Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Dalmatian Brunch and Shop Scores; Book Club Blues Brunch

Hello, my friends! I hope you're still enjoying whatever's left in your weekend. This one flew by for me, but was filled with good times, including brunch with Nick and L, followed by the last of my Christmas present shopping - and you know I bought a few things for myself along the way, heh heh. I also had our annual Book Club holiday gathering, in the form of lunch on Sunday.

On Saturday, L and I were up early. I dressed for comfort and to feel merry. 

I layered a full vintage slip underneath, which was a good thing, as it turned out. 

• Dress - InWear; purchased here last weekend for $15.00
• Boots - 1883 Lucchesse, consignment; last worn here in October with the inaugural wearing of my Snake Jacket
• Coat (below) - Topshop, consignment; last seen here (3rd outfit) in November

I love this dress - the scatter print reminds me of Dalmatian spots, even though the dress came labels as "unruly dots". 

It's an extremely forgiving print, hiding anything I'm not happy with. 

I only was able to show it like this while we were at the Ruby. 

I was coated for most of the day. 

Outerwear - this coat is nothing but trouble, speaking of unruly. 

When I was out shopping, I was constantly having to pull my dress down as it kept riding up. At one point it was around my waist! 

Thank goodness I had a slip on! 

After brunch, L and I did our weekly grocery shop, then walked back to town together to do our last gifts for each other. 

The bright sunlight we'd had in the morning turned to gloom, and the skies opened up.

It was cold and rainy and windy. Brr!

Accoutrements: 

Not shown, the hat I grabbed at the last minute to keep my hair dry in the rain. 

• Scarf - Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier, vintage 90s, consignment
• Hat (not shown) - gift from Tammy
• Gloves - Danier Leather
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

My boots were pretty wet by the time I got home. 

• Silver/onyx ring - Toccara, vintage fair
• Mexican silver/onyx ring - gift from Mom & Dad, c. 1987
• Earrings - thrifted

Ostensibly, I was shopping for L, but I couldn't help it! I bought a few things for myself. I had eyed this dress? robe? kimono? at Verve Consignment the last time I was in, but put it back. 

I decided to go for it this time (plus it was marked down further). 

The background is a pale mossy-minty green. 

I love the aggressive lilies and chrysanthemums. I have ideas for outfits - I'll likely wear it like a kimono. 

It's viscose - no washing!

Viscose and water are not friends. 

It's Dries Van Noten. 

It was marked down to $89.00, which is about right for a consignment store - it would have been well over a $1,000 new. Designer! 

Way over on the other side of the price spectrum, I also popped into the Women in Need (WIN) on Pandora Ave and had a quick look through the vintage, dresses, coats and accessories (the best sections if you're in a hurry), looking for the Good Stuff and things for me to turn into Art Projects. 

This caftan needs a bit of love, but I fell for the wonderful fabric. 

It's polyester (which surprised me - I thought it was cotton). 

The design is enhanced with gold glitter painted on the front - so "me."

It is coming apart a bit on the sides, plus inside it shows evidence that the previous owner pulled out the elastic or draw tie under the bustline. There is actually a hole right in the centre, below that V. 

I'll have to do some mending on it, but for $11.95, I don't mind. 

The brand is Nf (Free Size just means it's "one size fits all") and it was made in India. 

I spotted this full-length black leather coat and gasped. 

It's totally from the late 90s/early 00s, right in the time when "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was airing. This is a Spike coat! 

It's thick, butter-soft leather, with four buttons, and two giant slash pockets on the front. It has some shoulder pad action going on, but not the really huge earlier 90s ones. 

It's by DC Collection and was made in Canada. 

Since DC is now associated with comic book/superhero movies, I had no luck finding anything about this company. It was probably made in Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto, though - Canada had a huge manufacturing industry in those cities up till the early 00s. 

It has a big slit up the back. 

I have to admit, I have visions of covering this with silver or gold drawing...

It was only $9.95. 

Like I was going to leave a full-length leather coat behind for that price?? NO. 

In addition to coats (I put back a cream PVC one after debating over it - it wasn't nice enough quality), I perused the purse section to see if there was anything I could turn into an Art Project. 

That's a very blah colour for a purse. What would you call that? Putty? Blerg. I wouldn't even paint walls that colour. 

I would never buy this normally, but it will look amazing once I draw all over it. It has a big front "envelope" pocket with more pockets inside. 

And a zipper section on the back. 

There is an "LL" logo stamped on the front. 

The main inside section of the purse is also quite large. 

It's marked Pelle (which means leather) and RFID. 

That stands for Radio Frequency Identification (note the little waves) and means it will protect your credit cards from being scanned. This was probably not a super-expensive bag to begin with, but it is all leather. 

It has a couple of marks in the lining (looks like a pen was open), but I don't care about that. 

It was only $9.95, which is good enough both to go in my cart and to draw on. 

I also bought this purse, which is not going to be an art project. 

It's purple, a lovely violet shade. Lots of hardware. 

I spy an upside-down name on that big rign. 

These straps across the front of the bag are adjustable - I used an X-acto knife to cut the unopened slits and tightened these up to make the bag look more "paper bag"-ish at the top. 

Nice hardware on the sides, with free-spinning clasps for the straps so they don't get twisted (nice).

The shoulder strap is also adjustable and removeable. 

This really long chain came attached inside. 

I guess it's for clipping your keys onto, so that you can rummage around for the chain instead of a small bundle of easily-lost keys.

More names on the hardware (I've never seen stamped magnetic fastenings before), on the zipper pull and the lining is a custom weave. 

Yes, that says Sonia Rykiel, Paris. Woo! I'm a fan of her - read about her here in her obituary (she died in 2016), link 'cause I love, of course, as always. I have a skirt by her - one of the velour, exposed seams styles (this one) mentioned in the obit, and a black sweater (this one). 

Due to the wear on the outer leather (especially the front corners), this was marked at a mere $24.95. 

It is called the Martha bag, and originally retailed for 890 Euros (over $1,200 Canadian!). It's not a new bag, however, and based on the style, I'd guess it's from the early 00s, up to 2005-ish. I found a ton of them on second-hand sites, ranging from $125.00 to $495.00, depending on the condition. I didn't find a single picture of a purple one though, so it's a pretty rare colour. 

L and I hung out and played boardgames on Saturday evening - our last free evening for the next few weeks! We were up early on Sunday for football, and I had a mid-day Book Club holiday brunch meet-up. 

Some colour, some shine, lots of texture! 

• Jacket - Elizabeth and James, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in November for brunch with Nick and L
• Sweater - Banana Republic, thrifted; last seen here in November for a shopping day with L
• Skirt - J. Crew, thrifted; last worn here in December 2020 with foxy blues
• Shoes - Miista; last seen here in September for a Mental Health Shop

I only had my jacket off in the restaurant, and Cat, Yvonne and Ciara only saw most of the time from the waist up. 

A comfy outfit for walking to and from town. 

I'm a fan of this wonderful necktie silk skirt - that pattern is woven. 

I added more blue for my outerwear.

Masked up. A little purple to go with the purple legs. 

I have a purple velvet scarf on there - I went full matchy with my accessories. 

And voila! My fancy new Sonia Rykiel bag is getting its first outing. 

I feel so classy! 

In reality, I wore it cross-body. 

It was lovely - I did use the long chain for my keys, and it was so easy to dig them out when I was walking home in the dark. 

Accoutrements. 

All the purples! I love that the bag matches so well. 

• Purse - Sonia Rykiel Martha, thrifted; purchased above for $26.95
• Silk velvet scarf - thrifted
• Beret - consignment
• Gloves - Danier
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

Awesome shoes - I'll be very sad when these wear out, although I have worn them well over 45 times. 

Bigass bling: 

Cat was wearing a Robert Larin pendant, so we were comparing notes on our pieces. 

• Cuff and bracelet - Robert Larin, vintage 1970s, both gifts from L, vintage mall
• Necklace - Dots
• Brooch - Eatons, c. 2002
• Earrings - gift from Petra
• Lapis lazuli ring/Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes

I stopped in at Lazy Susan's (FB link here) on the way to town, and bought each of my gals a wee vintage sparkly brooch, just a small gift for the holiday. This is one of my favourite local shops - she carries a mix of vintage jewelry, housewares, plus locally-made items. She's got a very good eye, so I am often tempted! 

I might have picked up a few things for myself too...

You know I find it hard to resist sets! The long glass bead necklace came with a matching bracelet, and I used to have a 5-tiered necklace like this green tones one back in the 90s (it broke and I donated it). 

I love the pretty shades in this - it's a mix of glass beads and faux pearls. 

It was $32.00 and is probably from the 50s. 

The necklace and bracelet are made with glass beads and are actually a rich navy blue. They were $45.00 for the set. I never mind paying more when I'm buying from a local business. 

The bracelet has a very pretty clasp in gold-tone with leaf decorations, but the necklace clasp is your standard "lobster claw." I think these are also from the 50s (inspired by the 20s). 

And how was your weekend, my friends? Tell me all about it!