Mental Health Shop: Fall-ified Maxi

Since I woke up to a sunny morning, I decided to do a Mental Health Shop after my groceries. 

I'm mentally ready to switch my wardrobe over, but I have to plan when I'm going to do this - it basically kills an entire weekend, normally. 

• Cardigan/dress - Ports International, vintage, consignment; last worn here in February with some fab plaid
• Tank - not tracked
• Skirt - LA Hearts, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in June for a Zoom call with Mom
• Shoes - Miista; last worn here in August for another Mental Health Shop

I'll be spending this last week of my season revisiting some of my favourite pieces that will be packed away for the next six months. My wardrobe is too big for me to keep it all out all year (I'm a maximalist, I know you're shocked). 

I will be packing away the maxi skirt - the blue/aqua/coral mix of it says "summer" to me. 

I fall-ified it by wearing my long 100% wool vintage cardigan/dress over it - my first wearing this season! I had a feeling I'd want it. 

It breathes, but gives me nice warmth and coverage. And pockets! 

Plus, it's a glorious colour and it's swooshy! 

The skirt also has a nice Swirl Factor to it, so as I walked the movement of my clothes made me happy. 

While it was warm out (in the low 20s), there's a chill under it - more fog is expected tonight. 

I didn't want to overheat, so I wore my little pantaloons with bare legs. I also wore fishnet socklets so that my feet didn't rub in the shoes. 

I'm ready to shop! 

The Flirty Butcher appreciated this look - it took him a minute to recognize me due to my haircut. 

• Mask - Lazy Susan's

Incognito - a scarf in case my neck got cold. I wore it in the morning only. 

A little cross-body bag for hands-free shopping. 

• Scarf - thrifted
• Bag - Danier Leather, thrifted

I didn't need the scarf by the time I walked home in the afternoon. 

So I just tied it to my bag. 

The stuff: 

I often find good shoes or pants when I wear lace-ups - it's like a law. If you wear something complicated, you'll need to deal with it. I did take them off once, but no luck on finding shoes or pants! 

Turquoise bling: 

I took the opportunity to wear my new-to-me turquoise earrings. What a perfect match for the necklace and ring! 

• Necklace - thrifted
• Ring - Glee
• Lapis lazuli ring and Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Earrings - thrifted; purchased here for $7.95

I put my turquoise away for the fall/winter so this will be the only wearing of these earrings until I pull them back out next March/April. Yes, I swap over my jewelry as well as my clothes! 

After grocery shopping, I hopped the bus from town to Oak Bay Avenue as I was tight for time - less walking means more shopping! My first stop was Good Things Consignment (link here, all links because I love), which carries a mix of housewares, collectibles, and odds and ends. I spotted this copper set in the jewelry case. 

I love the tiki-ish shape and texture of these - they have a very "Mad Men", mid-century modern vibe.

Renoir - it's always nice to see the stamp. Both of these pieces are in pristine condition with very little age on them. They've likely been sitting in a jewelry box in the dark for decades, poor things. 

This is the copper brand I collect, inspired by my Grandma J's set that she gave me in 1986. I don't buy every piece of Renoir I find, just the ones I really like. 

The earrings are stamped too. 

I like that the cuff is narrower at the closure. 

This is a hinged "clamp" style of bracelet, and it's from the early 1960s.

The cuff was $16.00 and the earrings were $10.00. I couldn't find this design online at all, so it seems to be fairly rare. 

From there, I continued up the block to House of Savoy (link here) and said hello to Emily and her business partner Zenjah. I had a good poke around and found a few awesome things. 

I fell hard for this Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier silk scarf - it was $32.00. I recently read this excellent article here, from InStyle, about the real Ed Hardy and his battle with Audigier (who died in 2014) in the mid-00s, and the commercialism of his tattoo art (Hardy has long since retired from tattooing): 

Don Ed Hardy, as he's sometimes known in real life (aka not on T-shirts) is a surf bum slash art prodigy who sold his first gallery piece when he was still in high school, and later attended the San Francisco Art Institute. He is an artiste, a trailblazer of both postmodern art and tattooing, a contemporary of greats like Warhol, de Kooning, and a dozen others you studied in art history class.

 

It's one big long scarf - this is the back. 

I love the dagger going through the rose. 

This is classic tattoo art - look at those roses! 

The content tag had been cut off, but I can tell by feel that it's silk. I can't wait to wear this! 

I found this pink top on the sale rack for $15.00.

It's the exact same colour of pink as my Big Boss Lady Pants. 

It's by Denver Hayes, and is cotton with a touch of Lycra. It will be a good layering piece. 

I love this cobalt blue colour - it's the same colour as the long cardi I had on. 

It's a cropped, lined top - it lands right at the top of my hips. 

The sleeves are also short, and are wide.

Did you hear me catch my breath?

Swoon, it's Alexander McQueen, and made in Italy, so it's early McQueen, likely from 2003-2004.

It's a viscose/silk blend. 

It's a beautiful blue. 

This was priced at $95.00 and reduced to $65.00. It fit me perfectly, so of course I had to have it. The cheapest Alexander McQueen top on their site is $780.00. 

I hesitated over this dress, but I heard L's voice saying, "It's awesome, you have to buy it." At $75.00, it was the most expensive thing I bought. 

ACID WASH! I modeled this for Emily and Zenjah. 

Look at that stitching! And it's got pockets. Except for the "pocket" on the chest, which opens into the actual dress! I could smuggle marshmallows in the top! 

The dress has enormous shoulder pads, and that's a dolman sleeve. The skirt portion is cut like a snug pencil skirt. It was The Fashion At The Time. 

Love the notched collar, so you can pop it without it getting in the way of your banana-clip. Fer shur!

I've been looking off and on for the Perfect Acid Wash...Something. I feel I might have found it!

I don't really do denim, but I will make an exception.

It's missing its belt. I'm sure I have a couple that will work. 

The back slit has a zipper so you can walk in it.

Oh my gosh, this is a piece of art. 

It's made in Canada! And it's fully washable (it's been washed a few times, I'm sure). 

Size 11 means it was cut for juniors. I don't care - it fit! 

It's by Santana Jeans, "The Famous Authentic Jeans"! Welcome to Fashion City! 

The French text below the USA, France, Canada, Italy and UK flags says, "we have succeeded thanks to an artisanal washing process to reconstitute the comfort and the color of a good old jeans".

I remember Santana Jeans being a big brand back in the 1980s. I'm 100% sure this from around 1983-1984.

Flush with my purchases, I crossed the road and spent some time going through Turnabout (link here), which had one rack of final season clearance and lots of new things in for fall.

This jacket caught my eye - look at those sleeves! 

It also looked beautiful on, and I fell for the extreme ruching down the arms and on the lapels. It has belt loops but did not have the belt. 

I love All Saints and have owned many pieces by them over the years. 

I have no idea what a size fourteen is, but it fit. It has a great rock & roll vibe, but also looks classy. 

It's called the "Southwark Jacket".

I could only find one picture of this jacket - the missing belt was just a sash style, so no big loss. Blazer style jackets by All Saints start around $500 new - this was $72.99. Worth it! 

This dress made me happy as soon as I put it on. You might see it as red, coral or orange - yes, it's all of those. 

The cut is a fit and flare (which I love), but note that the skirt is longer in the back, and has seaming that bells it out into a cocoon. It's so cool. 

Plus, POCKETS! 

Yes, yes, yes! 

It's a silk cotton blend. 

It's by COS (Collection of Style), a Swedish company. 

This was $79.99 plus an extra 20% off, so $63.99.

Can't wait to wear this! 

Well, Vizzini, I'm home now. Want to cuddle? 

"No, I want nothing to do with you."

He'll come around once gets cold tonight. My warm lap awaits! 

What's your favourite of my purchases? Are you still fall-ifying your summer stuff too?