Birthday Week Brunch and a Shopping Bonanza (and a Mini Art Project)

Hello, my friends! I hope your week is going well - L and I have been reveling in our free time and doing some of our favourite things. 

Like...meeting up with Mom for brunch on Thursday and having what I think of as a "vacation shop", similar to what we do in Vancouver for our anniversary. We get a little spendy, which is always fun.

Off we drove in Vlad the Jaguar - we are in convertible season, and I am ready with all of my scarves. 

Movie Star Wrap deployed! Doesn't L look nice in his floral and velvet? The shirt is a vintage Dolce & Gabbana.

Ahoy, I am ready to go - I am often accused (rightly) of dilly-dallying when I get ready, so I rushed through my pictures. 

We're literally out the door! The bag behind me contains a surprise for one of our destinations! 

• Dress - Nanette Lepore, vintage 00s, thrifted; purchased here for $12.50
• Boots - Donald J. Pliner, vintage 00s, consignment; last worn here in April with a teal dress and copper

We had a warm day (all the way up to 20! what is this, June or something?) and I knew I wouldn't be outside for very much of it. 

I had to wear this lovely turquoise dress right away. 

I did pinch the hooks-and-eyes closed and I also layered a teal camisole underneath - I tried it on without doing either of those things, and was like, "NOPE."

I have bare legs (still haven't bought more nylons) with a little pair of cotton long shorts under the skirt. 

When I got home from my thrift shopping on Wednesday, I took some time and paired off the new-to-me items in my closet. I need to get inspired to get dressed - my mental energy is waning again.

These cowboy boots are such a good match! I have been grumpy about many of my outfits lately - my style is ever-shifting and a lot of the stuff I used to like just isn't speaking to me. How boring if we always stayed the same, though! 

Masked up - most of the stores we went in preferred customers to wear masks.

I'm happy to oblige. 

Driver, take me to lunch immediately! 

When I wasn't wearing the scarf on my head, I tied it to my purse's handle. And yes, I didn't wear a coat at all! I felt so very summery - it was lovely while it lasted. 

Accoutrements: 

I saw that Goody of Eat The Blog (all links 'cause I love) was carrying what looked like another Enid Collins purse (image link here), and it reminded me to break mine out. 

• Purse - Enid Collins "Roadrunner", vintage 70s, consignment
• Scarf - Lanvin, vintage 80s, vintage mall
• Mask - Lazy Susan's

I know, the mask doesn't match - I nearly forgot to grab one and didn't have time to paw through my box for a more matchy one. 

The stuff: 

People swooned over my boots. They are pretty freakin' amazing. 

Turquoise bling: 

All of it! Wear it all!

• Belt - Brave Belts, thrifted
• Brass/pearl/stones cuff - Myka, consignment
• Copper cuff - Bell Trading Post, vintage 60s, consignment, Powell River
• Silver/turquoise ring - Taxco, Karen's
• Oval turquoise ring - Glee
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Earrings - Charmaine's 
• Pendant - Karen's

Actually, I have more turquoise than this.

We met up with Mom at the Snug pub in the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. I love this pic of her and L, my two favourite people.

Mom wore the new red jacket I picked up for her at Rich Rags a few weeks ago - she had a vintage silver butterfly pin on the opposite lapel. 

We took some pictures in the hotel lobby after lunch. A lovely bellhop offered to take pictures for us - thank you! 

Looking into the dining room - to the right is the lounging area and fireplace.

Me, Mom and L.

My glasses don't have a special coating on the lenses, so my eyes look slight psychotic due to the reflected light. 

Aw, I love this picture! 

A picture showing the lobby. 

Longtime readers might remember that back area from some silly posing back when I was nominated for an Unlimited Woman Award (back here in November 2013).

From lunch, we left Mom and did our trifecta of dangerous Oak Bay Avenue shops: House of Savoy, Good Things Consignment Vintage, and Turnabout. I say "dangerous" because consignment stores cost more, and these places have fabulous stock. I could spend thousands, easily! 

We started at House of Savoy (link here), where lovely Emilie and Zenija let me take a picture of them and the lovely store. 

Emilie had contacted me a week ago about possibly putting some of my art onto a suede jacket, for their upcoming anniversary as a basket draw giveaway. I was highly dubious (drawing on suede is like putting ink on a paper towel - it bleeds), but I liked the idea of helping them out - support local business!

Art Project: Rose Bag for House of Savoy

I decided to do a small bit of decoration on this taupe bag that I'd purchased here at WIN for $24.95:

When I bought it, I noted that I'd probably decorate it and give it away. I won't miss it - it's not really my style.

This is the finished bag - I did two roses on the front, not too outrageous. 

A couple of leaves and vines. It felt so restrained! I really am a maximalist at heart.

I did one rose on the back above the zipper. 

That's permanent marker/ink - it won't rub off or discolour.

But you know I have to do a hidden element! 

I opened up the zipper tab and did a secret rose there. 

Here's the progress - line drawing and then thickening up the black on the front. 

It took me about two hours to do the entire bag. 

The back. 

This colour is always easy and fast to do. 

There's the back and the secret rose.

Just the colour to add. 

The blacked front. 

I did three shades of red/pink and two shades of green.

I put the name of it inside ("Red Rose Bag") and noted "for House of Savoy 2022."

And I signed it, of course. Makes it special.

Full disclosure: They gave me a $100 gift card (which I immediately spent) for this, despite my weak protest (twist my rubber arm!) and gave L the "stylist" discount on his purchases. I'm happy with this kind of reciprocal give and take with local businesses - it pays to be regulars! - but of course, will always tell you when I get special treatment. 

L found himself this gorgeous cotton shirt. I think it was around $40.00.

It has no labels - the textile is African. We both loved the colours. 

We also totally lucked out and found this greyish-blue leather jacket for L. Speaking of my art projects, I'll be turning this into his Blue Oyster Cult jacket. 

It's really hard to find men's leather coats that aren't black or dark brown! There were actually two of these at House of Savoy, and I checked them carefully and picked the best one. It has fade patterns, although it doesn't have a lot of wear and tear. 

It's by The Leather Ranch, which I remember from the malls in the 1970, 80s until the early 00s - you could smell the leather when you walked by, which I always loved. The owner of the company, Marcel Adams, was murdered in the Dominican Republic (article here from 2011, grisly details).

This is a gorgeous bomber jacket and fit L perfectly - and brings out his blue eyes! It was $249.00 plus whatever his discount was. 

L encouraged me to buy this ring, which I've eyed in the past but not gotten because I wanted other things more. 

It's silver (although not marked) and the "stones" are probably not real. 

But I love that the centre spins around! 

It's two rings in one! I believe this was around $45.00.

I love this black and white chevron skirt. 

It's striped fabric that's been sewn into angled strips to make mitered stripes/the zigzag look. 

It's by Louis Feraud, one of my favourite 80s designers. 

I found this exact skirt here on a French vintage site (it sold for 120 Euros, which is about $160.00 Canadian). They note it is c. 1980. This was around $79.99.

Mine still has the "Made in Hong Kong" tag on it - so we know it's at least pre-1997. It's nylon and unlined. 

I'll add my two cents: I think this is actually late 80s or early 90s, and it probably had a matching giant-shouldered longer-cut jacket, or possibly a solid colour (like red) with striped cuffs/lapels. I remember that being a look with this type of skirt - a very Joan Collins kind of vibe (she was a fan of the label). Early 80s would have been made in a silk or fine wool and fully-lined. 

Fit is everything for me - and when these cotton high-waisted pants fit me perfectly, I was sold. 

YES. Orange and yellow Hawaiian-ish print. 

And ginormous legs! 

These were around $59.99. I LOVE them. 

From there, we went to the next block and had a cruise around Good Things Consignment Vintage. L bought the book (for me) and the palm tree mug. There was a mix of mugs, pitchers and plates, I think, but every piece was sold separately as there were odd numbers. 

And I bought the two brooches! 

This is a gorgeous black and white enamel and rhinestone peacock. 

It's in gold-tone, no markings. 

This is very much like my tiger articulated brooch (this guy). 

Digging around on the Interwebz (plus a new book I just picked up), these are both likely from the 80s - they don't have any age on them and really don't seem like they've been worn at all. This one was $24.00. I like the big long pin - good for coats.

This lion brooch made me gasp. The folks in Good Things didn't know how it worked - you can see he's arched, like he pouncing. 

Well, of course, he is a shoulder brooch! He'll be perched on my shoulder soon, you can bet. 

Look at that face! Rar! The mane is a matte finish vs. the shiny paws and face, which the backing of the rhinestone-encrusted body is silver.

Brooches like this burst into popularity when the Duchess of Windsor (Wallace Simpson)'s jewelry was auctioned off in 1987 (link here). If you scroll down in that link, you'll see my tiger brooch is the exact same design as her Cartier leopard cuff.

So this is basically a costume jewelry 80s rip-off/inspiration of much more high-end jewelry.

He's only got one small pin at the back for anchoring - I'd better ensure I attach him to strong fabric! I found the same one on 1stdibs for $285.00(!!), but he was $46.00.

Whew! Flush with the excitement of my jewelry finds, we crossed the street to Turnabout. L was starting to fade, but we did the menswear section first so he could chill out while I shopped.

We found this beautiful woven linen-blend blue blazer for only $79.99. It fits him perfectly. 

I found this sheer velvet devore (de-VOR-ay!) top. 

I've blown the contrast out so you can see the skulls on it. I'm a sucker for skulls.

It's by True Religion and was $39.99.

It's more subtle (although I'll have to wear a camisole under it), so I'll be able to deploy secret skulls, heh heh. 

I had tried this bronze velvet shirt on during a previous trip to Turnabout, but the original price of $59.99 was too rich for me. 

It buttons to the chest, then has a wide floppy tie. So very rock and roll. 

It's by Frame. 

Oh, my goodness. A plain tie-front shirt by them is $611.00! I guess the marked-down price of $21.00 was a steal! I found a similar blouse on a 2019 post (here) listing a similar Frame metallic velvet blouse for $375.00.

My style has been edging away from girly and twee, but I still fell for this polka dot dress.

It came with a white slip and a matching tie belt that I'll likely never wear. The sleeves are a flutter style and the bodice has lines of pin-tucks. 

The skirt is nice and full, although - arg - would it have killed them to add pockets? 

It buttons all the way to the hem. 

It's by Nanette Lepore, although a later era than the dress I was wearing. 

It was $79.99 - I found the same one on a resale site with the original price tag of $128.00. Not too bad - not a score - but I really loved how this felt, and I think I'll be able to do a lot of different looks with it. 

L always pushes me outside my money comfort zone - I am cheap and always hesitate when I think something is too pricey (and I lose perspective from all the good scores I find thrift shopping!). He pushed me to get his, and I'm glad he did! 

It's a dropped waist dress with bracelet-length sleeves, a high neckline with a tie above a V, and a ruffled hem. But look at that print!

Here's the back. Cacti, a lizard, a snake, scorpion, flowers...

Wow, that's amazing! Oh, and it has pockets! 

A close-up of one of the scorpions. 

Oh, there's a cow skull behind it. I just noticed that! So very rock & roll.

It doesn't have a content tag anywhere, but I found a hologram. 

Just Cavalli. 

And that is the label - it's by Robert Cavalli, famous designer. I paid $179.99 for this (I know, ulp, that's a lot!), but some digging led me to the same one listed for close to $1,000 Canadian, noting it was from Spring/Summer 2017. Vogue doesn't have a runway from that season - but it is VERY similar to the Pre-Fall 2017 runway looks (link here from Vogue), specifically Look 23 (here) which is the same dress in a different print. 

New, this would have retailed for around $2,000.00. I am super-excited to wear this.

Okay, I'm clothing shopped out, at least for a few weeks! I hope you enjoyed my purchases vicariously - do you have a favourite? What shall I wear first??

Finally, one more stop - L had two gift cards burning a hole in his pocket, both from Mom for his birthday (one from a couple of years ago), to local awesome bookstore Bolen Books. "Help me spend these," he offered. 

You do not have to ask me twice to buy books! This Vintage Jewellery book is amazing - I've learned a ton just from a quick browse through it. "A Woman of No Importance" looks fantastic, and Bennett is one of our favourite new fantasy writers. So much good stuff to read! 

Today/Friday is L's actual birthday - we did presents in the morning, and then learned a new board game and ordered in Thai food for dinner. One of my gifts got passed back to me. 

What? This real 1985-ish red leather tie isn't your style? I guess I will have to wear it myself! It was $2.95 from the WIN thrift store. 

Happy Birthday, L!

We're celebrating L's "I'm Fifty Too/Two!" birthday on Saturday night, as he's missed celebrating 50...and 51! I have a fabulous outfit planned, so I hope you'll drop by on Sunday to check out our finery.