Crease, MONA and Charmaine's and more - I visited all of those, and took my time looking around.
"You were gone a long time."
Shopping is a endurance activity! Four hours is a marathon! I'm going to enjoy catching up with the Olympics on the couch with a snuggly kitty tonight.
The stuff:
I had planned on wearing slightly fancier shoes, but realistically, I knew I needed an ultra-comfy pair. I've had these for over 10 years and they are my go-to when I know I have to be nice to my feet. I'll wear funkier shoes when I wear the skirt to work.
- Gold hoop earrings - 5th anniversary gift from L
- Brutalist bronze ring - vintage mall
- Amber ring - c. 1996
Vanity Fair Antique Mall is a fun place to spend browsing. I did the entire store methodically and found a couple of treasures.
This metal and stone bracelet is really cool, and is small enough to fit my wrist properly. I like the spiky bits, which I guess are leaves amongst the tiny flowers.
It has the look of good quality costume jewelry, with nice details including that dangle piece.
It's really pretty on!
The lime green stones have a lighter green, milky marbling. This was $26.00. I would guess its from the...1960s? I wonder if it had matching earrings?
I lucked out on another bracelet.
I've been watching for "amber" bracelets (whether real amber or stones that are amber-coloured) for a couple of years, as I built up my amber and silver collection. I really liked this bangle.
It's not silver - I think it's steel. It's made from a punched pattern, then worked further (the squared holes along the edges, the addition of the stones, which I think are just glass.
When I pressed the little button to open it, I expected it to pop open on the hinge, but not like this! This was a surprise.
What a cool mechanism - you often see a little security chain on silver hinged bangles.
I see stamps! The one above is "R & G Co." This stands for Ripley & Gowan Co., which was established in Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA, established in 1874.
There's also a stamp on the top:
That says "NuWite." That's the finish, as in "white like silver...but not silver! It's...NuWite!"
Isn't it pretty?
It's got some age - it's likely from the 1920s or 1930s, when a lady would be wearing a few bangles on her arm with her flapper dress. This was $35.00 - I found the identical one with blue glass on Worthpoint (an auction site) that provided most of this info; link
here 'cause I love.
I popped into Charmaine's Past & Present, which is primarily a second-hand furniture store - I bought our blue/gold stool there recently, as well as L's birthday ship painting.
They also have a small selection of jewelry, and I found the sweet little cat pin for $8.00 and the collar tips for $15.00.
I think the cat is wood. That's a lot of little tiny bits.
I'm not sure if the ball is supposed to be a toy or to represent his tail?
I love the idea of collar tips but I've never seen a pair for sale second-hand.
They work like a clip-on earring, only on the collar point. We'll have a closer look at that stamp in a bit.
Sneak preview: here's a collar tip clipped on.
Super cute, right? It even has a little "diamond"!
They have a bit of weight, so they keep a pointed collar in place.
Such a neat idea. That's on there very tight - it's not going to fall off.
I zoomed in on the stamp and played with the colour, contrast and clarity settings until I could read it.
I went nearly cross-eyed trying to read that, but it says "GES.GESCH." and it's short for "Gesetzlich Geschutzt" and it basically means "trademarked" in German. So these are German, but no idea how old they are. 1980s? 90s? We did a lot of customization to our clothes then, like dress clips, button covers, that sort of gewgaw.
From Charmaine's I went to MONA consignment (hi, Deanna!), where I found a couple of things that appealed to me. I've been trying to keep my "style profiles" in mind when I shop, which are:
- Rock & Roll
- Funky Vintage
- Romantic Victorian
- Big Boss Lady
- Any combination of those, like Soft Goth, Badass, Cowgirl, Equestrian, or Hollywood Glam.
Narrowing down my eclectic style is tricky, but even just sticking to those four helps me get carried away (there is so much bohemian out there! and that is not a style that suits me) and focused to the styles that I really like to wear.
I let go of my long droopy green cardigan (it was SO droopy), but I love the long duster look, so this green jacket fits that slot.
It's meant to be worn more like a light jacket/duster/topper, and will work well with my fall wardrobe.
It's by Eliane Rose and was $38.00, which felt low. It's made of 100% Tencel, a brand of sustainable fabric made from wood pulp - it's very soft.
It's unlined but the seams are all nicely bound and it has two zip pockets in addition to the tab/snap detail on the sleeves. I couldn't find much on this brand.
This next item is a two-part one: this is the lining, which is likely made of linen (sleeves/back) and cotton (front body).
It's brown, a deep chocolate brown. It's cut like a ringmaster jacket, with two metal loop/tab closures in front which pull it tight like a vest under the bust, then open up to the sides.
The entire back is the sheer linen.
Most of the seams are pulled apart - the previous owner grew out of this or wore it hard (I do both of those things to my clothes, no judgment!).
One of the arms has fully split open, right at the elbow.
No point in fixing this, as it's just going to rip apart again.
Now, here is the lining inserted into...the leather over-jacket! Which is also dark chocolate brown. It's pretty beat-up with some marks and scratches on the arms. I never mind wear on leather - I think it adds to the badass look of it.
The collar of the lining goes over the collar of the jacket, and the lining hangs down around the hem - it's very steampunk (a look some of y'all know that I have loved over the years).
There's two little fabric-covered buttons that connect with two chains, including an extra wee dangle.
The fabric on the buttons is different - it's kind of weird that they don't match, but whatever.
The back of the jacket has a sewn-on leather disc (why? this perplexes me) and a row of ruffled elastic (??!) along the back of the hem. The part I'm holding is the linen lining.
I think I will remove that leather disc. There aren't any others on the jacket, for consistency, and I can see a little kitty discovering it and chomping down on it.
The leather over-jacket is unlined, but nicely finished - it's butter-soft and is leather for sure, even though all the content tags have been removed.
Showing two random D-rings on the inside of the jacket. Um, for securing my vintage pocket watch? I'm not sure why they are there.
But they match the two on the back of the collar, which are joined by a chain. At least I can hang the jacket from this.
This bizarre piece of clothing is by Boss by Hugo Boss. Based on the style, I strongly suspect this is from the late 90s or early 00s.
It was marked at $75.00 but when I pointed out the condition issues, she gave it to me for $40.00, which I'm happy with. I will likely wear the jacket without the torn lining, but it's nice to have it. I might also replace the weird buttons and go full Steampunk Ringmaster (heh).
From MONA, I went next-door to the Velvet Crease, and spent a peaceful hour and a half going through all the racks. I tried on a ton of stuff, but only ended up with two items. On the plus side, I really love both of them.
This zebra print shirt appeals to me deeply (any animal print is rock & roll). I love the pattern, and it is cut really nicely, with a mandarin-style collar, and an almost-peplum at the bottom.
The sleeves have tabs and buttons, and you can see that the wide bottom section has a slight flare.
It looks really good on, which is the most important thing!
You can see the linen weave here, confirmed on the tag.
Hooray for machine washable!
It's by Jones New York, and was $24.00.
I'm excited to wear this.
I hemmed and hawed over this jacket, but obviously, I gave in.
That is gold silk, my friends. Such a great colour!
The sleeves are slightly flared, and the big shawl collar is very Dramatic.
It wraps across the body in front with the wide ties (I need to steam it out).
I knew I'd find this tag.
Even the lining is silk!
It's by Tangerine Jill, and I've had a love affair with this now-defunct local brand for over 10 years.
It's always wonderful fabrics (mostly silk), bright colours and fairly simple construction, which is actually the drawback to this jacket. It doesn't have any buttons or snaps, so when it's on it works its way undone. I'll have to sew a couple of snaps in it - but that's easily done. I paid $52.00 for this, but it would have been over $200 new.
And now, I have a VIC to take care of - that's a Very Important Cat, if you were wondering.
"Finally, she's figured it out."
I hope you're all savouring your days and enjoying the little moments of calm. Tell me what your favourites are from my finds! Also, what's your style profile? Do you have more than one too?
A tailored top that doesn't require tucking in at the waist works for my nearly 54-year-old body's shape and its minor (I hope) changes as menopause moves in to stay. 
I loved wearing this beautifully-patterned linen skirt again. 
I should have worn a brooch - maybe my new cat one? - but that didn't occur to me when I picked out my accessories last night. Ah, well, next time! 
It's basically just connected sleeves anyway! 
