Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Acid-Wash Brunch, a Wee Shop, and Book Club in a Pub

What a fabulous weekend I've had! Seeing friends, wearing fun clothes, shopping, more friends - and I even managed to slip in some quiet time reading, working on my Tattoo jacket, and playing board games. That's just about perfect. 

Let's kick things off with my brunch outfit. Yes, I wore the acid-wash dress! 

We met up with Caro and Ron for brunch at the Ruby - what a treat to hang out with them! 

• Dress - Santana Jeans, vintage 80s, consignment; purchased here for $75.00
• Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog, Fluemarket; last seen here in July with citrus brights

I had a bunch of compliments on this outfit. 

I felt like a rock star! 

This is one of those dresses that doesn't look great on the hanger. 

But it was awesome in person. 

I decided to do pops of yellow with it. 

Masked up.

And a yellow purse. 

• Mask - Lazy Susan's

As it was a gorgeous sunny day, we put the top down on Vlad the Jag, so I needed a scarf for the Movie Star Wrap. 

"Oh, it's such a trial to be driven about." Heh. 

The stuff: 

I wore a classic 80s-style pointy-toe pump to fit the vintage vibe of the dress. I walked home from town in these (very slowly).

Yellow bling: 

I wore my new-to-me silk scarf - when I wasn't wearing it on my head, I doubled it up and threaded it through one of the belt loops on the dress and let it swoosh.

• Purse - Aldo
• Scarf - Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier, consignment; purchased here for $32.00
• Belt - Liz Claiborne, vintage, thrifted
• Cuff - thrifted
• Bakelite earrings - vintage fair
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

After our brunch, L and I had a browse through Vanity Fair Antique Mall - I point out things I like, then I go away while L picks what to buy for me for my upcoming birthday. This means I get something I want and like, as I'm a very fussy shopper. 

When we finished, I crossed the street and had a browse in the Velvet Crease, MONA and Charmaine's (check out my tab here for great places to shop in Victoria). As I was walking home, a car pulled over, and the driver popped his head out the window to holler at me, "Yellow is my favourite colour, and you are KILLING it!"

Well, thank you, kind stranger! 

"You're so full of yourself, Woman."

Vizzini "helped" me take pictures of my purchases when I got home. 

I found a few things at the Velvet Crease, which had a 20% off everything sale on. No luck at MONA or Charmaine's this time. 

They had these shoes in a brown faux croc finish as well as black, but I think I will get more wear out of the black ones. 

Aren't these fun? They are by Asos. 

I love the double straps - one strap has dome studs, and the other has "cupcake" studs. 

I love the lug soles and pointy toes. They are not leather (all man made materials, per the sticker). 

Not a lick of wear on them! I suspect that someone bought both pairs online and got the sizing wrong for North America. A size 7 UK (which is what these are) is about a size 9-9.5 here. These were $38.40 after the discount. 

I fell in love with this dress. It's very similar to this red one I found a few weeks ago. The neckline is semi-squared off - very unusual.

It's got sheer pleated sleeves that bell out, and the rest is fully lined in black, with sheer fabric over it. The skirt is also pleated and swooshes out at the hem. 

Hard to see the pattern in the above pic. 

It's a gorgeous golden yellow/brown/black floral mix. So pretty! The triple skinny strap belt attaches at the back, at the waist. 

I found a Union-Made label in the lining's hem. 

This is the 1968-1984 version of the label (source here, link 'cause I love), so we know it's in that window.

Ooh, it's by Randy Collection of Toronto - KLASSY! I couldn't find anything about this online - very few other items by this brand on Etsy and other resale sites. 

It's 100% polyester. I would guess this is from the late 70s or possibly early 80s. It was $68.00 - a little pricey, but I really loved it. 

This gorgeous fabric and colour caught my eye, as well as the deep double-V neckline. 

It's a loose fit in a fit-and-flare silhouette - with pockets! It came with a self-tie belt that threads through a little casing/sleeve at the small of the back. I'll likely pull that out and wear a real belt with it.

I love the V-insert detail on the cuff.  

Brown roses - so pretty! I can see this with a pair of brown boots. 

I checked for the content tag and found it hiding behind one of the pockets. 

Wow, made in the USA, and 100% silk! 

I've never heard of this label before - No. 6 Store, located at 6 Central Market Place, New York. They have been around since 2005, and still exist (hurrah!), about them here. 

And a size 3, which probably means a Large. This was $60.00 - worth it for a dress made in the US. Poking around in their dresses (here), I suspect this is from early in this label's existence (mid-00s), and this would have been around $400-500 new! Woo, score! 

This was the item that had my heart thumping. It's a bright cornflower blue motorcycle style jacket. It is a GORGEOUS colour in real life, almost electric.

Zippers everywhere! Belt, snaps! All those zip pockets are actually pockets, too. The jacket weighs a ton. 

There's an additional pocket inside (good for a wallet or sunglasses).

As I examined this, I kept noticing details. 

Like the fact that none of the zipper pulls have had their plastic protective sleeves removed. 

I don't think this has ever been worn! 

When I took the plastic off the zippers, I saw that these are custom pulls.

That's a mark of quality, right there.

But this was the stunner. 

It's 100% lamb leather from Italy! 

Why was I so shocked at that? Because this was marked down to $32.00 from $40.00! I think they must have thought it was PVC/fake leather. 

I recognized the brand - Elizabeth and James is the Olsen twins' line (named after their brother and sister - they dressed Elizabeth Olsen for the Emmys recently). This is the Corlyn jacket from 2017, and it came in a bunch of colours, and was photographed on a ton of celebrities (like Gigi Hadid) - and it retailed for over $1,200!!! 

L and I thought that this might have been a Christmas present to the former owner, that sat in her closet - not to her taste, for whatever reason. She likely had no clue how high-end this was. 

It was Vizzini's favourite piece. 

"I know quality. It's mine now."

Vizzini, you do not get to sleep on my new blue leather jacket.

"Says who?"

Says me, you little monkey. 

L and I played board games on Saturday night till the wee hours, but I was up bright and early on Sunday to make breakfast and get ready for Book Club. 

It was raining and cloudy in the morning, but dried out towards the afternoon. I got wet walking home. 

• Doily dress - White Stuff; last seen here (3rd outfit) in May for a Zoom call with Mom
• Shoes - Asos, consignment; purchased above for $38.40
• Coat (below) - Sisley, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) for Karen's birthday memorial

It's the perfect opportunity to wear this corduroy dress and decide if I'm going to keep it. 

Spoiler: I'm not. It's unlined cotton corduroy, and sticks to other things like Velcro (like the cami I'm wearing under it, and my tights), and I was too annoyed at it to want to hang onto it. Adios, clingy dress! 

We typically rotate Book Club hosting, but have not been inside anyone's home in close to two years.

For hosts who aren't comfortable with that, we have the option to have Book Club...in a pub. We've done this for a few years, as not every BC member has hosted in their home. 

We're all double-vaccinated, but it's going to take time for folks to feel at ease with Having People In the House. Nice to have the option. 

I strolled down to the Fernwood Inn, after watching football for the morning. 

Masked up. 

The mask is black/gold/white, as I'm on a very matchy theme. 

• Mask - by Mom

Outerwear - I'd forgotten about this coat! 

This Sisley coat is so magnificent. 

I love the patchy pony-hair texture. 

I felt utterly badass-erific in it. 

Accoutrements: 

The scarf doesn't match -it's navy instead of black, but I figured, "Close enough." The gloves are unlined leather. 

• Silk scarf - Pierre Cardin Jeunesse, vintage 70s, Lazy Susan's
• Gloves - vintage, thrifted

The stuff: 

Since I was walking, and it wasn't too far, I thought I would test-drive these new-to-me shoes right away. Happily, I realized I can slip them on (with a small bit of effort) without having to undo them. Hooray! They were awesome. 

Bold bling: 

All in the matchy theme, of course. 

• Silver/Lucite cuff - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
• Steel cuff - thrifted
• Earrings - Fiji, Mom's
• Silver/onyx ring - Toccara, vintage fair
• Wooden ring - Dots

We laughed, drank, ate and chatted for hours, and then wrapped it up. 

I got home to this picture of my mom posing with the mayor of a local township - Mom won Best Small Picture in an art show at a local gallery! 

I've cropped out the names to protect the innocent. Her painting was done en plein air (out in the wild) at the park we visited here - I believe this picture is of this area here. 

So proud of you, Mom! Way to go! She won $100 in prize money too - sweet!